Helping kid with a build

[carmen617]

Friend of a friend/client's kid, college student, is asking me for build advice. He's looking at building a high end system for college - best to say it in his own words:

I hope to be using this computer for 3D animation of virtual characters, and also 3D architectural work (the latter being the very demanding action due to the large number of complex objects). I will also be using it for back end object oriented programming, and graphic design via the Adobe suite.. .

. I will attach a screenshot of some of my ideas for a computer and I would love if you could help me find some places where I could scale it back (hopefully get down under $1000?), and also some places where I could buy parts cheap.

His dream build is the usual suspects, best i7 processor, high end graphics card, lots of RAM, 500GB SSD and a 2TB spinner. Plenty of fat in there but not sure what he might need or not based on his real demands and what's better to do as an upgrade down the line.

I've been set up as an expert to steer him in the right direction as a favor - truthfully, I don't build systems, I just order them from Dell. I think I should send the kid to some geeky gamer's forum for down and dirty build advice, but thought I would toss this out here for any suggestions as to where's the best place for him to go.

Thanks!

 

[Eagle21]

If you don't build systems then tell him/her that you don't build systems, and it is not your area of expertise.

 

[NviGate Systems]

I get hives every time I hear the word "cheap".

For some things in life, "cheap" just won't do.

 

[GTP]

+ 1 This ^^^
It's his best option on limited budget.

 

[Krynn72]

On board video ain't going to cut it for even the most basic 3d animation and design. That work requires a lot of real time video rendering, frankly most apps will probably just crash or freeze.

But a mid range Nvidia card from yesteryear would be up to the task for a novice.

 

[TechLady]

I've built custom systems for photographers--here's the most recent one. It's under $1k because she already had an SSD and I just recycled that. IMHO getting a Samsung EVO SSD is a really good idea if Adobe programs are involved. That whole build came out beautiful. Stable, fast and QUIET--seriously, you can't hear it all.

For older kids though I don't know that it really pays to build from scratch. I sent this to the last client that asked for that:

"If he wants to go with the newest specs, he might be better off buying one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPOWERPC-GXiVR8020A2-Desktop-i5-7400-802-11AC/dp/B01NBL8BER ($720) https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPOWERPC-GUA4500A-FX-6300-GTX1060-Desktop/dp/B01ICLADUA ($850) https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPOWERPC-Supreme-SLC8420A-Desktop-i7-7700K/dp/B01MT10ZRK ($1500)

There would be no labor or build time involved with those, obviously. So, to be completely fair to you guys...he could theoretically get a new system for slightly less than I could build one, and probably faster."

 

[carmen617]

Thanks for the help - passed on all your advice, hopefully he'll be good to go on his own going forward.

 

[NETWizz]

Have him buy an already made computer from a company like Dell. The situation there is that they do NOT charge a lot for the assembly, and all warranty issues will not go through you.

 

[HCHTech]

I've built custom systems for photographers--here's the most recent one.

OT, sorry.

I love Fractal Design cases - soooo clean looking and built well. So 2TB and 3TB disks?

 

[cypress]

Thanks for the help - passed on all your advice, hopefully he'll be good to go on his own going forward.

You did the right thing, setting the proper expectations. Hopefully whatever he chooses works out for him in the future.

 

[Archon Prime]

High-end and under $1000 made me laugh hard. Is this kid nuts?

 

[carmen617]

High-end and under $1000 made me laugh hard. Is this kid nuts?

Lol - no he's just a kid on a budget with a dream . . .

 

[Blues]

Do you have his ideal build in detail to share? I have seen a bit of good advice but will be easier to trim the fat from a full build plan.

 

[Markverhyden]

Lol - no he's just a kid on a budget with a dream . . .

LOL!!! It's up to the grownups to explain the difference. I'm with the others. Especially if you're not a gamer. Teach him how to shop online. Like reviews, etc. If it was me, in this situation, I'd offer a short course on buying stuff online. Short remote session, n/c, with examples of what to look for, good, bad, indifferent. But only complete machines.

 

[HCHTech]

I had a freshly-built-by-a-teenager tower in last week for diagnosis. Symptom was described as "No video after replacing the the motherboard". Oh boy. That means that something happened to the original motherboard he bought, since it was a new build.

After a visual inspection didn't turn up anything obvious, I decided to carefully disassemble it before trying to power it on. Turns out the processor was just set on the cpu socket instead of being held in by the clamp/lever. After careful examination, it turns out he didn't bend any of the pins (lucky boy), so after cleaning everything up, assembling it properly and reseating the RAM, it fired up like normal. I also noticed he had a USB3 cable from the front ports connected to a USB3-to-USB2 adapter cable and plugged into a USB2 header on the motherboard - instead of plugging it straight into the available USB3 header.

When he came to pick it up, we coached him through putting in the processor in properly, how much paste to use, and where to plug the USB3 cable in without the unnecessary adapter. I didn't ask what happened to the first motherboard - haha. Anyway, who knows, maybe this will start him off on a computer career of some sort. Or not. Anyway, it was fun showing him how to do it right. Plus, I think we turned his dad (who was paying the bill) into a customer. Win Win.

 

[Blues]

@HCHTech I suspect the first motherboard had the same problem lol. I must say that type of mistake is kinda head scratching the CPU will normally include instructions, except OEM ones that come with nothing but haven't really seen those in about a decade, and the motherboard manual includes instructions on installing the CPU. Hopefully the kid can learn and get better or learn to not do it again both work lol. Good customer service and politely showing the kid how to properly do it will likely leave the bill paying father with a good impression.

 

[juiceman39]

Lots of youtube video's, type in socket or cpu type, brush up on what you need to do. I wish youtube was around when I started building.

 

[myleso]

1000.00 not enough, would be better off buying a used dell workstation but a used i5 quad off ebay (dont need an i7), a new intel workstation board for it from amazon, a corsair carbide case (good inexpensive case), a 240ssd and a 2tb spinner, just park all the libraries on the 2tb after installing windows, 16gb memory and a 4GB graphics card will probably get him down to about 11-1200 and he would have a nice workstation machine

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

isnt the i9 coming out soon?

Edit: I'm not saying with that budget he wants an i9 but I can only imagine some other processors dropping in price as they come out. I might end up getting one of those new i7-7820X when its released: http://www.anandtech.com/show/11542...by-lakex-time-line-preorders-and-availability

 

[Altster]

Anyway, it was fun showing him how to do it right. Plus, I think we turned his dad (who was paying the bill) into a customer. Win Win.

Good deal!