3D Modelling build

Potential-Monke

Hello again kind folks. I'm back with another request. The brothers oldest is in college doing game development & animation, and requires a PC going forward, so the daddy is happily going to provide, well, price depending. I understand it won't be a cheap build due to requirements, but the cheaper the better! Plus I don't know the best places now, as I used hardwareversand previously.

1. What is your budget? ~€800

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? 3d Modelling and game development

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No

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

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? Will be using a 2k 32" tv for now, but most likely 1 or dual 1440p monitors in the future.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Not me personally, maybe she will down the line. I believe a Intel K processor would be beneficial here, just to be sure. But open to correction.

8. How can you pay? [Debit Card/Paypal]

9. When are you purchasing? For Xmas

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? N/A

Here is what she will be using on it:

Maya 3D Modelling
Unity
Too Boom (?)

Requirements:

64bit multicore sse4 CPU 2 instruction set (?)
Ram: 64 preferred but 32 min
GPU: nVidia quadro preferred, but as long as it has dx10 shader model 4.0

Would be nice to have a 'future proof' motherboard too, but not necessary. I don't know for certain, but I'd imagine it's a tall order on that budget? So anywhere close to it will do. If it can be done cheaper, even better!

Thanks in advance.

K.O.Kiki

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor (£154.09 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI B450M BAZOOKA Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£72.98 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Patriot Viper Elite 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£119.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£63.89 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: PNY Quadro P620 2 GB Video Card (£201.59 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£29.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic M12II EVO 520 W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£49.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £692.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-21 00:21 BST+0100

Something like that.
Obviously depending on how Brexit shapes up.

Xenoronin

With the 1050Ti at 50£ cheaper, is there any reason not to go with it? It runs games better, and is generally faster with more VRAM. Unless there is some spec I'm missing (dp floating point aside), the only benefit I can see is the low profile nature of the P620.

K.O.Kiki

Xenoronin wrote: »

With the 1050Ti at 50£ cheaper, is there any reason not to go with it? It runs games better, and is generally faster with more VRAM. Unless there is some spec I'm missing (dp floating point aside), the only benefit I can see is the low profile nature of the P620.

The Quadros are workstation GPUs "certified" for applications like Maya while Geforce is only "supported".
What that really means is that Nvidia cripples the cheaper Geforce cards at the driver-level.

Did a little research and it turns out AMD recently launched their WX 3200 - £224 +p&p on eBay.
It's probably a better deal than the Quadro P620.
Drop CPU down to Ryzen 5-1600 or Ryzen 5-2600 if budget doesn't allow for the WX 3200.

Xenoronin

Good to know. I specced a similar build for someone I know and the viewport performance in 3DS Max is pretty poor for a GTX1060 paired with an R5 1600. Not terrible, just not great. Medium-High poly models chug... and the tool crashes a good bit. I'm not sure where to point the finger tbh. I don't know if the AMD processor isn't to blame either, by being badly supported by the tool.
This was a year or so ago, software/bios updates might have solved a lot of issues in the mean time.

BloodBath

There's really no need for a quadro unless she's designing architecture that will be used IRL. A regular gaming card is more than good enough for game development and 3d work relating to game development. You will get more performance for your money too.

Sure with a high poly model doing certain tasks in Maya the quadro might do better but what happens when you bring that into a game engine? I'm not convinced a low end workstation card is going to do any better than a mid range gaming card at the same price.

2gb of graphics memory is really pathetic these days as well. I'm sure shes' going to want to texture these models at some point as well.

K.O.Kiki

BloodBath wrote: »

There's really no need for a quadro unless she's designing architecture that will be used IRL. A regular gaming card is more than good enough for game development and 3d work relating to game development. You will get more performance for your money too.

Sure with a high poly model doing certain tasks in Maya the quadro might do better but what happens when you bring that into a game engine? I'm not convinced a low end workstation card is going to do any better than a mid range gaming card at the same price.

2gb of graphics memory is really pathetic these days as well. I'm sure shes' going to want to texture these models at some point as well.

That's why I suggested WX 3200 instead.

But even RX 570 4Gb could do - they can be found on Adverts for €100.

H3llR4iser

Just in "my two cents" camp here, but getting a pro-level card from the get go might be a bad idea; I dabble in 3D and game dev as a hobby and most fairly powerful gaming cards will do just fine, arguably better than an entry-level quadro - the VRAM on the one proposed being a particularly bad choice. As it was pointed out, high-poly textured models are gonna need memory to render via GPU.

Heck, I have friends who work in architecture and design and have rigs with gaming cards.

I'd recommend picking an nVidia card over a Radeon - not for "fanboysm" but because I had to switch myself a few years ago for one reason: CUDA support. While both GeForce and Radeon support OpenCL only the former support CUDA, which has gained widespread usage especially in semi-pro and gaming related tools - stuff like Octane and Redshift only work on CUDA, plus obviously nVidia Iray. In a nutshell, not knowing the specific details of what she's going to do, it's better to keep all the options open rather than finding out, a couple of months down the like, that she can't run a specific tool.

The downside of this is that GeForce cards tend to be expensive for versions with at least 8GB of vRam (it may be worth scouting Adverts for a second hand GTX 1070, maybe), the good side is that should she need to upgrade in the near future, it'd be relatively easy to sell a bog standard GeForce rather than an entry-level Quadro or FirePro.

gizmo

For both the work they'll be doing, at the stage of their career they'll be doing it at and at that budget, a low end workstation-tier card makes absolutely zero sense.

If the preference towards a Quadro came from the University then I'd go as far as to call it ****ing grossly irresponsible.

BloodBath

TBH most of these colleges and universities have woefully outdated courses in this field. It wouldn't surprise me one bit.

Their choice of unity over unreal engine would also make me question the course designers especially if the focus is on 3d design and animation.

Also you might want a 3600 over a 2700 as animation wants high IPC over core count and the 3600 is not much worse in multi threaded anyway thanks to the higher IPC.

Pretty much a good gaming pc makes a good game dev PC. You just want more ram than a gaming PC. Higher CPU core counts if doing light baking for large scenes.

Potential-Monke

Thank you all! I'll get back to him with the specs and prices. The WX3200 is only £20 more expensive so he can surely make that if everything else lines up. If not, I'll look into a few GTX 1070's maybe.

Anyway, thanks again!

Potential-Monke

Ok, I'm gonna buy this in the next hour or so, as the money is finally in the account and Cyber Monday. Unfortunately, looks like that RAM is out of stock. Had a quick look at others, but i'm not sure what I can go for due to requirements, don't want to get worse RAM for the same money. Anyone have any recommendations? Looks like that AMD WX3200 isn't on PC Part Pickers, and not sure what to drop to bring the price down, €800 incl shipping is the budget, can't stretch any further.

K.O.Kiki

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700 3.2 GHz 8-Core Processor (£139.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 33 eSports ONE (Black/Yellow) CPU Cooler (£19.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£92.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£109.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£59.99 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 580 8 GB NITRO+ Video Card (£179.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£37.38 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: be quiet! System Power 9 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£42.72 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £682.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-02 21:42 GMT+0000

RX 580 8Gb should be fine for Maya.
Yes I realise I said different before.
Alternatively you can find GTX 1660 / 1660 Super (6Gb VRAM) for £180-210.

Potential-Monke

Sound! Working my way through it, seller won't send the case to Ireland so checking other options! There's nothing too fancy about cases at those price points? Also liking teh stealth charges, Ryzen went up to £142.64 from product page to checkout. 1p added to the cooler :pac:

MB out of stock on OC everywhere!

K.O.Kiki

MSI Gaming Plus Max in stock - CCL - £80

Better mobo MSI B450 Tomahawk Max also for £90

Case: Riotoro CR488 for £37.80 on Amazon & CCL.

Potential-Monke

You're a legend! I'm trying to do all this while making it look like i'm working, keep having to close windows, etc!

Potential-Monke

OK, got 5 of them via Amazon, have the rest in CCL but short a few quid so have to lodge more money. €30 over but all good! Serious thanks due!

Edit: Just in case they sell out, got all but the PSU, can pick that up tomorrow! Thanks again!

Potential-Monke

So CCL will deliver the few bits this Thursday! Unexpectedly soon!

B Rabbit

I was very impressed with the service from CCL. Parts ordered on Black Friday, delivered Monday!

Potential-Monke

Yeah, have to admit, they're pretty damn good. Ordered Monday night and here Thursday, highly impressed and will definitely use them again. Still waiting on the Amazon stuff, should be here next Monday/Tuesday.