Cinema 4D / Octane / 3D Build

[Pete5027]

Hey everyone,

I've grabbed a couple of quotes using the site but thought it best to grab some opinions before putting the order in. This is going to be mainly used for 3D production work and GPU based rendering.

My immediate thoughts were 'Threadripper' but to get the most out of this I feel I should be putting at least 2 RTX 2080 Ti cards in there. As it stands, due to the additional cost of the CPU I'd want to restrict the spend to 2 x RTX 2070s. On the plus-side though, I guess this leaves lots of room to upgrade in the future (replacing, or adding to the 2070s).

I then scoped out a high end Gen3 Ryzen CPU. The limited PCI-e lanes result in fewer options but the cost saving would mean I could go 'bigger' on the GPUs and max the PCI-e lanes out with 2 x RTX 2080s (but with no real room for future upgrades).

I'm not massively confident when it comes to this stuff. I've also read that we need to be careful when stacking more than one GPU where the fans are? (So that one GPU doesn't just blow hot air on to the 2nd).

Any advice massively appreciated!

Specs below...

Option 1: Threadripper

Case PCS SR-819 RGB FULL TOWER CASE

Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X 24 Core CPU (3.8GHz - 4.5GHz, 142MB CACHE)

Motherboard Gigabyte TRX40 AORUS PRO Wi-Fi 6: ATX, USB 3.2 - RGB Ready

Memory (RAM) 64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (4 x 16GB)

Graphics Card 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

2nd Graphics Card 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

1st Storage Drive 1TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)

2nd Storage Drive 2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE 1st M.2

SSD Drive 1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED

Power Supply CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Processor Cooling Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler

Thermal Paste STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001] Operating System Language United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE Browser Google Chrome™
Surge Protection 6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
Cable Management 3 x PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 15 to 18 working days
Welcome Book PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

Quantity 1 Total Order Price Ex VAT £3,038.33 Total VAT (20%) £607.67


Option 2: Ryzen 9 (other specs similar to above)


Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16 Core CPU (3.5GHz-4.7GHz/73MB CACHE/AM4)

Motherboard ASUS® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!

Memory (RAM) 64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (4 x 16GB)

Graphics Card 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

2nd Graphics Card 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

Total Order Price Ex VAT £2,859.17 Total VAT (20%) £571.83

 

[Scott]

With Octane you're pretty much going to be reliant on the GPU, so the CPU will have little impact. With regards to the Cinema 4D, I believe it's completely the opposite. Where the CPU does the grunt work and the GPU is to facilitate the displaying of the render.

It's going to be a toss up for you I think. I would air with whichever side of the coin is going to give you the most productivity. Whichever software you use the most should take preference.

The logic in my brain, without knowing your exact position, tells me the threadripper would be the best shout. My reason for thinking this way is that the FIRST thing that's ever upgraded in a system (that's sensibly built) is the GPU. There are new GPUs out at the end of the year so you will be able to save some capital to put towards new cards knowing fine well you have a system that can smash any requirements for them. You will be able to sell on the 2070s to help fund the new purchase and if you were to even get the same tier, 3070, you would be getting a bump in performance regardless. You would probably want to look at the 3080 equivalent though, to make it worthwhile.

If you're thinking along the same lines and think threadripper fits well then post back and we can look to tweak some of your spec as it doesn't look optimal to me. Is there a bit of flex in the budget?

 

[Scott]

Just to add to this by the way. The 3950X is an absolute MONSTER of a CPU. By the time you are hitting the Threadripper chips the processing power gets laughable. If you don't think you need the throughput of the 24 cores then the 3950X is definitely a fine shout.

You can see the results here. Note that absolutely everything OTHER than threadripper is below the 3950X, it's absolutely no slouch.

 

[Pete5027]

Thanks for the swift reply Scott!

It definitely seems to be a question of short-term gain over long-term (and simple) upgradability. I definitely have one eye on the new 3080 GPUs.

I'm very much a generalist, and will be compositing in AE, editing in Premiere as well as the 3D work, so I'm probably edging towards the Threadripper. It'd be a great help if you could optimise around this setup in the build. I'd like to stay under £4K with VAT

 

[Scott]

I honestly think I would burst out laughing at such a system rendering. It's going to be stupidly quick at anything you can throw at it.....

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 XL BLACK QUIET TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X 24 Core CPU (3.8GHz - 4.5GHz, 142MB CACHE)
Motherboard
Gigabyte TRX40 AORUS PRO Wi-Fi 6: ATX, USB 3.2 - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
2nd Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H150i PRO Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Surge Protection
6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
Cable Management
3 x PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 15 to 18 working days
Price: £3,884.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-trx40-pc/cBEsfxxRaj/

 

[Charlas]

Don't want to add anything tonthr ointment, but remember that 4000 series is coming eoy and has a big IPC gain over 3000 series, and the x570 board will support those processors, but there is no guarantee trx40 will support the next gen thread ripper parts. Although 64core 128 thread is probably as much as anyone needs if you max out the trx40 board.

Also be careful with SLI, it sometimes doesn't give you what you expect (

) and might be worth looking into a Titan RTX instead of the dual, similar price, similar performance, and leaves you another slot free for if you do need more grunt to plonk another in. Food for thought is all.

 

[Scott]

Don't want to add anything tonthr ointment, but remember that 4000 series is coming eoy and has a big IPC gain over 3000 series, and the x570 board will support those processors, but there is no guarantee trx40 will support the next gen thread ripper parts. Although 64core 128 thread is probably as much as anyone needs if you max out the trx40 board.

Also be careful with SLI, it sometimes doesn't give you what you expect (

) and might be worth looking into a Titan RTX instead of the dual, similar price, similar performance, and leaves you another slot free for if you do need more grunt to plonk another in. Food for thought is all.

The Titan RTX is around £1500 more? Or are we thinking about a different RTX?

With Octane the cards stack quite well.... even not with SLI. SLI is dead for gaming though, IMO of course.

 

[Charlas]

The Titan RTX is around £1500 more? Or are we thinking about a different RTX?

With Octane the cards stack quite well.... even not with SLI. SLI is dead for gaming though, IMO of course.

Hadn't thought about retail, bought one last month second hand for 900, but yeah, should think retail, Doh!

 

[Charlas]

Ignore me, and carry on <whistle> I'll get me coat

Although 2080TI is about 900-1000 and could probably sit in for the Titan (besides RAM that is)

 

[Scott]

Ignore me, and carry on <whistle> I'll get me coat

Although 2080TI is about 900-1000 and could probably sit in for the Titan (besides RAM that is)

With Octane the scaling across multiple GPUs is pretty good. 2x 2070 Supers would significantly out perform the 2080 Ti unfortunately. Not a lot of cash difference either. Granted, you would have the added benefit of one of the most powerful single card solutions to do other things with..... but I think the dual 2070s with a view to swap out for the 3080s is a fair shout.

There was a properly serious couple of rigs specced last month using the Titans/2080Tis. My mouth was watering at the budget to be honest, I was like a kid in a sweet shop.

 

[Pete5027]

Hey thanks for the advice guys! Didn't even notice this conversation happening

Yeah, Octane should stack the rendering to almost x2 the render times. From the research I've done this should outperform 1 2080 Ti, although I'd only have access to 8GB VRAM rather than 11GB. I guess I get a safety net in case of one card failing though

I don't think the 2070s have an SLI option, although it seems to be a little redundant anyway (and I've heard can lead to complications with rendering).

I'm more or less set to place this order in the next couple of days! The last PC I bought was about half this cost so just want to make sure its right

 

[Scott]

It's a VERY serious piece of kit. We are way past anything that any sane person would use for a non-professional application

I definitely think TR4 is the right option for you, but you're actually in the fortunate position where you can't really go wrong

 

[Pete5027]

Thanks for all your help Scott - the order's in