Questions about PC build
polycounter lvl 10
I'm working freelance mostly doing hand paint stuff and models for casual games. My laptop's hardware is outdated and I want to build a new PC to work with next 2-3 years. I want it to be compact yet powerfull enough to handle Substance Painter, Zbrush and Photoshop. So I bought Thermaltake Core V1 chassis which has a Mini ITX form factor.
From what I see there is no LGA 1150 Mini ITX motherboard that let you install 32GB of RAM so I decided to go with LGA 1151 build. Since 1151 parts are quite expensive I want to make a mid range build with an ability to upgrade in the future.
2. How important is CPU power for 3D? May be I should spend more money on i5?
3. I wonder if 500W PSU is enough for this?
4. Is this powerful enough for current-gen 3d?
Thank you.
From what I see there is no LGA 1150 Mini ITX motherboard that let you install 32GB of RAM so I decided to go with LGA 1151 build. Since 1151 parts are quite expensive I want to make a mid range build with an ability to upgrade in the future.
1. Is this enough for comfortable work in Zbrush, SP or PS?- Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151
$144.99
- Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core
$169.99
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2400
$254.99
- Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5"
$76.88
- Asus GeForce GTX 960 4GB
$237.99
- Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX PSU
$59.99
2. How important is CPU power for 3D? May be I should spend more money on i5?
3. I wonder if 500W PSU is enough for this?
4. Is this powerful enough for current-gen 3d?
Thank you.
Replies
http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator
500watts should be enough power unless your going duel gpus in the future or using a more power hungry gpu like a 980.
if you want you could save by going for 16gb's of ram to start and upgrade if you feel it would help. My rig is a few years old now, and 16gb has been working fine for me. Since more ram will only help if you are filling what you already have.
Also storage, you only have a ssd on there you might want to get a harddrive as well for additional storage since the ssd is very small.
The rig will be fine for doing current gen 3d work, though if your using it for games you might get a low framerate in really intensive titles like the new witcher game, or if your working in Unreal4 in a heavier envirmeant
Quick heads up.
That motherboard only has 2 DIMM slots for RAM. Try to buy (1) 16GB instead of (2) 8GB. You will lose the benefit of dual channel; however, adding another 16GB down the line for 32GB will be super easy vs. having to sell your two 8GB sticks for two 16GB sticks.
2) 500 W is plenty for your power supply. Think of getting a gold certified better power supply if you plan to run your computer most of the day. If you plan to ever run more than one card, consider something bigger.
3) If you are willing to spend more money on an SSD you can look at the Samsung 850 EVO line. For not much more (on amazon at least) you can get a drive that is 3x+ faster for like $10 more. The Samsung line is considered very good and budget friendly.
4) As others have stated, start with one 16 GB DIMM. I consider myself a power user and have a hard time going over that, but in rare cases I can.
16GB is fine unless you're really pushing it, doing insanely high poly sculpts, texturing at 4K or 8K, etc.
I tried hard to find a single DDR4 16GB non-ECC module but no luck. I think I will go with 2x8GB and upgrade later to 32GB kit (when they become cheaper).
Ok, i hope it is.
I'm going to save money on RAM buying 2x8 kit. Does it matter for PS/Zb which i5 to buy? Price difference between 6600K and 6400 is 80 dollars and acoording to cpu benchmarks 6600K is about 20% faster.