[Dany Targa]

If I were you, I would get this for AUD$6,200.

In my opinion this is the both the best you can get, the most reliable parts and the most sensible cost.

CPU – Intel Core i7 5960X Extreme Edition ($1599)
MOBO – ASUS X99-Deluxe/U3.1 Motherboard ($699)
STORAGE – Samsung 850 Pro Series 2TB 2.5in SSD ($1299)
GPU – ASUS GeForce GTX 970 Strix DirectCU II 4GB ($529)
MEMORY – 2 x Corsair Dominator Platinum CMD32GX4M4A2400C14 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 (2 x 32GB = 64GB for $1498)
CPU COOLER – NZXT Kraken X61 280mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooler ($199)
CASE – NZXT S340 Mid Tower Case White ($109)
POWER – Corsair AX860i Platinum Power Supply ($325)

I strongly insist on getting the NZXT S340 case – This case really is amazing! I have one and I could not love it more. The best thing is that it’s one of the smallest mid-tower cases yet it can fit the huge CPU cooler listed above. I take it with me to work every day.

If you want to really splash out, I would add this as a dedicated After Effects cache drive – Intel 750 Series PCI-Express 1.2TB SSD ($1,499) – it’s PCI Express meaning it plugs directly into the Motherboard.

But again, if I were you I would be buying 2 x PCs for under $10K – that way you could copy the finished After Effects composition onto both PCs and set up one PC to render the first half of a composition, and the second one to render the second half of the composition. Halving the time it takes to render.

If you go this option, buy this PC instead for $4,907 – you will barely notice a performance difference between this and the $6,200 PC above:
CPU – Intel Core i7 5930K ($869)
MOBO – ASUS X99-Deluxe/U3.1 Motherboard ($699)
STORAGE – Samsung 850 Pro Series 1TB 2.5in SSD ($679)
GPU – ASUS GeForce GTX 970 Strix DirectCU II 4GB ($529)
MEMORY – 2 x Corsair Dominator Platinum CMD32GX4M4A2400C14 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 (2 x 32GB = 64GB for $1498)
CPU COOLER – NZXT Kraken X61 280mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooler ($199)
CASE – NZXT S340 Mid Tower Case White ($109)
POWER – Corsair AX860i Platinum Power Supply ($325)

I highly recommend that you buy all these parts yourself. It’s easier than you think and you will learn a lot. The only thing you may not want to do yourself is assembling everything inside the case. If you have never done this before then you may want to pay an I.T guy to do it.

If you don’t go with my recommendation, at least get the same, newest technology.
CPU – get an “Intel Socket 2011-3” CPU
RAM – get “DDR4” ram
MOBO – To support the above CPU and RAM, get an “X99” motherboard

The only reason you would not buy this newer tech is if you were buying a gaming PC.

If you want to see what else is out there, use this website to find parts and build your own PC.
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/ – you can easily find parts to reach $10K if you really want to spend the money. Just organise parts by price and choose the most expensive, which are usually the best parts. This website also lets you know if all the parts are compatible with each other.

I highly recommend the newest technology if your PCs main purpose is After Effects.

This is my current AUD$3,000 PC that I purchased specifically for After Effects a few months ago. Apart from having 32GB instead of ideally 64GB RAM, this is the cheapest option for a dedicated After Effects PC and handles everything fine.

MOBO – ASRock X99X Killer Motherboard ($379)
RAM – G.Skill Ripjaws 4 F4-2400C15Q-32GRR 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 Red ($499)
STORAGE – Samsung 850 Pro Series 512GB 2.5in SSD ($365)
CPU – Intel Core i7 5930K ($869)
CPU COOLER – NZXT Kraken X61 280mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooler ($199)
PSU – Silverstone Strider Gold 850W ST85F-GS ($189)
GPU – EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked ACX 2.0 4GB ($519)
CASE – NZXT S340 Mid Tower Case Black ($109)

On a side note, if you were buying a $3,000 gaming PC you would be looking at the older “Intel Socket 1150” CPUs, MOBO and DDR3 RAM as this currently has the best cost/performance value. Typically with a gaming PC you are looking to save money on every part except the GPU because you want the best GPU you can afford. The best GPU the “GeForce GTX TITAN X” for $1,799. But again, you only need a semi-decent GPU for After Effects or any Adobe software.