Help! Need to build a PC for 3D Animation ASAP!

H

hugjoh

Member
Hi guys,

Frantically trying to research components and build a pc for 3D animation in Cinema 4D, as well as After Effects and Premiere work. Have little experience of PC's always been a mac user, finally decided to switch cos of my student budget. Have a little over a grand to spend. Need something asap as i've a little over 2 months left to finish my final film for my MA.

Here's what I come up with so far, please make any suggestions,

Cheers,

Hugo :)

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6870 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable

2nd Graphics Card
NONE

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
60GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

RAID
NONE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NONE

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)

Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD




Total Order Price


£1,054.00
 
S

shocksalot

Bronze Level Poster
hello Hugjoy
let me start off by saying that im in the same boat as you, i also study 3D, however im using Maya / Zbrush / Nuke. very similar to your programs tho =D

things you should prioritise for this kind of work:
1: the CPU, this will determine the speed of your Render times
2: RAM cap, if your using After effects you will need a ton of RAM, if you can afford it get 16GB
3: Cooling, your CPU will be under alot of stress from using those programs + rendering, so i recomend getting a decent cooler, ive personall gone for the Coolit ECO, but you should be fine with a different one (depends on budget). Also remember that the case you choose will determine the majourity of cooling that your system will be able to pull off.
4: Storage, doing this kind of work will require a ton of storage, i recomend getting at least a 1TB secondary drive.

Budgeting tips:
-dont bother with an SSD
-you dont need an insane GPU
-you wont see a difference from getting faster RAM
-unless you plan on using multiple screen's just get the basic mother board

hope this helps dude, always a pleasure to help out fellow 3D students =D
 
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S

shocksalot

Bronze Level Poster
heres a lil spec i came up with for ya:

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (4 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,093.00 including VAT and delivery.

-Went for the T900 case as its cheaper than the one you selected and actualy offers better cooling.
-The GTX will give you a nice amount of CUDA cores which apprently speed up real time in some graphic creation programs (nuke, after effects, blender sims etc).

it might be pushing your budget a tad, but it would be worth it in the long run.
 
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W

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
can remove memory card from th spec above to save, and i think switching from 1x500GB and 1x1TB to a 1.5TB will save money, make sure its the 6GB one though

im also thinking that with your budget, you could probably go with the i5 2500 there is little difference, although there is probably a noticable speed difference, very slightly though...

and also if you need wireless internet you will need the £16 PCI card
 
S

shocksalot

Bronze Level Poster
Wozza365 said:
you could probably go with the i5 2500 there is little difference, although there is probably a noticable speed difference, very slightly though...
Click to expand...

he will need the i7 for 3D, all 3D apps use multi threading so it will help him out alot
 
H

hugjoh

Member
shockalot you are an absolute gent, thanks so much for you're help! Price and specs look great! One thing, was going to go for no operating system as you can get Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit for 40 quid if you're a student, maybe check it out yourself if you haven't already ordered, thanks again mate

@wozza - cheers for the advice but think 2 hard are better than one for backups etc, don't mind spending that little extra for peace of mind! also want multi-threading for rendering etc so definitely going with the i7, cheers for the advice though, all appreciated!

http://www.software4students.co.uk/Windows_7-software.aspx
 
H

hugjoh

Member
Yeah going to go with shockalots recommendations i think, looks perfect for my needs, thanks again for your advice shockalot, you the man!!
 
S

shocksalot

Bronze Level Poster
hugjoh said:
Yeah going to go with shockalots recommendations i think, looks perfect for my needs, thanks again for your advice shockalot, you the man!!
Click to expand...

hey no worries dude = )

i didnt actually know about the student discount on windows 7 =O

good luck with your 3D stuff, and enjoy the fast render times of the i7 > : D
 
W

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
you cant get it for £40, there is a £70 upgrade to professional and cannot be purchased as a standalone without a previous OS, so you must have vista, or a lower win7 to do this
 
H

hugjoh

Member
sorry one last question, is it worth getting the unlocked i2600k version? only slightly more in the price, not sure if there will benefits for 3d work or is overclocking just for gaming? cheers
 
S

shocksalot

Bronze Level Poster
hugjoh said:
sorry one last question, is it worth getting the unlocked i2600k version? only slightly more in the price, not sure if there will benefits for 3d work or is overclocking just for gaming? cheers
Click to expand...

its not worth it m8 for 3D work, overlocking is a seriously bad move for any 3D user, think about it, you just increased the voltage of your CPU (causes stress), then you leave the thing to render out a 3D scene (uses 100% fo your CPU) you will just burn out your CPU and as a result it will die very quickly. Just stick with the non 'k' editon.

if you 'want' to spend another £20 id recomend goin for the Coolmaster 690 case, this thing can support up to 10 case fans, comes with removable dust filters (for cleaning), and has better air flow than the T900, but thats just if you want to spend another £20 (instead of getting the 'k' series cpu)
 
Frenchy

Frenchy

Prolific Poster
Have you thought about any of the Quadro graphics cards?

For me it was a bit of a harder choice since I do game development and need game performance as well as 3D design, however it seems you are only using yours for cinema 4D, after effects etc, this sort of stuff greatly benefits from the new quadro cards with their fermi architectures.

Id suggest instead of the ATI HD5870, for roughly the same price you could put int a Nvidia Quadro 600 which is a lot smaller, uses less power and will do the job better.

If im mistaken please someone correct me, but I really think you should consider the Quadro option.
 
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