Is it beefy enough for 3D rendering?

[IzzeE]

Can some good soul check this PC spec for me please?
I need a PC for 3D rendering, my software uses CUDA, so I only can use Nvidia.
My budget is only £2k and I already went over a bit, so if there is a discount code for anything I would be much appreciated to take this down to £2K

Case
PCS P209 ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 24-Core Processor i9-14900K (Up to 6.0GHz) 36MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z790-P (LGA1700, DDR5, PCIe 5.0)
Memory (RAM)
128GB PCS PRO DDR5 4800MHz (4 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3500 MB/R, 3200 MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3500 MB/R, 3200 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [MUP-00005]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Price: £2,160.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z790-ddr5-pc/aqvhRQDspE/

 

[TonyCarter]

There are some areas that are sub-optimal...even without knowing the specific 3D tools you're using.

1. very very hot CPU, with a poor cooler, in a poor case, with high power demands = volcano and throttling
2. very slow RAM speed for DDR5 - you'd want 5600-6000MHz to save throwing performance away
3. slow m.2 SSDs
4. basic motherboard that won't reliably handle the power the CPU requires for extended periods
5. basic PSU, more for office productivity use than heavy/long duration workloads
6. W11 Pro may not necessary unless you need Bitlocker, enterprise domains, group policy controls

Depending on the specific tools used, it may be better to go to an AMD 7900X/7950X build...or if that's not optimal for the software, then a i7-14700K will be as fast as the 14900K...as the only difference is the i9-14900K has more efficiency cores.

If you stayed with Intel then you'd want to:

• up the cooling to something from the Corsair H150 (360mm) AIO range;
• up the case to something like a Corsair 4000D;
• up the PSU to a 750W+ in the RM range (better quality circuitry, cooling, efficiency, longer warranty);
• up the motherboard to the TUF motherboard at the minimum;
• put a faster, more reliable m.2 in there for the boot/app drive (512GB Solidigm P44 Pro is a good option here)
• put a reliable, larger m.2 in the 2nd slot for projects (2TB Solidigm P41+ for example)

 

[Steveyg]

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever any reasonable person would ever buy the i9 14900 in any of it's forms mate, there are just better and cheaper options for doing the same thing, it's just not good

In fact I wouldn't recommend a single 14th Gen Intel CPU every one of them is a waste of the sand used to make them

 

[IzzeE]

There are some areas that are sub-optimal...even without knowing the specific 3D tools you're using.

1. very very hot CPU, with a poor cooler, in a poor case, with high power demands = volcano and throttling
2. very slow RAM speed for DDR5 - you'd want 5600-6000MHz to save throwing performance away
3. slow m.2 SSDs
4. basic motherboard that won't reliably handle the power the CPU requires for extended periods
5. basic PSU, more for office productivity use than heavy/long duration workloads
6. W11 Pro may not necessary unless you need Bitlocker, enterprise domains, group policy controls

Depending on the specific tools used, it may be better to go to an AMD 7900X/7950X build...or if that's not optimal for the software, then a i7-14700K will be as fast as the 14900K...as the only difference is the i9-14900K has more efficiency cores.

If you stayed with Intel then you'd want to:

• up the cooling to something from the Corsair H150 (360mm) AIO range;
• up the case to something like a Corsair 4000D;
• up the PSU to a 750W+ in the RM range (better quality circuitry, cooling, efficiency, longer warranty);
• up the motherboard to the TUF motherboard at the minimum;
• put a faster, more reliable m.2 in there for the boot/app drive (512GB Solidigm P44 Pro is a good option here)
• put a reliable, larger m.2 in the 2nd slot for projects (2TB Solidigm P41+ for example)

Aww, thank you so much for such detailed reply, I will rebuild my spec according to your advice. I am very greatufl and appreciate your advice as I have no clue about cooling systems and motherboards.

 

[IzzeE]

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever any reasonable person would ever buy the i9 14900 in any of it's forms mate, there are just better and cheaper options for doing the same thing, it's just not good

In fact I wouldn't recommend a single 14th Gen Intel CPU every one of them is a waste of the sand used to make them

What would you recommend please that is Intel? AMD is not supported by my software as I need CUDA. I can't use anything less than 13th gen. Thank you.

 

[TonyCarter]

AMD for the CPU, not AMD for the GPU.

The CUDA cores are on the GPU, which I didn't mention!

Give me a minute and I'll spec up an AMD build...hold on, I can't seem to configure more than 64GB RAM at the higher speeds, nor more than 96GB of the slower speeds

 

[TonyCarter]

Here's the closest I could get.

I'm assuming there's still some issue with Asus X670E motherboards and 4 sticks of higher speed RAM (or the configurator tool hasn't been updated)?

The 7900X is within 10% of the 14900K in most scenarios, the 7950X comes in +/-5% in most cases. However the AMD CPUs will do this using about half the power of the Intel...and won't throttle as they won't overheat (in a decent case of course).

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5) - the 7950X would add another £90.
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
96GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5200MHz (2 x 48GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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
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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £1,993.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/efQMv4raGB/

 

[IzzeE]

Here's the closest I could get.

I'm assuming there's still some issue with Asus X670E motherboards and 4 sticks of higher speed RAM (or the configurator tool hasn't been updated)?

The 7900X is within 10% of the 14900K in most scenarios, the 7950X comes in +/-5% in most cases. However the AMD CPUs will do this using about half the power of the Intel...and won't throttle as they won't overheat (in a decent case of course).

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5) - the 7950X would add another £90.
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
96GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5200MHz (2 x 48GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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
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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £1,993.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/efQMv4raGB/

OMG this is amazing. I don't know how to thank you enough, I would have made such a big error buying the thing I configured myself. I think I can afford the additional £90 for the processor.
Should I wait for the configurator to be updated and choose a different motherboard? I want to future proof this machine so I can stick more RAM when I save some more money.

 

[TonyCarter]

You will probably be fine with 96GB RAM for now...but if your models get even bigger you could add more RAM as the motherboard is updated to support it.

I had a bit of a look in case is was an incompatibility with Corsair RAM, but it seems there's an issue with high-speed, high-capacity, 4-sticks of RAM. Take either of those 3 factors out and it will work...so:

• high-speed + high capacity = fine just using 2 slots
• high-speed + 4-sticks = fine with 8/16GB sticks
• high capacity + 4-sticks = okay but only at very slow speeds (i.e. 3600MHz)

Of course, there's no harm in calling PCS to get the latest news on RAM compatibility / speeds / sizes. Their salespeople may not have the latest info, but they should be able to send a query to their build/engineering team.

 

[IzzeE]

You will probably be fine with 96GB RAM for now...but if your models get even bigger you could add more RAM as the motherboard is updated to support it.

I had a bit of a look in case is was an incompatibility with Corsair RAM, but it seems there's an issue with high-speed, high-capacity, 4-sticks of RAM. Take either of those 3 factors out and it will work...so:

• high-speed + high capacity = fine just using 2 slots
• high-speed + 4-sticks = fine with 8/16GB sticks
• high capacity + 4-sticks = okay but only at very slow speeds (i.e. 3600MHz)

Of course, there's no harm in calling PCS to get the latest news on RAM compatibility / speeds / sizes. Their salespeople may not have the latest info, but they should be able to send a query to their build/engineering team.

Thank you so much, you are an amazing superstar.