Advise for building a computer for blender

Question

I'm totally a novice when it comes to the best types of computers for 3D art, and honestly, the computer I'm using now is ok for smaller projects, but it still takes a long time to render, and on bigger projects, the viewport display can get really slow and laggy, so if anyone can give me a direction on where I should start when building a computer and the different components I will need for faster rendering time and viewport display in blender that's somewhat affordable, I would greatly appreciate it! 

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Reply
  • Lucas Welch(Bøssman) replied

    Thank you! 

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  • Lucas Welch(Bøssman) replied

    Is the NVIDIA Geforce RTX 4060 pretty good? The 4090 might be a little more than I'm willing to pay. 

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  • Omar Domenech replied

    Yeah it is as good as a 4060 can be. But the golden rule is, buy the best your budget can afford, the more powerful the most expensive but the more bang for your buck.

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  • Lucas Welch(Bøssman) replied

    Ok cool, thanks again! 

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  • Martin Bergwerf replied

    You can also have a look here:  https://opendata.blender.org/ 

    As Omar said, get the best you can afford.

    I think the order is GPU, CPU, RAM, but that might also depend on what you are doing with Blender.

    And of course avoid bottleneck situations, but as you want to build your own computer, you will be well aware of that.

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  • Adrian Bellworthy replied

    Like Spikey says with GPU, CPU, RAM, it does depend on what you are doing with Blender.
    The best GPU will give you better render results and speeds, hold on...
    The more RAM, the larger the scenes you can build in Blender without lagging and potential freezing or crashes, hold on...
    The CPU, as in the name, Central Processing, think of this as a bridge between all hardware components, RAM to GPU, RAM to HDD, etc., etc., the more lanes the bridge has (number of cores) and higher the speed limit in GHz the less potential for CPU bottlenecks.
    Having said that, some modern GPU's can communicate directly with RAM, this will also depend on OS and up to date software and drivers.

    In conclusion, the best you can afford in balance. GPU, CPU, RAM order is a good guide, but don't go best GPU, Average CPU, terrible RAM. While learning your likely to have multiple tasks and apps running, internet browser watching CGCookie courses, Blender, notepad maybe, texturing software such as InstaMat, and more, so a good balance is required, you will not only have Blender open.  
    Personally, I would say look for the best CPU you can afford, then even if you need to wait until next payday, look at purchasing the best GPU and RAM you can afford.
    GPU's and RAM sticks are much easier to upgrade later than the CPU.

    Additional considerations:
    Don't forget cooling, I prefer positive air pressure with a top vented case. I have three front fans drawing in cool air, one rear extractor fan expelling warm air, and the natural flow of warm air is up through the top vent. Negative air pressure (too many extractor fans) won't actually cool the hardware as some believe, no air means no cooling. AND don't do water cooled, it can look pretty with RGB lighting, but the potential to destroy your computer is too great a risk in my opinion, and you still need to make sure the water is cooled sufficiently. Regular maintenance should not be overlooked with water cooling. Like a fish tank the water needs replacing regularly.

    Go for a decent SSD for OS and programs and an additional decent HDD for general file storage if you think you will need it with all the unfinished Blender projects you will acquire over the coming months and years.

    What else?
    Two or more monitors, microphone, camera, headphones, the list goes on and on once you live and breathe Blender.
    Woah! That wall of text makes me look like an expert, far from it, although I did used to work for a company building computer systems and servers for businesses, I haven't really kept up with all the hardware tech changes over the years. However I do hope you find this useful if you read it to the end.

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  • Lucas Welch(Bøssman) replied

    Wow, thank you so much for the feedback! 

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  • Dwayne Savage(dillenbata3) replied

    Totally agree with Adrian, but there is one important thing that is often times overlooked. That is bus speed. The bus speed is determined by the main board or motherboard for the older generation 😜. This determines the fastest speed at which GPU(aka type of expansion ports), RAM(aka mega/giga-hertz or MT/s or transfer rate), and CPU(aka FSB or front side bus) can communicate with each other. Laptops have slower bus speeds to reduce heat. This is why an Intel 9, 12 core 2.4mhz on a laptop is slower than a desktop. They will have different FSB. 

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  • Lucas Welch(Bøssman) replied

    Oh ok, thank you! I will keep that in mind. 

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