Build for games development course

Curlyriff

Curlyriff

Curlyriff

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2012
Posts
4,387
Location
Oxfordshire
Morning all,

Haven't been on here for a while so good to see everything going well at overclockers.

Right down to business. I am currently talking to train2game in regards to completing a course in games development and animation.

Now with that in mind I am in need of a new computer that would be suitable to get me through the course and game on.

I've just sold my old pc so starting from scratch and wonering what people would recommend.

I am currently thinking 3 monitors, 780ti sli and a 4930k cpu with 32Gb but wondering if

a) this is too much really
b) would it better with 1 4k monitor rather than 3 1080p monitors. Thinking productivity on 3 monitors would be greater but able to render on 4k and work with the detail just as this detail level is being used it might be prudent to go for the higher resolution
c) am split between 16gb and 32gb RAM since I will be rendering and animating in programs such as mudbox.
d) to me it appears that the 4930k is much better value than the 4960x for the performance difference. Anyone confirm.
e) I am wondering what sort of PSU I could get away with. I am thinking a Corsair AX860

Oh and I am looking to go for an MATX build so PSU space is limited.

Budget all in honesty around £3.5k max but of course the less spent the better.

Any input help most appreciated.

Kind regards,

Adam
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Dell P2815Q 28" 4K Widescreen LED Monitor - Midnight Grey £539.99
2 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780Ti WindForce 3x OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N78TOC-3GD) £539.99 (£1,079.98)
1 x Intel 4930K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - Retail (BX80633I74930K) £425.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Silver 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900C9 1866MHz Quad Channel Memory Kit (CMY32GX3M4A1866C9) £299.99
1 x Asus Rampage IV GENE Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard £229.99
1 x Samsung 500GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE500BW) **£18 CASHBACK £215.99
1 x Seasonic X-Series 850w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £155.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Green 4TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD40EZRX) HDD £119.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 350D Windowed Micro ATX Case - Black (CC-9011029-WW) £94.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88.00
Total : £3,277.52 (includes shipping : £22.20).

 
Last edited:
Cheers for the input. That's pretty close to what I was initially looking at so I'm not too far off.

And we'll I need a monitor to start the course and it looks like the 1x 4k screen would be the better option and was what I was leaning towards. Can always hook a few more up at a later date.
 
Id wait for the next 4k monitors which are coming in in a matter of weeks I think. Also can always have 4k with 2 1440 or similar on the sides for work purposes.
 
Watching the Tek the other day and the Dell 4K was torn a new one, huge input lag apparently.
 
Train2game have some very good marketing spiel but don't know overall about the course yet.

Am having dinner with the course interviewer tomorrow to firm up my course details and spec.

And yeah it will be overkill I think for most work but I can use it for working on current jobs at home and will also game on it so has to really be an all in one system.

As for the idea of 1x 4k and two 1440p that is also a great idea. The other screens will be for reference work, emails, video tutorial, Skype tutor etc so no need for 4k and can always drop models over to see how well the detail renders up with lower resolution.

And I don't know. Did we call lol. I will probably be calling overclockers later today to discuss also.
 
Now that I have got the internet back on at work I can post my current basket based on what I was previous looking at rather than on the mobile phone.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I have OS and a 256GB Samsung 840 Pro which I can use for my main drive.

This is what I had previously selected:

YOUR BASKET
2 x Inno3D GeForce GTX 780Ti iChill OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (C78T-1SDN-L5HSX) £527.99 (£879.98)
1 x Samsung U28D590 28" 4K 60Hz 1ms Gaming Widescreen LED Monitor - Black **OcUK Exclusive** £499.99
1 x Intel 4930K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - OEM (CM8063301292702) £419.99
1 x Avexir Blitz 1.1 Original 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Quad Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001008G-4BZ1) £319.99
1 x Asus Rampage IV GENE Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 MicroATX Motherboard £229.99
1 x Corsair Professional Series AX 860W '80 Plus Platinum' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020044-UK) £139.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD2003FZEX) HDD £109.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £89.99
1 x Aero Cool Dead Silence Gaming Red Mini Tower Windowed £72.95
1 x Zowie EC2 eVo CL Pro-Gaming Mouse £51.95
1 x Corsair Raptor K40 Gaming Keyboard (CH-9000051-UK) £39.95
1 x Samsung SE-218CN/RSBS Ultra Slim External DVD-RW Drive - Black (Retail) £29.99
3 x Aerocool DS Edition Fan - Black - 120mm £12.49 (£37.47)
Total : £3,122.34 (includes shipping : £20.10).

 
Those Ichill's in that case/motherboard won't work.

The GPU are 3 slots wide. The case only has 4 slots, you'll be unable to use slot 2 on theotherbpard forcing you to use slot 3 which means the second gpu will outside the case, not good.

Im not sute about the length either.

Id not even consider mATX for this sort of rig, unless you're watercooling it. Look at ATX atleast.
 
stulid said:
Watching the Tek the other day and the Dell 4K was torn a new one, huge input lag apparently.
Click to expand...

Watched it too, seems like that monitor is a big no-go, noticeable input lag for the mouse even on the desktop apparently. So for gaming and development (and pretty much anything else except watching 4K films) it seems pointless and definitely not worth it.

If you're going to get a 4K then either wait for the Samsung one being released next month on OcUK or just wait even longer for affordable 4K IPS models (note this could take a couple of years though). In your position, OP, I'd get 3 surround 1080p (or 1440p if you can afford it within the budget) monitors and then upgrade to 4K further down the line.
 
Wouldn't a developer need a monitor with a large colour gamut? Those Sammy 4K ones won't be good enough. I can ask a mate who works at DICE what they use if you like.
 
how much developing background have you got?

in all honesty if its not much then you wont be pushing the limits of anything hardware or software wise.

if wanna be all pro about it get a decent hooded monitor that can be calibrated properly. Otherwise any colour/texture work will not be up to par/a true representation.
4k development in terms of texturing isn't really there yet, I've made 4k textures for retail 3D and it wasn't even needed there tbh. (VRAY stills) so i'd stick to some decent 1080p monitors in all honestly, having 2 monitors is minimum and i'm always cross referencing etc.


youll want a wacom graphics tablet too. For sculpting its just a required tool.
 
Last edited:
Doomedspeed said:
Those Ichill's in that case/motherboard won't work.

The GPU are 3 slots wide. The case only has 4 slots, you'll be unable to use slot 2 on theotherbpard forcing you to use slot 3 which means the second gpu will outside the case, not good.

Im not sute about the length either.

Id not even consider mATX for this sort of rig, unless you're watercooling it. Look at ATX atleast.
Click to expand...

The case takes a Gpu up to 320mm long, The Inno is 300mm, I believe. But you will have to remove the 3.5" external bay because of the height.
You would also need to connect all required cables to the Psu before installing it, as it will be a tight fit.
I agree with Doomed, if you are set on sli 780ti, then look at getting a case more suited to your needs.
 
OK cheers for all the input everyone.

Actually hadn't noticed that they are 3slot cards so thanks for the heads up. I was on the phone when I put it together and details were too small and just picked a 780Ti at random really.

With me however being £400 under budget plus taking out the CPU cooler I have chosen I could do a custom loop. I have done a few dozen systems now so that is an option.

Screen wise I am also worried about the colour accuracy and thanks for the opinions. I understand the idea of calibration. My home cinema setup has all been THX calibrated as well. I have asked the course developer for the spec that they would recommend but input from your friend at DICE would be great in what they are using.

Having more of a read around it appears I want better colour representation rather than pixel density. I think I will take a look around at some 1440p options.

My developer background is limited, I have done some privater work/contract work but I also work with 3D modelling on a daily basis at my current day job (architecture & structural engineering) at the moment so the setup will be great for home compute on Rev-it models for instance or when we do landscape modelling for more civil orientated projects.

We have some Cintiq 24HD tablets at the office which I assume would be fine to use.
 
Oh also my comment in regards to water cooling loop was also in discussion with the use of MATX.

Does anyone else have any specifics on what monitor would be more suitable?
 
just pushing this out there, you have a background in CAD then?

CAD has a lot more opportunities than game dev. On avg for every game dev job I saw advertised, there were 10 to 20 + CAD jobs.
The amount of agencies that called me asking if I could "just learn CAD" for a job was shocking.
 
I have been working in the industry for 10 years at moment (Am 25 now). I use, AutoCAD, Revit, Mudbox & Inventor on daily basis.

At the moment I am also working on some other modelling projects. One is for some motorcycle parts that are getting worked on and others are to do with games development.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-067-DE

Also this is the screen that I had originally chosen before seeing the new 4k monitors. Maybe I should go back to this option then?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom