Firstly I want to start with the fact that I used laptops only for the last 10 + years, but now I decided to build a PC to help me for work as well as gaming. The most important thing is that I want to go Mid price and new tech that can last long and have the option to upgrade (I will list the desired upgrades further down below). I’m making this thread 'cuz this is getting a bit out of hand (price department) and I’m not really experienced in the desktop PC market currently.
I’m going Intel + NVIDIA for 2 reasons:
I have bitter taste from AMD + radeon from back in the day when their drivers and heat output were super bad and I’m not really keen on trying them again especially 'cuz of the next reason.
Autodesk software is “powered by Intel and Nvidia”, so even if AMD can outperform them I will still have problems in architectural software like even not showing up some textures and what not.
Eventually I want to go another (same brick) on the RAM and SSD will be something among the lines of 256/500 GB and a WD 7200 RPM black 1 TB for storage, but will for sure start only with SSD to save money. Eventually go for another SSD for games.
The GPU is just for an example what I can get from friend of mine for pretty cheap - he has tons of those dealing with bitcoin and what not (not overclocked cards).
One of the upgrades I’m considering eventually is to go double on the GPU for Picture and video rendering requirements at some point in time.
Don’t care about RGB lights and what not … just found the Mother board (bluetooth) and the Case to be really practical for what they have in the price range. I will build a new custom desk for this where I will be barely able to see the PC
I already got the 2 x 60Hz monitors for which I’m really happy about, cuz their stands are amazing with the options they provide as a side ones and about the 144 Hz one that will be in the middle I’m open for suggestions (it can for sure wait for a while), but I doubt there can be a better one in that price range being 24 inch one - mainly required for gaming. It’s the only one that has G-Sync capability in it’s class (don’t worry yourself that’s titled FreeSync one)
The most problematic things are the PSU, the MainBoard, Case, Cooler and probably CPU if it’s better to get older one for cheaper for the time being (but going for mid tier new tech - don’t see the point).
The more I wait … the crazier my demands/price gets and at this point for my budget waiting for Black Friday is the main viable option if I stay in this price range … considering that my monitors money is already gone and will go towards SSDs + HDD
Any help and suggestions are really appreciated and I know most of you know your stuff
I personally would go for a 2x8 kit of memory to utilize dual channel, but I understand if you are planning on upgrading keeping it like you have it.
As for CPU, intel’s tick tock improvements haven’t really been impressive. It’s a couple percent here and there from what I understand.
I don’t do video editing in the least so I’m not sure on this, but I thought I remember editing being more CPU intensive from reviews.
If you are going to be working off a single drive for a while, I would probably go for a 500GB SSD.
Otherwise, I don’t really see issues with what you’ve got based on the fact the GPU in the list is a placeholder. Some people might recommend a higher 80 Plus rating, but you generally have to pay for that.
Videos for me are equal to rendering every frame one by one so I need the software to cope with the hardware
Single drive will be probably 1 month tops issue - that’s why I haven’t bothered putting drives in… I’m mostly scared for the cooler and PSU etc… they look really cheap for what I try to get in the end … even when considering it’s mid tier build The case seems to be good on ventilation though by itself and the Mother board has pretty huge heat sinks.
Seems I can’t find older gen CPU that’s worth the money for temporary “making things cheaper” and still handling stuff… even 6th gen i5s are not even the half the cost
That’s pretty typical. they quit producing them and then the cost goes up because supply/demand.
As for the CPU cooler. that is a pretty good cooler. and the PSU. as long as it’s built by a reputable brand and has a decent 80 Plus rating, you should be okay. Generally you get what you pay for in that department.
A shame, too, because AMD’s cores and performance would really kill it for you for your tasks. If only Autodesk would support AMD more! The heat issues–I understand your complaints, by the way, it has been mine for so long (long time AMD user lol), but with Ryzen it isn’t like before–have been so drastically improved it isn’t a problem anymore.
As for your build, I think it would really help you for your needs to try and push for an i7. The Intel Core i7-8700K would do you wonders, and last you longer. Other than that, I agree with Pylinaer about dual channels but if you plan to upgrade later,keep it like that. However, there are kits you can get for the same money that gives 16GB still and have better latency.
(Oh, just want to mention that Seagate offers its latest model of 3tb HDDs, 7200 RPM (6 Gb/s 64MB Cache), for around $79 in case you might be browsing about for 'em still.)
I really hope AMD will keep up the good work and eventually nudge the monopoly even a bit, but for now I’m not willing to risk it .
i7 goes really expensive for me and my budget and will push it a bit beyond mid tier build unfortunately . One day when the only thing I need is new CPU I will get something in that price range for sure (maybe even next year hopefully!) but I need to move in January which will have tons of costs and what not on it’s own. I need to finish designing my new corner desk as well and see if I can get ok offer for what I require - plenty of storage space and then I will know better how much money I can spent for the PC. For now I’m trying to cut costs from the build and not really push it further
At this point I’m even considering going for 120 GB SSD just to put it all together as soon as possible . Currently I’m using 120 GB SSD on my laptop just for windows 10 enterprise (now called educational for some reason) and all my software with still 60 GBs left and my storage is 1 TB WD black 7200 RPM.
If I go that stupid route I can probably get the other brick of RAM and 500 GB SSD for rendering/gaming the very next month and then add an actual storage HDD eventually.
This Seagate HDD really looks tempting, but I’m too much fan of WD black now and I’m willing to wait a bit for such HDD
About the RAM I’m intrigued, but there’s one question that can be raised and I have not a single clue what will be better. What will happen if I get such 2x Ram kit and then go another one = 4 ram sticks in total? Will that be better eventually or not compared to 2 x 16 GB ones and why?
Thank you both for the feedback @Pylinaer and @Rhyagelle
Really appreciate it!
Hm, pretty out of balance list. Now then. If you really are set on wanting Intel over AMD then swap out the i5-8600K (which is outdated) for an i7-9700 and a cheaper motherboard. Like the ASRock Z390 Pro4, that’s $70 cheaper than the one in your list and offers everything you need.
I get the choice for 1x16gb of ram if you’re planning on upgrading, but then I’d recommend to upgrade quickly as single channel memory hits hard on your performance.
The GTX 1070 is a good card, have one myself, but buying one brand new for $550 is just crazy when you can buy an RTX 2070 Super for $499 which is about twice as fast. Now it all depends on how cheap you can get said 1070, if it’s more than $150 I wouldn’t do it. That’s because it’s a mining card and for about $230 you can get a GTX 1660 Ti which is ever so slightly faster than the 1070, and new.
In terms of case, go with whatever you think looks nice I can recommend Fractal Design if you want a clean look.
The PSU is outright terrible. For practically the same price you can get something like a Corsair RM650x which is a million times better.
Anyways, here’s my take on the list with an i7, 32gb of ram, storage (ssd + hdd) and a faster gpu for $100 less than the list you has https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4PvmdX
Actually, I checked and you could save about $40 according to Pcpartpicker by getting an i5-9600k or i5-9600KFC fried chicken edition (joke, it’s just KF)
Well, I’m trying to get something mid tier that can work for me for a while with small adjustments here and there. Going i7 and this ASRock board makes it way more out of balance, because the board looks really bad. I spent some time to check it out and I’m scared to even consider it for multimedia PC. The heat sinks are really bad and on top of that it doesn’t support as much fan plugging options as the MSI one. No SLI Technology at all for going eventually double GPUs. My monitors are Display ports as well and this MB providing DVI (not that it’s important 'cuz everything will be connected to the GPU) and HDMI means if something happens to the GPU I’m not even able to connect 2 monitors at the same time to use integrated GPU at least
Not that I care much about overclocking, but with this thing seems really dangerous at it as well. Bluetooth is pretty viable (I use it all the time and buying a dongle doesn’t seem way better) for me and having a wifi option as well makes the MSI even better.
That’s the plan - I want to get it up and running at the same time and in the next month I will go for the storage and the extra RAM, but I won’t go lower than 3200 RAM for sure.
I mentioned that I will get a GPU from a friend of mine that has various 1070s and 2070s (most of them are still in warranty) and some AMD/ATI ones (won’t do me good anyway) for really cheap, even leasing and they have never been overclocked, so buying GTX 1660 is way more expensive in my case.
That really raised awareness and I checked plenty of stuff, but I don’t want to go lower than 750W one if I want to be able to double up GPUs and get better CPU eventually, so I will go for EVGA SuperNOVA G3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply and be on the safe side.
I won’t be doing compromises on the storage as well - Samsung (even considering M.2) for OS and programs, Kingston is good choice for rendering and installing games to and WD black for sure while I don’t need much storage, so 1 TB will do.
I didn’t even dared to check before you mentioned this and it’s actually cheaper here in Bulgaria as well compared to 8600k ! Thank you very much for that! Way cheaper than the faster i7 options currently of course.
The total price at pcPartPicker is really misleading because I will get the GPU (second hand) for something like 30 euro a month for few months leasing from a friend of mine and will start it only with the necessary stuff like 1 SSD and 1 stick of RAM and get the other one the next month after I make it up and running.
I already bought the 60 Hz monitors and the 144 Hz one will be the last thing I get after I check everything else from the list.
There’s high chance the desk I need custom made to eat more than the expected money even though I have deals with furniture making companies here and there and the worst that can happen is to get some cheap old i5 CPU for few months before I can afford something like the i5 - 9600K which is about 270 euro new here.
I for sure need to get all the parts that are required to make it running at the same time, because I don’t have desktop PC at all to check even if the CPU cooler is working or the god damn PSU . What about Mother Board and CPU only ?! Else I would have started buying it piece by piece, but seems like really stupid idea.
Probably will wait for Black Friday to order the stuff as well
The motherboard is completely fine, if you aren’t planning on overclocking you don’t need a super expensive board. Besides that, ASRock uses decent VRM’s. You’re not going to need heatsinks unless you start overclocking like an i7 or i9. Calling a board bad just by looking at it is not really how it works. Like, Gigabyte’s 400 series motherboards for last gen AMD all looked good with big heatsinks on the VRM’s and cool designs with rgb and such. But they all really sucked, all of them had terrible VRM’s and such, except for the highest end one. So, appearance doesn’t really matter is what I’m trying to say
Getting an expensive motherboard with an i5, when you’re not going to overclock, over an entry level Z390 with an i7 for Autodesk is outbalanced, my recommendation isn’t. However, if your budget is simply really tight, then you can get an i5 and see if it suits your workloads
But if you’d rather want something that is better than the ASRock and with wireless, then the cheapest motherboard would be… https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Nczkcf/asrock-z390-phantom-gaming-sliac-atx-lga1151-motherboard-z390-phantom-gaming-sliac
Which is completely overkill if you’re not overclocking, but it does look nice.
Why do you want two gpu’s. Are you going to work with programs that can utilize a lot of gpu acceleration?
And well, like I said, as long as you can get the gpu for a good price
As for psu, well, if you really need at least 750w then I’d say, RM750x
Having OC options (even a little bit) is always tempting and allows a bit of wiggle room. I mentioned plenty of times that I will be upgrading it during the years and I prefer to start with all around OK set up and like for instance to get better CPU after 1-2 years. Having to get new Mother Board as well doesn’t fit the scenario as well.
I spent 1 hour checking the features and looking at tests of the MB you suggested, so I’m not judging by looks at all. I even told you it doesn’t have SLI and Display Port for the integrated GPU and the lack of bluetooth is total killer for me.
V-RAY for Autodesk Revit and 3DS Max is GPU render based, so that’s why I might go double GPU’s eventually.
ASRock z390 Phantom Gaming seems really nice choice, but I managed to find only one with bluetooth and WiFI (not really care about wifi, but again it’s nice to have) here and it is model number 9 and the cost locally is 360 + USD which comes really steep, but I bet it’s way better than my MSI choice.
The RM750x PSU is almost the same price as the EVGA one here, so it’s brand choice only I guess? I’m willing to get either of them.
Socket 1151 is EOL so there is a fair chance that en i5 in a few years will be faster than the fastest cpu you can put in a Z390, but nobody knows. So go with the 9600K and a motherboard that gives all the features you need. And yes, I read what you wrote which is why I recommended another motherboard, but yeah, there don’t really seem to be a lot of bluetooth options unfortunately… Also, the motherboard doesn’t need sli support because when it comes to gpu acceleration you don’t need sli to utilize both of them if I recall correctly. I could be wrong however as multi gpu workstation usage isn’t really my strong suit
When it comes to PSU, the RMx series is better than the EVGA G3, although the differences are not really important so you can go with either.
Currently finished the frontend for now … still waiting for discounts (probably black friday) but the parts I picked up are still there, except the case which is now Cooler Master MasterBox MB511 cuz it has better front panel (with bigger dust filter mesh and better clearances for CPU cooler and what not). >
I bought the side monitors some time ago, but never posted pictures of them so here we go >
I’m really happy with them and how well they are build and made. The stands are superb, so I will go with the main middle 144 Hz one to be the same brand and almost the same model so … this should be it >
Logitech G413 is the best thing on the market for what it is - simple and clean, sturdy keyboard with insanely fast and good mechanical switches. I couldn’t find something better than this piece of art for it’s price.
For the mouse I tested few things, but I went back to what I love for it’s size and comfort - deathadder. I was considering picking up the Essential version to go cheaper, cuz I don’t need more than 800 DPI anyway (tops 6500) and I went with the Elite with 16 000 DPI that I will never use, but the cable is so much softer that it’s insane in quality… and I can show you the comparison in size and shape to the size of my a4 tech R3 Wireless mouse which I’m using for 3+ years now.
I’ve never felt so easy to press buttons with such insane reaction response time with so accurate optical sensor ever.
My pile of crap started to take shape. According to @Fraggles almost looks like the real thing, so I made this little composition.
Mainly waiting on the PC case to arrive in Bulgaria and so far I’ve spent so fucking much that I’m pretty sure I will go double 1070 GPUs and that the i5 is waiting for me to pay 250 euro for it . That’s why I got RM850 Corsair PSU, because here we don’t have 850w EVGA ones, nor Cooler Master . The 750W EVGA one I wanted might fall short or get too close unfortunately.
I’m getting pretty excited though, even though there won’t be enough space on the current desk to put the future rig with even 2 monitors on top, without placing one of them on the hollow corner (which is scary to consider) but I have some ideas
- mainly required for gaming. It’s the only one that has G-Sync capability in it’s class (don’t worry yourself that’s titled FreeSync one)
If only Autodesk would support AMD more! The heat issues–I understand your complaints, by the way, it has been mine for so long (long time AMD user lol), but with Ryzen it isn’t like before–have been so drastically improved it isn’t a problem anymore.
. Currently I’m using 120 GB SSD on my laptop just for windows 10 enterprise (now called educational for some reason) and all my software with still 60 GBs left and my storage is 1 TB WD black 7200 RPM.
