@yusefkerr There's a lot you could change there to lower the price.
First, Octane is a GPU renderer, and none of the other apps you mentioned need so many CPU cores (unless you plan on using a 2nd CPU based renderer in Max). I'd gt a regular AM4 CPU like a 2700X (or wait for the 3800X if you really want 16 cores).
Next is that getting two Geforce 2080 Ti cards is insane given their current price vs performance. You can get yourself 4 Geforce 1080s used for the price of a single Geforce 2080ti.
Also if you're going to build a monster / future proof PC, you should go with an NVMe M.2 SSD instead of a 2.5 SATA-based one for the extra performance.
@another caveman It looks like you have the AM4 version of the CPU cooler, you should just get the regular one. Also, considering how much you're paying, and how powerful of CPU cooler you're getting, it probably makes more sense to go with a 9900K cpu instead of an 8700K.
@Someone8me Is there any particular reason you want a Mac? You can almost always get a lot better hardware for the money by going with Windows. Either way, you didn't list your GPU (very important!), and I wouldn't go with anything less then 16GB of ram these days.
Very helpful forum. I am thinking to change form Mac to PC and found in very reasonable price can built good system. I dont have enbough budget but... around 4K I can invert for now. This specification ready system to buy online any site...?
@iacdxb You can probably find a company that would build it for you, but it would be much more expensive then building it yourself. With your budget you wouldn't be able to get something as good as listed there unless you built it yourself.
However, would it be possible to add information about what specific programs benefit from the most?
F.e. had I not known that Zbrush doesnt care about core count but rather frequency Id long bought a Ryzen.
Someone who does a lot of cpu rendering though might decide otherwise.
Currently my question is: What should I upgrade to get better viewport performance in Substance Painter.
It can be hard to find benchmarks for these specific things so it would be cool to know what
Zbrush, SubstanceP&S, Mari, 3dC, MayaMax(Modelling, Animation, Simulation) Marvelous, Xnormal\Knald, Marmoset, Arnold, Redshift, Unreal/Unity, AdobeCC and Games generally benefit from the most.
Is it Ram amount, Ram freq, Gpu cores, Vram, Features like Rtx, Cuda cores, multiple Gpus, Cpu freq, Cpu core count etc..?
To be honest I have a little similar question about GPUs for Substance Painter and other programs too.
I started working on bigger scenes lately in Substance Painter and I noticed that my GTX 770 Phantom 4GB may be not enough anymore
I was wondering, If I should upgrade to RTX 2070 8 GB or used GTX 1080 TI 11GB. Benchmarks in terms of "raw power" are similar, but 1080ti have 11gb of memory which is important I think ?
Also, I am not only talking about Substance Painter but also other 3d programs like Maya or UE4
I'm in the process of building a new workstation - but i'm a bit lost on which motherboard/CPU combo i should get. After lots of research, i've come to the conclusion i should go with an Intel i9-9900K CPU instead of higer core count like the X-series. Primarily because i use alot of Adobe software - and it's also fine for the 3D work i do. Hopefully my RTX 2080 Ti will take the renderload of the cpu when arnold drops a GPU version.
But I want to be able to have 128GB DDR4 ram - preferably 8x16GB (32GB sticks are way to expensive atm) and i can't seem to find a LGA1151 motherboard that has 8x sockets for Ram.
Is there any motherboard like that at all? A motherboard which can have 128gb ram and a 9900k cpu? Or should i just go the X-Series route - and pay up.?
So, i wanted to ask you guys opinion on monitor. I mainly game, and 3d. Is it worth it for design aspect if i go for 32inch 4k display, something like BenQ PD3200U? Or should i go with 27inch display, with gaming extra like HDR, or G-sync for my gaming aspect?
And some other question regarding pc spec, how do you achieve a high-detailed model with your spec? I've seen some professional post their art with awesome detail, like skin pores, fabric pattern, and all that complicated detail, while im here crashing my 3ds max and mudbox trying to do the same?
Should i upgrade the CPU, RAM, or the VGA? My spec right now is i7 8700k, 16gb, and 1060.
So, i wanted to ask you guys opinion on monitor. I mainly game, and 3d. Is it worth it for design aspect if i go for 32inch 4k display, something like BenQ PD3200U? Or should i go with 27inch display, with gaming extra like HDR, or G-sync for my gaming aspect?
And some other question regarding pc spec, how do you achieve a high-detailed model with your spec? I've seen some professional post their art with awesome detail, like skin pores, fabric pattern, and all that complicated detail, while im here crashing my 3ds max and mudbox trying to do the same?
Should i upgrade the CPU, RAM, or the VGA? My spec right now is i7 8700k, 16gb, and 1060.
For the last question, an 8700k is still very good. I would probably look to upgrade RAM and video card both are in equal need of upgrade IMO but it does depend on what sort of stuff you are doing.
Make sure you whatever monitor you choose, it is productive for you. Some people are better off with a big monitor like you suggest or 2 smaller ones, see if there is anywhere you can try out a 32" to see if you like it.
So, i wanted to ask you guys opinion on monitor. I mainly game, and 3d. Is it worth it for design aspect if i go for 32inch 4k display, something like BenQ PD3200U? Or should i go with 27inch display, with gaming extra like HDR, or G-sync for my gaming aspect?
And some other question regarding pc spec, how do you achieve a high-detailed model with your spec? I've seen some professional post their art with awesome detail, like skin pores, fabric pattern, and all that complicated detail, while im here crashing my 3ds max and mudbox trying to do the same?
Should i upgrade the CPU, RAM, or the VGA? My spec right now is i7 8700k, 16gb, and 1060.
For the last question, an 8700k is still very good. I would probably look to upgrade RAM and video card both are in equal need of upgrade IMO but it does depend on what sort of stuff you are doing.
Make sure you whatever monitor you choose, it is productive for you. Some people are better off with a big monitor like you suggest or 2 smaller ones, see if there is anywhere you can try out a 32" to see if you like it.
Thaks for the reply. I think i'll go with bigger monitor with more color accuracy. I'm no hardcore competitive gamer who wanted the smoothest experience possible, i mainly play singleplayer, and 60 fps is enough for me.
For RAM, should i go all the way to 64gb or 32 seems enough? Especially if i wanted to sculpt in the highest detail possible? I think i'll upgrade the GPU when more option and deals are coming up.
Hi guys! im not sure if this is the right thread for the question, but im looking for a new laptop to work while travelling since ive been doing that a lot lately. Ive been using a desktop workstation so long so im not really familiar with anything laptop related.
My budget is =<2000$. My works mostly involve doing concepts /illustrations/ in photoshop, textures in photoshop and potentially substance painter - so a good color accurate screen is a big plus, a bit of sculpting and modelling ( i would mostly do this on my desktop pc but it'd be great if the laptop can handle a few simple cases), and if it can handle running multiple programs simultaneously it would be great (example case is photoshop/subtance painter along with a realtime rendering engine (marmoset toolbag/ unreal).
Thank you for reading, any suggestion is greatly appreciated !
For Photoshop, Substance, and Blender usage, is there a noticeable difference in performance between the different kinds of storage currently available? I've listed the ones I'm aware of below in what I presume is slowest to fastest, but I've only had first-hand experience with old fashioned HDDs.
3.5" 7200 RPM SATA III 2.5" SSD SATA III M.2 SSD SATA M.2 SSD NVME
Generally not, most applications will use ram before storage. The applications will load faster, and perform better if they are running out of memory and have to write to storage.
@BardurM I recently assembled a very similar system and can confirm the ASUS® PRIME X299-A: ATX motherboard has 8 sockets.
@Sastrei There is a huge difference between HDD and SSD, not so much with SSD and M.2. That said, the price of M.2 has come down and I just went one anyway.
@quockhanhlk I can recommend Gigabyte laptops for handling all that kinda stuff. Something like the 'Aero 15' matches your budget exactly. I used mine for Unreal/Sculpting/Substance/DIgital painting etc. Never had a problem.
Do buying a portable monitor worth it, if i'm mainly going to use it as a reference board and watching videos, while gaming and designing on my main monitor? ANybody got experiences? Or is it better to just buy a second monitor as you could game with double monitor, and with much bigger resolution?
Im going to dig to 3D Animation/Enviromental/3D Design topics. I tried it many times but my 10y old machine is no longer viable for anything;]
In next month or two im going to build entire new pc from scratch. Im looking for GG quality for reasonable price. Currently my bets are:
CPU: Ryzen 7 3700/3800X Mobo:propably Asus Strix with upcoming PciE 4.0 Ram: 16/32Gb 3200mhx+ in quad channel GPU: this is the hardest part, im think for due RX580 in Crossfire or single 1080ti/2070/2080 2x 1440p Monitors or maybe even 2x 4K not sure if system will handle it with ease 2x NVe M.2 discs
budget is 2500-3000$ (would like to stay at 2500)
The main problem is GPU as it is a core element but with wide possibilities. I know DX12 is much better utilized by Nvidia cards, but Vulcan API is growing stronger and it works much better with multi cores and multiple cards.
Any advices?
EDIT1: I will mostly be using Maya/ Unreal engine / Substance / Zbrush / Meshroom / Photoshop/After Effects
@Summoned88 I actually just updated the recommended PC builds part of the first post yesterday, so check there for some ideas
A few specific notes on the parts you mentioned: - The Ryzen 3000 desktop CPUs release date isn't yet confirmed, so you might be waiting more then 2 months if you want to get one of them. - These days, especially with RAM prices more becoming reasonable, 32-64GB of RAM is the way to go (especially given your budget) - Avoid crossfire/sli, it wont help you with viewport performance at all. A single faster card is the better solution. Of the cards you listed I'd personally go for the 1080ti (roughly same price/performance as 2080 but with more vram) - Why would you want 2 NVMe drives? That just seems like a waste of money. 1 NVMe drive for things that need to be loaded fast, and one cheaper storage drive is generally accepted as the way to go.
Thank you for your response. Current rumors say that 3rg gen Ryzens are going to hit market in the end of May. Even if they don't - i will wait as im going to build a strong base for years, on top of that im a little RedTeam fanboy;]
Yeah, after i read your post and some stat digging i have will stick to 2080 or 1080ti. The second is now more expensive then 2080 but it seems faster.
I will go for 32gb ram as it is not expensive anymore.
As GPU will propably eat more money then i planned i will propably stick with one 4k monitor, im not sure if 40" are handfull or pixels are too big with this dimensions, 32" is obvious but haveing a big field of workspace looks promising, im using a 21" for years so im not really sure what to think about it, it is rather hard to determine the comfort by watching monitors in stores.
The 1660ti is the faster card, but normally it's also priced higher. If you can get it for the same price as a RX580 then go for it. That said, at its normal price the 1660ti is in kind of a weird spot and most people would say to go with a 2060 or 1070 instead.
This thread is such a great read, as always. I've got a pickle I haven't been able to decide though.
I'm mostly working from home, working on my portfolio, but now I got a 2-month gig abroad. They've got a computer for me to use on-site, but they want me to work with Mari for 3D painting textures for them, which I'll want to learn and practice on my own time so they get their money's worth. My desktop runs Substance and Quixel just fine, and I built it just a year ago, partly from used parts, but my old laptop is not up for the task. (Contract may or may not extend.)
So I need to consider... Should I get a budget-y yet workable laptop for mobility for abroad gigs, game jams and devving on the go? Or should I just transport my whole rig there, and save the money for upgrading that in the future. Transport's paid for, so that's not really part of the equation. I still have my main monitor's box, I have a second one available for borrowing over there. I plan on just wrapping the desktop up best I can, and detaching the GPU and the CPU fan for safer transport, taking those in my carry-on.
If my desktop was shittier, I'd get a fancy laptop in a heartbeat, fancy being 2000€-ish. But it'd feel dumb to over-do it with my desktop being quite decent, however a 1500€-ish or lower budget option as a secondary to-go might be worth it? Here's the desktop's stats:
(Likely my current bottle-neck, but I got it for cheap as used from a friend.)
HD
- Samsung 960 EVO SSD M.2. 2280 - 250 GB
- 2TB Seagate ST2000DM006-2DM164
Main Screen
- AG271QG (2560x1440@165Hz) 27" IPS
(This one's been a decent budget alternative to a similar Predator monitor, by the way, but I've yet to calibrate it. 27" at 1440p is definitely a good balance though, don't think I'd notice 4K at this size, don't think I'd use more screen real estate enough to warrant bigger next to my second monitor, an old DELL ultrawide.)
I'm suspecting the most anyone could tell me is to look deep into my heart and see what I really personally need. Mobility at large, or vast, cosmic computing power in an itty bitty territory? But perhaps at least this might awaken some interesting discussion.
If you're seriously considering using a desktop in a mobile fashion, you might want to consider an ITX build. People have built some really nice PCs using the Ncase M1 and DAN A4-SFX.
I'm looking to get myself a laptop workstation, primarily for z-brush, substance painter, maya, and photoshop. And more than that, I want to be able to develop and play in Unity, so it certainly needs a graphics card.
My budget is 1600 or lower, and right now I'm looking at a variety of brands that can all give me something like the following:
- 9th gen Intel® Core™ Processor i7-9750H 2.60GHz Turbo 4.5GHz 12MB Cache Processor (Coffee Lake) - 16 to 32 GB DDR4 RAM (I'm figuring it's a must that it's up-gradable to 32GB if not in initial purchase, ideally 64GB) - 1 TB M2 drive + some kind of internal backup drive to duplicate stuff to before it's in the cloud. - NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6 or RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6 or I'm open to even a 1060 since the unity play testing is the least important part of what this machine needs to do.
Gigabyte's AORUS, MSI's GL73, and CyberPowerPC's Tracer 3's all offer these at this price point, but I'm not too sure about build quality. The Tracer 3's offer more up front customizability on their manufacturer website, but those do come with a caveat of only 32 GB max ram instead of 64 like the others, and given that I had to dig that info up rather than it being presented easily means I wouldn't be surprised if it was harder to do as well (I haven't ever upgraded a laptop before but I'm comfortable with desktop hardware).
Any opinions on if I'm going down the wrong rabbit hole here for my stated needs?
One of the bigger questions in my mind still is 15 inches versus 17. I have a feeling I'd like the larger screen and not be too sad that the thing was a bit less portable. And when it comes to the portability I do value, I don't really care about weight but saving space is nice. Not gonna be traveling every day with it or anything, but the whole point is to have something I can take with me.
Well! I ended up just going for a cheaper option because I couldn't find the right balance of build quality and price with the newest cpus/gpus. I also just decided to buy a sit/stand electric desk for my home office so my 'not wincing in pain' budget for this kind of decreased. I got a Lenovo Legion Y7000 for 900 bucks on sale from Costco, and will upgrade it to 32 GB RAM.
Going to get this RAM I think, but my question now would be, is there any reason to grab the 3000 MT/s ram over the 2666 MT/s? Would that make any kind of noticable difference for Zbrush?
I've kind of committed mentally to this primarily being a mobile Zbrush workhorse since the GeForce 1060 isn't gonna be blowing me away with Substance Painter, but at least it won't stop me from using the program when I need to either.
Any other tips for this machine, I imagine I might want a cooling pad?
Also, advice from people regarding my previous ideas would be handy, I still may return this if I decide on something better. I might end up doing that just to grab the newer Y7000 releasing at the end of this month since I would like substance painter perf to not be too far behind my main workstation.
Personally I vastly prefer 15' laptops for their portability+weight over 17' ones, since remember you're not just hauling around the laptop but a power brick, mouse, and maybe headphones as well. But ultimately it just comes down to personal preference.
DDR4 2666 is perfectly fine, no need to go above that for now. Current CPU specifications only actually support up to that speed anyway by default (most people that get higher speed ram do it because the modules are cheaper or because they want to overclock).
Cooling pads are useful since they tend to help laptops live longer (laptop parts tend to wear out faster then desktop ones partially due to their worse cooling).
Hey, I've got a question, I've currently got 32GB ram installed (on an i7 6700K, 8 core). I'm using a lot of 16bit 8k displacement maps applied to my mesh in Zbrush and finding that Zbrush really starts to lag a fair bit even with "Quick View" turned on (understandable given the size of the maps). I'm in a position to upgrade my pc's ram to maybe 64GB. I was just wondering if that would make a difference with handling large displacement maps or is jump from 32 to 64 not really that noticeable/worth it? Wondered if anyone had any experience/wisdom to offer on it
@carrottoptw Have you checked the windows task manager to see if you're maxing out your current ram? If you are then more ram can help, if not...do you have an SSD? the way ZBrush caches data can benefit from using an SSD over a mechanical hard drive. If that's also not an issue then you're best bet is getting a newer CPU. Just fyi, the 6700K you mentioned is actually 4 core 8 thread (the 6700K was one of the last 'high-end' mainstream CPUs launched with only 4 cores)
@PolyHertz Ahhh right thanks very much for the really useful info! I have a couple of SSD's and zbrush is cached to a secondary 1TB one I seem to remember. But I will defo check the task manager to see how much ram I'm using tomorrow. Haha you're totally right, my mistake about the cores! Was considering upgrading the CPU as I made the pc in early 2016 so the cpu is getting along a bit but still pretty good and handles everything I need well enough. Any suggestions on a powerful cpu?
@carrottoptw Right now I'd actually say wait just a little bit before upgrading since it's rumored that AMD may be releasing their new generation of CPUs right after Computex on May 28th, in both 12 core (24 thread) and 16 core (32 thread) variants. If you're a fan of Intel there isn't really anything comparable coming out soon afaik (they've been struggling to keep up with AMD since Ryzen launched in 2017).
@PolyHertz I'll defiantly wait to see then whats what with AMD in the very near future release then. I've always had Intel so never made the transition to AMD but heard good things about the threadripper. But if I go for AMD then my mobo would need an upgrade I'd assume as I'm using a 2016 https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/Fatal1ty%20Z170%20Professional%20Gaming%20i7/. Food for thought
@PolyHertz... Hey again, so I checked zbrush against the task manager to see mem usage when using disp and splitting the mesh into multiple subtools based on udims and then subdividing each subtool to around 45mill to maintain 16bit disp details and I'm averaging around 75 to almost 90% of memory usage of my 32gb. Zbrush hasn't crashed if displacement is just applied but then it becomes a difficult/laggy to sculpt with. Not sure if my memory settings (default) are ok or not either... What do you think, would I benefit from 64gb? (which is the max my motherboard can take)
its been a while since ive built a pc and ive never bought an amd processor, but it seems like everyone is on the threadripper bandwagon these days, anything to watch out for? it used to be that amd vs intel was a big deal when it came to software compatibility is that no longer an issue?
@carrottoptw You can max out Compact Mem in ZBrush (to 4096) and it might give you some performance gain, the default of 256 is an old setting for very low-spec PCs.
Your RAM looks like it very well could be a bottleneck given how close you are getting to maxing out, but it's hard to say how much increasing it will improve performance. If you know of any local shops where you could buy extra ram and return it if it doesn't give you the performance you're looking for then that might be worth trying. If it doesn't end up helping though there's nothing much you can really do but start budgeting for a new CPU + Motherboard.
@radiancef0rge Compatibility isn't really a major issue with AMD CPUs these days. Unlike AMDs older CPUs, the Ryzen and Threadripper line are quite well supported. That said, with AMD rumored to be releasing a 16 core Ryzen CPU within a month it might not be worth going with the more expensive Threadripper any longer (unless you need over 16 cores / 32 threads).
@PolyHertz Ahhh yeah I'm not sure now, I guess more ram might make a small difference, and yeah I guess I could get it from amazon as they usually accept returns if it doesnt make much of a difference... The CPU/MOBO will need upgrading soon but will have to have a think about it. Thanks for all your help with this!
What is the point in buying RTX for workstation? I don't get it
Working with real-time Ray tracing in UE4, there are bakers in substance designer that are now RTX accelerated and in the future more software might end up using these features.
What is the point in buying RTX for workstation? I don't get it
Working with real-time Ray tracing in UE4, there are bakers in substance designer that are now RTX accelerated and in the future more software might end up using these features.
I see, thanks for responses. Is it working only in Designer or Painter is supported as well? Although I'm not sure if it will be worth it for me personally, since I'm not baking 4k textures, usually just 2k and only a few at a time. I plan to buy a new PC this summer and mostly looking at 1660ti or new Navi cards from AMD.
Replies
First, Octane is a GPU renderer, and none of the other apps you mentioned need so many CPU cores (unless you plan on using a 2nd CPU based renderer in Max). I'd gt a regular AM4 CPU like a 2700X (or wait for the 3800X if you really want 16 cores).
Next is that getting two Geforce 2080 Ti cards is insane given their current price vs performance. You can get yourself 4 Geforce 1080s used for the price of a single Geforce 2080ti.
Also if you're going to build a monster / future proof PC, you should go with an NVMe M.2 SSD instead of a 2.5 SATA-based one for the extra performance.
I am looking at getting a workstation for Maya 2018, After Effects and the Adobe design packages.
This is what I am looking at getting for Professional animation work and rendering.
Model Identifier: iMac16,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2,8 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Will this be good enough to animate, render and deliver animation projects on time?
@Someone8me Is there any particular reason you want a Mac? You can almost always get a lot better hardware for the money by going with Windows. Either way, you didn't list your GPU (very important!), and I wouldn't go with anything less then 16GB of ram these days.
This specification ready system to buy online any site...?
$800 - GPU: NVIDIA Geforce 1080ti, 11gb vram
$700 - RAM: 64GB (4x 16GB)
$400 - SSD: 1TB, Samsung 970 PRO M.2
$170 - HDD: 4TB
$340 - MOBO: ASRock X399 Taichi
$80 - CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3
$220 - Tower: Be Quiet! DarkBase 900
$160 - Power: EVGA 220-P2-0850-X1 (850W, Platinum rated)
I'm in the process of building a new workstation - but i'm a bit lost on which motherboard/CPU combo i should get.
After lots of research, i've come to the conclusion i should go with an Intel i9-9900K CPU instead of higer core count like the X-series.
Primarily because i use alot of Adobe software - and it's also fine for the 3D work i do. Hopefully my RTX 2080 Ti will take the renderload of the cpu when arnold drops a GPU version.
But I want to be able to have 128GB DDR4 ram - preferably 8x16GB (32GB sticks are way to expensive atm)
and i can't seem to find a LGA1151 motherboard that has 8x sockets for Ram.
Is there any motherboard like that at all? A motherboard which can have 128gb ram and a 9900k cpu?
Or should i just go the X-Series route - and pay up.?
Here is my build as of now: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TtjYCb
Thanks
i7 8700k
Noctua NHD15
Gigabyte Aorus z370 Gaming rev7
G.skill ripjaws v 16 GB, DDR4-3000
Samsung evo 850 series 1 tb.
Evga Geforce RTX 2070 8 gb black video card.
Be Quiet! Dark Base 900 Orange ATX FULL TOWER
EVGA 750, 80+ GOLD SEMI certified Modular ATX supply.
This lands me around 1800 Dollars.
I already have a new Windows 10 pro copy , Mouse, keyboard are set and monitor.
Any tips on where i could save money (Germany) Maybe should go with a AMD Ryzen 2700x?
Is it worth it for design aspect if i go for 32inch 4k display, something like BenQ PD3200U?
Or should i go with 27inch display, with gaming extra like HDR, or G-sync for my gaming aspect?
And some other question regarding pc spec, how do you achieve a high-detailed model with your spec?
I've seen some professional post their art with awesome detail, like skin pores, fabric pattern, and all that complicated detail, while im here crashing my 3ds max and mudbox trying to do the same?
Should i upgrade the CPU, RAM, or the VGA? My spec right now is i7 8700k, 16gb, and 1060.
Make sure you whatever monitor you choose, it is productive for you. Some people are better off with a big monitor like you suggest or 2 smaller ones, see if there is anywhere you can try out a 32" to see if you like it.
For RAM, should i go all the way to 64gb or 32 seems enough? Especially if i wanted to sculpt in the highest detail possible? I think i'll upgrade the GPU when more option and deals are coming up.
3.5" 7200 RPM SATA III
2.5" SSD SATA III
M.2 SSD SATA
M.2 SSD NVME
@Sastrei There is a huge difference between HDD and SSD, not so much with SSD and M.2. That said, the price of M.2 has come down and I just went one anyway.
ANybody got experiences? Or is it better to just buy a second monitor as you could game with double monitor, and with much bigger resolution?
Im going to dig to 3D Animation/Enviromental/3D Design topics. I tried it many times but my 10y old machine is no longer viable for anything;]
In next month or two im going to build entire new pc from scratch. Im looking for GG quality for reasonable price. Currently my bets are:
CPU: Ryzen 7 3700/3800X
Mobo:propably Asus Strix with upcoming PciE 4.0
Ram: 16/32Gb 3200mhx+ in quad channel
GPU: this is the hardest part, im think for due RX580 in Crossfire or single 1080ti/2070/2080
2x 1440p Monitors or maybe even 2x 4K not sure if system will handle it with ease
2x NVe M.2 discs
budget is 2500-3000$ (would like to stay at 2500)
The main problem is GPU as it is a core element but with wide possibilities. I know DX12 is much better utilized by Nvidia cards, but Vulcan API is growing stronger and it works much better with multi cores and multiple cards.
Any advices?
EDIT1: I will mostly be using Maya/ Unreal engine / Substance / Zbrush / Meshroom / Photoshop/After Effects
A few specific notes on the parts you mentioned:
- The Ryzen 3000 desktop CPUs release date isn't yet confirmed, so you might be waiting more then 2 months if you want to get one of them.
- These days, especially with RAM prices more becoming reasonable, 32-64GB of RAM is the way to go (especially given your budget)
- Avoid crossfire/sli, it wont help you with viewport performance at all. A single faster card is the better solution. Of the cards you listed I'd personally go for the 1080ti (roughly same price/performance as 2080 but with more vram)
- Why would you want 2 NVMe drives? That just seems like a waste of money. 1 NVMe drive for things that need to be loaded fast, and one cheaper storage drive is generally accepted as the way to go.
Programs Used:
zBrush
Maya
Substance Painter
Marmoset Toolbag
I'm suspecting the most anyone could tell me is to look deep into my heart and see what I really personally need. Mobility at large, or vast, cosmic computing power in an itty bitty territory? But perhaps at least this might awaken some interesting discussion.
My budget is 1600 or lower, and right now I'm looking at a variety of brands that can all give me something like the following:
- 9th gen Intel® Core™ Processor i7-9750H 2.60GHz Turbo 4.5GHz 12MB Cache Processor (Coffee Lake)
- 16 to 32 GB DDR4 RAM (I'm figuring it's a must that it's up-gradable to 32GB if not in initial purchase, ideally 64GB)
- 1 TB M2 drive + some kind of internal backup drive to duplicate stuff to before it's in the cloud.
- NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6 or RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6 or I'm open to even a 1060 since the unity play testing is the least important part of what this machine needs to do.
Gigabyte's AORUS, MSI's GL73, and CyberPowerPC's Tracer 3's all offer these at this price point, but I'm not too sure about build quality. The Tracer 3's offer more up front customizability on their manufacturer website, but those do come with a caveat of only 32 GB max ram instead of 64 like the others, and given that I had to dig that info up rather than it being presented easily means I wouldn't be surprised if it was harder to do as well (I haven't ever upgraded a laptop before but I'm comfortable with desktop hardware).
Any opinions on if I'm going down the wrong rabbit hole here for my stated needs?
One of the bigger questions in my mind still is 15 inches versus 17. I have a feeling I'd like the larger screen and not be too sad that the thing was a bit less portable. And when it comes to the portability I do value, I don't really care about weight but saving space is nice. Not gonna be traveling every day with it or anything, but the whole point is to have something I can take with me.
Going to get this RAM I think, but my question now would be, is there any reason to grab the 3000 MT/s ram over the 2666 MT/s? Would that make any kind of noticable difference for Zbrush?
Crucial 32GB Kit (16GBx2) DDR4 2666 MT/s (PC4-21300) DR x8 SODIMM 260-Pin Memory - CT2K16G4SFD8266
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-16GBx2-PC4-21300-SODIMM-260-Pin/dp/B071H38422?tag=wpcentralb-20&ascsubtag=UUwpUdUnU63059YYwYg&th=1
I've kind of committed mentally to this primarily being a mobile Zbrush workhorse since the GeForce 1060 isn't gonna be blowing me away with Substance Painter, but at least it won't stop me from using the program when I need to either.
Any other tips for this machine, I imagine I might want a cooling pad?
Also, advice from people regarding my previous ideas would be handy, I still may return this if I decide on something better. I might end up doing that just to grab the newer Y7000 releasing at the end of this month since I would like substance painter perf to not be too far behind my main workstation.
DDR4 2666 is perfectly fine, no need to go above that for now. Current CPU specifications only actually support up to that speed anyway by default (most people that get higher speed ram do it because the modules are cheaper or because they want to overclock).
Cooling pads are useful since they tend to help laptops live longer (laptop parts tend to wear out faster then desktop ones partially due to their worse cooling).
Your RAM looks like it very well could be a bottleneck given how close you are getting to maxing out, but it's hard to say how much increasing it will improve performance. If you know of any local shops where you could buy extra ram and return it if it doesn't give you the performance you're looking for then that might be worth trying. If it doesn't end up helping though there's nothing much you can really do but start budgeting for a new CPU + Motherboard.
@radiancef0rge Compatibility isn't really a major issue with AMD CPUs these days. Unlike AMDs older CPUs, the Ryzen and Threadripper line are quite well supported. That said, with AMD rumored to be releasing a 16 core Ryzen CPU within a month it might not be worth going with the more expensive Threadripper any longer (unless you need over 16 cores / 32 threads).
https://www.tweaktown.com/news/65888/amds-new-ryzen-9-3850x-16c-32t-chip-kills-threadripper/index.html
$500 - AMD R9 3900X (12 cores , 3.8~4.6ghz) (Socket AM4) (Release: July 7th 2019)
$400 - AMD R7 3800X (8 cores , 3.9~4.5ghz) (Socket AM4) (Release: July 7th 2019)
$330 - AMD R7 3700X (8 cores , 3.6~4.4ghz) (Socket AM4) (Release: July 7th 2019)
$250 - AMD R5 3600X (6 cores , 3.8~4.4ghz) (Socket AM4) (Release: July 7th 2019)
$200 - AMD R5 3600 (6 cores , 3.6~4.2ghz) (Socket AM4) (Release: July 7th 2019)
If you plan to upgrade your CPU but have an older AM4 motherboard, here's a compatibility chart: