I don't see how anyone in the film and 3d industry will benefit from a MacPro, unless there is something specific Mac only that i am missing here. All major apps like DaVinciResolve, Maya, 3dMax etc run on Windows 10 & Server 2019 just fine. This industry in particular scales so good with core count that most of the film studios to my knowledge run servers with multiple GPUs. Since pcie4 gpus are also coming soon, the MacPro makes no sense. On the other hand the new Apple Display XDR rocks. I want one lol (no stand thanx).
Merry Christmas mate

 

@taskforce, thank you so much.. and happy holidays to you too!

Yes, you guessed it - picking a CPU for around 500+€ and then building the rest around was what I was asking about.

I think 3900X is the way to go for me. The difference in Vray/Corona/Blender bench is +30-40% (that's a huge bonus..), whereas the differences in AE is maybe up to -5% (in favor of eg 9900K), but the result varies in these tests.

I don't mind even if it was a bit "slower" for DAW. It will be a huge leap for me anyway, and I can play keys w/ 2-3ms latency on my setup now (that's pretty important) and work with moderate amount of mid-hungry vst(i)s.

I am kind of lost when choosing the right mobo and ram (the frequency, pcie lanes, bottlenecks, the whole architecture..). Maybe the X570 Creator would even be an overkill (and the x570 TaiChi would do just fine). I don't have anything TB3 and what would be the advantage of 10GbE? Something like Vienna Ens Pro "server"..? Are there "no-wifi" versions of these? Just thinking out loud..;)

Anyway, thanks again!

 

happy holidays to you as well pal

I can only guess some people prefer MacOS "ease of use" (this is highly subjective though) and maybe also the way new Mac Pro offers form factor which isn't common among PC workstations (and on the other hand servers are loud and require good infrastructure and administration),
silent beasty desktop workstation is what Apple aims for obviously and I'd say Mac Pro does that well (for price which most people are not willing to pay though),
big studios are running server farms indeed, but they may reconsider their setups if let's say new Afterburner card in Mac Pro allows for realtime video editing acceleration "at the desk" it can prove incredible value...obviously "final" render farms will most likely remain, as it's extreme workload, but IF maybe those Mac Pros could be chained over network (bless default dual 10GBit eth) when "idle", they may prove more versatile than servers in medium scale businesses too...
speaking of PCIe 4.0, I doubt there is real use for that just yet, considering for ex. latest NVME SSDs, they are designed to occupy x4 lanes, but if more manufacturers made x16 NVME SSDs, speeds would be crazy high even with PCIe 3.0

 

you can always add PCIe Wi-Fi card or 10Gbit eth cards later imo,
anyway for ex. "ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (WI-FI)" or "ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VIII FORMULA" are X570 with Wi-Fi onboard,
particularly clean sexy mobo is ASUS Pro WS X570-ACE which doesn't have Wi-Fi, but great value for the price
modest solid pick on budget (and my choice of X570) would be most likely ASUS PRIME X570-PRO which has 2x M.2 NVME slots...

Vienna Ensemble Pro server doesn't really need that much bandwidth, regular dedicated 1Gbit eth shall be fine for anything

 

Last edited: Dec 25, 2019

Case is optional for upgrading... Also, choice is personal for case selection.

 

some cases cool better then other..but right not number one priority

 

To answer, TB3 makes your comp more expandable and somewhat more future proof, if that can be said in an industry such as the computer tech that changes very fast. With Thunderbolt you can daisy chain external hard disks and NAS boxes, external GPUs, some excellent audio interfaces, displays etc. The 10gbit Lan is a very convenient and fast way to communicate with external disks or make a super fast lan with more comps. It is added superfast connectivity, my collaborator's 10gbit Synology NAS with a Raid 5 array of IronWolf Pros backs up data at a rate of 500-600mb/sec. The added bonus of 10gbit Lan onboard saves the user from buying an additional 10gbit card (if needed of course) which costs about 120-150$. I only mentioned 10gbE and TB3 because these are the highlights of the motherboard. Both the TaiChi and the Creator come with Intel WiFi 6 and some really good antennas too, they also have 8 Sata3 ports and an adequate amount of usb ports, some headers for front usb connectivity too. You can always disable WiFi if you don't need it.
I can only add that AsRock's humble beginning as Asus' subsidiary for cheap mobos is long gone. Both these are premium boards with excellent VRMs. You can always go for the TaiChi which is around 300$ and add the TB3 expansion card later on, if and when you find a use for it.
From my perspective as user myself and system builder, i sleep better when i know my friends and clients got the most expandable platform possible for their money. When you create content as we do here, it's best to have options and not be cornered by one-way technology choices that seem as the norm now but will be obsolete in 6 months (like PCIe gen3 for instance). I can't predict what will happen in two-three years time, but it's good to know that for the already existing tech available, there are future options with the systems i propose, even if it's for someone i don't really know ehehe.
Cheers mate
Ps: As @tzzsmk mentioned, VEP runs superfast on simple gigabit lan with 3 connected comps. No need for 10gbE for this imho unless you wanna run 500 symphonic channels with 5-6 VEP licences lol.

 

Last edited: Dec 25, 2019

I am a gamer too. I was debating between intel and amd. Thank you all for sharing the review. Your reviews made by mind clear.

 

me, I'm intrigued by this paradox situation - is "silent" case the one with obstructed airflow by sound dampening panels, or the one with high airflow vents which let fans spin down lower and therefore whisper quiet ??

 

..aaand for me a valid question reg. my future build. I have a decade+ old never-used chieftec tower (I don't even remember who gave it to me - just laying there, still in plastic) that looks somewhat like this:

I remember it was quite expensive back then.. but now I was thinking.. well, it probably wouldn't be of use.. (I was looking at be-quiet cases w/ all those sound insu and dust filters).

Now you made me think.. is the technology of cases really gone too far. Or could I still use this one..

Ps - with an "open" airflow the downside would be the dust entering. But, from what I've seen, it gets in anyway ..and my dear nephew just got me a handy compressor (no, not a fairchild..;). I can de-dust anything now..;)

 

Last edited: Dec 26, 2019

The latter imho. Optimum performance and operation is always the first consideration. "Closed" cases with "dampening" materials don't help cooling cpus, especially when you opt for a modern cpu with 6 or more cores. With that said, the Nanoxia Deep Silence 3 is a very good case although i have noticed increased cpu thermals vs normal airflow cases.
In my experience, a case with a mesh front, a couple of silent intake fans and a silent fan for rear exhaust, provides the best airflow and helps maintain a pc silent even under load. For the friends reading this, a fan can be considered silent, when it operates at low and medium rotation at 25db and below. Example: The Corsair ML 120 Pro can run as low as 400rpm and still provide adequate airflow. (I 've seen people complaining that they 're loud but they 're not, a modern fan needs to be connected to a modern mobo that can control the fan's speed and also apply a thermal curve for optimum operation). Other fans to consider are the Noctua NF series, Thermaltake Riing Series, BeQuiet SilentWings 3 etc.
My favorite build cases:
Full Tower:
Thermaltake Core X71 Tempered Glass - 135$ - Absolute bargain for such a huge case, only it's a bit old, it's been around since 2016.
Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow ~ 180$ - Great all rounder, you can cram loads of hdds/ssds, might find a bit restricting if you wanna use a 2080TI.
Mid Tower:
Fractal Design Meshify C Tempered Glass - 90$ - Beautiful case and sort of quiet too.
Phanteks Eclipse P400 - 75$ - Great inexpensive mid tower for the money - somewhat cheaply built but with top notch airflow.
Best cheap case:
Corsair Carbide 100R - 60$ - The cheapest midtower case that doesn't feel plastic, enough features for a modern build.
Most extreme case:
Deepcool Quadstellar - I get this for 375 euros now. This is my favorite case of all times so far, not because of how it looks but because it can host any build with ease. 9 hdds and 3 ssds ? Np. Dual monster GPUs? Np. Even Quad 2080s. It is expensive but also the most versatile case on the market imho. And also looks like it's from a StarWars film lol, here:

 

Err not really. Airflow cases (like the Corsair 750D Airflow, check my previous post) with front intakes, include filters that you can easily take off and clean. They are specifically designed to keep the dust out of the case and onto the filters.
On the matter of your case post, i particularly prefer full towers but that tower you posted is ancient man, definitely not 10 yrs old . I remember building a pc on that same tower some 16-17 yrs ago. That is a Chieftek Dragon case, released in ~2002 in two models, a mid tower and a full tower, i guess yours is the big one, it wasn't a really expensive case like the full bling CoolerMaster or Thermaltake of the time, but it was considered one of the good full tower cases. With a couple of additional accessories bought, it could be built to have adequate cooling and front usb3.
Cheers and Merry Christmas

 

AMD Ryzen 9 for sure. Maybe 9900K but it got overrun by 3900x and 3950x . Been building DAWs since the 90s.. Only got AMD ONCE before but now they are winning all multicore setups.
Since I will start doing some video editing plus gaming (which I usually never do with my DAWs) there is no question. 64 samples latency and can do several hundreds of tracks without crackles or issues.

Go with AMD gfx card also, sometimes Nvidia drivers are really bad for DAWs.

 

Btw, best thing I didnt expect on my new Ryzen daw; its totally quiet!! Silent when doing DAW work. Since AMD Ryzen is running cooler tjan Intel. I use a Noctua D15 and it does its work very well indeed. Watercooling is just stupid nowadays for running a silent system.

 

Yeah, me too

..well you surely know, how to make someone feel old ..especially because - you are right! It's ancient history. That's also the reason it stood out, as all the others were those (sort of) white, ugly ones..

Usually not worth it.. I think it's better to save that small change for a better up-to-date one. It was a moment of nostalgia..;)

I think something like Thermaltake Core X71 is just the "thing" I'm looking for.

I've read stories about Nvidia drivers not being the best for music production. But they are kind of married with V-ray - now even supporting RTX.

So I'll have to stick with that. I think GeForce RTX 2070-80, as the 2080Ti breaks the budget big time. And as taskforce somewhere said, it would only make sense if you upgraded the CPU too. I think the 2080 is capable of SLI (..prob in reality I'll never put another card in this comp).

I find the ASUS Pro WS X570-ACE tzzsmk suggested sexy af too.. yay I'm almost done! I apologize if I went a bit off topic here and there esp dragging in the graphics part in.. but there are many situations when you need a good audio&video support.

Thanks again guys! Great info.. youre the best!

 

LOL.. this should go under humor section, but.. My gf just passed by an looked at the Deepcool Quadstellar case (I was admiring) and she goes: "wow, this is so cool, you can ofc turn it around as you please..!"

I was laughing, but she was dead serious.

And then she said: "What are laughing about..", and I was like - can't you see the legs,.. and she responded: "Oh, whatever, it isn't round so it would roll. I might wont some other color at the top.. you know nothing about this and have no imagination at all..."

Help!

*changed rating to winner, rofl..

 

This one has a peculiar topology, perhaps the most strange in the whole line up of X570 mobos. Very weird for me because it has 3 full size x16 slots but they work in x16/x8/0 or x8/x8/x8 speeds. I dunno what you guys find sexy about this board, personally i like all previous WS Asus boards better than this one, with some WS mobos of the past they would even include a PLX chip which is absent here. The awkward choices with this mobo continue with the limited 4 sata ports and 2x U.2 slots. For those who might have missed that, U.2 is an equivalent to M.2 pcie nvme slot but the ssds look like normal 2.5" ssds and connect to the slot via a proprietary U.2 cable. I dunno 'bout you guys, i wouldn't pay 380$ for a mobo that has 4 sata slots. So far the only thing cool bout this, is the U.2 inclusion which is a feature from enterprise boards. I just don't know how on earth the mobo will handle all these x4 pci-e m.2 and u.2 ssds without running out of pci-e lanes. The X570 chipset has 16 pci-e lanes from the cpu and 8 from chipset, and that's it. I also find the back plane limited at the absolute minimum for a ~400$ board, very few USB slots imho. Despite the somewhat limited options imho, it has a solid VRM and if you can get your hands on some cool U.2 ssds it may be worth considering.
Excuse my ranting about this, i was hoping for a better config from Asus for the WS X570 series and i didn't get what i hoped for, so here i am bitching about it, so don't mind me
Y'all be well.
PS:

Seriously, it may have "legs" but it wouldn't have a problem anyway you position it, i have built this case only once (and sadly not for myself) but it's a huge beast. It can hold XL ATX dual cpu server mobo with np and the 4 different compartments help to provide very good cooling. It takes time to assemble though because of the non standard size and config.

 

Last edited: Dec 27, 2019

I just had a quick peek at this mobo.. there was also this diagram of lanes crossing the slots - I thought that was something they are proud of (did not understand a thing, tho..). I am particularly concerned about (how should I put it in lame terms) "the right" spread of pci-e lanes.. also the no./positioning of slots, no. of sata ports and so on.

Hey, you are giving valuable information here ..and we are having a discussion. That's the whole point of it. I will write down the config (up to the psu..;) before going shopping, so anyone can warn me of the stupid things I've overlooked.

Thanks again for all the useful input!

..Woot? Then she was right?! She must never see this, understand.. LOL. I just found out that I have a gf that is thinking "out of the box", pun intended..;)

 

Last edited: Dec 27, 2019