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Want to upgrade to GPU Iray renders [PC Spec Upgrade Suggestions]

JoltrastJoltrast Posts: 208
edited May 2017 in The Commons

I'd like to upgade my graphics card and RAM so that I can take advantage of nVidias CUDA rendering, but I'm not sure what the best setup would be without "bottlenecking" my machine.
Render speed is more of a priority than render size, but I'd also like my PC not to crash with larger scenes! LOL
I've read a lot of suggestions and benchmarks, but I'm just super confused with my options.
Also which card should I replace? I think I'm looking around $300 for a card and extra RAM.
I don't know what DDR I have in it at the moment (I'm guessing DDR3?).
I'd rather not overclock the card if I can avoid it.
Any advice gratefully received.

This is my current setup:

Win7 x64
i7 4770k 3.50GHz

AMD HD7700
Intel HD Graphics 4600

16GB RAM

250G SSD 840 Evo
Western Digital WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb

Also, does it make much/any difference on manufacturer? I notice PNY, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI and ASUS all sell Ti cards.

Post edited by Joltrast on

Comments

  • EtheralEtheral Posts: 91

    Yes manufacturer makes a difference but not much. They have different coolers and are often running at different clock speeds as a result. Different noise levels too if that matters to you.

    If you're getting a new GPU then GTX1060 (the 6gb vram model) or GTX1070 depending on budget. If you're willing to buy second hand, there's lots of great deals on GTX980ti cards which probably outperform a 1070 in iray and cost less.

    As for RAM, 16gb is a lot already. But if you plan to do complex scenes then 32gb would be pretty good. Personally I just stick with 16gb and it seems to work fine even in complex scenes but my task manager tells me I ran out sometimes though it doesn't seem to do anything to me.

  • JoltrastJoltrast Posts: 208
    Etheral said:

    Yes manufacturer makes a difference but not much. They have different coolers and are often running at different clock speeds as a result. Different noise levels too if that matters to you.

    If you're getting a new GPU then GTX1060 (the 6gb vram model) or GTX1070 depending on budget. If you're willing to buy second hand, there's lots of great deals on GTX980ti cards which probably outperform a 1070 in iray and cost less.

    As for RAM, 16gb is a lot already. But if you plan to do complex scenes then 32gb would be pretty good. Personally I just stick with 16gb and it seems to work fine even in complex scenes but my task manager tells me I ran out sometimes though it doesn't seem to do anything to me.

    Thank you so much! I've only had one GFX card fail on me, so I don't have a problem with a refurb. Should I stick with the same manufacturer as my motherboard? (Gigabyte) or does it not matter? Also I notice the newer cards have onboard DDR5. Are they going to play nice with my DDR3?

  • EtheralEtheral Posts: 91
    Joltrast said:
    Etheral said:

    Yes manufacturer makes a difference but not much. They have different coolers and are often running at different clock speeds as a result. Different noise levels too if that matters to you.

    If you're getting a new GPU then GTX1060 (the 6gb vram model) or GTX1070 depending on budget. If you're willing to buy second hand, there's lots of great deals on GTX980ti cards which probably outperform a 1070 in iray and cost less.

    As for RAM, 16gb is a lot already. But if you plan to do complex scenes then 32gb would be pretty good. Personally I just stick with 16gb and it seems to work fine even in complex scenes but my task manager tells me I ran out sometimes though it doesn't seem to do anything to me.

    Thank you so much! I've only had one GFX card fail on me, so I don't have a problem with a refurb. Should I stick with the same manufacturer as my motherboard? (Gigabyte) or does it not matter? Also I notice the newer cards have onboard DDR5. Are they going to play nice with my DDR3?

    I personally like Gigabyte's cards. I use a Gigabyte GTX980ti G1 Gaming. Gigabyte has some of the best value for money cards. Doesn't matter which brand you choose though. Unless you want to match the Gigabyte logos on your mobo and gpu. lol

    Yeah GPUs always have faster ram. It won't affect anything. Your current card probably has GDDR5 vram too.

  • JoltrastJoltrast Posts: 208

    Any idea which of the two current cards I should replace if I go with one replacement for now?

  • EtheralEtheral Posts: 91
    Joltrast said:

    Any idea which of the two current cards I should replace if I go with one replacement for now?

    You have one card (the AMD one).

    Intel HD Graphics 4600 is not a card. It's the integrated graphics on your intel CPU. You can't remove that.

  • JoltrastJoltrast Posts: 208
    Etheral said:
    Joltrast said:

    Any idea which of the two current cards I should replace if I go with one replacement for now?

    You have one card (the AMD one).

    Intel HD Graphics 4600 is not a card. It's the integrated graphics on your intel CPU. You can't remove that.

    Haha! OK. Can I use both then, or is it better to take the AMD out?

     

  • nicsttnicstt Posts: 11,715

    16GB is not a lot for rendering, but is reasonable; certainly when compared to the system as a whole.

    But a card (preferably 10 series) with as much RAM on it as you can manage. If your render drops to CPU, your graphics card is a very expensive paper-weight, and it will still use a little electric when not in use.

    Have your new card as a render only card, and use the AMD/Intel on boards graphics as a driver for your monitor.

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,307
    Etheral said:

    If you're getting a new GPU then GTX1060 (the 6gb vram model) or GTX1070 depending on budget. If you're willing to buy second hand, there's lots of great deals on GTX980ti cards which probably outperform a 1070 in iray and cost less.

    1070 has 8 GB of VRAM though and uses less power (= also less heat), which are things to consider.

     

  • JamesJABJamesJAB Posts: 1,766

    Keeping under your $300 budget the GTX 1060 6GB card is your best bet
    If you can manage another $50 newegg has a GTX 1070 for $350

  • JoltrastJoltrast Posts: 208
    edited May 2017
    nicstt said:

    Have your new card as a render only card, and use the AMD/Intel on boards graphics as a driver for your monitor.

    Is this done in settings? (Sorry, I didn't even know you could do this).

     

    JamesJAB said:

    Keeping under your $300 budget the GTX 1060 6GB card is your best bet
    If you can manage another $50 newegg has a GTX 1070 for $350

    Good to know! Thank you!

    Post edited by Joltrast on
  • JamesJABJamesJAB Posts: 1,766
    edited May 2017

    So one more thing to point out.  Those AMD HD 77xx cards are not very power hungry (between 47 and 85w max depending on which one)  If your motherboard has slots for two graphics cards and you have at least a 500w (or 600w if you go for the 1070) power supply, you might want to consider keeping the AMD card to drive your display and use the Nvidia card for Iray only.

     

    Whichever card you plug your monitor into becomes your primary monitor.
    Daz Studio should auto detect the Nvidia card and use it for rendering in Iray.  If you want to make sure inside of Daz Studio, go to :  Render Settings -> Advanced -> Hardware.  There will be a list of devices for both Photoreal and Interactive and you can fill the check boxes next to the devices you wold like it to use.

    If you set the Nvidia card as a render only card, and have the AMD HD 7700 as your primary display, then you should make sure the CPU is unchecked in the Iray settings, so you will be able to use your computer like normal while rendering.  Most of the rendering workload will be isolated on the Nvidia card. 

    Post edited by JamesJAB on
  • JoltrastJoltrast Posts: 208
    edited May 2017
    JamesJAB said:

    So one more thing to point out.  Those AMD HD 77xx cards are not very power hungry (between 47 and 85w max depending on which one)  If your motherboard has slots for two graphics cards and you have at least a 500w (or 600w if you go for the 1070) power supply, you might want to consider keeping the AMD card to drive your display and use the Nvidia card for Iray only.

    Whichever card you plug your monitor into becomes your primary monitor.
    Daz Studio should auto detect the Nvidia card and use it for rendering in Iray.  If you want to make sure inside of Daz Studio, go to :  Render Settings -> Advanced -> Hardware.  There will be a list of devices for both Photoreal and Interactive and you can fill the check boxes next to the devices you wold like it to use.

    If you set the Nvidia card as a render only card, and have the AMD HD 7700 as your primary display, then you should make sure the CPU is unchecked in the Iray settings, so you will be able to use your computer like normal while rendering.  Most of the rendering workload will be isolated on the Nvidia card. 

    Great advice. I like that idea a lot. That's not the same as SLI, is it? If the motherboard supports it, I can just upgrade the PSU as necessary, right?

    Post edited by Joltrast on
  • JamesJABJamesJAB Posts: 1,766
    Joltrast said:
    JamesJAB said:

    So one more thing to point out.  Those AMD HD 77xx cards are not very power hungry (between 47 and 85w max depending on which one)  If your motherboard has slots for two graphics cards and you have at least a 500w (or 600w if you go for the 1070) power supply, you might want to consider keeping the AMD card to drive your display and use the Nvidia card for Iray only.

    Whichever card you plug your monitor into becomes your primary monitor.
    Daz Studio should auto detect the Nvidia card and use it for rendering in Iray.  If you want to make sure inside of Daz Studio, go to :  Render Settings -> Advanced -> Hardware.  There will be a list of devices for both Photoreal and Interactive and you can fill the check boxes next to the devices you wold like it to use.

    If you set the Nvidia card as a render only card, and have the AMD HD 7700 as your primary display, then you should make sure the CPU is unchecked in the Iray settings, so you will be able to use your computer like normal while rendering.  Most of the rendering workload will be isolated on the Nvidia card. 

    Great advice. I like that idea a lot. That's not the same as SLI, is it? If the motherboard supports it, I can just upgrade the PSU as necessary, right?

    No it is not SLI.  SLI is where you have two identical cards linked with a bridge between them trading off drawing every other frame while video gaming.

    What I am suggesting is just using two video cards, each as their own independent device.

    If your computer is from a big box company (Dell, Lenove, HP, ACER for example) you will want to change out the power supply with a more powerful one.  When they build machines they give it a big enough one to run what's in there + a little extra.  The data plate (sticker) on the power supply will tell you how many watts it is rated for.  If it is old, like five or six years old, you might want to get a new one preemively before it fails.

  • JoltrastJoltrast Posts: 208
    JamesJAB said:
    Joltrast said:
    JamesJAB said:

    So one more thing to point out.  Those AMD HD 77xx cards are not very power hungry (between 47 and 85w max depending on which one)  If your motherboard has slots for two graphics cards and you have at least a 500w (or 600w if you go for the 1070) power supply, you might want to consider keeping the AMD card to drive your display and use the Nvidia card for Iray only.

    Whichever card you plug your monitor into becomes your primary monitor.
    Daz Studio should auto detect the Nvidia card and use it for rendering in Iray.  If you want to make sure inside of Daz Studio, go to :  Render Settings -> Advanced -> Hardware.  There will be a list of devices for both Photoreal and Interactive and you can fill the check boxes next to the devices you wold like it to use.

    If you set the Nvidia card as a render only card, and have the AMD HD 7700 as your primary display, then you should make sure the CPU is unchecked in the Iray settings, so you will be able to use your computer like normal while rendering.  Most of the rendering workload will be isolated on the Nvidia card. 

    Great advice. I like that idea a lot. That's not the same as SLI, is it? If the motherboard supports it, I can just upgrade the PSU as necessary, right?

    No it is not SLI.  SLI is where you have two identical cards linked with a bridge between them trading off drawing every other frame while video gaming.

    What I am suggesting is just using two video cards, each as their own independent device.

    If your computer is from a big box company (Dell, Lenove, HP, ACER for example) you will want to change out the power supply with a more powerful one.  When they build machines they give it a big enough one to run what's in there + a little extra.  The data plate (sticker) on the power supply will tell you how many watts it is rated for.  If it is old, like five or six years old, you might want to get a new one preemively before it fails.

    Gotcha. It's an OEM with a custom spec build. Appreciate the tips. Thanks!

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