Custom PC Build for Rendering/Animation

[windeye]

One of my kids are in computer animation, and we recently built a PC for 3D rendering/animation (also suitable for gaming). The details of my build is here. https://pcpartpicker.com/b/vjtgXL

Our budget was $1500, and we did not exceed too much (~$1650). We still need to pay Microsoft for Windows10, that is $140 now. It's one heck of a computer with lots of compute power.
Particular things I added to the system were support brackets for the GPU (weighs 3 lbs) and for the CPU cooler (weighs 2.5 lbs), so that these components do not put all the stress to the motherboard in the upright position of the PC. We fix cars, and when it comes to computer building, we can use our mechanical skills to find a solution and fabricate needed hardware for the lack of thoughtfulness of the PC case industry.

These brackets are simple corner & L-shaped brackets. The GPU bracket is made of a leftover tie-plate, cut to size and drill elongated holes for flexibility of positioning. For the cooler bracket, it's made of 1/16in thick, 1in wide aluminium flat bar, taking advantage of the Dark Rock Pro 4 cooler access holes for fastening. After the cutting, bending, drilling, dremeling, painting, I felt a good sense of accomplishment after the project, so wanted to share with you.

 

[WyrTwister]

A lot of money , unless the PC is used to make money .

 

[windeye]

Yes it is a lot of money. She's good kid, just took a campus job for extra income. I just did not want her to stay up midnight at the college's render farm on a regular basis. Instead she will use the PC at her apartment to render projects.

 

[wkcars]

If she's in college check to see if she can get windows 10 through the college usually they have agreement with microsoft to get software free or really cheap like $10-20.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Very nice build, but I don't think I'd be hanging any extra weight off the PC socket. There are GPU support brackets that brace off the case, plus motherboard manufacturers and GPU manufacturers know very well how much weight their components have. It's not like she's going to be lugging this around campus; static loads are very minor when the GPU backplate is tied into the mounting screws at the back of the case. CPU sockets on the other hand, especially with 160mm or so of leverage, are more sketchy IMO to be hanging extra weight off of. If you're that worried about the GPU weight, buy a premade support bracket, or get a vertical mounting kit like this:

Vertical GPU bracket

 

[maxdustington]

Nice rig, too bad it will not be used for games. I'll bet that bad boy can really shred!
Originally Posted by wkcars
If she's in college check to see if she can get windows 10 through the college usually they have agreement with microsoft to get software free or really cheap like $10-20.
100%, I got Word and Windows 7 dirt cheap with that promotion when I started uni a decade ago. OEM Windows keys are not that much more expensive and I doubt that OP is going to change components in that PC anytime soon.

 

[windeye]

Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
Very nice build, but I don't think I'd be hanging any extra weight off the PC socket. There are GPU support brackets that brace off the case, plus motherboard manufacturers and GPU manufacturers know very well how much weight their components have. It's not like she's going to be lugging this around campus; static loads are very minor when the GPU backplate is tied into the mounting screws at the back of the case. CPU sockets on the other hand, especially with 160mm or so of leverage, are more sketchy IMO to be hanging extra weight off of. If you're that worried about the GPU weight, buy a premade support bracket, or get a vertical mounting kit like this:

Vertical GPU bracket


Thanks for your note. Last time I built a PC, it was more than 20 years ago when I was in Palo Alto, CA. Somethings have changed, some have not.

I did give a thought of vertical mount, but then realized it would still need a 3-point support, and it might restrict the GPU fan flow (no experience really, just watched some youtube videos). I guess I am still old school (when I was learning computer language, I used those punch-cards), and like the idea of over-engineering. There are 2 existing mounting holes on the free end of the GPU (reportedly for server mounting). This is a so-called reference card (as to the custom cards by many other vendors), but it's nicely made with aluminium casing all around.

 

[windeye]

Thanks to wkcars and maxdustington for the tip of college version. Her school does not have it, unfortunately. I might go with an OEM license after a few weeks of test with the motherboard. I read that the OEM license ties to the motherboard.

 

[windeye]

to maxdustington, she does play some games, just not addicted to it. one of the career directions is game design for computer animation major.

 

[28oz]

Originally Posted by windeye
Thanks to wkcars and maxdustington for the tip of college version. Her school does not have it, unfortunately. I might go with an OEM license after a few weeks of test with the motherboard. I read that the OEM license ties to the motherboard.


Not necessarily. I've swapped hard drives into completely different computers and Windows 10 stayed activated just fine, indicating it's tied to the hard drive. On another note, I activated a clean Win 10 install a couple weeks ago using a Win 7 key. If you have a key from a previous version of Windows, it's worth a try, but it seems to help if you don't enter the key during the install process. Do it after it's all installed.

YMMV.

 

[wkcars]

windeye

Sent you a pm

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by 28oz
Originally Posted by windeye
Thanks to wkcars and maxdustington for the tip of college version. Her school does not have it, unfortunately. I might go with an OEM license after a few weeks of test with the motherboard. I read that the OEM license ties to the motherboard.


Not necessarily. I've swapped hard drives into completely different computers and Windows 10 stayed activated just fine, indicating it's tied to the hard drive. On another note, I activated a clean Win 10 install a couple weeks ago using a Win 7 key. If you have a key from a previous version of Windows, it's worth a try, but it seems to help if you don't enter the key during the install process. Do it after it's all installed.

YMMV.
I've read that it can also be triggered by changing components, not just the MB or HD. Might be as simple as a new GPU and ram.

My friend was a janitor at a Toronto university. He got me a Win 7 key from a dumpster computer and I used that for a clean install of Win 10. I think I had to buy an OEM key when I upped my MB, CPU and added ram and a SSD.

 

[KrisZ]

Nice build and I love the redneck braces. Will definitely help when transporting the computer.

 

[28oz]

Originally Posted by maxdustington
Originally Posted by 28oz
Originally Posted by windeye
Thanks to wkcars and maxdustington for the tip of college version. Her school does not have it, unfortunately. I might go with an OEM license after a few weeks of test with the motherboard. I read that the OEM license ties to the motherboard.


Not necessarily. I've swapped hard drives into completely different computers and Windows 10 stayed activated just fine, indicating it's tied to the hard drive. On another note, I activated a clean Win 10 install a couple weeks ago using a Win 7 key. If you have a key from a previous version of Windows, it's worth a try, but it seems to help if you don't enter the key during the install process. Do it after it's all installed.

YMMV.
I've read that it can also be triggered by changing components, not just the MB or HD. Might be as simple as a new GPU and ram.

My friend was a janitor at a Toronto university. He got me a Win 7 key from a dumpster computer and I used that for a clean install of Win 10. I think I had to buy an OEM key when I upped my MB, CPU and added ram and a SSD.


Interesting that it made you do that when just upgrading some components. The swaps I've made were 100% different hardware except for the hard drive...........even going from an AMD cpu to an Intel cpu. Windows install on that SSD simply did not care. No hard and fast rules with this, I suppose.

 

[SpitFire6]

Hi,
Nice build. The highest score I have seen on UserbenchMark for a while. I will not bother to post mine as not the same league.
Any reason you picked the memory slots, I would have chosen the other pair?
An AIO liquid twin fan cooling system would eliminate the heavy CPU heatsink 7 easy fit to the top of the case? Around 50 quid.
Nice one.
Cheers,
Iain.

 

[windeye]

Hi, Iain,

The amount of RAM is dictated by the rendering my daughter needs, and the brand was recommended by a website that has recommendations for 3D animation builds (https://www.logicalincrements.com/articles/building-pc-3d-rendering-animation). It's not the fastest RAM on market but the user reviews are mostly good for reliability. It's built for high-performance overclocking (I am not planning on doing serious OC, only enabling DOCP in BIOS), and its low profile aluminium heatsink does not interfere with the CPU cooling fan.

I agree that AIO cooling for CPU would certainly eliminate heavy air towers for CPU cooling. I did not opt for AIO, mainly worried about leaks (mainly my fear) and additional cost. The stock cooler from AMD is good enough I believe. The 3700x CPU has a TDP rating of 60w. I chose the Dark Rock Pro4 for added assurance for long time CPU rendering (days).

By all means, please share your build/experience, we'll learn from every build.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister
A lot of money , unless the PC is used to make money .


I would not hesitate to drop $1200- 1500 on a decent Laptop for family member. This one seems inexpensive for the use case to me.

 

[nthach]

For some odd reason, a lot of those CAD/3D modeling programs do work better with an Nvidia Quadro GPU instead of the GeForce series - even though they are largely the same silicon. Quadro has more of a bias with OpenGL/OpenCL, while the GeForce series focuses on DirectX and putting out more FPS. Some of those programs want the GeForce card - Lumion and Maya are two of them. Maxwell Render now rolled out GPU support, it was all CPU and we had a AMD Ryzen Threadripper at work to help big renders in Maxwell go along.

I had a friend who grabbed a 1U server from his old job he wanted to put in his shop to run CAD - mostly Autodesk 3D Studio Max/AutoCAD and Solidworks. A Quadro P620 was the hot ticket.

 

[Ws6]

Neat! Similar to my gaming rig except skewed more to workstation vs. gaming in my case. Also way newer. Mine was build in early 2017, minus the PSU and 1080ti.

I'm using a Dell 23.8" 2560x1440 144hz/165hz GSYNC monitor.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/20290284

 

[windeye]

Originally Posted by nthach
For some odd reason, a lot of those CAD/3D modeling programs do work better with an Nvidia Quadro GPU instead of the GeForce series - even though they are largely the same silicon. Quadro has more of a bias with OpenGL/OpenCL, while the GeForce series focuses on DirectX and putting out more FPS. Some of those programs want the GeForce card - Lumion and Maya are two of them. Maxwell Render now rolled out GPU support, it was all CPU and we had a AMD Ryzen Threadripper at work to help big renders in Maxwell go along.

I had a friend who grabbed a 1U server from his old job he wanted to put in his shop to run CAD - mostly Autodesk 3D Studio Max/AutoCAD and Solidworks. A Quadro P620 was the hot ticket.


MAYA 2020 now has a GPU rendering engine, and it's fast, but the noise level seems to be higher than CPU rendering. This is for still scenes. For motion, it's less noticeable.