Hello guys,
I’m building a PC for graphic design work under $1000, it is for after effects and 3ds Max usage also Photoshop mainly. Any advice? 
Don’t waste your time buy a Mac, ready to go and with all the bells and whistles included.
downundershooter saidDon’t waste your time buy a Mac, ready to go and with all the bells and whistles included.
Hey, Macs are more expensive, and is possible to build a PC to handle graphic work, 3d, and ever better, so is not the only option,
three options here: first just get the items that have the most power vs the cost. Second get them balanced to avoid bottlenecks. Third get a powerful recent motherboard, memory and a fast CPU planning to replace and upgrade the other components in the future. (like GPU or HD)
But normally you can’t trade down on anything. You need a fast HD for After Effects, good GPU for 3dsMax, good CPU for both, fast memory and as plenty as possible, good motherboard to link everything together, good screen because you need to see what you are doing.
All components need to be as powerful as possible for the two software you’ve mentioned. This because opening a blank project will work on any computer but how much stuff you can build inside depends of the computer power.
Getting a mac may help if you don’t know how to build your own system but finding a mac under 1000$ that can actually be useful for graphic work may be a challenge.
This year intel released this budget 6 core i7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117402 for 389 $. You can check some benchmarks here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i7-5960x-haswell-e-cpu,3918-5.html
But if you use gpu renderer buy cheaper i5 ( about 210$ price ) and invest in gtx 970 ( about 330 $ ). And do not forget to buy at least 240gb ssd ( 130 $ ) which is much faster when working with big video streams and image files.
axool saidOr you should be interested in building a Mac.
I’d say that people who are asking for general purchase advices do not want to go through the hassles that come with setting up a hackintosh.
There are more easy solutions by now but every OS update can create new problems.
Especially for after effects I think you are better off just installing windows 7 and not try to get a Hackintosh working just to run the same app on a different OS. AE on Win is a bit faster in my experience, too.
$1000 with monitor or without?
in this pricing range, window beat Mac
You can go with AMD Fx series, this have multiple core which is good for rendering and the price is lower than intel core i series.
For mainboard, go with 990 series. (970 series if you pick a FX 6xxx)
A combo of AMD FX 8xxx 8 cores (or 6xxx for 6 cores) and 990 mainboard only cost you about $400
$200 more you can spend for a R9 VGA card (R9 270x is about $180 with is a very good price, you cannot find any vga card which is better with this price), this series is on clearance so you can get a powerful vga card with a very low price, this vga is best of 2014 for gaming in mid-range graphic cards
If you work with photoshop, you have to remember “RAM come first”, spend $150 more for 16GB RAM (Dual or Quad, Quad is better for more bandwith)
So it took you $750 already, $100 more will be spend for a PSU, if you use R9 VGA, you will need at least a 500W PSU or higher, I recommend 600W PSU for future upgrade
Now you have $150 less, buy a case that you want and a HDD (if you have more, go with an SDD).
Here is a built for you without display
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TXZyyc
This cost $800, you can spend the rest for display and operating system. The case is picked randomly
huykhong saidYou can go with AMD Fx series, this have multiple core which is good for rendering and the price is lower than intel core i series.
Never go with AMD.
aron66 saidhuykhong saidYou can go with AMD Fx series, this have multiple core which is good for rendering and the price is lower than intel core i series.
Never go with AMD.
+1000
They might have more cores but the performance is what counts, not the number of cores. And After Effects does work a lot better with Intel.
Creattive saidWhat about Xeon, something like HP Z600, it has more cores too, is it the same as AMD or better, any advice on this ?aron66 saidhuykhong saidYou can go with AMD Fx series, this have multiple core which is good for rendering and the price is lower than intel core i series.
Never go with AMD.
+1000
They might have more cores but the performance is what counts, not the number of cores. And After Effects does work a lot better with Intel.
motionpictors saidCreattive saidWhat about Xeon, something like HP Z600, it has more cores too, is it the same as AMD or better, any advice on this ?aron66 saidhuykhong saidYou can go with AMD Fx series, this have multiple core which is good for rendering and the price is lower than intel core i series.
Never go with AMD.
+1000
They might have more cores but the performance is what counts, not the number of cores. And After Effects does work a lot better with Intel.
EladChai saidWe all know Google, we still need reviews and advice from people, sharing their thoughts with other is always helpful, this is one of the reasons why forums were invented.motionpictors saidCreattive saidWhat about Xeon, something like HP Z600, it has more cores too, is it the same as AMD or better, any advice on this ?aron66 saidhuykhong saidYou can go with AMD Fx series, this have multiple core which is good for rendering and the price is lower than intel core i series.
Never go with AMD.
+1000
They might have more cores but the performance is what counts, not the number of cores. And After Effects does work a lot better with Intel.
motionpictors saidCreattive saidWhat about Xeon, something like HP Z600, it has more cores too, is it the same as AMD or better, any advice on this ?aron66 saidhuykhong saidYou can go with AMD Fx series, this have multiple core which is good for rendering and the price is lower than intel core i series.
Never go with AMD.
+1000
They might have more cores but the performance is what counts, not the number of cores. And After Effects does work a lot better with Intel.
Hi, Xeons are from Intel, those are the server and workstation CPUs. They are called Xeon for several years so don’t assume having a Xeon must be a highend processor, it could be ten years old and really slow. Always look at the cpu name, for example Xeon X5680 or Xeon E5-2687w.
Likewise, the HP Z600 is a workstation that comes with many different specs. It can have 1 Quad Core Xeon with 2Ghz or 2x 6 Core Xeons with 3Ghz. It already got replaced by the new lineup of HP workstations, HP Z620 (and HP Z420 and HP Z820 etc)
I always look at this website to get a quick first impression of a CPU.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/
Then I google for Benchmarks in areas I’m interested in, for example the Cinebench score.
Hi, Xeons are from Intel, those are the server and workstation CPUs. They are called Xeon for several years so don't assume having a Xeon must be a highend processor, it could be ten years old and really slow. Always look at the cpu name, for example Xeon X5680 or Xeon E5-2687w.Thank you so much Creattive for your reply, that makes sense, the specs of HP 600 i'm talking about are below. i'll check that website for more information. thank you again!Likewise, the HP Z600 is a workstation that comes with many different specs. It can have 1 Quad Core Xeon with 2Ghz or 2x 6 Core Xeons with 3Ghz. It already got replaced by the new lineup of HP workstations, HP Z620 (and HP Z420 and HP Z820 etc)
I always look at this website to get a quick first impression of a CPU.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/
Then I google for Benchmarks in areas I’m interested in, for example the Cinebench score.
- Processor :Biproc Xeon E5540 quadricore 16 cores, 16mo in cache 2,53ghz turbo boost 2.8ghz;
- RAM : 32Gb DDR3 ECC.
- Graphic Card : Nvidea GTX 670
Creattive saidaron66 saidhuykhong saidYou can go with AMD Fx series, this have multiple core which is good for rendering and the price is lower than intel core i series.
Never go with AMD.
+1000
They might have more cores but the performance is what counts, not the number of cores. And After Effects does work a lot better with Intel.
Does this statements from your experiments or read it on website and claim so? I’m an owner of a computer retail shop and I can sure that in rendering, Fx series beat intel (price = price) but in calculating and other project maybe not cause of intel’s technology. Don’t trurst online benchmark because they earn from intel or amd, if you compare two benchmark table from two diffrent website you can see that, one amd beat intel, one intel beat amd.
And don’t forget this: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/193480-intel-finally-agrees-to-pay-15-to-pentium-4-owners-over-amd-athlon-benchmarking-shenanigans (Fake benchmark score from intel)
huykhong saidCreattive saidaron66 saidhuykhong saidYou can go with AMD Fx series, this have multiple core which is good for rendering and the price is lower than intel core i series.
Never go with AMD.
+1000
They might have more cores but the performance is what counts, not the number of cores. And After Effects does work a lot better with Intel.
Does this statements from your experiments or read it on website and claim so? I’m an owner of a computer retail shop and I can sure that in rendering, Fx series beat intel (price = price) but in calculating and other project maybe not cause of intel’s technology. Don’t trurst online benchmark because they earn from intel or amd, if you compare two benchmark table from two diffrent website you can see that, one amd beat intel, one intel beat amd.
And don’t forget this: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/193480-intel-finally-agrees-to-pay-15-to-pentium-4-owners-over-amd-athlon-benchmarking-shenanigans (Fake benchmark score from intel)
I own a i7 3770K. Had AMD before. There is no way to turn back to AMD. I dont really care about those benchmark scores much. Intel does really good work in reality.
aron66 saidhuykhong saidCreattive saidaron66 saidhuykhong saidYou can go with AMD Fx series, this have multiple core which is good for rendering and the price is lower than intel core i series.
Never go with AMD.
+1000
They might have more cores but the performance is what counts, not the number of cores. And After Effects does work a lot better with Intel.
Does this statements from your experiments or read it on website and claim so? I’m an owner of a computer retail shop and I can sure that in rendering, Fx series beat intel (price = price) but in calculating and other project maybe not cause of intel’s technology. Don’t trurst online benchmark because they earn from intel or amd, if you compare two benchmark table from two diffrent website you can see that, one amd beat intel, one intel beat amd.
And don’t forget this: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/193480-intel-finally-agrees-to-pay-15-to-pentium-4-owners-over-amd-athlon-benchmarking-shenanigans (Fake benchmark score from intel)
I own a i7 3770K. Had AMD before. There is no way to turn back to AMD. I dont really care about those benchmark scores much. Intel does really good work in reality.
I could find what wrong in your statement, as said before, I’m an owner of a PC retail shop, i7 3770k released in April 2012 the price is $350 at start, before that, the highest processor of Amd if FX-6350 which is $130 only, could you can compare two processor which is $250 spread over. Or you said I own an i7 3770k and had and amd x2 before, i7 does good work in reality, it’s ridiculous 
huykhong saidDoes this statements from your experiments or read it on website and claim so? I’m an owner of a computer retail shop and I can sure that in rendering, Fx series beat intel (price = price) but in calculating and other project maybe not cause of intel’s technology. Don’t trurst online benchmark because they earn from intel or amd, if you compare two benchmark table from two diffrent website you can see that, one amd beat intel, one intel beat amd.
And don’t forget this: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/193480-intel-finally-agrees-to-pay-15-to-pentium-4-owners-over-amd-athlon-benchmarking-shenanigans (Fake benchmark score from intel)
Honestly it’s from research over the last years. I didn’t bother to buy AMD because of the knowledge that Adobe and AMD don’t go well together. Also, the pricerange I was looking at was not really the AMD area anymore.
It can be that Intel paid some websites to get better scores but almost everywhere where they test Adobe software you can see that AMD processors might be really good in all other benchmarks but with Adobe software, they just don’t make a good fit.
Adobe and AMD just don’t go well together as it seems, not only the processors but also the Graphic cards.
Not sure about rendering performance in other apps, like Cinema 4D. Someone can look for Cinebench results for AMD processors. I’d still recommend not to go with AMD when using Adobe software.
But if you doubt these reviews I’m sure many people here are interested in a test using Adobe software both on an AMD and an Intel machine. Maybe you can do that.
Kind regards,
Tobi