Help building a new 3D and rendering PC

[Bes4]

Hello all,
Hopefully I have posted on the correct thread for this, I'm new.

Can somebody possibly please make a build for my requirements. I will be using Maya, 3DS Max, Substance Painter, Sketchup, Unreal engine and these kinda programmes, will be using rendering programmes a lot too.

I rarely play games but if I do it's usually only open world games (GTA, Cyberpunk, Star Citizen if it ever comes out) and would hope to play on high or near that. Additionally looking to use VR on it too in the future to bring some of my projects to life.

Would it be recommended that I get an M.2SSD for windows, an SSD for my programmes to store on and hard drive for the odd thing? Or is this over kill?

I'm looking to max spend around £2.2k-ish

Also any recommendations on a new monitor to go with it, not included in the pc's final price; preferably a 144hz monitor, IPS monitor. I'm looking at the "Acer Nitro VG270UP 27" WQHD 144Hz 1ms Gaming Monitor" at £350 has 144hz and IPS screen really cant go higher priced than £400. If this isn't recommended is there just a 144hz screen you recommend, without IPS?

This will be my first ever build so need some help

Thanks for your time.

 

[Oussebon]

If it's not critically urgent, I'd suggest waiting for 7th July which is when AMD's Zen 2 CPUs are released for sale.

These are likely to be extremely well suited for your needs, and also come with some new, forward-looking features like PCIe 4.0 on the motherboards,

 

[Bes4]

If it's not critically urgent, I'd suggest waiting for 7th July which is when AMD's Zen 2 CPUs are released for sale.

These are likely to be extremely well suited for your needs, and also come with some new, forward-looking features like PCIe 4.0 on the motherboards,

Thanks for the reply, yeah was looking at buying around Sep or Oct. Once released would be good to hear your idea of what my pc specs should be.

 

[Oussebon]

If you're not buying until then I'd honestly wait until then to plan the spec.

New hardware comes out literally all the time (September will even see a 16 core Zen 2 chip for instance, and we can expect new models of PCIe 4.0 SSDs to come thick and fast), prices can change, as can availability and PCS's specific pricing/stocking choices.

 

[Bes4]

Hey Oussebon, hope you're well.
I think the time has come to spec and purchase my next PC (finally). I edited in more info to my first post above with needs/budget.
Help will be appreciated.

 

[Oussebon]

Potentially this except with the R9 3900x for £1978. I can't add it in as it's out of stock at the moment.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 14 working days
Price: £1,812.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/SDa0xrSAM8/

You could go with the RTX 2080 Super, though the 2070 Super is more than fine.

You could also look at this new LG monitor: LG 27GL850-B as it's supposed to be excellent. The savings from the spec being below £2.2k may let you push for it at £450-ish

Otherwise that Acer seems fine.

Wherever you buy a monitor from, make sure you're happy with the returns policy as these things can often have dead pixels - which don't actually qualify as faults in many cases...

 

[Bes4]

Thanks a lot for that!

If I were to choose and use the full 2.2k just on the pc, would you recommended upping the Ram to the 3200 version? Additionally, I saw there is no normal SSD in the build, would that be something to be added with the extra money or not? If not, would I store my programmes/games on the m2 or the Hard drive?

 

[Oussebon]

The 970 Evo is a 'normal' SSD, it's just faster and more expensive

OS, programs, favourite games, and current work projects on the SSD. It's easy to swap games between drives too so you can move games off the SSD and onto the HDD (and vice versa) at will with a few mouse clicks.

Of course you could add a larger and cheaper sata SSD in the future if you want at any time.

You could up the RAM to 3200MHz (2x16gb) though it is expensive and may not quite be worth the price.. But if you're not spending the money on anything else, you could do it.

Note that the Acer monitor isn't height adjustable. If you bought a mounting arm for it, you'd be getting towards the territory where you should get a better monitor outright that also has height adjust anyway. The Acer's Freesync, which is fine, though there's something to be said for gsync compatible (which I say as someone who uses a freesync monitor with an nvidia GPU).

For your £200 leftover, I'd suggest looking at the LG monitor for another ~£100, maybe the RAM, and possibly a larger HDD depending how much mass storage you need. Or sticking with the spec above and pocketing the difference.

 

[Bes4]

Hey Oussebon, hope you're doing good. Firstly I'd like to say thanks a lot for the help with the spec I forgot to say that I went ahead and purchased your spec recommendations way back, just changed the case, and its been great.

Secondly could you recommend a laptop for the same tasks but on a budget. I understand that this may be impossible due to the power the apps need but is there anything out there or on PCS. As I'd like to have a portable laptop just to do some light modelling when I'm on my travels, Maya/3DS Max, and nothing else. Preferably under £700ish?
Thanks again

 

[Oussebon]

Hey, glad to hear it's all been going well with the PC

What case did you end up with out of interest?

As for the laptop, I'd ideally suggest the Cosmos with an i7 9750H and a GTX 1050 but it's well above £700

Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS 60Hz 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 - 3.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Cosmos VIII Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
Clevo NH55RHQ (3GB GTX-1050, i7-9750H, 60Hz FHD IPS N4)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £839.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/cosmosVIII-15/aRDyXSBgRG/

You could try looking to get a 9750H within £700 elsewhere, though I'm not sure if such things are available at all.

 

[Oussebon]

You could get something like the Ultranote. It may well be enough for what you're after, though the hardware is not nearly as powerful as the Cosmos. Like most laptops in this price range it has a -U series CPU rather than -H series, and lacks a dedicated GPU:

Chassis & Display
UltraNote Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 60Hz 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor i5-10210U (1.6GHz, 4.2GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS (CPU Dependant) - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 40W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
UltraNote Series 36WH Lithium Ion Battery
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
Clevo NL51CU FHD (i5-10210U, FHD, 60Hz N4)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £628.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/ultraNoteVI-15/zyQ3FpV5XB/

 

[Bes4]

Thanks a lot for the info and the specs, seriously appreciate it. Will do my research with this info.
As for the case I went with the white NXZT H500 as I preferred it aesthetically although at the cost of no mesh at the front, although the temps seem to be fine anyway. Wasn't a fan of the acrylic window panel I believe the case in your spec had.
Again thanks so much.

 

[Oussebon]

Cool - and yeah, I'm sure it's fine. The Define S doesn't have a mesh front (though despite that is excellent for cooling). The current mesh-fronted go-to mid-range case would be the Meshify C with its tempered glass side panel. Though PCS may well have not been stocking that when you ordered as they went through a Meshify drought

 

[Bes4]

Correct, there was a Meshify-C drought when I had ordered!
I will let you know how my hunt for a potential budget laptop goes and the inevitable help I'll need again.
Appreciate it