Requesting advice for new PC build which will mainly be used for animating, modelling and rendering.

[PCNov1ce]

Hi all, I tried posting this earlier in the week but it looks like it was in the wrong location so I hope this is the right place to post now lol

I have never posted on this forum before (the prrevious post I mentioned is this same post) but while doing some research and following some Google results to this site, I noticed how helpful the community can be to others so I thought I would see if you may be able to assist me.
First of all, this is a long post, I apologize for the length but did not want to leave any details out in case they may be pertinent.

Ok, so I will be starting a few 3d modelling and animation courses soon and would like to ask some advice on what type of computer hardware I should get to support the necessary programs, I am a complete novice in this regard, I have never constructed a PC or it’s components before and much of the terminology sounds like another language to me so please be patient with me if my questions appear foolish to you.
I will be using the following programs as they are required by the courses:

Modeling/animation Programs:

Atodesk Maya
http://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/overview
System Requirements:
http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/troubleshoot...

Pixologic Zbrush
http://pixologic.com/zbrush/features/overview/
System Requirements: unknown

3DCoat
http://3d-coat.com/3d-coat-v4/
System Requirements: unknown


Video editing and compositing Programs:
Nuke
http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/nuke/?gclid=CLCJ8I...
• System Requiremens: too many to list
• http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/nuke/sys-reqs/
•

Adobe Premier
http://www.adobe.com/au/products/premiere.html?kw=semge...!3085!3!68033462944!b!!g!!adobe%20premiere%20pro&s_kwcid=AL!3085!3!68033462944!b!!g!!adobe%20premiere%20pro&ef_id=UX9U8gAABHW4EUw6:20150520225959:s
System requirements for Premiere: Uknown, only says:
Mac OS X 10.7 not supported for CC 2014 digital video applications
System requirements for Premiere Pro: too many to list
https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/system-requirement...

Image Editing Programs:


Photoshop (version unknown)
https://www.adobe.com/au/products/photoshop/versions.ht...
System Requirements: unknown
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/system-requirements.h...
Visio
https://products.office.com/en-au/Visio/visio-standard-...
System requirements: Unknown
Gimp
http://www.gimp.org/
System requirements: Unknown

Render Engines:
Autodesk Mental Ray
http://www.autodesk.com/products/mental-ray-standalone/...
System requirements: Unknown


Game Engines:

Unreal Engine
https://www.unrealengine.com/what-is-unreal-engine-4
Unity
https://unity3d.com/

Arnold
http://www.solidangle.com/arnold/



I will also be using the following two programs, though they are not course related:
Poser Po 2014 with Lux render

Blender 2.74
https://www.blender.org/
System Requirements:
https://www.blender.org/download/requirements/

I may also use NewTek Lightwave 3D 2015
At a later date.
https://www.lightwave3d.com/new_features/


After attempting some research online I seem to have narrowed down the required components to the following:

Operating System:
I am currently using Windows XP Professional 32-bit and have decided to get Windows 8 or 8.1 64-bit for the new computer. (After looking at the comparison between 8.1 and 8.1 professional I don’t believe the Professional edition would benefit me much, especially for that much of a price difference.)
RAM:
Currently have 3.25GB of Ram and find it to b insufficient for my needs so I believe I need at least 8 GB of RAM on the new PC or maybe 32 GB as was suggested to another ….., not sure which is best in my case, any recommendations?

HardDribve:
I currently have a 420 GB Hard drive on my Windows XP PC so I feel 1 TB or 2TB Hard drive would be best, or do feel more would be required?
USB Ports:
I have 6 ports on my current system, 2 front and 4 back but I often have to unplug the keyboard to add a video camera or memory stick as the other 4 ports are taken up by my 4 external Hard Drives so I feel 8 would be better on the new PC, as long their installation would not cause issues.

Graphics/ Video Card:
This is where I really come unstuck, there are so many variations I feel lost.
My current Card is an ATI Radeon 2400 Pro which I know is very outdated, but I
• In general, the above software says that an OpenGL enabled graphics card or chipset is required and that any recent NVIDIA GeForce and ATI Radeon cards should be sufficient but that GeForce® 8400 series or ATI® X1600 are the minimum requirements.
I don’t really understand what Open GL is very well, only that programs such as Poser make use of it. After trying to research it online a bit, I still don’t really know but from observations in poser it seems to aid in the real-time rendering of shadows and lighting in the preview window, I believe it is also more closely tied to the graphics/video card than relying on the CPU but I could be way off.
I also recently heard about Open CL which, someone advised me may be more important than open GL when it comes to renders, as far as I an understand, it seems to be a code that offers better utilization of multiple cores to enable multiple commands to run more smoothly in concert but again, I don’t know for sure.
I also hear other terms like APU, GPU, overclocking, 4K System and CUDA Which I tried researching but really know nothing about.
I have heard that something called a Quadro Card is supposed to be good for renders but according to this thread: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94364

That may not necessarily always be the case and may not be worth the high price tag unless you are an architect.
I had a look at the NVIDIA and ATI sites and it seems that there are 2 categories of Cards at ATI (I don’t understand what Chipset is) so based on category it looks like the best for a Workstation under Media and Entertainment would be AMD FirePro™ W9100 since it has the highest version number and Radeon™ R9 Series for Desktops but I don’t really understand the difference, would a desktop be primarily used for gaming and a Workstation used for Designing?
Although these are the top cards available atm, assuming I’m correct, it may be better to go for the next one down as latest builds are often more unstable than those that have been out for at least 1 year. I don’t know if theses are too high end though, I can’t find the X1600 anywhere on the site so I don’t know how different these cards are, only that they are more recent.
At he NVidia Site, the closest category to graphics/video cards I could find was Processors and I’m not sure if that is the right one but assuming it is, I guess the Titan series may be best for desktop builds, possibly the GeForce GTX TITAN X and the Quadro series would be best for workstations? (not a clue which one though and as previously stated, a Quadro may not be needed in this case.)
The Tesla, Tegra, NVIDIA GRID, NVS and Legacy categories don't appear to be applicable to me but I could be mistaken.
I don’t mind paying for a top of the range, $1000 or $2000 card if I need it but I would not want to spend unnecessarily and would happily get a $500 card if it would suit my needs better.


Monitor:

I currently have a monitor with a resolution of 1680 X 1050 32 Bit Colour and find it sufficient so don’t see the point in upgrading to a lager one for the new PC but I will if I have to. I will be keeping my current PC and was hoping to have both monitors side by side.
CPU:
Generally the system requirements for the programs seem to be a 64-bit Intel® or AMD® multi-core processor. Pentium D or newer (or equivalent such as AMD Athlon 64 X2 or newer) with optional multithreading or hyperthreading capabilities. • Intel® Core™ 2 or AMD Athlon™ II Processor (or better) Intel Pentium 4
Athlon 64. •
I don’t really understand most of that but through research it seems the more cores one has at their disposal, the more operations or programs can be run or used simultaneously without much issue, I feel a quad core would be best as my current system is a Dual core and feels a bit slow but I have heard some people using 8 cores so I really don’t know what would be best in this case, I will quite possibly be running 1 or 2 modelling programs, internet, an image editing program and a video editor at the same time if possible so any advice you could offer would be appreciated. I prefer to multi-task to save time but my current system can’t always handle it.
Seems the recommendation is a min requirement of 1.3 GHz Pentium 4 or newer, Athlon 64 or newer (1.65 GHz or faster recommended), my current system is a Dell Inspiron Intel Cor Duo CPU 2.66 GHz so I guess anything better than my current build as this already seems to meet the requirements, despite it being 8 or 9 years old, possibly older as the version is listed as 2002.

I will be getting a Graphics Tablet but not sure which kind, only that a
Wacom seems to be the basic recommendation.

My current computer is also quite loud while rendering so anything to help reduce the noise without impacting performance would be a help, any recommendations or advice?
I think this covers everything, if I have left anything out please let me know.

Congratulations for reading all that, you should get a reward lol, I thank you all for your time and any advice you can offer to me.

 

[PCNov1ce]

Hi guys, back again lol, thought I was done with this but apparently not. 14 Days after I placed my order I find it still has not been shipped to me as they are out of stock for the PSU I wanted, it was in stock at the time I placed the order but apparently the suppliers are now out of stock and Mwave are unable to give me an ETA so far. They have however recommended an alternative to the EVGA SuperNOVA 1000W P2 80 Plus Platinum Modular Power Supply I ordered, which is the Antec High Current Pro HCP-1000 Platinum 1000W , which also appears to be decent, costing $15 more than the original PSU but the connectors are quite different so I’m not sure if that may cause any issues with my current setup. I was hoping that either of you may be able to take a look at the specifications compared to the original component but only if you have the time.

Here are the two component links, should you wish to look:

Original PSU: http://mwave.com.au/product/evga-supernova-1000w-p2-80-plus-platinum-modular-power-supply-ab54109#detailTabs=tabSpecifications

Suggested Replacement: http://www.mwave.com.au/product/antec-high-current-pro-hcp1000-platinum-1000w-aa49434#detailTabs=tabSpecifications

The new PSU also seems to have more negative reviews than the original and one particular review has me a bit concerned, they state that:
“I wouldn't recommend buying one of these after wasting countless hours trying to troubleshoot my computer. Maybe they have improved the qa since my problems, but you are gambling with hours of your time if you get a bad unit.
Antec support department is reliable and honors the warranty. Works fine if you get a non defective unit.
I've had 3 of these now. I originally had a hcp-750 (gold) that was shutting off during gaming, then replaced by a hcp-850 (platinum) that randomly died on me. These power supplies seem to have long term reliability problems under normal usage.”

Now as I said before, I don’t want to have all the components arrive, assemble them and then find I can’t use the PC because of a defective PSU, especially since I have paid $15 more to buy said PSU while the former had a higher success rate, now granted, this may not happen to me but I do need to be aware that it may and then may happen again so do either of you have much experience with this brand, if so, do you find them to be reliable?

If this is not a suitable replacement, would it be possible for either of you to please recommend a viable alternative or do you think I would be better off just waiting for more stock to come in for the EVGA SuperNOVA, as it has had very good reviews?

I can try to post a photo of the rig once it is assembled Senseijtitus but at this rate, who knows when that may be lol.

Thanks again for any assistance you can provide.

 

[Archaic59]

I understand your concerns. After reading several reviews this morning from reputable sites I came away thinking highly of the Antec unit. Its' construction uses the best parts available and it's made by Delta, a very reputable company in this industry. I have a Delta made Antec in the computer I'm typing this on, although it's only a 500 watt unit. So, aside from digging through reviews to get the dirt on Antec, I have personal experience with them. I have to say I have no complaints at all. My Delta made Antec unit has been running daily, 12-16 hours a day, for 3 years so far and is rock solid.

The connectors on the HCP 1000 are more than you'll ever need from what I can tell and I see no compatibility issues. Perhaps the reason for this is the 4 different +12volt rail method employed here. Evenly distributing power usage across the multiple rails will take a small bit of effort when installing, but in the end you get better protection this way. On the subject of defective units: All I can say here is that any electronic device can be defective out of the box regardless of who makes or designs it. Even Super Flower and Seasonic have these issues occasionally and they are considered the top 2 in the business. That said, I do not think you chances of getting a defective unit are any worse with Antec.

Antec was very deliberate in their choice of quality parts used for the assembly of the HCP 1000, and Delta, a good company, to assemble it for them. I hope this helps in some small way.

ref.-
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=287
http://www.legitreviews.com/antec-high-current-pro-1000w-platinum-psu-review_2063
http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/antec-1000w-hcp-platinum-power-supply-review,1.html

 

[senseijtitus]

I totally agree with Archaic59. I personally use Antec unit for my PC. Its a low tier VP 550P. Even though at the lower end of Antecs PSU lineup, it gives a solid performance and I can reliably work on my PC knowing that the PSU is capable of handling any adverse situation. I suggest PC parts based on my own experience with them. Reviews by other users are also a very good source to understand how good the component actually is.

Antec PSUs have a very good reputation and very good reviews all over the net. For you, A good 850 Watts PSU can also work. But better keep a headroom for additional components or future OCing. So go with a 950-1000Watts PSU.

 

[senseijtitus]

I totally agree with Archaic59. I personally use Antec unit for my PC. Its a low tier VP 550P. Even though at the lower end of Antecs PSU lineup, it gives a solid performance and I can reliably work on my PC knowing that the PSU is capable of handling any adverse situation. I suggest PC parts based on my own experience with them. Reviews by other users are also a very good source to understand how good the component actually is.

Antec PSUs have a very good reputation and very good reviews all over the net. For you, A good 850 Watts PSU can also work. But better keep a headroom for additional components or future OCing. So go with a 950-1000Watts PSU.

 

[PCNov1ce]

Hi Archaic, I apologize once again for taking so long to reply to you, thank you for your reply, the research you conducted and the links you provided as well. After reading through the detailed reviews on those sites, I agree it does sound like a very good PSU even though the warranty is a bit shorter (7 years and not 10) but that’s not bad really, however there were 2 aspects I was a little uncertain about.

Firstly, you mentioned that ensuring even power distribution may be difficult, as someone who has never assembled a computer before or had any experience with individual hardware components do you believe I will be able to correctly assemble this or would it be better for me to pay a specialist to assemble it for me?

Secondly, the first review I read made mention of what seems to be an inexplicable ripple anomaly on page 3, here http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=287, would this be a concern regarding stability, sound levels or power consumption, sorry but I don't understand the technical terms very well, could you explain this at all please?

I am still waiting to hear back from Mwave regarding the ETA for the original part but if this alternative is as good as it appears and the above issues are not much of a concern then I will likely choose the ANTEC instead of the EVGA.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Archaic59]

Power distribution- One of the PCIe cables that comes with the unit has 2 connectors on it. I'd put that one aside and use 2 separate PCIe cables for each of the 2 connectors required by the video card giving each its own cable. You could also send each PCIe cable to a different rail as they are clearly marked, but I see you downgraded the video card from a R9 390 to a R9 380 which has less stringent power requirements so this isn't really necessary but splitting up the workload can't hurt either.

The +3.3 volt rail had slight ripple but remained within required +-5% with a value of 2.1%. The +12volt rails did very good ranging from 0.6 to 1.5 %. Nothing to be concerned about from what I can see. Jonny's quote was "I'd like to see the 3.3V rail get a little better yet, but it's not bad at all." He's simply holding them to extremely high standards but there's no problem to worry about.

 

[PCNov1ce]

Ok thanks for helping to clear that up, I switched to the R9 380 instead as my friend told me that the 8GB card would only really be needed if I was going to be running multiple monitors off of the one card, was this in error, do you beleive the 380 will still be suitable enough to meet the requirments I mentioned in my first post? I also opted for the 380 as it was $339 while the 390 was $519 but there is still time to change the order if I need to as it has not been shipped yet. Otherwise, If I keep the 380 but for some reason need to run 2 monitors off the same card at a later date then I can always upgrade it, right?

 

[PCNov1ce]

Although, looking at http://www.mwave.com.au/product/sapphire-radeon-r9-380-nitro-oc-4gb-video-card-ab64105 it seems this card may still be capable of running multiple monitors as it says it has AMD Eyefinity Multidisplay Technology so I may not need to upgrade later then anyway, if this is the case though then what is the big difference between the 380 and the 390 that warrents such a price increase, an extra fan and higher display resolution capability?

http://www.mwave.com.au/product/sapphire-radeon-r9-390-nitro-oc-8gb-video-card-ab64099#detailTabs=tabOverview