ignobliss Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 (edited) Hi everybody, Quite new to Houdini, now studying VFX (1 year) and soon graduating. So I need a PC to be able to continue learning. Could you please give me some thoughts on this build. I am especially interested in what the bottleneck is. I do not want to have the best of the best, just a real decent machine and which could possibly upgraded/extended later. Would for instance a GTX 1060 6gb be sufficient? Any thoughts are really appreciated! PcPartPicker is more focussed on gaming, this machine is really intended for VFX work (Houdini & Nuke). Budget: 1500 pounds absolute max. (1700 euros, 1900 us dollars) CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor (£282.09 @ Amazon UK) Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AX370-GAMING 5 ATX AM4 Motherboard (£175.99 @ Aria PC) Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£262.78 @ Amazon UK) Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£85.39 @ More Computers) Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K4000 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£106.10 @ Amazon UK) Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card (£419.99 @ Amazon UK) Case: Fractal Design - Define S ATX Mid Tower Case (£68.76 @ CCL Computers) Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply Total: £1401.10 PCPartPicker part list: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/HvnNwV Thanks!! Edited June 15, 2017 by ignobliss added budget indication Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animatrix Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 I would get 64GB RAM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignobliss Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 I was planning to get that in the future, when I am working again. AM4 motherboards only accept 64gb as a maximum, is that future proof you think? I think only Intel motherboards support more than 64gb, but Ryzen sounds like a much better deal atm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeiamyourfather Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 If you can deal with 64GB of memory maximum then this is a build that offers very good value. I recommend memory from anyone that isn't G.Skill because their support is basically nonexistent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignobliss Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 (edited) Ah that's good to hear! I am going to look for a different memory brand then. Today I have read that the Ryzen CPUs do not utilize the maximum ram speed. Often 2400mhz is as high as they go. So I was thinking of buying 2400. Do you have any recommendations for this? A lot of terminology in this area which is a bit hard to grasp. And is the GPU a good choice? I often see the ASUS Strix is a favourite of many. Edited June 15, 2017 by ignobliss added question about ram speed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeiamyourfather Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Most of the memory I've purchased has come from either Samsung or Crucial. Both have very good support. I'd go with the least expensive module from one of those manufacturers at the speed and capacity you're looking for (sometimes multiple individual modules are cheaper than kits). Heat spreaders, temperature aware LED lighting, and other cosmetic features are just marketing wank. They'll perform the same with or without the nonsense features. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atom Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 If you can, swap out that Hitachi drive for a HGST drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilly123 Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 On 6/15/2017 at 11:20 AM, lukeiamyourfather said: If you can deal with 64GB of memory maximum then this is a build that offers very good value. I recommend memory from anyone that isn't G.Skill because their support is basically nonexistent. I am currently running macOS on a Asus Z10PE-D16 with only 32g of ram. Would 64g of ram be the starting point for stable running. Im quite happy with having error correcting ram, though I think it is not as fast as most. It's the cpu I went for two Xeon E5-2640 v4 (10 cores each) and the gtx 980ti. TIA... Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tar Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 35 minutes ago, Gilly123 said: I am currently running macOS on a Asus Z10PE-D16 with only 32g of ram. Would 64g of ram be the starting point for stable running. Im quite happy with having error correcting ram, though I think it is not as fast as most. It's the cpu I went for two Xeon E5-2640 v4 (10 cores each) and the gtx 980ti. TIA... Bill Unfortunately you'll never be stable with a Gtx980ti and MacOS as the OpenGL drivers are horrendous. Avoid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilly123 Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 5 hours ago, marty said: Unfortunately you'll never be stable with a Gtx980ti and MacOS as the OpenGL drivers are horrendous. Avoid! I dont use the OpenCL options in Houdini. Tried them once and the render was awful. Stability-wise things have been ok by me. Just curious if Houdini would be happier with 64g, instead of the 32g. I do agree though, should have stayed in the surf and out of the Sierra's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tar Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 @Gilly123 what's unstable at the moment? Ram makes almost no difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilly123 Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 On July 30, 2017 at 4:24 PM, marty said: @Gilly123 what's unstable at the moment? Ram makes almost no difference. Nothing in that respect, I have some distrust in the gpu, some driver/nvidia control panel app issues, so I dont rely on it. The cpu's earn thier keep with this build compared to my lesser computers. I still hold a special place for my b&w g3 micro atx single xeon /2011-3 socket/ work station. I was just wondering if Houdini is happier with more ram or not... If 32gigs was fine. The only crashing is typical hang if you accidentally bump a sim setting to some insane setting. Even then most times it means you have to wait, try escape key, or bail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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