New PC for VFX, 3D Animation and Rendering - Budget 3,50,000

[j_adhyaru]

Hey, geeks. Hope you're doing well. Last week my Asus Maximus VIII Ranger died after 8 years. The PC repair shop guy says that one of its IC has gone and if we can find a similar motherboard, we may replace it, or else I have to buy a new Motherboard. Anyways, I was planning to upgrade my PC. So I will take it as an excuse. Here are my requirements.

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run?
Ans: VFX, 3D Animation, Rendering, Editing. I am going to run Blender, Unreal Engine, After Effects, Davinci Resolve, Embergen, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, etc. NO gaming at all. Not even in my weirdest dreams.

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend it a bit for a more balanced configuration, then please mention.
Ans: 3,50,000 (Ready to increase it up to +50k if necessary)

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: No

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Win 10

5. How much hard drive / solid-state drive space is needed?
Ans: 1TB SSD, 2x1TB HDD

6. Do you want to buy a monitor?
Ans: Yes. Dual monitors of 21"-23". Right now, I have two Dell s2216h (22").

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy? i.e. which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: Perhaps, for now, I will use my existing dual monitor setup for quite a while, and then I will replace them as soon as I get a good deal. Also, I will reuse my 250 GB SSD as my scratch drive. I will reuse my Mouse, Keyboard, Headphones, Speaker, and Wacom setup.

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: Next month (November).

9. Have you ever built a desktop before? Or, will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: Yes. I will assemble it.

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: Ahmedabad. Planning to buy components online from mdcomputers and other similar sites.

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: Nothing against AMD but I prefer intel processors and Nvidia cards. I have made a purchase list on PcPriceTracker.in. Please, suggest me if anything is overkill and needs to be replaced.

Processor: Intel Core i9-12900K Desktop OEM Processor 16 (8P+8E) Cores up to 5.2 GHz Unlocked LGA1700 125W
Shop: Vishal Peripherals
Price: 50,000

Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z690-A Motherboard (Intel Socket 1700/12th Generation Core Series CPU/Max 128GB DDR5 6000MHz Memory)
Shop: Vishal Peripherals
Price: 24,490

Graphic Card: ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 24GB GDDR6X Gaming Graphic Card
Shop: Clarion
Price: 1,67,790

Power Supply: MSI MPG A1000G 1000 Watt 80 Plus Gold Fully Modular Power Supply
Shop: Sphinxpc
Price: 11,649

Cabinet: Adata XPG Battlecruiser (ATX) Mid Tower Cabinet With Tempered Glass Side Panel And ARGB Controller (Black)
Shop: The ITDepot
Price: 10,005

Memory (RAM): Corsair Vengeance 128GB (4x32GB) DDR5 DRAM 5600MHz C40 Black Memory CMK32GX5M1B5600C40
Shop: NationalPC
Price: 15,800 x 4 = 63,200

HDD: Seagate Barracuda (2x1TB) 7200 RPM Desktop Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM008)
Shop: Compify
Price: 2 x 3000 = 6,000

SSD: Samsung 860 EVO 1TB Internal SSD (MZ-76E1T0BW)
Shop: The ITDepot
Price: 11,150

CPU cooler: ADATA XPG LEVANTE 240mm Addressable RGB CPU Cooler
Shop: Elitehubs
Price: 9,790

Grand Total: 3,54,074

Note: I was researching and I came to know about a lot of reports that 4090's 16-pin connector is melting. Should I go for 3090 then? But 4090's performance is wayyyy better than 3090. I don't want to regret it later.

 

[SaiyanGoku]

Why aren't you considering 13900k?

 

[DestGod]

Hey, geeks. Hope you're doing well. Last week my Asus Maximus VIII Ranger died after 8 years. The PC repair shop guy says that one of its IC has gone and if we can find a similar motherboard, we may replace it, or else I have to buy a new Motherboard. Anyways, I was planning to upgrade my PC. So I will take it as an excuse. Here are my requirements.

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run?
Ans: VFX, 3D Animation, Rendering, Editing. I am going to run Blender, Unreal Engine, After Effects, Davinci Resolve, Embergen, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, etc. NO gaming at all. Not even in my weirdest dreams.

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend it a bit for a more balanced configuration, then please mention.
Ans: 3,50,000 (Ready to increase it up to +50k if necessary)

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: No

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Win 10

5. How much hard drive / solid-state drive space is needed?
Ans: 1TB SSD, 2x1TB HDD

6. Do you want to buy a monitor?
Ans: Yes. Dual monitors of 21"-23". Right now, I have two Dell s2216h (22").

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy? i.e. which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: Perhaps, for now, I will use my existing dual monitor setup for quite a while, and then I will replace them as soon as I get a good deal. Also, I will reuse my 250 GB SSD as my scratch drive. I will reuse my Mouse, Keyboard, Headphones, Speaker, and Wacom setup.

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: Next month (November).

9. Have you ever built a desktop before? Or, will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: Yes. I will assemble it.

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: Ahmedabad. Planning to buy components online from mdcomputers and other similar sites.

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: Nothing against AMD but I prefer intel processors and Nvidia cards. I have made a purchase list on PcPriceTracker.in. Please, suggest me if anything is overkill and needs to be replaced.

Processor: Intel Core i9-12900K Desktop OEM Processor 16 (8P+8E) Cores up to 5.2 GHz Unlocked LGA1700 125W
Shop: Vishal Peripherals
Price: 50,000

Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z690-A Motherboard (Intel Socket 1700/12th Generation Core Series CPU/Max 128GB DDR5 6000MHz Memory)
Shop: Vishal Peripherals
Price: 24,490

Graphic Card: ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 24GB GDDR6X Gaming Graphic Card
Shop: Clarion
Price: 1,67,790

Power Supply: MSI MPG A1000G 1000 Watt 80 Plus Gold Fully Modular Power Supply
Shop: Sphinxpc
Price: 11,649

Cabinet: Adata XPG Battlecruiser (ATX) Mid Tower Cabinet With Tempered Glass Side Panel And ARGB Controller (Black)
Shop: The ITDepot
Price: 10,005

Memory (RAM): Corsair Vengeance 128GB (4x32GB) DDR5 DRAM 5600MHz C40 Black Memory CMK32GX5M1B5600C40
Shop: NationalPC
Price: 15,800 x 4 = 63,200

HDD: Seagate Barracuda (2x1TB) 7200 RPM Desktop Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM008)
Shop: Compify
Price: 2 x 3000 = 6,000

SSD: Samsung 860 EVO 1TB Internal SSD (MZ-76E1T0BW)
Shop: The ITDepot
Price: 11,150

CPU cooler: ADATA XPG LEVANTE 240mm Addressable RGB CPU Cooler
Shop: Elitehubs
Price: 9,790

Grand Total: 3,54,074

Note: I was researching and I came to know about a lot of reports that 4090's 16-pin connector is melting. Should I go for 3090 then? But 4090's performance is wayyyy better than 3090. I don't want to regret it later.

The 12900K is a generation old at this point, so now, the 13900K makes more sense. Unfortunately, the 13900K draws an upward of 300w at peak, so keeping it cool is near impossible. Undervolts and power limits wil help, but you're still losing performance by doing so, and the decrease in power draw isn't a huge difference.

Another woe in going with Intel now is that LGA 1700 is meeting its end with 13th Gen. So AM5 is actually a better option, due to AMD's promise of a long life span.

Note: I was researching and I came to know about a lot of reports that 4090's 16-pin connector is melting. Should I go for 3090 then? But 4090's performance is wayyyy better than 3090. I don't want to regret it later.

Apparently, that was due to poor soldering on the connector. It seems that if the connector was too bent, that issue would arise. A few solutions would be to remove the side panel from your case or to use a cable extension.

Consider this build-
CPU - AMD Ryzen 9 7950x- 65k (True, it is a bit slower than the i9 13900K. But the performance of both the chips are already mind blowing, so you wouldnt go wrong with either of the chips)

Motherboard- Asus TUF X670E Plus Wifi - 34k

CPU Cooler- Deepcool AK620 - 5.5k (There won't be any difference between this and higher end coolers. The 7950x will always push to 95 deg C regardless of what cooler is used. This is done to get optimal performance, and AMD assures us that theres nothing wrong for AM5 chips to stay at that temp. ALSO, make sure to get the AM5 bracket from Deepcool)

GPU- RTX 4090- 170k (Zotac/ Gigabyte/ Asus/ MSI)

SSD- 2TB WD SN850X - 25k (HDDs are near obsolete today, so avoid. Get SATA SSDs for additional storage)

SATA SSD- 2TB WD Green- 13k

Memory - Corsair Vengeance 6000Mhz C40 2x16GB Kit- 19k (There are early adopter issues with DDR5. Going with 128GB will result in endless system instability. So play it safe, start with 32 gigs and upgrade later. 64GB will have the same issues as well.)

Case- Lian Li Lancool III/3 - 13k

PSU- Corsair RM1000x- 15k

Total- 360k

For the 7950x, make sure to use Eco Mode or use the PBO curve optimiser. This will reduce power draw and temps, while not changing the performance much.

 

[j_adhyaru]

Why aren't you considering 13900k?

Heard that it catches too much heat which affects its performance.

 

[j_adhyaru]

The 12900K is a generation old at this point, so now, the 13900K makes more sense. Unfortunately, the 13900K draws an upward of 300w at peak, so keeping it cool is near impossible. Undervolts and power limits wil help, but you're still losing performance by doing so, and the decrease in power draw isn't a huge difference.

Another woe in going with Intel now is that LGA 1700 is meeting its end with 13th Gen. So AM5 is actually a better option, due to AMD's promise of a long life span.

Apparently, that was due to poor soldering on the connector. It seems that if the connector was too bent, that issue would arise. A few solutions would be to remove the side panel from your case or to use a cable extension.

Consider this build-
CPU - AMD Ryzen 9 7950x- 65k (True, it is a bit slower than the i9 13900K. But the performance of both the chips are already mind blowing, so you wouldnt go wrong with either of the chips)

Motherboard- Asus TUF X670E Plus Wifi - 34k

CPU Cooler- Deepcool AK620 - 5.5k (There won't be any difference between this and higher end coolers. The 7950x will always push to 95 deg C regardless of what cooler is used. This is done to get optimal performance, and AMD assures us that theres nothing wrong for AM5 chips to stay at that temp. ALSO, make sure to get the AM5 bracket from Deepcool)

GPU- RTX 4090- 170k (Zotac/ Gigabyte/ Asus/ MSI)

SSD- 2TB WD SN850X - 25k (HDDs are near obsolete today, so avoid. Get SATA SSDs for additional storage)

SATA SSD- 2TB WD Green- 13k

Memory - Corsair Vengeance 6000Mhz C40 2x16GB Kit- 19k (There are early adopter issues with DDR5. Going with 128GB will result in endless system instability. So play it safe, start with 32 gigs and upgrade later. 64GB will have the same issues as well.)

Case- Lian Li Lancool III/3 - 13k

PSU- Corsair RM1000x- 15k

Total- 360k

For the 7950x, make sure to use Eco Mode or use the PBO curve optimiser. This will reduce power draw and temps, while not changing the performance much.

Thanks for the detailed reply, dude. I really need to go with intel only. Also, do you think the motherboard I have chosen is good enough? I don't want wi-fi anyway as I am good with cabled ethernet. So maybe I can save some money there.

Do you think I should go with DDR4 RAM and motherboard then? Because my existing build has 32GB of RAM and it really struggles sometimes due to the work I pull of from that PC.

Thanks for the other suggestions. I will certainly go with those.

 

[DestGod]

Also, do you think the motherboard I have chosen is good enough? I don't want wi-fi anyway as I am good with cabled ethernet. So maybe I can save some money there.

Yes its good. Best DDR5 Z series motherboard in its budget IMO.

Do you think I should go with DDR4 RAM and motherboard then? Because my existing build has 32GB of RAM and it really struggles sometimes due to the work I pull of from that PC.

If capacity is preferred, then DDR4 is definitely the way to go. Also, I would suggest i7 13700K + Z790. The i7 13700K is a bit faster then the i9 12900K while being cheaper. However, you will still need a good AIO, as like the 12900K, it draws about 240w.
These would be the changes to make.
i7 13700K - 42k

Motherboard- MSI Z790 PRO A- 25k

Memory- G Skill DDR4 32GB 3600Mhz (4 sticks) - 40k

CPU Cooler- Lian Li Galahad 360mm AIO - 11k

Honestly, it's very likely that you'll see thermal throttling even with this rig. So if budget allows, you can consider the i9 13900k as well (with undervolts, some downclocks and power limits)

 

[whitestar_999]

@ico

 

[j_adhyaru]

Yes its good. Best DDR5 Z series motherboard in its budget IMO.


If capacity is preferred, then DDR4 is definitely the way to go. Also, I would suggest i7 13700K + Z790. The i7 13700K is a bit faster then the i9 12900K while being cheaper. However, you will still need a good AIO, as like the 12900K, it draws about 240w.
These would be the changes to make.
i7 13700K - 42k

Motherboard- MSI Z790 PRO A- 25k

Memory- G Skill DDR4 32GB 3600Mhz (4 sticks) - 40k

CPU Cooler- Lian Li Galahad 360mm AIO - 11k

Honestly, it's very likely that you'll see thermal throttling even with this rig. So if budget allows, you can consider the i9 13900k as well (with undervolts, some downclocks and power limits)

Thank you so much. According to all the suggestions, here is the updated list.

Processor: Intel i7-13700k OR i9-12900k OR i9-13900k
Price: 42k/50k/57k

Motherboard: MSI Z790 PRO A
Price: 25k

RAM: G Skill DDR4 (4x32GB) 3600Mhz
Price: 40k

CPU Cooler: Lian Li Galahad 360mm AIO OR Deepcool AK620
Price: 11k/5.5k

GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 24GB GDDR6X
Price: 168k

SSD: 2TB WD SN850X
Price: 25k

SATA SSD: 2TB WD Green
Price: 13k

Case: Lian Li Lancool III/3
Price: 13k

PSU: Corsair RM1000x
Price: 15k


Sorry, I forgot to ask about UPS. I already have iBall 600VA/360W. Will it work with this rig or do I have to buy a new one?

 

[DestGod]

Thank you so much. According to all the suggestions, here is the updated list.

Processor: Intel i7-13700k OR i9-12900k OR i9-13900k
Price: 42k/50k/57k

Motherboard: MSI Z790 PRO A
Price: 25k

RAM: G Skill DDR4 (4x32GB) 3600Mhz
Price: 40k

CPU Cooler: Lian Li Galahad 360mm AIO OR Deepcool AK620
Price: 11k/5.5k

GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 24GB GDDR6X
Price: 168k

SSD: 2TB WD SN850X
Price: 25k

SATA SSD: 2TB WD Green
Price: 13k

Case: Lian Li Lancool III/3
Price: 13k

PSU: Corsair RM1000x
Price: 15k


Sorry, I forgot to ask about UPS. I already have iBall 600VA/360W. Will it work with this rig or do I have to buy a new one?

I would suggest dropping the Deepcool AK620 as an option. It's a good cooler for 200w chips, but unfortunately, the i7 and 19 gobble up far more power than that.

For the UPS, I would say that getting a new one is better. The system at load should ideally consider around 700w (this is the max it should consume, as the GPU and CPU wont always run at 100%).

 

[whitestar_999]

Sorry, I forgot to ask about UPS. I already have iBall 600VA/360W. Will it work with this rig or do I have to buy a new one?

Of course not, you need 1100VA/660W ups from brand like APC for such expensive rig & even then I am not sure it will be able to always support all the possible load scenarios during powercut.

 

[j_adhyaru]

I would suggest dropping the Deepcool AK620 as an option. It's a good cooler for 200w chips, but unfortunately, the i7 and 19 gobble up far more power than that.

For the UPS, I would say that getting a new one is better. The system at load should ideally consider around 700w (this is the max it should consume, as the GPU and CPU wont always run at 100%).

Thank you so much, bro. Appreciate your help.

 

[j_adhyaru]

Of course not, you need 1100VA/660W ups from brand like APC for such expensive rig & even then I am not sure it will be able to always support all the possible load scenarios during powercut.

Thank you, bro. I will definitely go for this one. I need UPS just for safety. In case, the power goes out, I can save my work and shut down the PC. I don't want to keep continue my work on UPS power.

 

[omega44-xt]

Recommend a PC Config based on 7950X budget within 2 lakhs
Read discussions here. I will recommend R9 7950X for CPU over i9 13900K as the top CPU for productivity.

APC BX1100 will just power the cabinet + stuff inside, not PC + monitor for such high end configuration. Your old UPS can power the monitor. You are better off considering a 1.5kVA inverter IMO if you can.

GPU - Do you really need RTX 4090? Maybe 3090 will be cheaper, say 1.2L.

Lancool III is a great cabinet, but big. So just be wary of the size.

You definitely need a 360mm AIO to keep i7 13700K or i9 13900K in check.

If you just need raw RAM capacity, DDR4 is surely the way to go.

 

[DestGod]

Read discussions here. I will recommend R9 7950X for CPU over i9 13900K as the top CPU for productivity.

The 13900K still manages to beat the 7950X in both type of workloads though (by a small difference, but platform costs are much higher for AMD). Sure, the power consumption is massive, but it seems Intel is competitive on the efficiency front as well. Testing and Tuning the new 13900K for Efficiency

GPU - Do you really need RTX 4090? Maybe 3090 will be cheaper, say 1.2L.

1.2L for RTX 3090 is not worth it IMO. For 80k-90k, it could be great. But for the extra 40k, RTX 4090 seems to give much more price to performance than the 3090. For productivity, it slays the RTX 3090 in some tests, and stays on par (probably CPU bound) in others.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 24GB Content Creation Review​

Lancool III is a great cabinet, but big. So just be wary of the size.

RTX 4090 is a big GPU.

 

[omega44-xt]

The 13900K still manages to beat the 7950X in both type of workloads though (by a small difference, but platform costs are much higher for AMD). Sure, the power consumption is massive, but it seems Intel is competitive on the efficiency front as well. Testing and Tuning the new 13900K for Efficiency

1.2L for RTX 3090 is not worth it IMO. For 80k-90k, it could be great. But for the extra 40k, RTX 4090 seems to give much more price to performance than the 3090. For productivity, it slays the RTX 3090 in some tests, and stays on par (probably CPU bound) in others.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 24GB Content Creation Review​

RTX 4090 is a big GPU.

I doubt platform cost is a big concern for OP. OP might want to have the headroom for easy upgrades, like upgrading to latest R9 after 3 years by just swapping CPU instead. Anyways, both are good, I'll still prefer R9 7950X over i9 13900K for crazy high end builds. OP's call, Ryzen performs better in some cases, Intel is better for some, mostly they trade blows. For cheaper CPUs, Ryzen 7000 is surely a stupid choice.

4090 - as you said, it is better in some, similar to 3090 in some. Hence OP should take the call if they really need 4090 - as in if they will even benefit from it. If budget is there, surely 4090 is the best GPU right now.

RTX 4090 will fit my Lancool II as well. Some of my friends found even Lancool II bigger than normal mid sized ATX cabinets. So just keep the size in mind, that's all.

 

[j_adhyaru]

GPU - Do you really need RTX 4090? Maybe 3090 will be cheaper, say 1.2L.

For 3D rendering, I have seen 4090 perform almost double than 3090 0r 3090ti. I think it's worth spending an extra 50k for that.

You definitely need a 360mm AIO to keep i7 13700K or i9 13900K in check.

Sure! Thank you for the suggestion.