Help building animation PC (€800)

Zeppelin67

1. What is your budget? €800-€900

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? 3D Modelling, Animation & Video editing, using software like 3DS Max, Cinema 4D, Maya, After Effects and will also dabble in Pro Tools

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? Yes (hoping to get that as a christmas present separately)

5a. If yes, what size do you need: 22''

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Keyboard & Mouse

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes but not sure what the pros and cons are

8. How can you pay? Credit Card/Laser

9. When are you purchasing? Just before or after Christmas

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? North Dublin

Hoping to build the PC for this price as I plan on buying a laptop for €700 to travel and work with as well. I would also like the possibility of updating graphics cards so I'll need a motherboard that is relatively futureproof.

Thanks

Zeppelin67

Hoping to stick with an i7 minimum as the processor. I've heard the nvidia gtx 780ti is a great card for that kind of work, or is that overkill?

Thoughts and opinions much appreciated

BloodBath

Come back closer to ordering. 4 months is a long time in the world of PC hardware.

A 780ti would be complete overkill for that kind of work and would eat up half of your budget alone.

Zeppelin67

I have reviewed a few things and I am now considering purchasing within the next month or so. Does this change anything, or do I need to come back very close to ordering?

Also as an update I will be gaming on this rig, I'll mainly be using the low end games on steam, the only other game would be Battlefield 4.

Zeppelin67

Considering ordering in the next month now. Can I get some advice on the build please?

BloodBath wrote: »

Come back closer to ordering. 4 months is a long time in the world of PC hardware.

A 780ti would be complete overkill for that kind of work and would eat up half of your budget alone.

Zeppelin67

Bump

BloodBath

Something like this should do nicely.

Maybe a bit over budget once you add windows, keyboard + mouse though.

Prices got using geizhals.de


Total build cost: € 883, + €11.99 shipping
Intel Xeon E3-1231v3 Box, LGA1150 € 223,
ASRock B85 Pro4, LGA 1150, ATX € 61,
16GB Kit Crucial Ballistix Sport Series DDR3-1600, CL9 € 124,
MSI N760 TwinFrozr 2GD5 / OC, 2GB DDR5 € 194,
Crucial 256GB SSD MX100 2.5 "(7mm) € 91,
Corsair Builder Series CX500 V3 Non-Modular 80 + Bronze, 500 Watt € 52,
Nanoxia Deep Silence DS 3 Dark Black without PSU € 63,
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb / s € 71,

Zeppelin67

BloodBath wrote: »

Something like this should do nicely.

Maybe a bit over budget once you add windows, keyboard + mouse though.

Thanks very much for the advice!

Just a question about the build. Is there a risk of overheating the CPU with the stock fan? Or that only a risk if I'm overclocking. Also if I wanted to upgrade the graphics card in the next year is this a possibility with the current build?

BloodBath

No bother.

Nah, Haswell's run pretty cool at stock speeds. That xeon isn't overclockable anyway.

You can upgrade the graphics no problem but why would you want to?

Zeppelin67

Why did you go with xeon over i7?

I probably won't change the graphics card but the only reason I would is if I saved up for a higher end model.

BloodBath

I doubt it will make much difference for that line of work to be honest. I'd only be going high end for high resolution gaming. It depends on the detail of your models I guess.

The xeon is cheaper and has the same performance. That one just doesn't have integrated graphics which you won't need with the g-card.

Zeppelin67

Great! I'll definitely be purchasing in the next week or two. I think I'm going to have it put together by the guys in hardwareversand.

Any recommendations for a monitor with good colour reproduction at a low cost of €100-200?

Zeppelin67

What are the standard network and sound cards to purchase for a custom desktop?

Ninjah Tigah

Ah, didn't see your post from: 29-10-2014

In response to that if you're still looking for an answer:

Any recommendations for a monitor with good colour reproduction at a low cost of €100-200?

http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/58+cm+%2823%29+/127123/ASUS+VS239HV.article

Also, standard Network and Sound Cards:

A good sound card is: http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/7.1/29792/ASUS+Xonar+DX+7.1%2C+PCIe+x1.article
But if you just want a standard sound card: http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/5.1/58837/ASUS+Xonar+DGX+PCI-Express.article

My network adapter has never let me down: http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-WN822N-300MBPS-Wireless-Adapter/dp/B00416Q5KI and would suggest it to anyone looking for one.

Zeppelin67

Ninjah Tigah wrote: »

My network adapter has never let me down

Is it not better to have a built in network adapter for my desktop? Also I'll need to be able to use an Ethernet connection as well as wireless. Not sure which adapter is best suited for that though as there seems to be countless amounts out there.