Advice on my first ever build. Mainly use After Effects (compositing), Cinema 4D, Redshift. Thank you!

[Kirstin Smith]

Hello,

I am a Motion Designer that works mainly in After Effects, however, I use plenty of the Trapcode plugins, do lots of composing work and I also do compositing with 3D assets made and textured in Cinema 4D with Redshift. I am looking to develop more of my 3D skills and my computer is not helping at the moment. I have always used Mac, but after doing a good amount of research about whats my best choice to upgrade, I keep reading that Mac is not a great option if I am planning on doing more 3D work.

I am willing to invest a good amount of money to make sure this computer lasts for a few years and I am also interested in the possibility of upgrading in the future without having to buy a whole new machine. My budget is at around $2500 and could spend a bit more if its worth it. I am based in Canada.

Here is what I got from the PC builder:

CGDirector.com Parts List: https://www.cgdirector.com/pc-builder/?=6NmvY

CPU: Intel Core i9 12900K 3.2GHz 16-Core Processor ($569.89)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 ($89.90)
Motherboard: MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk DDR4 ATX LGA1700 ($259.99)
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6900XT - XFX Speedster ($869.00)
Memory: 64GB (4 x 16GB) G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4-3200 C16 ($208.08)
Storage PCIe-SSD: Sabrent Rocket 2TB NVMe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive ($203.99)
Power Supply: EVGA Supernova 1200 P2 80+ Platinum Power Supply ($224.99)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($144.99)
Total: $2570.83

It also gave me a Compatibility note:
Compatibility Note:
- Some GPU Render Engines require Nvidia GPUs.
- High-Profile RAM might require slight CPU-Fan up-shift.
- CPU Cooler may require LGA1700 compatibility mounting-kit.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated! I have looked into how to put it all together but if there are any links that you can recommend I would also appreciate it.

Many thanks!

 

[Alex Glawion]

Love your build, but I would adjust the following:

As already stated by the Builder, Things like Redshift don't yet work with AMD GPUs. This means you'll want an Nvidia GPU. You can just toggle the nvidia button in the builder to force an nvidia GPU. A RTX 3070 or higher will do well with your workloads. RTX 3080Ti probably is the sweet spot, especially with recent price reductions on the higher-end.

The Ripjaws RAM have a somewhat tall heat spreader on each module, which might require you to slightly adjust the outer fan on the bequiet dark rock pro 4, to make a few more millimeters of clearance so the RAM closest to the CPU socket fits. This is not a problem just a note to keep in mind during your build process.

The mounting kit warning is something you can ignore for that particular cooler. It is meant for people upgrading or buying coolers that don't yet have the correct mounting kit for the formerly new-ish 12th gen 1700 socket. The be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4, though, meanwhile has this compatibility out of the box.

Great build overall!