3D Modeling: NEW PC Configuration

Moffafa

I am building a new computer as my old one that I built in 2011 has an unsupported video card and there is too much noticeable lag. New build below:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor
be quiet! Pure Rock 51.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Asus GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB STRIX GAMING Video Card <<—Was a worry for me.
Corsair RM (2019) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Philips Monitors 4K Ultra HD LCD Monitor 276E8VJSB 27-Inch
Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case

What say you?

Primary goals: Speed and stability for active viewport modeling in Maya and Zbrush sculpting, Texturing in PS and Substance Painter, Longevity (at least 5 years lasting)

Appreciate opinions in advance.

Thanks

Obscura

Whats your budget?

Btw:
https://polycount.com/discussion/173350/upgrading-or-building-a-new-pc-this-is-the-thread-for-you#latest

I feel like that processor is a little bit weak. Also, I'm not sure if buying a 4k monitor with this config is a great idea. The 2070 isn't that strong, a lot of games and maybe even game engines would show low fps on 4k resolution. Not to mention rtx which isn't fast even on full hd...And if you don't use the 4k resolution, there isn't much point of having such a device. I would rather spend that extra money on a slightly better gpu (2070 super for example) or a better full hd monitor.

Moffafa

Heya Obscura,

Thank you for taking the time to look over my configuration and for the tips and suggestions. I knew I forgot to mention something, budget. Went through the link you posted, I'll re-post there thanks!

thomasp

I'd first go and check if the Ryzen platform is now mature or if it's still misbehaving and crashing and doing weird stuff in idle like a few weeks ago when it was released? From what I've read there's a risk you might be in for a PC modder experience at this point: trying a new firmware, Bios setting or driver version every week...

Anyway priorities from my POV:

- Highest single core speed you can afford: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

- 64 Gigs of RAM is a very usable amount right now, for a 5-years system life ideally you'll want the option to upgrade beyond that so check if motherboard and chipset can support it

- Video card seems fine to me. I would expect that with usual video card performance increases this is a part you'll want to swap for an upgrade about halfway down the road anyway

- You'll need more storage - and IMO preferably spread across several devices, see below*. Also you might want to put in spinning disks for backup purposes

- and about the 4K monitor: that's more pixels to push and will probably slow you down, expecially in ZBrush where the performance seems to scale with canvas resolution. Plus 27 inch is kinda crammed at this pixel density. I'd go with 1440p or 1600p in a 32-inch+ screen. Relaxing to look at.

* I have two separate SSD's with a clone of the operating system, both mounted in the computer but only one at a time connected. If one fails (has happened to me just before a deadline) I can plug in the other one and continue working. Work files are stored on a separate SSD

* I also have a large spinning drive in the computer to mirror all of my work at the end of the day

* In addition I have several external mirrored copies of my work and a spinning drive with an OS clone for extreme cases

* Lastly I have another spinning drive that contains versions, snapshots of important projects, ready to be plugged back in

This is all stuff I set up after experiencing OS or drive failures at the worst of times (I'm freelance and can't pull the 'dog ate my homework' stunt).

Moffafa

Hello thomasp,

Thank for the heads up and suggestions! I actually changed the configuration a bit in another forum that Obscura linked:

https://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2699916/#Comment_2699916

The above link will take you to my latest configuration so far. I've copy and pasted your post into a word doc and will do some additional research for sure. On the spin drives, I plan on using the 2 500 GB 7200 RPM drives from my old computer as well as my external 1TB drive as backup storage devices.

Again thanks thomasp.