Custom PCs
VIArts
Posts: 1,523
in The Commons
If you ever had a custom PC made, where would you get it?
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I have used https://www.pugetsystems.com and it has been nothing short of amazing. It's certainly more expensive than other places but I feel their expertise/craftmanship is worth it. I went with some of the sound proofing/quiet options and I was shocked at how quiet the PC is when it's not under a full render load.
https://www.ibuypower.com/
https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/
i have had systems built from both several times and have never had any issues, plus prices are pretty good compared to building yourself and there are always deals.. My current rig is from ibuypower and since getting it have upgraded my DDR and soundcard myself. GPU is next. It's best to do your research on what you want/need first and stick to it since there are so many variations on setups.
a little more advanced and expensive would be these, but I have never used them, only know guys that have.
http://www.digitalstorm.com/desktops.asp
https://www.falcon-nw.com/
http://www.dell.com/en-us/gaming/alienware?~ck=mn
This may not be what you're looking for, but if you buy a Dell/Alienware, you can upgrade to a 1080ti for $550. So they're actully selling the cards at MSRP, not marking them up like everyone else. I've never bought from them, so I don't know what their actual computers are like.
I had a laptop done by cyberpower PC and after waiting for it for over a month, we had to open it up and move the SSD to the other slot AND reseat the video card. We had a manager from the company on the phone while we did it, because they wanted us to send it back (and wait another month) AND that we would void the warranty (which we told him we knew our way around the inside of a computer and weren't stupid and we weren't going to send it back for something we could fix and they better not void the warranty....lol).
I can't recommend them, but I might have been an isolated case. My recommendation would be to read reviews and forums of any manufacturer you to with to get an idea of their reliability and quality. :)
FWIW, despite having to do the above, the computer has been rock solid since. You might want to take that into consideration. I can also say that it was packaged like it was going in to combat, which - granted - UPS can be just as hard on their packages...lol.
Laurie
Make sure it is Intel and Nvidea. No apple, no AMD, after all you're running DAZ Studio. :-) right?
I contacted a couple of the major custom PC builders last year, inquiring to see if they could build me one of their particular system offerings in a HTPC (media center oriented) case. They essentially said 'well we don't offer that case, so no'.
I haven't checked more recently, and I pretty much let it die at that point (went with a 'desktop replacement class' laptop instead), but my point is that some of the so called 'major custom PC builders' aren't truly 'custom' in this sense.
There's a spot in my media center just waiting for this build though, and in the meantime I use an HDMI cable connecting my laptop to my big screen TV to watch stuff... Dunno if I'll pull the trigger on 12nm Threadripper, or wait for 7 NM for that build, as there's no hurry...
I've built a couple of my own systems in the past, and even modified an older and rather unique case for a custom config - I wanted to have the LCD monitor slide inside a pocket in the case when I wasn't using the system, and the keyboard clipped onto the front, very portable.... The only downside is that you pretty much start from scratch on the OS front. While I'm not a fan of bloatware, it's more convenient having things like dvd players and such included, rather than having to hunt them down... and maybe end up paying extra for them.
AMD CPUs work just fine, it's the GPU that you need to choose NVidia for for, if you are using IRay. Even then, an integrated AMD APU (if you have one) can still be used to run the desktop screen and Daz interface, freeing up your Nvidia card(s) soley for dedicated rendering.
If you aren't using cuda cores (i.e. aren't using Iray), then this is less important. For things like Blender, etc. AMD GPU support does exist...
And of course, you can use AMD CPUs for pretty much the same stuff that Intel CPUs are used for, as they function pretty much the same in this regard, system spec differences aside.
Where are you? In the UK Scan has a good reputation and offers custom builds, they would 9and probably will) be my choice.
...yeah they are expensive. For a dual 10 core 2.4 GHz setup with a Quadro P5000 dual SSD (521 GB & 1 TB) I'm looking at 8,800$ and I have to provide my own W7 Pro OEM.
..tell me abut it. I used to work for a contract warehouse/shipping company and cringed at the way UPS drivers would sometimes literally throw boxes into the truck like they were mini bales of hay or something like that. One of our main clients was a company that published medical booklets for doctors to hand out to patients and I'm surprised we didn't get more returned merchandise marked "damaged in shipping". There was one time when I was processing returns that we got a box so badly beaten up it was almost spherical (yes it actually could be rolled on the floor). In it was something like 250$ worth of the aforementioned medical booklets.
We went to a palletised pickup (a bit more expensive), to minimise the risk of damaged product on our end so anything that was received in bad condition was definitely the responsibility of the shipper, not us so the claim had to be filed with UPS.
I researched components here and in other forums, then purchased everything myself and took it to a local computer repair shop. They charged me bench rate (at the time, $45/hr) to assemble everything and do a 24-hour burn-in cpu and memory test, and another $150 (IIRC) for windows 8.1 pro downleveled to windows 7 pro and installed. Totaled out to about $445 - about 12% of the price I paid for the individual components.
I had already had 3 systems repaired by them, so I had confidence in the quality of work.
The last boutique PC I bought was from Alienware in '07. I've since learned how to build my own using parts from Newegg.
My current build is three years old now and includes a 1000W PSU, Core i7-4770K, and 32 GB RAM.
I was quite thankful when GPU rendering became all the rage after the release of DS 4.8 because all I had to do was upgrade my GPU. Up to that point, I was working out how to upgrade my CPU for Reality. Now, I'm running a GTX 1080 Ti and plan on adding a second one when prices drop.
...upgraded my old system the best I can, Westmere Xeon 6 core, 24 GB DDR3 memory. Good thing too as the Bloomfiled i7 I originally installed is not getting firmware patch for Spectre. need a moderate windfall to afford new tech (and by that I mean something that still supports W7)
I'm in the rottin' USA.
My Dell XPS 8700 was only upgraded with a GeForce GTX 980 and Win7ultimate. It has 32gb RAM . I deon'kt ftfhink i need a new PC yet, but something about this one feels...off. I dunno what it is. All my pro0grams work fine except iClone 7. i' thinking it's my processor. it's only an i7-4790
Ibuypower and cyberpower both sell pcs that are "almost" custom on ebay. The prices are good and they are in stock. No waiting on a build.
...hmm Scan comes about 2,000$ less (after conversion) than Puget Systems for a similar system and that is with VAT figured in (3,000$ less without VAT). Unfortunately it appears they only handle customers in Europe. Pity as even with the VAT, much better pricing than I can get here for a pro level workstation with a P5000.