How to Build a Powerful Custom Creative Workstation For Design, Animation, Video Editing and Rendering

Animation, design, video editing, rendering and most creative projects require top-of-the-range hardware and software. Cutting corners or costs may save you a bit of money in the short term, but there's a reason that top-flight studios splash out on top-flight equipment.

Faulty hardware, buggy software, crashes, lost files and sluggish performance end up creating a 'time cost' that's greater than the money you saved on the equipment. Not to mention the emotional cost of staring at a blue screen or spinning wheel of death as your deadline approaches.

For this reason, professional studios and creatives will often choose to spec and build their own custom workstations. But this can be easier said than done.

There's a huge range of products out there and heaps of jargon to wrap your head around. Not to mention compatibility issues and the fact that new technology is constantly hitting the market. The right decision 12 months ago may not be the right decision today!

In this post, we're going to take you through the specification process step-by-step, breaking down the jargon and key decisions to help you find the right equipment for you.

If you have any questions about anything mentioned below or want to discuss a custom-build for your own creative work, feel free to drop us a message.

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What kind of work will you be doing?

Let's start with the most important question of all: what work will you be doing?

To get the right workstation at the right price, you need to be clear about what you're going to be using it for. Different creative tasks use the computer's hardware in a very different way. If you say 'a bit of everything', you may end up compromising on performance or paying for things you don't really need.

This is why our pre-built workstations are optimised for different tasks:

The work that you're doing will determine what type of core processor you choose - specifically, do you need higher clock speeds or multiple cores? If you don't know what this means, don't worry, it's actually much simpler than it sounds. It comes down to whether you'll be doing a lot of rendering and video encoding.

Rendering and video encoding

Rendering requires a lot of processor power. A single core working through a large render or video could take a very long time. Thankfully, a scene that is being rendered can be broken up into smaller sections (called 'buckets'), with each section assigned to a different core.

These buckets are then rendered separately and recombined to create the final export. For this reason, a CPU with four, eight or twelve cores will render a scene much faster than a CPU with just one.

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) rendering is also becoming increasingly popular in recent years. GPUs or graphics cards have far more cores than CPUs, although these cores are less powerful and flexible than those in a CPU. This means that they can often process renders faster, with a slight reduction in precision and quality.

For this reason, many high-end animation studios or production houses will still use CPU rendering. For smaller companies or freelancers, GPU rendering is a cost-effective and speedy alternative.

GPU exclusive render engines are always faster. But they usually lack some of the more advanced features, such as hair or caustics or liquid rendering. Probably the largest drawback is the amount of memory (VRAM) on GPUs.

For larger CGI houses, a scene could easily be hundreds of GBs. Trying to create a scene larger than the available memory can cause a whole host of problems. And VRAM is expensive. Alternatively, CPU can access the system RAM, which is extremely cheap in comparison.

Ultimately, the trade-off is speed vs accuracy. Creatives can get results fast with a GPU, while CPU is better suited for applications that require ultimate quality and accuracy.

3D modelling, graphic design and video editing

Not all tasks can be split up in this way. The processes involved with 3D modelling, animation, graphic design and video editing have to be completed in a predetermined sequence.

For example, an animation may consist of a series of shapes that have a set of modifiers and deformers applied to them. In order to be applied correctly, these modifiers and deformers have to be applied in the right order. Splitting the tasks out across multiple cores would disrupt this order.

For this reason, computers that are being used for 3D modelling, animation and design benefit from having processors that can complete tasks at high frequency, which is called having a higher 'clock speed'.

Think of it this way: having multiple cores is like having multiple lanes of traffic, having higher clock speed is like having faster cars.

Why don't I get multiple cores all with high clock speeds?

For the sake of safety and energy efficiency, computers have limits on the amount of power they can consume and the heat they can generate. As a result, there is often a trade-off between clock speed and the number of cores you can have running at once - more of one tends to be less of the other.

It's a zero-sum game.

This can be a tricky decision. A lot of creatives, particularly if they work in a smaller business or for themselves, will be doing a bit of both. In this case, you need to strike a balance between the two. Thankfully, there are plenty of processors out there that can do both.

Here's an example of a CPU that's great for rendering but can still handle 3D modelling, graphic design and video editing: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X

And here's an example of a CPU that's good for active work but can still handle rendering: Intel i9 9900K

What is your budget and how will you allocate it?

Now that you know what type of processor you're going to buy, you need to think about how much money you want to spend on the workstation as a whole and how you're going to split that budget up.

It's worth remembering that you're paying for performance but also reliability. If you're using a workstation for long periods of time on a regular basis, cheaper hardware will be more likely to slow down over time and eventually stop working. This can play havoc with deadlines and if it keeps happening, damage your reputation.

Since this is a custom-build, you also need to figure out how much of your budget you're going to spend on each component.

What graphics card should you buy?

Unsurprisingly, the graphics card or Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is a core component for design, animation, video editing and rendering. In normal machines, the GPU renders the image that appears on your screen. For creative workstations, the GPU will also help out with specific tools, effects and processes.

Integrated or dedicated GPU?

An integrated GPU comes pre-installed on your CPU. Dedicated GPUs or graphics cards are purchased and installed independently. Dedicated GPUs are more powerful and usually recommended for demanding tasks such as gaming or creative work.

VRAM (Video RAM)

We'll discuss what VRAM is in detail later on. But in general, the more VRAM that your GPU has onboard, the more work it can take on before it passes the overspill into your main RAM. For most creative work, we'd recommend having 4GB of GPU VRAM or more. Although this can vary hugely if you're using any kind of GPU render engine.

NVidia vs AMD?

There are two main manufacturers of high-spec GPU chips - NVidia and AMD. The general rule of thumb is that NVidia GPUs are more powerful and have better compatibility with the tools that professionals typically use. In fact, certain vendors optimise software specifically for NVidia. That said, AMD are more competitively priced.

Ultimately, the decision comes down to your budget, the level of performance you need and what software you'll be using. Before you buy, be sure to check whether your chosen software is compatible with your chosen brand of GPU.

Hardware and software compatibility and optimisation

We're going to be talking about compatibility a lot in this piece - you'll thank us in the long run.

As mentioned above, certain pieces of hardware and software are compatible with others. More importantly, some pieces of software are optimised to make full use of certain GPUs. A good way to check compatibility is to Google the manual of the product you're thinking about buying online. Inside you'll find detailed advice on the compatibility of the product.

If you're using Adobe, you can find a full list of tested and supported GPUs on their website.

For GPUs, the key things to check are the software you plan on using can work with your graphics card. You may also want to check the GPU's cooling requirements and make sure it can be installed on your motherboard.

What motherboard do you want?

The motherboard is essentially the core of your workstation.

It allocates the power to the different components and makes communication between them possible. The motherboard also determines how much RAM you can add, as well as other components such as additional GPUs.

It won't affect performance directly, but it does set certain limitations and determines your compatibility, so you need to think carefully about what you need right now and also and plan ahead for what you might need in the future.

Land-Grid Array (LGA) or Pin-Grid Array (PGA) CPU socket?

There are two main types of CPU socket, LGA and PGA. In general, Intel use LGA and AMD use PGA. However, there are some exceptions, such as AMD's super-powerful Threadripper.

Always make sure that your motherboard's CPU socket type matches your CPU. The current sockets for Intel and AMD are:

Socket	Enthusiast/Mainstream	Specialist/High-end
Intel	LGA 1151	LGA 2066
AMD	AM4	TR4

RAM capacity

Motherboards have a maximum number of slots that can be used for installing additional RAM. Try to make sure that your motherboard supports 64GB or more. Even if you don't need that much now, you may do in the future.

Chipset

Ultimately, the chipset determines what your motherboard is capable of. More complex work requires performance chipsets like Intel's Z390 or AMDs X570 range, which offer support for CPU overclocks, additional PCIe lanes and high speed I/O lanes. That's not an exhaustive list of features by any means, but you definitely get what you pay for.

GPU capacity

If you're planning on having multiple graphics cards, you'll want to check the number of additional GPU slots on your motherboard and make sure that your Power Supply Unit (PSU) can power multiple GPUs.

Size

E-ATX. ATX. Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX? This may sound obvious, but your motherboard will need to fit inside your case. Micro-ATX are the same width as standard ATX, but a few inches shorter. Smaller again is Mini-ITX, which is designed for small form-factor cases. Due to their size Mini-ITX boards struggle to physically fit the features found on larger form-factors, so you may find that they have fewer PCIe lanes, or physical I/O ports (USB, SATA etc.)

RAM

Random Access Memory (RAM) is essentially your computer's short-term memory. It's the information that your computer thinks it will need to access right now or in the near future.

When you launch an application, the data required to run that programme is transferred from the computer's hard drive to its RAM, so that when that data is needed it can be accessed quickly.

RAM is one of those things that you don't notice until you don't have enough of it. The general rule of thumb is that the more complex or high-resolution your work is, or the more applications you want to have open at once, the more RAM you'll need. Sudden drops in performance or crashing are signs that the machine's RAM is being maxed out.

The point of RAM is to allow your computer to handle large, complex operations involving multiple applications without slowing down. Since creative work tends to be pretty complex and involve multiple applications running in parallel, stocking up on RAM is a good idea.

How much should I get?

The minimum you'd want for design, animation, video editing or rendering is 16GB. That said, RAM is cheap these days and you won't regret investing in 32GB or even 64GB.

Buy bundles

Combining different RAMs that have been separately manufactured and purchased can lead to compatibility issues, creating the kinds of crashes and unpredictability people buy RAM to avoid. For this reason, if you're stocking up on multiple RAMs, try to buy bundles.

Motherboard compatibility

All modern boards use DDR4. The main difference between DDR4 memory is the speed (or transfer rate) and latency.

The RAM frequency is an indicator of the clock speed, measured in MHz (how many times per second the RAM can accessed), the same way CPU speed is measured. For example, if RAM is rated at 3200 MHz, it performs 3.2 billion cycles per second. The higher the MHz, the quicker the memory.

The most common performance indicator aside from transfer rate is the CAS (Column Access Strobe) latency. Latency refers to the time delay between when a command is entered, to when it is executed, which again is measured in clock cycles. A RAM kit with a CAS of 16 takes 16 RAM clock cycles to complete this task.

In a nutshell, faster memory with a lower latency makes for a faster workstation.

Choosing a Core X, Xeon or Threadripper CPU will allow you to implement Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory. Adding a ninth computer chip on the RAM board acts as an error check and correction for the other eight chips to protect your system from potential crashes and problematic data loss.

It's important to match your RAM speed with your motherboard and CPU, so it's worth checking your motherboard manual first.

What storage drives do you need?

To extend our earlier metaphor, your computer's storage or hard drive is it's long-term memory, where it stores things it will need to access in the future. The storage is also where memory is retained once the power is switched off.

We usually think about storage in terms of available space, but speed is also important. Faster hard drives have faster read and write speeds, which means faster boot times, application launches, file accessing and saving. Since creative work tends to involve a lot of file juggling and applications, super-fast storage can make a big difference to your workflow.

There is another type of storage which is particularly useful for creative work. When you launch a programme, all the information required to launch that application and the files it's working with will be temporarily stored on your RAM. However, if you start to run out of available RAM, your workstation's performance will plummet.

Scratch disks allow you to manually host files that you're working with on additional temporary storage, using up less of your RAM. This helps your system to do more things at once.

For peak performance, you may want to invest in multiple storage drives, so separate processes aren't competing with one another. Purchasing a separate boot drive, project drive and scratch drive will help your system switch on, open projects and handle files faster.

Speed

Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) have been overtaken by Solid State Drives (SSDs) in terms of speed, storage and energy consumption, so always go for SSDs. Look for read and write speeds of 500Mbps and 300Mbps respectively.

If you decide you want more than that, you can now get M.2 PCIE NVME SSDs (hopefully they're working on a more catchy name) that can hit up to 3,000Mpbs or more and aren't that much more expensive. There are even PCIe 4 that can reach up to 5,000Mbps (as long as your motherboard supports it).

Space

For a professional creative workstation you'd probably want to invest in 1TB as a minimum. Obviously, if you're working with hefty video files then you'd need at least double that.

Boot and project drives

Look for a fast boot drive with 240GB of memory or more. For the project drive, a medium sized drive of around 500GB will be fine.

Scratch drive

Any drive can be a scratch disk, although you will have to configure it to behave like one within the applicaion. A fast drive of around 500GB is recommended.

Internal or external

Internal drives tend to be faster but they're also less portable, so this comes down to whether you're willing to sacrifice portability for speed. If you get internal storage, you can always supplement that with additional external drives if you need them.

Extras

CPU cooling (especially if you're running a core with high clock speeds)

A water-cooled unit with AIO will run a lot quieter and be less prone to overheating issues like crashing and slow performance. You can read more about why you should upgrade your CPU Cooler here.

Networking

If you're regularly accessing files hosted in the cloud or on local networks, you may want to increase your networking to around 10GB. 10 Gigabit Ethernet (IEEE 802.3ae) is the latest, with a transfer rate of 10 Gbps, or 10,000 Mbps. Make sure you're using Cat6 or Cat7 cables too. This will help you access, save and move files around faster. If you're working on files located on a slow network, there's not much use in having a super-fast workstation!

Over to you

There you have it, you now know everything you need to know to build your own custom workstation.

Admittedly, we're biased, but there is something very satisfying about a workstation to your own custom spec. It also gives you the opportunity to get under the bonnet of your computer and learn how it works.

It can be a bit nerve-wracking at first, but you'll probably find that you start to enjoy it after you've done a few. Making things is fun!

If you have any questions about anything we've covered in this article or want to discuss a custom build of your own, feel free to get in touch.