As a pro generalist, you need your machine to be good in any number of situations. This build – powered by the 2950x, just like the Auteur build it replaces, is the preferred choice for a number of reasons. While this price bracket actually allows for the upgrade to the 2970WX, that top end chip (and the 2990WX above it) continue to have idiosyncrasies in general applications due to the ludicrously high core counts. Only multi-threaded CPU rendering seem to enjoy it. As such, the AMD recommendation continues to be the 2950x, which will deadlift the shit out of most 3D content creation tasks. Additionally, the guaranteed upgrade path to the Generation 3 (3950x) and Generation 4 (4950x) CPU chips of this platform – due in 2019 and 2020 respectively, which will work in the selected motherboard, are a great addition to this generalist build. 

I’ve also opted for a high end air cooler, due to some troubling reports about the Enermax liquid cooler previously recommended. It’s performance does not leave you wanting and will more than adequately cool the massive Threadripper die, while still leaving a bit of room for overclocking.

Another difficult recommendation is the single 2080Ti which replaces the dual 1080Tis in the Auteur Build. The main reasoning for this choice was at this price point, I expect GPU expansion up to 4 GPUs. As such – the recommendation for a single faster GPU vs 2 slower ones was made as PCIe slots are at a much higher premium than graphics cards. That being said, dual 2080s are a better option if you value performance per dollar metrics, and you’ll get roughly the same render performance as the twin 1080Tis this build tier used to feature – while also getting the reported 2.75x (approx) bump in render speed once RTX acceleration comes to GPU render engines. 

Many other things remain the same as the Auteur Build. Again – the 1600w Power supply recommended is absolute overkill to multiple magnitudes for the single 2080Ti in the build – its selected again specifically because I expect at this price point for the build to be expanded to 4 GPUs. This 1600w PSU covers that expansion, rather than recommending a more appropriate PSU, and then needing to buy a new one if you expand beyond 2-3 GPUs.  If you dont think you’ll hit 4 GPUs, check the full build page for downgrade recommendations.