Seeking New Build Feedback

[vizslakeeper]

I am a long time Mac user who has come to terms with the fact that Mac will not currently meet my needs. So, I have decided to undertake my first PC build (I have several friends help me if I get stuck but I am a very quick study )

I am ready to finalize my parts list (and get this underway!) after much research, and would love some feedback from you guys because I am NOT a computer hardware specialist!

If you see a conflict, or something that would be smarter/ better/ etc…I’d love it if you’d let me know!

The -what- and -why- I will add below. I know some of you just want to get to the parts query so…
CPU
I HAD thought the Ryzen Threadripper 1950x was it…but am now thinking that a better option will be the RYZEN 2700x, 8 core, Turbo Boost - since I do have so much time to spend actually drawing in SU, and am not ready for a separate render engine yet (and my internet is not great so cloud based render engines are not a good option for routine work)

GPU
I’d love some feedback on this -
I understand that the 1080 ti 11gb is the way I want to go, and am having trouble getting my head around how the Nvidia product really differs from the Gigabyte AORUS GE Force. Recommendations?

RAM
I am thinking that the Flarex 32gb (8gb x 4) for AMD is the way to go here.

MB
MSI x399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC

SSD
Samsung 970 Evo NVM 1TB
The other I am toying with is the Samsung 960 Pro M2 also at 1 TB
The price difference is pretty negligible … anyone have any feedback on reliability/ speed between these?

PS
Corsair CX850M - 850w 8- plus bronze, don’t want to worry about it if I decide to add add’l GPU in the future.

And I am leaning towards the Corsair CoolMax full tower case…also to just have to buy it once and not have to worry about running out of space …though I know that I’ll have quite a lot of ‘free’ space with this first build. It seems like that might allow me to postpone going beyond air cooling for the time being as well? And I’m leaning towards the ASUS PB278 QR monitor - matte, 1920 x 1080

Now, for the ‘what I need it for’ business…

Currently, I primarily use SketchUp Pro 2018 on an older MacBook Pro - and while I know that pretty much ANYthing would be better than this old dog - I need something that can keep up with the ever changing scope of what I need to do.

I work remotely as much as possible, and my current laptop will have to suffice for any on-the-job-site work that I might have to do for the time being…

Seeing as I will have to re invest in ALL my software, I am looking to save as much as possible - but don’t want to cut a stupid corner that will slow me down, or see me completely ‘outdated’ in a year, over a couple hundred dollars…

My main software at this time (very often at least several are running concurrently):

• SU pro 2018
• Layout
• VRay (I don’t think I will be re purchasing Podium, I like VRay’s features better and if processing speeds are actually do able…I don’t see a reason for Podium)
• Photoshop
• InDesign
• Dreamweaver
• Occasionally AUTOcad
• Final Cut Pro x

I would like to work on learning 3D Max next but that is for another day.
I am fairly split at this time between providing Production Documentation to contractors (primarily for general storage areas, closets, built ins, etc), and working on Client Presentation packages for Interior Design firms. So…while all of this requires a lot of time in SU, I also am doing a lot of rendering work, and Photoshop touch up.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.
I really appreciate you guys and this forum

[liamk887]

The 2080ti is out and it’s not that much all things considered, it’s a big performance boost over the 1080ti. Especially if you are rendering and using it for work. GeForce RTX 20 Series Graphics Cards and Laptops

I actually had my hands on the new 24GB RTX 6000 cards last week but only briefly! I think they will be released next month. They are going to be very expensive! These were prerelease cards from Nvidia so not in final form.

If you can afford it get one of those as they can function as either a GTX or Quadro card, while the GTX range cannot function as a Quadro. They will be around 6500 dollars each compared to the 1100 dollars for the 2080ti.

[Anssi]

About your choice of CPU:
SketchUp is a single-threaded application, so the number of cores has no effect on performance. AMD processors do not score well in single threaded performance.

Your choice:Single Thread Rating: 2191. Price $309.89

Some examples from a single threaded benchmark at a similar price to what you propose:

Intel Core i5-9600K: Single Thread Rating: 2750. No of Cores: 6 Price $279.99
Intel Xeon E-2146G: Single Thread Rating: 2702. No of Cores: 6 Price: $311
Intel Core i7-4790K: Single Thread Rating: 2530. No of Cores: 4 Price: $306.99

[vizslakeeper]

Thank you Liamk…but $6500 is above my current pay grade

I will look at the 2080ti - thank you for the thought!

Anssi - thank you as well. I have noticed that you are not an AMD fan in other posts and appreciate your feedback I am certainly not married to -any-thing. I just want the best of all worlds lmao

While it would be great, I am not feeling stuck at that $300 ish level for the CPU; the 1950x is what I’d budgeted for originally, and that lands closer to $700. Looking at the benchmarks with what admittedly limited understanding I have, I thought that the Ryzen 2700x would be a sufficient improvement over the 1950x TR primarily due to its TurboBoost turning ‘down’ some of the additional cores when doing work that does not need them… But in checking out cpubenchmark.net I see that the 2700x comes in at a whopping 2191 single thread rating…and the 1950x falls to 2000. Which makes the E-2146G or i7 9700k (at 2833 STRating) look good on paper.

All the single thread rating aside, I am working on moving (my business) towards increasing my whole house models, exterior ‘fly arounds’, and exterior scene renderings. I currently do a lot of custom storage solutions but am working to find my way into other niche markets as well.

Even with the Interior Design presentations, the files can be quite bulky as I am often hand modeling custom furniture pieces, lighting, and accessories, in several rooms that are often open to one another in a way that I need to model at least a portion of a home and then add these elements… Which sees me really needing to strike a balance between

• how can I help SU not be laaaagggggyyy, and
• still render moderately sizable scenes - almost always with lighting and reflective surfaces and often a lot of both - in as little time as possible

So…trying to stay somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500 ish for the actual computer, I could roll back my CPU and invest the ‘extra’ in the 2080ti GPU. Or, I could stick with the 1080ti and step up the CPU…

Does knowing that there is potentially a little more flex in the CPU budget change your suggestions?
If I may, what are you running right now?

[liamk887]

I would put more into the GPU personally as you only really get limited gain on the CPU, however you need to be using a GPU enabled render engine to make the most of that part.

My system in work is nuts so I wont bother listing it, my home machine however, although 5 years old, goes at full speed. There is not much I can’t throw at it both in SketchUp and also rendering on the CPU/GPU. I upgraded the GPU’s from an original single 2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 to the ones listed below.

CPU: Overclocked Intel® Quad Core i7-3820 (3.6GHz @ max 4.4GHz) *also water cooled
GPU: Dual MSI 6GB 980Ti
RAM: 32GB HYPERX BEAST QUAD-DDR3 2400MHz X.M.P
SSD: 240GB KINGSTON HYPERX SSD
HD: Dual 2TB 3.5" SATA-III
Power: CORSAIR 1000W PRO SERIES

I don’t get any lag in SketchUp until I get into the hundreds of MB’s, even then that’s solveable with layers.

I bought the original machine for 1700GBP in Jan 2013. I upgraded from 16 to 32 GB RAM a few years later and then bought both of those cards. So probably over the years I have put another 1500 GBP into it. Also got this awesome case!

[gsharp]

Sounds like a great spec for ‘World of Tanks’

[GSTUDIOS]

Interesting case - who made it?

[liamk887]

NZXT, think they make a slightly updated version now?

Ed: this seems to be the current model: https://www.nzxt.com/products/noctis-450-white-blue