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Hi beachlegs
Hope you dont mind me saying I dont think you will need 64GbRam,I have never had any problems with my 32 GB Ram no crashing or anything like that,no point paying extra for stuff you wont need.Anyway you have been given some great information here,I am thinking of getting an Nvidia card myself so I will be interested how you get on with the new system.
For me, I don't think 64 GB of RAM would be overkill...if it were just for rendering, probably, but I often try to have Blender, GIMP, other texturing tools and Studio open at the same time when creating models. And each of those can have healthy appetites when it comes to RAM. So it's going to be more of what you intend to do that will dictate what is overkill or not. If it's just going to be rendering in Studio 24 to 32 GB is more than enough. But if you intend on doing anything else WHILE using Studio, it may not be.
...more CPU cores would be better as you can assign cores to different processes. For example with the duo 8 core Xeon system I am currently developing (32 total threads) I could assign 24 CPU threads to rendering in Carrara and the remaining 8 to perform other tasks while the system is rendering.
Now if you are going to render very "heavy" scenes in CPU mode, then yes, more memory is better.
The 'creation' process doesn't need the cores to run the programs as much as it needs the memory to hold everything while flipping back and forth between the programs. Creating the hi-res meshes to bake from in Blender I've hit darn near 16 GB in Blender alone
They were discounted a few months ago when Pascal cards were announced, but now that they are not made anymore most of the sellers kept prices high due to limited availability. B&H seems to carry at least one below $500.
Agree with kyoto kid, I think you'd be better off saving for a GTX 1070.
holy cow --- you guys rich or what? I cant afford a 980ti or 10 anything...
Right now I'm dogging with onboard Intel 4600 ... useless.
So, what is the best lower priced video card that can render iRay?
My system itself is i7 4790 3.6 ghz with 16gig ram.
I think the nVidia 740GT (the 4GB version) is available for around $100. It's not going to be anywhere near as fast as a 960, 970, 980 or higher, but it will allow you to do simpler render in Iray with reasonable speed.
(edit below)
If you have a few extra bucks, look for discounted 960 or 970 GTX cards (make sure you get the 4GB 960s). They'll be a lot faster, but require more power (minimum 500W PS, better to have a 700W) and will typically run from $200 to $350.
(newegg showing a Gigabyte 960 GTX 4GB for $180 right now, Zotac 970 GTX 4GB is $230 at the moment.)
Just checked, several places have them (newegg, B&H, etc.) EVGA GT 740 4GB SuperClocked is $99 USD, runs at a core clock of 1059MHz, 384 CUDA cores, and shouldn't overtax even a simple 500W power supply. It's probably the best 'bang for the buck' if you don't have a lot of 'bucks' to throw at PC parts.
whoa..serious drop in performance but more in my price range :) thanks :)
I might be able to go $200 .... another part is I , more than likely, will need a new power supply too. current is 300W
Putting aside some bucks every month, save for a few years. Win the lottery. The usual way.
I have two computers that I use regularly: a gaming laptop with an i7 quad, 16 gigs of ram and a 970M with 6gb. I also have a desktop with dual 8 core Xeons, 64 gigs of ram and a 980Ti with 6 gigs. Yeah, the desktop is faster than the laptop, but not over-the-top faster. Not like one would THINK. LOL Not sure what the bottleneck is on the desktop (other than maybe the slower, optimized for business use cpus), if there is one, but for most purposes 16 or 32 gigs of ram should be fine. I would go for broke ONLY if I was more than able to afford it. If you can, go for it. If you can't, 16 or 32 gigs of ram is going to be plenty for most applications, including DS. Nothing is going to be an instant solution and you'll be waiting for a render regardless. Unless you're Mec4D ;)
Laurie
Yep, that's pretty certain. Even the 740GT recommends a minimum 400W power supply. 960 and 970 both recommend a minimum 500W power supply with a minimum supported current on the +12V rail.
Fortunately, 500W power supplies are in abundance and aren't particularly expensive. Just look for one that is at least 80+ Bronze certified. Going for a 960 or 970, I'd recommend at least 600W.
(Basic rule: Never skimp on the Power Supply. It supplies EVERY component in your computer. If it has problems it can damage or destroy one, several, or ALL the connected parts. Hence go with a reputable manufacturer, get one that exceeds your expected needs (wattage-wise) by at least 20%, and get one that is 80+ Bronze or better. Beyond that, get what is most affordable.)
Letting the smoke out of a power supply is never a pretty picture, especially due to an overload.
Another thing to keep in mind when getting a power supply...it's always better to buy one that's rated a bit more than you need than it is to buy one slightly under or right at the 'recommended' level. What happens if you decide you need another hard drive?
The new GTX 1050 Ti with 4 GB RAM seems good, it runs on bus power, so no new PSU is necessary. Less than $150. Twice the cores of the GT 740.