Ryzen 7 or i7700k for 3d Modeling (zbrush, maya)

omg1hereiam

Prominent
May 2, 2017
2
0
510
Hi Everyone, I want to build new PC. My main goals are modeling in Zbrush and Maya and maybe a bit of rendering but main goal is - modeling. Also, I'll be using Photoshop and Substance Painter.
So, my question is should I build PC with Ryzen 7 1700x or with Core i7 7700k? As far as I know Ryzen could give me more benefits in rendering but what about modeling tasks and general workflow in Zbrush and Maya? Also I can't decide what GPU I should buy. I'm thinking between GTX 1070 8gb or Radeon Pro WX 7100 8gb. Radeon costs a bit more but do I need to pay this extra money?
 
Solution
If rendering on the cpu isn't your main focus, the 7700k would be the better choice. The link you used to puget's page of benchmarks was for using solidworks. Tom's has some maya 2013 benchmarks here.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-7-1800x-cpu,4951-9.html

Photoshop is not a core intensive program and most features rely on only a few cores. Ipc and core speed benefits photoshop which means the 7700k, not ryzen. Ipc has improved on ryzen from previous fx chips but it still lags slightly behind skylake/kabylake and even oc'd ryzen lacks the core speed of the i7.

I can't seem to find any recent benchmarks comparing ryzen to the i7 for zbrush modeling. Most comparison reviews focus on gaming, compression, office tasks and...
Just to begin with, Photoshop and other core-intensive programs like this will benefit greatly from a Ryzen. Modelling, as well, will benefit. The cores and hyperthreads will be very, VERY nice to have, and the AM4 platform is very new- which means any newer processors will be an option, whereas LGA1151 is close to the hypothetical end period, which is around 3-4 years for Intel. And, the 1070 is a marketed consumer card for gamers, primarily. From looks and specs alike, it looks like the Pro WX is the more viable card for rendering with accuracy.
 


Thank you for your answer. I think you are right but I just got confused when I read this article - PugetSystems
According to their tests it for general modeling tasks would be better to choose 7700k and Rysen is good only for rendering.

 


Ryzen's quad, deca and hexa core platform does cartwheels around i7, in the rendering aspect. For general workloads that don't require intensive rendering, or reliance on the iGPU, the i7 will be your go-to. Not to say you couldn't use either for any other task- just decide which one you'll be doing more, standard non-graphic workload or intensive rendering.
 
If rendering on the cpu isn't your main focus, the 7700k would be the better choice. The link you used to puget's page of benchmarks was for using solidworks. Tom's has some maya 2013 benchmarks here.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-7-1800x-cpu,4951-9.html

Photoshop is not a core intensive program and most features rely on only a few cores. Ipc and core speed benefits photoshop which means the 7700k, not ryzen. Ipc has improved on ryzen from previous fx chips but it still lags slightly behind skylake/kabylake and even oc'd ryzen lacks the core speed of the i7.

I can't seem to find any recent benchmarks comparing ryzen to the i7 for zbrush modeling. Most comparison reviews focus on gaming, compression, office tasks and video encoding and stop there. You'll want plenty of ram and a fast ssd for zbrush though (think 16gb at least).

I believe substance painter relies more on gpu than cpu. The 1070 would probably work fine. You mentioned workflow between zbrush and maya, if looking to have both programs open and working in them simultaneously you may want to invest in even more ram just to ensure both programs have ample memory to work with.

It really depends on the usage. In cpu based rendering where multiple cores/threads come into play, yes the ryzen chips outperform the i7 quad cores. Both the 6 and 8 core ryzens, the 4 core ryzen's, nope. They're slower than an i7 4c/8t (but cost a bit less). Not every task revolves around the moar cores mantra.

From the sounds of it you'll be doing little rendering and more basic modeling tasks and gpu intensive things in SP. The i7 would probably give you the edge there. Again, ram and ssd for your memory/storage in terms of amount and speed is going to be nearly as beneficial. Too little ram or a slower hard drive used as a scratch drive is going to slow things up in terms of overall responsiveness, especially if multiple programs are open at once.

 
Solution