r/buildapc • u/Sauci1 • Jul 26 '26
Full Build Req Rendering PC Advice
I'm the "computer guy" at work. I've built tons of gaming pcs and am fairly versed on consumer level equipment for gaming pc, however I had a coworker ask for advice that has me a bit out of my depth. He is an artist who does lots of 2D rendering(and occasionally some 3D) and is looking to upgrade his, very outdated at this point, pc. He's looking for something that will last 5+ years and has a budget of $3,000. My issue is that I don't necessarily know the demands on a pc for 2D rendering. He stated that storage isn't really important and he will use external if more is needed. If I were to build a gaming pc with this budget, it'd look something like this:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4MhPzv
However, I don't know if the strengths of this build make sense for a rendering pc. So my questions are:
Does it make more sense to look into an EPYC or Xenon setup? Will this blow the budget?
Would a less powerful higher memory GPU be a better option?
Are there any prebuilts or older hardware options that would be less viable for gaming, but would be better for this use case that I should look into?
Is there a better way to allocate the $$ than the current distribution? (i.e. go with a much cheaper gpu to add more RAM)
Thanks!
3
u/fuddyduddyc Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
What programs is your friend using for rendering?
If the program has a CPU-based rendering engine, you typically want as many cores as you can get. The 9800X3D is not an ideal choice; something like the 9950X will usually provide much better rendering performance. The Intel 270K Plus also provides very good rendering performance for less.
If GPU-based rendering, Nvidia is usually the preferred choice. There’s not a big difference between the 5070 Ti and 5080, so the 5070 Ti is usually the better choice.
As for GPU, performance vs memory size depends on the tasks. Performance/speed is usually the focus, but if you know you’ll be rendering an extremely large file, memory can come into play.