Opinions on First time build - Graphic Design, Content Creation & Stuff, NOT gaming

[marlene]

Hey guys,

I am a newbie in building PCs. I have never made a build or choose parts by myself but now I need to make a PC for my own (I am a graphic designer, digital & marketing specialist). This is the first time I chose parts for a build and I want to be sure it will work fine & without any problems. That's why I need your advice.

I need the PC mainly for graphic design & content creation except the regular stuff (browsing, documents creation & managing, watching movies, listening music and etc., but NOT gaming). Programs that will need to be work with on regular basis on the machine: - every day - mainly Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Corel DRAW, Adobe Bridge & some printing software; - weekly or monthly (with an intention to be more often) - Solid works, 3D max, Fusion, Realflow, Xara, Blender 3D and some other for video editing, 3D and animation;

This PC will be used for over 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is needed to be stable, really fast and secured machine for some more years from now on (I will probably not have the opportunity to change it after 2-4 years as I need other equipment to get in addition as drawing tablet, laptop for meeting with clients, etc.). I tried to choose trusted producers for the each part and make a balance build as currently I have a limited budget. In future I intend to upgrade it through adding a second monitor, more RAM (about 32GBs), a second SSD and may be an additional traditional HDD.

These are the chosen parts https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/marlene/saved/mcrf8d except the monitor. It will be chosen in addition. If you have any recommendations for a monitor I will be happy if you share such. Budget for monitor is limited to 350$ (US) / 230 £.

I have read a lot about each of the parts but I am afraid of missing anything. So I will really appreciate any opinion, help, suggestions & recommendations for the build.

Thank you in advance!

[David (PassMark)]

Some comments on the parts selection.

Does the CPU come with a fan? You might not need an separate one. Same for thermal paste.

You could spend more money and get a faster machine. But that depends on the budget.

For software like Solid Word & 3D Max the nvidia quadro cards might be better for the GPU. Read up on some benchmarks for this particular apps.

[marlene]

David (PassMark), thank you for your comments.

No, the CPU does not come with a fan and that's why I included a cooler and a thermal paste for mounting.
Do you think PSU and cooler in the build are ok for a light future CPU overclock?

I read and watched some for the Quadro cards and software requirements too ...on which basis I think:
- they are really expensive for me, I cannot afford such at this point
- I think a high GTX with 3-4 GB which cheaper vs a low quadro with 2 GB which is more expensive is a better choice
- Quadro may be an overkill for me as I think my needs can be managed by a GTX 1060 pretty well
- in regard to the other components (maninly monitor - Quadro's are made for 4K displays) of the build (it is not a top notch for my purposes) it is possible I cannot make a use of the Quadro's advantages
Do you think I am wrong about these thoughts and reasons?
Do you think a 3 GB for the GPU will be enough for normal work?

My budget for this build is limited to about 1550 $ (US) / 1100 £ (+/- 50 $ or 35 £ for example) without monitor. I know it's not enough for a great top notch machine, but I am working on a very slow one now and it's a real torture. I hope I can manage to spend more in future after investing in a PC and do more work but I cannot lay on that...I cannot be sure...that's why I wrote I will probably not have the opportunity to change it after 2-4 years in regards to the other equipment needed too.
My budget for display is limited to about 320 $ (US) / 230 £ (+/- 50 $ or 35 £ for example). Can you recommend a monitor in this class if you have experience with displays for graphics printing please?

Some additional questions popped out:

Do you have experience with different speed of RAMs? Can you advice which is better for my case - 2666 or 2400 Hz of DDDR4? Will be there a sensitive difference in regard to these 2 options for speed of RAM? Is it recommendable to OC the 2400 to 2666 Hz?

Do you have experience with 960 EVO vs 850 EVO in regard to their speed
850 EVO = 560 MB/s Read, 510 MB/s Write speed
960 EVO =Sequential Read Speed Max 3,200 MB/sec & Sequential Write Speed Max 1,900 MB/sec too?
Are 960 EVO's are just a marketing trick? Or are essential only for regular transfer of large files as 10+GB?
If 850 EVO is better choice I can get a ~500GB... What is your recommendation?

[David (PassMark)]

If you want a really stable system, don't overclock anything, Computers give enough trouble without adding more potential issues. For home use it doesn't matter as much, but generally in business you can't afford the loss of work following a crash.

RAM speed doesn't matter much unless you are using a integrated video card. You'll get more productivity saving money and getting a 2nd monitor.

850 EVO is a SATA drive. And they are all slow compared to M.2. drives. Use M.2 for your main boot drive, even if you can only afford a small one. Then use a SATA drive for a data drive.

[marlene]

David (PassMark),

Well, there is a 250GB 850 EVO that is M.2 - https://www.samsung.com/us/computing...b-mz-n5e250bw/
What do you think about the speeds of the 850 and the 960 ?

What do you think about the Quadro GPUs too?

[David (PassMark)]

For the nvidia quadro, read up on some benchmarks for this particular apps. I haven't done this but I know some of those apps are optimized for quadro.

Just buy the fastest & largest M.2. drive you can afford. Intel Intel Optane 900P is the best at the moment. But likely too expensive.

[marlene]

David (PassMark),

Thank you!
Can you also clarify what you meant by faster machine when you said "You could spend more money and get a faster machine. " ?

[David (PassMark)]

Ryzen 5 is a mid range CPU. You could spend more to get a better CPU.

[marlene]

Ryzen 5 is a mid range CPU. You could spend more to get a better CPU.

OK, which CPU will be ok for the purposes of my case? which would you recommend?

[David (PassMark)]

The list of top CPUs an be found here,
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html