Need advice for a new build to render

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22

I watched your video. Very interesting. The difference was quite staggering.

I got some prices back today from the store that I usually buy my PC’s from. They say they WOULD NOT recommend the RTX 4080 Super and again request the RTX 4070Ti Super. This is a tough one for me as to why they would put me off buying a card that gives them more money?? Still…it is $650NZ more. That is actually quite a lot.

I could step up to a 4Tb SSD for the OS and applications (I do have a lot of software and so many things are being placed on that drive these days) as well as step up to 128Gb RAM for about $605NZ.

What do you think?

They haven’t quoted me CL30 RAM. It was TEAMGROUP T-FORCE DELTA Alpha RGB DDR5 Ram 64GB Kit (2x32GB) 6000MHz (PC5-48000) CL38 AMD Expo. However, they have offered CL30 RAM for $90NZ more. Is it worth the extra cash (assuming it is faster RAM)?

I really want a PC that still rocks in 10 years. Maybe I don’t need all these extras, but one thing I have learned is that the faster the PC is at the beginning, the faster it stays across time.

I guess in my mind, I’m trying to understand the worth of pay more for something - like the 4070 VS the 4080. I was reading some reviews between these two cards, and there is a lot of talk about them, but in the US there was only $200US between them. Here in NZ $650 is way more money. I can’t help but think of those results on your video though - how much difference it made in the renders in time alone. Time is my most valuable asset!
I was told the 4070Ti Super was about 345% faster than my current GTX1060 6Gb card. Is that enough I ask? A 4080 would only be 360% more. Doesn’t seem like a lot more looking at it from this perspective.

What card would you buy?

I also had down a Noctua NH-D12L CPU Cooler, but a comment said I would be better off with a Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler. Is this bigger one needed with a Ryzen 9 9900X CPU? They appear to be the same money here.

Also been told the 9900X isn’t available until mid Dec, so I guess I’m going to have to wait.

Finally, the PSU they quoted is a Antec 1300W NE1300G M ATX 3.0 Power Supply. I thought it was a reasonable price at $331NZ and allows for a 5090 in the future if I sell both kidney’s :wink:

Wow…I can feel the pressure!

23

Given its the same amount of VRAM, the price to performance between the two largely isn’t there. At the end of the day, the 4070 Ti Super is still a pretty fast card. It’s faster then my 3080 Ti, has 4GB more VRAM and uses less power. Given you currently have a 1060, it’s going to be an eye-popping boost in performance either way.

There is an old saying, files expand to the space allocated to them. So in a way, more storage isn’t a bad thing, it will likely get used at some point.

Less convinced about the 128GB of RAM tho. My current system has 32GB, the new one will have 64GB. Short of running multiple VM’s or trying to load/render the Moana Island scene, I just can’t see me needing more then 64GB anytime soon and I’d rather not take the performance hit of using 4 sticks. Besides, in 5 years time, updating/replacing the RAM is about the most easy thing you can do, should you find yourself constantly running out of 64GB.

I’d much rather the 6000MHz CL30 of 64GB, then say 5600MHz CL36 of 128GB, which is around the ballpark difference you would be looking at.

I have a D15 in both of my current systems, bit over kill for my old PC, but well worth it for my current 5900X. The 9900X is a 120W TDP CPU, so it can pull a bit of power (not as bad as Intel of course), hence the cooler you can make it, the better.

So outside of an AIO (and the possible issues that may or may not have over the years), then a big Air Cooler like the D15 is a good option. Just be aware, it is BIG, so the case will need a fair bit clearance in order for it to fit.

Yeah, way overkill for a 9900X and a 4070 Ti Super, but allows for a future 5090 or even 6090…

1 Like
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Okay! I will specify the D15. I also have a Noctua NH-D12L CPU in my current PC.

This will be it then.

Funny that a lot of smaller sizes were more money. I’ll leave this one alone.

I will stick with the faster CL30 RAM @ 64Gb.

What would you buy between the two? (4070 Vs 4080)

Great thinking! I will kick the OS SSD up to 4Tb I think. I’ve been struggling with my current small SSD for years (250Gb) as it is always running out of space. I lost all of the remainder the other day using my photo program. Didn’t realise it used that drive like it did, and it doesn’t clear until you close, then re-open the program. And all the stuff they stick in AppData today. Never going to get less.

I think sometimes you can get lost in the dream of the new PC, and then finally come back around to the reality of it. I can save quite a lot by stepping back. Probably would be better to put any savings into more storage. That is something that never stops being needed!

As always, really appreciated.

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Would partly depend on funds and budget, but mostly likely the 4070 Ti Super, since it’s still a really fast card, a fair bit cheaper and uses less power. The only main reason to consider a 4080 would be if it had more VRAM, but since it doesn’t compared to the 4070 Ti Super, then by the time you feel that the 4070 was just getting too slow, you’d feel the same about the 4080 as well, So may as well just save the money now.

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Yes. I’m going to go with the 4070 Ti Super. Many thanks.

I think I have my list now. Pity they are out of CPU’s. They weren’t when I started this quest. Oh well…just have to wait. It’s not long. Now it’s time to nail down the best price. One thing I didn’t mention was that I’ve decided to use my current PC case. It’s a Corsair Obsidian 550D. Means I’ll have to strip it out and put everything into a new case, but this case does fulfil all my needs. :+1:

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OK, so that’s 180mm clearance for the CPU cooler. Like I said, the D15 isn’t small. Overall that should still fit, the only place it can get tricky is with the front fan and RAM clearance. If it’s taller RAM, you can then lift up the front fan, but of course you can only go so far till it hits the side panel of the case.
If that’s not enough to clear the RAM, then you end up with a D15 but only 1 fan. That will still work, it just won’t be as effective as using both fans.

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Thanks for the heads up. I opened it up the other day to measure the distance for the GPU. The NH-D12L looks big in there, but there appeared to still be room if it was required. Always seems to be something.

Trying to find a case that fit all my criteria was next to impossible. My last thought is to try the local PC store and see if they have anything 2nd hand with 5.25 bays. I need 4 to use my current optical drives and icy dock hot swap cage. It is surprising what they have out the back, even though it’s a small town store.

The main stores all wanted to build the new PC in a rack mounted case (take the side tabs off) and sit it on it’s end. Wasn’t that keen on that.

Got an email just now from one of the big suppliers here. They listed the 9950X at $1199, which is much cheaper than the other store that had it in stock ($1599). Did wonder when I saw that if I should reconsider? Not much is in stock at present, so will obviously be waiting. No problemo.

Many thanks.

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Yeah, optical drive bays are at deaths door now, and something with 4 is pretty much unheard of. In fact my new system will the first PC in decades (since having a CD-ROM drive was a good idea) that my main case won’t actually have any optical drives in it.

To be fair, I have been spending the past few years ‘encoding’ my Bluray and DVD collection. And I’ll still have my two old cases with a Bluray drive in each. So technically not going to be ‘drive-less’ for another good 5-10 years.

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I have a massive disc collection as well, so optical drives won’t be going anytime soon. My Hot Swap Cage is even more important, because of how often I swap HDD’s for my video stuff.

I did find a couple of cases that had 2x 5.25 bays and also some hot-swap drawers, but they all required the HDD’s to be either screwed into a cage, or they used plastic strips to hold them in place. Not for me. My Icy Dock takes the HDD’s as they are. Plain and simple.

31

I want to replace my I9 14000k CPU with a decent AMD one. The I9 degrades within weeks. I already burnt through one of them and now the replacement one shows signs of degradation as well.

Following the thread I am thinking of the Ryzen 9 900X CPU. Are there long term experiences with this CPU? Or any other CPUs?

My goal is to keep my PC running at least 5 to 7 years before thinking about a new system.

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Been using my Ryzen 5900X for 4 years now, no issues so far.

So basically you would be looking at a Ryzen 7950X or the new 9950X.

Having said that and given how the V-Cache is done now on the latest CPU’s, it maybe worth waiting for the 9950X3D, which has a chance to be an all round killer CPU. Of course it won’t be cheap or easy to get on release day.

On a side note, assuming you got a new 14900K, then it really shouldn’t degrade now, not with all the latest BIOS updates and patches. If you applied those that is.

33

Hey Hey Tony,

My “new” CPU came before the patches and updates. And due to my work I couldn’t just stop using it. I was careful, but I opened an older working file where the Cycles setting was set on CPU. I switched to rendered view, immediately noticing my “mistake” and turned on the GPU. But the damage was already done.

To spice it up:
We are also using Unity and the version we are working on keeps crashing on my machine. We also cannot just switch the Unity version, because tech is worried about the fixes they would have to do. So I switch between a company laptop and my desktop. Luckily I just work occasionally in Unity.

So, there you have it: Ryzen it shall be.

Thanks for your help! Take care.

34

Just under $1500NZ here :scream:

Well…you probably won’t believe it, but I’m still trying to get everything sorted out with my build.

Not one store can provide me with the build I specified.

Some I’ve been dealing with tell me to go elsewhere and use their Black Friday sales (the builders can’t compete with the big store). I find it difficult to comprehend.

I think trying to use the Black Friday sales everywhere here was a mistake (for me). All the stores are super busy and products are sold out everywhere (good for the stores). So…I can’t get my PC made without having to waiting at least 6-8 weeks for the out of stock products to be back in stock.

Something I would like to ask is your thoughts on brands. For example, the RTX 4070Ti Super here seems to be mostly the Gigabtye brand. One store quoted me a Colorful iGame GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER Ultra W OC 16GB-V Graphic Card here. I’ve never even heard of it before?? and it costs the same as the Gigabyte brand. One store told me they do MSI and Asus, but they are even more expensive. Why do they even have so many models?

Should I take a risk on the Colorful iGame (they do have that one in stock on sale), or should I get a better brand → and…are the known brands even better? And…NONE of the stores are saying the Gigabyte 4070Ti Super is available to order (unlike the other out of stock products which can be ordered). Hasn’t the 4000 series stopped production? Wow…can’t believe how stressful this has all been.

Honestly, I don’t care about brands per se. I care about reliability and longevity and especially after-sales service if something goes wrong. But…a lot of posts say they all suck at warranty stuff. :smirk:

Thanks in advance

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Marketing mostly. I mean there will be some level of quality in some cases, the higher up the SKU’s you go, but usually the top is all about the ‘bling’, while the bottom is about cutting as many corners as possible, while still making a card that’s in spec and won’t die in the first 6 months.

I tend to avoid the bottom of the list, but largely don’t over spend on the top either.

In general, its still the same GPU die, VRAM, etc so performance won’t be much different. Now, while I’ve heard of Colorful, it’s not really somethign that gets sold in Aus, so I really don’t have any specific knowledge or experience with it. I guess if its more common in NZ, maybe try to find some local reviews, etc.

Having said that, the place you buy it from is likely to matter more. If the thing doesn’t die within the first 12 months or so, chances are it will keep working for years and any early death generally means dealing with the place of purchase. So if they are all good (again, reviews, etc), then it should be all fine.

Pretty much, at some point or another, they all tend to drop the ball or a couple of customers have a really bad time. For the most part, its just how the mass market is now and that applies to pretty much everything.

I do tend to make a couple of exceptions (for computer stuff anyway) and that’s Noctua and Fractal Design. But they mostly only do cooling/fans/cases and to be fair in general those things tend to just last the longest anyway. Well mine do, but then most of mine over the years have largely been Noctua and Fractal Design…

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Yeah…well I hadn’t heard of it until yesterday. I’ve been dealing with this store for a while (mostly HDD’s), but without having any issues (touch wood), I can’t say if they are good when anything goes wrong or not. I would say they have parallel imported them, but because they are the same price (+or- a little), I think I would rather buy a brand I recognise.

The problem currently, everyone has sold out of all the main brands. I bet that when they come back in stock (if they do) they’ll have increased the price big time. Not sure what choice will be available??

As for Noctura, I’ve got one in my current PC and I’m going to put one in my new PC. I’m about to pull the plug and buy what components I can. It’s the GPU which is the biggest concern.

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Yeah, it can be a bit tricky at times, don’t know if one should grab an item while its in stock or risk waiting a couple of weeks to see if it goes on sale. To then maybe have it vanish from stock for 2 months before you had a chance to buy it.

There is another factor to consider. In early January Nvidia will announce it’s new GPU’s, so that will cause a number of things to happen.

So I guess if possible, depending on the GPU you currently have, you could get most of the new stuff now, use the existing GPU and then early next year see where everything is at.

38

Well…I bit the bullet on one yesterday. The store I am now mainly dealing with had one left in stock (Asus), so I told him I would take it regardless of the quote outcome. No other stores have any (except that Colourful brand - same store). I did have to pay more for it than the Gigabyte one.

I will probably bite the bullet this afternoon and confirm the quote. It’s not everything I wanted (the guy was so resistant to buying anything else - other than the stuff they had in stock. It was scary). The best thing for me was NOT having to buy all the stuff myself and then find someone to build it. And any warranty issues down the track are handled by a single store.

This store can supply the whole PC. Everything quoted is in stock (only store that could achieve this). I had to go to another cooler. The NOCTUA D15 is out of stock everywhere. Oh well, that’s life.

I’ll see how it goes this arvo. Thanks