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If Studio/Iray is your main concern (see my list of questions up a few posts), then I'd focus on a new GPU. And I'd wait a bit cuz NVIDIA is just releasing the new RTX Super cards, and the top end one (RTX 2080 Super) is about $700. Still not in stock, but if I was you I'd wait for that. It'll give you twice as much VRAM on the GPU so you can hold scenes that are twice as large as what you're doing now. And it should drastically speed up your renders. The 970 will do the Sickleyield benchmark in about 2.5 minutes, and I'm guessing the 2080 Super will do it in maybe a minute or less.
Your CPU is probably fine unless you're using some other fancy software that requires it. You *may* need a new power supply if the existing is in the 400-500 watt range (should say on the sticker).
Looks like both GPU's have the same dimensions so you should be okay. But make sure you have the required power connecters if you buy a new GPU.
Wow. That was unexpected....
I'm not seeing a sticker anywhere, but I'll ask my husband since he built it a few years ago, he'll probably know about the power supply. *crosses fingers*
I'm not sure what the difference between CPU and GPU is, I'll have to do some research. This stuff is so far over my head. Ugh. Makes me feel so dumb.
Daz Studio/Iray is definitely my main focus, so it doesn't really need to do anything else special. I don't game anymore (too busy these days), so I really only require something that will help me render as quickly as I can, but within my budget. So do you recommend I just get a new NVIDIA card then and wait for the RTX Super cards? And maybe a new power supply, as well, if the existing one is in the 400-500 watt range?
In previous discussions, I have argued that a laptop is always an inferior choice (apples to apples) when compared to a desktop unless mobility, space savings, or vanity is a factor. I have not changed that position. In fact, I just restated it above. I don't know why you are surprised.
You probably have to slide the side panel off the desktop to see the sticker on the power supply.
Yeah, here's the NVIDIA page for the RTX 2080 Super:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/graphics-cards/rtx-2080-super/
I'd wait a bit and then check newegg.com or amazon to see if it's available. Might be a while before they're in stock. But it seems like they're a good deal. If that's the GPU you buy, and your existing power supply is 500 watts or less, I'd get a new one that's over 600 watts.
I'd go for an RTX2018ti card because of the 11 GB VRAM, if you are planning on rendering larger scenes. The RTX2080 Super may be a bit faster but only has 8 GB VRAM. And then upgrade to 32 GB RAM (in general 2-3 times as much RAM as VRAM is recommended, the more the better). And check if your PSU is big enough for the card you choose, like ebergerly says. If it dies because of overload it may damage your mainboard, graphics card and other stuff, so don't save here.
A 2080ti will cost $400-500 more than the 2080 super, for just 3GB more of VRAM. And the OP is rendering scenes now that only use around 4GB. The 2080 Super gives her twice that.
With a $1500 budget my priority would be to get a RTX 2080 ti and bump your system RAM to 32GB.
Here are current newegg.com prices and links
This will turn your computer into an Iray rendering beast.
You mean 3GB of VRAM and 1,280 more shader processors - and then when they get implimented in Iray... 160 more tensor cores and 20 more ray-tracing cores.
That is well worth the $400 extra
seeing that you are not very computer literate, I would recommend getting a new system or having an integrator upgrade you. But for $1500 you can get a whopper of a system. For a lot less, you can get your husband or friend to upgrade graphics (GPU) and memory. Be warned, this can potentially lead to headaches. For your budget (and a lot less than 1500, even), you can order a new system delivered online that will make you smile very widely and nothing to worry about.
How much will all of that improve Iray rendering times?
Well if your scene drops to CPU rendering because of too little VRAM it certainly won't improve rendering times. I have 8 GB myself and regret that I didn't get an 11 GB instead.
A little bit of conflicting advice, but you guys have given me a lot of great info. I really like that there are a couple of different options that look good and that are also within my budget. Thank you, guys! I really appreciate you taking the time to give some feedback and advice. It sounds like waiting a little while might be a way to go at least until the RTX Super cards are released. Other options might be cheaper at that time as well, right? Seems like when a new card series comes out other cards get cheaper, so even if I decide not to go with RTX Super the others might be a bit less then maybe?
Thank you for the help and advice! :D
This is precisely what I'd do with the budget and existing rig. You may not even need a new PSU.
Assuming that it's the original power supply, it could be amost 4 years old. You can never go wrong with a new PSU from a good brand.
It's just a real PITA to pull a non modular PSU and put a new one in. Particularly if you don't need to. Most decent brands have at least 5 year warranties on PCU's now.
Some have up to 10 years:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/corsair-extended-psu-warranties-10,31576.html
I think the main point is how large scenes you expect to render. The problem is that if the scene exceeds the amount of VRAM the card has, it drops to CPU rendering instead, and you probably know how slow that is. So yes, the 2080 may be faster than the 2080ti version in general, but if you hit the VRAM limit it's definitely not.
I just ran "The Sickle Yield benchmark".
That is, the simple one with just Genesis 2 Female Essentials.
These are my DS 4.11 timings on the laptop listed in my signature.
Right around a minute if I'm using Optix, so not bad for a laptop.
Yes, the CPU and GPU timings were very similar, but I expect that's because RTX support in DAZ Studio is still in the private channel and not yet in the DAZ in the Public channel. I'll redo the tests when 4.12 appears in DIM, and we'll see if it runs more efficiently. But for that render going a minute, that's not bad for a laptop. Yes, the fan speeds ramped up and it was blowing out the back like a hair dryer, but that's what I want it to do when it's performing real work.
As others have stated, I would suggest going with that RTX 2080 Super when it is available. Check your PSU (Power Supply Unit) as they said, and if it's too low get a new one. The recommended specs for the PSU on that card is 650, with both an 8 pin and a 6 pin connector, so even if a 650 watt PSU be sure to check if there are both of those connectors available. What actually does the rendering (in a nutshell, a basic nutshell, like a peanut shell, which isn't even a nut) are the CUDA cores in your GPU, which in and of itself is like a mini computer inside your computer, all with its own memory (vram), fans, and CPU (the GPU itself, I know this may trigger some people, but it's easier to think of it this way). So think of those CUDA core as the cores of a computer's CPU, more is better. Your 970 has 1664 CUDA cores, where as the 2080 Super has 3072, which is basically twice, so you can expect your render times to be about halved. So twice the renders = more fun making scenes.
Now consider this as well, You're already used to a 4gb card, and the 2080 is an 8gb card. I know the 2080ti is 11gb, so with that you could have nearly three times the scene size as you're used to. But will you use that? would the cost of the card justify the end product? Only you can answer that, but here's what I would do in your situation, IF your motherboard has the available PCI-E slots ( the point at which your GPU connect to the motherboard) ; get the 2080 super card when you can, but also look into getting maybe a 2070 Super or a 2060 Super in addition to the 2080. Or two 2070 Supers, or any combination therein.
A 2070 Super has 2560 CUDA cores while the 2060 Super has 2176, so with a 2080 and a 2070 you're looking at 5632 Cuda Cores which is considerable more then the 2080 ti at 4352, and more then 3 times what you have now, and would set you back about the same as the 2080ti. Now, with these two cards you'll almost certainly need a new PSU, probaly 750-850 Watts, so that is something to consider as well. Depnding on your board, you may even be able to put in your 970 as well, hell, for that matter, just get the 2080 Super and pair it with your 970, and have more cores then the 2080 Ti still. Granted you'll sitll be limited to only your 4 GBs of textures, but you'll be rendering with three times as many cores with what you're already doing, and if you need something bigger, then the 2080 will take care of things for you anyways. Keep in mind that even though twice as many cuda cores = half the render time, three times as many does not mean half again, but a third of your original time. So diminishing returns. 30 minute render with twice the cores = 15 minutes/ 30 min render with three times the cores= 10 mins.
Sooooooo after my long winded blah blah blah, I'd say what everyone else said for the most part; 2080 Super= yes, Look into mayby adding an extra card or your 970 if the motherboard and PSU will allow, and also think about getting some more RAM, which I could go off on again too, because you don't want to just drop any random extra kit in there either, but match the Speed (mhz) and latency or timing ( looks like this 16-18-18-36 should be printed on your actual ram sticks). Nothing inherently bad will happen if your sticks don't match speed and timing (for the most part), your PC will default to the slowest one, which if what you have is slower you can buy less expensive memory, or if what you buy is slower it will hurt what you already have.
Hope that wasn't too much.... I tend to go off on rants when I type. Sorry about that.
I forgot to add that I also need a computer that can run dforce. It takes forever to simulate on my current computer, and half the time whatever I'm trying to simulate explodes.
A fast Iray machine will also be a fast dForce machine, because they both make use of Nvidia GPUs
dForce doesn't have to use a Nvidia GPU. Although if you're building an iray box a GPU good for iRay will be good for the dForce.