[SOLVED] Building Advice for Game Dev / 3D Modeling?

[protostar8]

I'm looking to build a PC to do Game Dev (and gaming) as well as 3D modeling. I've been using my 11 year old PC but it's sadly having heating issues and is likely going to die soon. So I've decided to finally build a new PC. I would mainly be running things like Blender or ZBrush for modeling and whatever game dev toolkit is the current flavor of the month.

What are some recommendations on things a Game Dev / 3D Modeler might NEED? I've been trying to investigate the 2 new Graphics cards coming at the end of the year and I don't really think I "NEED" them over current models. I have not built a computer in 11 years so I'm WAY out of touch. Any pointers to pre-made builds for similar things would be appreciated. Or direction on what kind of Motherboard, RAM, or a good current gen graphics card would be?

I'm in the ballpark of $2500 for spending budget.

Thanks for any help for a former builder, now noob lol.

Quick Info Update:
Location: USA
Prefer new parts, but OPEN to the idea of used parts if they are so much cheaper that buying new doesn't make sense.

 

[tennis2]

Do you live anywhere near a Micro Center Store?

 

[Hellfire13]

Something like this should be pretty good...

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor | $689.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler | Deepcool ASSASSIN III 90.37 CFM CPU Cooler | $89.99 @ B&H
Motherboard | Gigabyte X570 AORUS PRO WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard | $269.99 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory | $144.99 @ Newegg
Storage | HP EX950 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $139.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | Asus GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card | $729.99 @ B&H
Case | Corsair 275R Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case | $79.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply | SeaSonic FOCUS 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $109.99 @ Best Buy
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2254.91
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-06 15:35 EDT-0400 |

 

[kanewolf]

Something like this should be pretty good...

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor | $689.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler | Deepcool ASSASSIN III 90.37 CFM CPU Cooler | $89.99 @ B&H
Motherboard | Gigabyte X570 AORUS PRO WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard | $269.99 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory | $144.99 @ Newegg
Storage | HP EX950 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $139.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | Asus GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card | $729.99 @ B&H
Case | Corsair 275R Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case | $79.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply | SeaSonic FOCUS 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $109.99 @ Best Buy
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2254.91
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-06 15:35 EDT-0400 |

I would question the value of the 3950X compared to a 3900X ($250). I would use that budge for an additional 2TB NVMe drive.
It can be very difficult to keep 32 thread busy.

 

[Hellfire13]

I would question the value of the 3950X compared to a 3900X ($250). I would use that budge for an additional 2TB NVMe drive.
It can be very difficult to keep 32 thread busy.

Basically when you are CPU rendering in 3D, which is better than GPU rendering as it can handle more complex tasks, the more threads you have the better and faster it can perform especially in the long run. But a 3900x is also good enough for the job.

 

[kanewolf]

Basically when you are CPU rendering in 3D, which is better than GPU rendering as it can handle more complex tasks, the more threads you have the better and faster it can perform especially in the long run. But a 3900x is also good enough for the job.

If rendering is the primary purpose and you have benchmarks that show the software you are using scales appropriately, then the more cores the better. But your single 1TB storage for a DEV build is insufficient IMO.

 

[Hellfire13]

If rendering is the primary purpose and you have benchmarks that show the software you are using scales appropriately, then the more cores the better. But your single 1TB storage for a DEV build is insufficient IMO.

There is plenty left in the budget to get more storage. 1TB is olryt for starters. How much more storage OP needs is actually an assertion for him to make I think.

 

[kanewolf]

There is plenty left in the budget to get more storage. 1TB is olryt for starters. How much more storage OP needs is actually an assertion for him to make I think.

You and I will just disagree then.

 

[Hellfire13]

You and I will just disagree then.

I am not disagreeing with you, just putting my perspective. Doesn't mean you are wrong in any way.

 

[Karadjgne]

All depends on the software. If using something like Autodesk Maya, that does not use core count, it's all about single core speeds and AMD comes in way at the bottom of the list. If using After Affects, that uses multiple cores but doesn't scale well with speeds, so makes little difference between a 10700k-10900k or 3700x-3950x.

About the only thing consistent is Ram. And plenty of it.

Personally I think the 10900k would be the better direction, it has both the single core performance that some software demands, and has decent multi-core performance.

 

[protostar8]

Do you live anywhere near a Micro Center Store?

I life about an hour from two (one's 45 min. and the other is about 1 hour and 10min). Do the gaming PC's there compare price wise with what I could build myself? Back when I built the one that's finally on the way out it was a $2000 computer I built for $750.

Thanks for the help!

All depends on the software. If using something like Autodesk Maya, that does not use core count, it's all about single core speeds and AMD comes in way at the bottom of the list. If using After Affects, that uses multiple cores but doesn't scale well with speeds, so makes little difference between a 10700k-10900k or 3700x-3950x.

About the only thing consistent is Ram. And plenty of it.

Personally I think the 10900k would be the better direction, it has both the single core performance that some software demands, and has decent multi-core performance.

I'm not 100% on what all I might use over the next few years, but currently I was running Blender and ZBrush. I have Autodesk (not Maya) 3D which is pretty old. I don't mind spending extra money to get a build that will last. I'm honestly not going to be gaming THAT much. I plan to create games more than play now. Though I'd love to have the option to game at the high end if I want haha.

Given that, thoughts on what to get? I've watched several Youtube vids and they all discuss things like the Intel 9th and 10th gens and things like the 2000 series Graphic cards. Like are those things compatible? Should I spend the extra on a 2000 series or just get something "okay" for now and grab the new AMD Big Navi coming at year's end?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Hellfire13]

The current Intel gen. is 10th gen. and yes it is compatible. Technology has come a long way since your last build.
As for the card, AMD is not really known to be big on productivity tasks. There is still not a whole lot out there about RDNA 2 or Big Navi as popularly called...
https://www.pcgamer.com/amd-rdna2-r...avi launched back in,terms of value for money.

Here is a Intel equivalent with more storage...

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i9-10900K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor | $529.99 @ Best Buy
CPU Cooler | Deepcool ASSASSIN III 90.37 CFM CPU Cooler | $89.99 @ B&H
Motherboard | Asus ROG STRIX Z490-E GAMING ATX LGA1200 Motherboard | $279.42 @ Amazon
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory | $144.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Western Digital SN750 250 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $54.99 @ Amazon
Storage | ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $239.99 @ B&H
Video Card | Asus GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card | $729.99 @ B&H
Case | Corsair 275R Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case | $79.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply | SeaSonic FOCUS 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $109.99 @ Best Buy
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2259.33
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-06 23:45 EDT-0400 |

 

[protostar8]

The current Intel gen. is 10th gen. and yes it is compatible. Technology has come a long way since your last build.
As for the card, AMD is not really known to be big on productivity tasks. There is still not a whole lot out there about RDNA 2 or Big Navi as popularly called...
https://www.pcgamer.com/amd-rdna2-release-date-big-navi-specs-price-performance/#:~:text=AMD Navi launched back in,terms of value for money.

Here is a Intel equivalent with more storage...

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i9-10900K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor | $529.99 @ Best Buy
CPU Cooler | Deepcool ASSASSIN III 90.37 CFM CPU Cooler | $89.99 @ B&H
Motherboard | Asus ROG STRIX Z490-E GAMING ATX LGA1200 Motherboard | $279.42 @ Amazon
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory | $144.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Western Digital SN750 250 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $54.99 @ Amazon
Storage | ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $239.99 @ B&H
Video Card | Asus GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card | $729.99 @ B&H
Case | Corsair 275R Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case | $79.98 @ Amazon
Power Supply | SeaSonic FOCUS 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $109.99 @ Best Buy
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $2259.33
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-06 23:45 EDT-0400 |

Thanks!
By Intel Equivalent, do you mean there already is an Intel Equivalent to the Big Navi that hasn't even been released? Youtubers I watched were saying it was a big leap over other stuff b/c it could do Ray Tracing? I guess I was wrong assuming that wasn't something already available???

What would you say to a RTX 2070 over a RTX 2080? Is the 2080 worth $200+ more?

 

[King Dranzer]

I highly recommend holding off the purchase few months. New GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD are going to release soon. AMD Ryzen 4000 series is also going to launch soon. I recommend holding off the purchase till November or December. The performance jump of upcoming GPUs is going to be huge and worth waiting.

Specially when spending that high. I say wait few months. If possible add more to budget in this time as much as possible and get least to no compromise build.

 

[Hellfire13]

By Intel Equivalent, do you mean there already is an Intel Equivalent to the Big Navi that hasn't even been released?

I was talking about the Intel equivalent processor, they dont manufacture GPUs.

Youtubers I watched were saying it was a big leap over other stuff b/c it could do Ray Tracing?

Those are actually in the context of gaming. Not sure how much it is beneficial for your work though. Depends on the software I guess.

What would you say to a RTX 2070 over a RTX 2080? Is the 2080 worth $200+ more?

The important factor in your context is the VRAM. Since they both have 8 GB each, 2070 should work as well.

This can be helpful...
https://www.cgdirector.com/best-computer-3d-modeling-rendering/

 

[protostar8]

I highly recommend holding off the purchase few months. New GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD are going to release soon. AMD Ryzen 4000 series is also going to launch soon. I recommend holding off the purchase till November or December. The performance jump of upcoming GPUs is going to be huge and worth waiting.

Specially when spending that high. I say wait few months. If possible add more to budget in this time as much as possible and get least to no compromise build.

I thought from what I've read you cannot buy a Ryzen 4000 series? I thought it was only in "pre-built" PC's?

Realistically speaking, I see estimates on the Big Navi running $800 and the NVidia could be upwards of $1500. Though I have no clue which ones are "comparable" so the estimated $800 Nvidia could be equivalent to a $800 range Big Navi?

Are those really THAT much better than the current gen stuffs? I know from what I can find the "expected" release dates are in August/September but I can't find anything where the companies have actually said that's when they are releasing them. So it could very well be next year before we see either right? Plus I'm guessing it will be stupidly hard to get either at launch. 🙁

The important factor in your context is the VRAM. Since they both have 8 GB each, 2070 should work as well.

This can be helpful...
https://www.cgdirector.com/best-computer-3d-modeling-rendering/

Thanks! I'll check that out!


I had a buddy telling me to just get one of these, but the specs compared to what I can build seem...like I'm wasting some money?
https://www.microcenter.com/product/624585/powerspec-g507-gaming-computer

 

[Hellfire13]

Are those really THAT much better than the current gen stuffs? I know from what I can find the "expected" release dates are in August/September but I can't find anything where the companies have actually said that's when they are releasing them. So it could very well be next year before we see either right? Plus I'm guessing it will be stupidly hard to get either at launch. 🙁

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/future-hardware-releases/

I had a buddy telling me to just get one of these, but the specs compared to what I can build seem...like I'm wasting some money?
https://www.microcenter.com/product/624585/powerspec-g507-gaming-computer

You can build better for that price.

 

[King Dranzer]

I thought from what I've read you cannot buy a Ryzen 4000 series? I thought it was only in "pre-built" PC's?

Realistically speaking, I see estimates on the Big Navi running $800 and the NVidia could be upwards of $1500. Though I have no clue which ones are "comparable" so the estimated $800 Nvidia could be equivalent to a $800 range Big Navi?

Are those really THAT much better than the current gen stuffs? I know from what I can find the "expected" release dates are in August/September but I can't find anything where the companies have actually said that's when they are releasing them. So it could very well be next year before we see either right? Plus I'm guessing it will be stupidly hard to get either at launch. 🙁




Thanks! I'll check that out!


I had a buddy telling me to just get one of these, but the specs compared to what I can build seem...like I'm wasting some money?
https://www.microcenter.com/product/624585/powerspec-g507-gaming-computer

Those 4000 series APUs are based on Zen2 and not Zen3. The Upcoming Ryzen 4000 series is based on Zen3 which is next generation.
The Zen 3 Ryzen 4000 series is not yet launched. Wait for it.

 

[protostar8]

Those 4000 series APUs are based on Zen2 and not Zen3. The Upcoming Ryzen 4000 series is based on Zen3 which is next generation.
The Zen 3 Ryzen 4000 series is not yet launched. Wait for it.

Will those be available as stand alone purchases or do they only come in pre-built systems?

 

[King Dranzer]

Will those be available as stand alone purchases or do they only come in pre-built systems?

They will be available for stand alone purchase. They will be released as Regular CPUs and you can purchase them from any store.

 

[protostar8]

They will be available for stand alone purchase. They will be released as Regular CPUs and you can purchase them from any store.

So I'm going out on a limb and assuming the big combo for this year is the Big Navi + Ryzen 4000 series with "Zen 3 architecture"?

Thank you for all the info and input everyone!

 

[cryoburner]

I've been trying to investigate the 2 new Graphics cards coming at the end of the year and I don't really think I "NEED" them over current models.

There should almost definitely be more than two graphics cards coming later this year. Not only is AMD expected to launch some RDNA 2 cards, but Nvidia is expected to launch their 30-series as well. Rumors seem to indicate that Nvidia might announce new high-end cards as soon as next month, though it might still be a couple months before they are actually available for purchase. And I would expect them to start with the highest end models, at least initially.

As for not "needing" them over current models, that might be true, but the main concern would be that they might offer significantly more performance for your money. For example, there could potentially be $500 cards performing on par with the current $800 models, or $800 cards performing on par with the current $1200 models, though at this point, that's just speculation, and the specifics of price and performance are not yet known. It's also possible that the new cards might handle raytraced effects with a much lower hit to performance, which could be quite relevant if raytracing becomes the norm for high graphics settings over the coming years. At the very least, I would expect AMD to bring more competition to the high-end space this year, and Nvidia might be inclined to be more competitive with their own cards as a result.

Buying a high-end card now could be fine if you really feel you need one right away, but it might be worth waiting at least until details about the new cards start getting announced, as there's the possibility that you might be able to get a similar or better level of performance for hundreds of dollars less before the year is through.

As for AMD's Zen 3 processors, they will probably be rather good, but any of the current processors would arguably be far better than whatever your existing decade-old system happens to have. I'm not sure I would bother with paying a premium for huge core counts though, unless you know for a fact that the software you are using can utilize them. For the vast majority of software, even an 8-core, 16-thread processor like a Ryzen 3700X or i7-10700 would be plenty for a high-end build, and I wouldn't expect games to be requiring more cores than that for many years to come.

 

[King Dranzer]

So I'm going out on a limb and assuming the big combo for this year is the Big Navi + Ryzen 4000 series with "Zen 3 architecture"?

Thank you for all the info and input everyone!

For that high budget you will get Top end NVIDIA and Ryzen 4000 Zen 3 combo.
Create a thread and Private message me around November-December time and I will give you the list.