I need to replace my aging Dell laptop (Precision Workstation). I would like to build my own and have help from those with some experience. The goal is a “mid-range” machine that is stable and can do decent renders. I don’t produce huge renders and most of my design work is of retail fixtures and store designs.
I am hoping to get some guidance on selecting an NVIDA Graphics Card(s). I would be very grateful to know if there are guidelines that say, “if you want to do this ______”, then you will need, “that ________”.
My advice for the moment is to avoid buying anything until the market stabilises.
GPU supply has been strangled once again, and availability is poor. Nvidia clearly isn’t meeting demand, either on purpose, or because they are producing so much AI silicon.
Either way, even Nvidia’s partners are scalping graphics cards to ludicrous extent. Prices for the 40-Series are a disgrace. I can see $850-1000 for a 4070 Super, which is a joke.
However, on the premise you are not using much VRAM for your renders, you may want something like:
CPU
AMD 7700X
AMD 9700X
GPU
Nvidia 4070 Super (12 GB)
Nvidia 4060 (8 GB)
The product stack isn’t great for 40-Series Nvidia GPUs, and seems set to get even more silly with 50-Series.
i would look at slightly older cards, like the 2080ti or 3070.
a 2080ti is nearly the same performance as a 3070, and both the 2080ti and 3070 are about 25% faster than the 4060 at the cost of drawing about twice as much power as the 4060.
a 4070 Super is about 68% faster than a 2080ti while being two-four times as expensive.
shop around a little bit before concluding you need an expensive card. both the 2080ti and 3070 are plentiful in the USA eBay, most hovering between $200-$450.