Our range of 3D design PCs have been designed to handle three-dimensional workloads with ease, so that whether you want to model, edit and render complex 3D scenes, our PCs will ensure your workflow is fast, smooth and uninterrupted.
Explore CCL’s range of 3D modelling computers and you’ll find systems with high clock speed CPUs such as AMD Ryzen and Intel Core CPUs, top NVIDIA RTX 30 series graphics cards with large amounts of video memory, water cooling systems and more.
Not only are our 3D modelling PCs expertly designed to provide optimal 3D rendering performance, but they are also extensively tested and quality assessed to ensure they provide you with years of reliable service.
That’s all backed up by an industry-leading 3-year collect and return warranty which covers the cost of any components, labour or transport that is required to get your 3D design PC back up and running.
So, if you’re in the market for a 3D design PC, there’s no better place to buy one than at CCL.
3D design PC buying guide
If you want to buy a PC that is capable of rendering out designs and animations in 3D, then there can be a lot of factors that you need to think about and consider.
Luckily for you, the team at CCL has created this buying guide which answers some of the most common questions that people ask when it comes to buying a 3D design PC.
We cover the types of components you need to look for, how much you should be expecting to pay and more.
What is a 3D design PC?
Let’s start with a definition. What exactly is a 3D design PC?
Put simply, a 3D design PC is a PC that’s capable of both CPU rendering and 3D modelling.
These are two very different workloads, but they are tasks that are both carried out on 3D design PCs.
What is CPU rendering?
Rendering refers to the process of generating a realistic image from a 2D or 3D model. Examples include architects creating a photo-realistic image of a potential house. Or a digital artist creating a highly intricate, detailed image in 3D.
The point here is that CPU rendering uses all cores of your CPU, 100% of the time whilst rendering an image.
What is 3D modelling?
3D modelling on the other hand refers to the process of creating a 3D model by manipulating edges, vertices and polygons in a program.
Because 3D modelling is an active working process (i.e. you are working on the 3D models in real time), it is mainly done on a single core of the CPU.
With these two things in mind, a 3D design PC is one that is optimised for these tasks.
As such 3D design PCs will feature components that are designed to handle these tasks well e.g. a multi-core CPU with a standard clock speed (for CPU rendering), or a multi-core CPU with the highest clock speed possible (if you intend to do both 3D modelling and CPU rendering).
A 3D design PC will be able to smoothly run specialist 3D design software such as Maya, Cinema 4D and others.
Can you use a 3D design PC for gaming?
Absolutely. Because 3D designing (be it CPU rendering or 3D modelling) requires high performance components, 3D design PCs are generally great for playing games.
3D design PCs require high performance multi-core CPUs and high-end GPUs. Both components that are used to play top AAA games.
Here at CCL, all of our 3D design PCs feature top CPUs such as Intel Core i5s, i7s and i9s or AMD Ryzen 5s, 7s or 9s. Our 3D design PCs also feature top graphics cards such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series cards.
This makes them perfect for gaming and 3D design tasks!
What components should a 3D design PC have?
Naturally, every component has an important part to play in the overall function of a PC. But, in a 3D design PC you want to pay special attention to the ‘core’ components detailed below.
CPU
As we mentioned earlier, the CPU is the most important component when it comes to 3D design PCs.
You want to make sure that you buy a system with the best CPU you can afford. In order to handle both CPU rendering and 3D modelling you’re going to want a CPU that has multiple cores.
Now, the assumption is that you should just buy a CPU with multiple cores and the highest possible clock speed. However, because of a CPU’s thermal limits and power consumption, you will have to deal with a proportional trade off between CPU cores and clock speed.
If that all sounds a bit complicated, then don’t worry. At CCL we’ve built our 3D design PCs with CPUs that combine the right amount of cores and clock speed to deliver excellent 3D design performance.
Explore our range of 3D design PCs and you’ll find systems with multi-core, fast CPUs such as Intel Core i5s, i7s and i9s or AMD Ryzen 5s, 7s and 9s.
Graphics card
A good graphics card is really important. Having a high-performance NVIDIA GPU can significantly improve the speed at which you are able to complete renders and other 3D design processes.
This is because some 3D design programs are designed to take advantage of the specialist GPU rendering technologies of cards from NVIDIA and AMD.
In some instances, this GPU rendering can be ten times faster than traditional CPU rendering.
In order to select a system with the right type of graphics card, you’ll need to see what your 3D design program is designed for.
For example, some design apps support CUDA - in which case you’ll want an NVIDIA graphics card. Other design apps support OpenCL - in which case you’ll want an AMD GPU (although OpenCL will work with NVIDIA cards too).
Having said that - NVIDIA is generally accepted as being the go-to option for 3D design graphics cards.
Here at CCL all of our 3D design PCs feature NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards.
RAM
RAM isn’t necessarily a major concern when it comes to 3D design. Obviously, you want enough to ensure your system runs smoothly whilst you’re working on it, but you don’t need to go overkill.
Whilst 8GB RAM will suffice, we’d recommend opting for at least 16GB of RAM in your system as some 3D design programs like Cinema 4D can be quite ‘RAM hungry’.
At CCL all of our 3D design PCs come with at least 16GB of RAM, with some systems coming with 32GB or even 64GB.
Storage
Likewise, storage isn’t necessarily a major concern either. Unlike video editing, you don’t need gargantuan amounts of storage space - but you do need enough.
We’d recommend buying a system with at least 1TB of storage space.
Whether you prefer a HDD or SSD drive is up to you, but with an SSD drive everything will feel faster and smoother.
Our 3D design PCs come with either SSDs alone, or a combination of SSD and HDD drives. You can always customise our 3D design PCs to include the storage setup of your choice.
How much does a 3D design PC cost?
As you would expect, the high-end components that are required in 3D design PCs means that they sit at the higher end of the price spectrum.
In fact, we’d argue that it’s not really possible to buy a cheap rendering PC build (or at least one that works well).
Nevertheless, we’ve worked hard to create a range of 3D design PCs that cover as many price points as possible, so you’ll find systems starting at just under £2,000 all the way up to extremely high-performance systems at over £5,000.
Can I build my own 3D design PC?
Sure thing! We know that you may want to tweak your 3D design PC so that it’s unique to you.
So, we make doing that really easy.
If you want to create your own 3D design PC with CCL, we offer two options:
- Use our custom PC building service. You can hand pick every single component and part in your system and our specialists will build it for you.
- Modify one of our current 3D design PCs.
Should you only want to change or specify one or two parts, then modifying one of our existing systems is the easiest and most cost-effective route.
It’s easy too! All you need to do is select the PC you want and then click on the ‘Customise this PC’ tab in the product description.
You’ll then be presented with a list of customisation options. In many cases you’ll have multiple different choices per component.
All of these upgrades are clearly priced as well. So, you’ll know exactly what the final bill will be before you hit the buy button.
What software do I need for a 3D design PC?
Once you’ve bought your 3D design PC, the next item on your shopping list should be 3D design, modelling and/or rendering software.
At present, the most popular 3D design programs include:
- Maya.
- Cinema 4D.
- Blender.
- Modo.
- ZBrush.
- Sculptris.
- AutoCAD.
- Rhino.
These differ greatly, with some geared more towards beginners and others aimed squarely at professionals.
Be sure to do your research first before committing to any particular program!
Where to buy a 3D design PC
You want a great 3D design PC. Brilliant. But, do you also want an industry-leading warranty and other support?
If you just answered yes, then you’ll want to buy your 3D design PC from CCL.
We offer a range of great benefits and support which you can find out more about, below.
3-year collect and return warranty
For a whole 3 years after you’ve bought your PC from CCL, we’ve got you covered in case anything goes wrong.
Should the worst happen and your PC stops working, then CCL will cover the cost of sending your PC to our workshop in Bradford, the cost of any labour or components required to get it working again, and the cost of returning your PC to you.
It’s a pretty unbeatable warranty - so if you want to buy a PC safe in the knowledge that you can have it easily repaired for free - buy one from CCL.
Extensive testing
Of course, we don’t want any of our PCs to go wrong in the first place.
That’s why, over the past 30 years we’ve developed an extensive testing process which ensures that our PCs are balanced, stable and reliable before they are sent out to you.
All of our PCs are also subjected to a rigorous quality assurance process, where our PC builders closely scrutinise every component, connection and surface of our PCs to ensure they are absolutely perfect before they leave our workshop.
Next day 3D design PCs
We know that many people who buy 3D design PCs use them for their livelihoods, so we make a point of getting your PC to you as quickly as possible.
When we have your 3D design PC in stock, we aim to deliver it to you the next working day.
Where you have chosen to modify one of our existing models, or have a 3D design PC built from scratch, we will aim to deliver it to you within 4 to 5 working days.
Access to ongoing support and advice
Your CCL journey doesn’t end once you’ve received your new PC.
The team is on hand to answer any questions you may have. Whether you need help setting up your PC, or you’d like to talk to someone about upgrades or modifications to your PC, we are happy to help.
Everyone who purchases a PC from CCL has access to a low-cost telephone support line and free email support.
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