Will DAZ run on this lappy?
RenderPretender
Posts: 1,041
Hello -
It's time for me to dump this unreliable brick I'm tearing my hair out with presently, but I don't want to spend a fortune. I just want to be able to produce reasonably quality renders, mainly single characters, portraits, etc.. I can't afford to build a machine or get one with one or more fancy cards. Will DAZ run on this machine?
Thank you--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Comments
might crawl
Right now I'm rendering on CPU and 4GHz RAM for an hour with reasonable results after using a photo noise filter, so I can't imagine it'd be worse. I'm just trying to sort out how much better it might be.
Additional feedback welcome.
Anyone?
Technically, yes it will run Daz Studio as it meets the minimum requirements: https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003568443-What-are-the-system-requirements-to-run-Daz-Studio-
You might also want to take a look at: https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/207530513-System-Recommendations-for-DAZ-Studio-4-
Whether it would be a fun experience running on this laptop is another matter.
Having only 8GB system RAM is going to seriously limit what you can load into a scene.
The intel graphics chip will not run iray for rendering, so you are stuck with 3Delight rendering on the CPU, which is only 4 cores. I would be concerned about cooling in the laptop for the sort of render times that you are looking at. I'm also dubious about what framerate you would get on the viewport when manipulating a scene.
My advice would be to save the money and keep saving up for something with at least 16GB RAM and at least a 6-core CPU. Ideally, you also want a nvidia graphics card in there which will run iray much faster than a CPU. It's frustrating having to wait because you are on a budget, but long-term it is more frustrating trying to work on a machine that is not fully up to the task of 3D rendering.
EDIT: Is there a reason that you have to have a laptop rather than a desktop machine? If you don't need the portability then a desktop to run Daz Studio will be higher spec and lower price than a laptop.
It will definitely run on that laptop and crawl is a relative expectation. I've used mine happily enough for 3 years and it's from 2012. I've only recently decided to build a more capable desktop because I want to program more, not because I want create DAZ Studio renders faster.
In the render settings for iRay, if you render scenes at 1280x720 (regular HD), set number of iterations to 2000, time to 0 seconds, and enable render quality at level 1.0 and converge at 95% most of your renders will finish overnight. So that's not too bad. If you set the resolution to 4K expect the render times to approximately quadruple from overnight.
You don't want to do things like iRay preview in your viewport and such things.
If possible upgrade the system RAM to 16GB or even 20GB, 24GB or 32GB although I think many laptops are limited in RAM yours is new enough that if it has only one RAM slot it might support a 1x16GB RAM stick. Check the specs or check the RAM support at the Crucial Memory website.
I used to have a fair number of DAZ Studio "Out of Memory" crashes when I had only 8GB of system RAM on my laptop so you have to limit how much you put in your scenes with such limited system RAM.
@DIMReaper - You can render iRay on CPU as that's what I've done for the past 3 years with only a handful of 3DL renders in that time.
Without an Nvidia GPU you'll really suffer trying to finish iRay renders. Other than that, with usual caveats related to lappies, this should run DS.
Thank you. I wasn't implying that you can't use iray on CPU - I know because I've had to render on CPU a few times when a scene couldn't be made to fit in VRAM. Glad to hear that you are managing it, but CPU rendering in iray is not desirable and not everyone is able to leave their computer rendering overnight.
Rendering the scene from the RTX Benchmark thread (because it's a fast benchmark), I get:
5960X CPU: 9 minutes 7.65 seconds
1080Ti GPU: 2 minutes 8.47 seconds
2080Ti GPU: 33.90 seconds
Based on those sort of time differences on a very simple scene, I couldn't recommend that anyone buy a new computer to render in iray on CPU. But, it is good that you posted another view for the OP so that they can make an informed choice.
well its no better in specifications than my Windows 10 Ryzen3 PC with 8GB of RAM in which I have the Nvidia graphics card and that is pretty useless if it exceeds my card,
my other PC without a dedicated graphics card and 16GB of RAM fares better but CPU renders with iray are still very slow
neither are great machines and both desktops
and get hot
a laptop I wouldn't even consider using iray TBH
Thanks for your detailed replies.
I should have been more specific. I am rendering in Iray exclusively on CPU on an Asus VivoBook Max X541SA with 4GHz RAM (non-upgradable), and an apparently integrated Nvidia card, though I can't assure you it's Nvidia unless that's a cold requisite for Iray. I have my content on an external drive. I used to be able to render two-character scenes with acceptable results in an hour (using a postwork noise reducer). But as textures and shaders get more complex, I have a lot of locking with more than one-character scenes. I'm trying to avoid that with perhaps a bit more RAM.
My search for a new machine is also colored by the fact that DAZ is a diversion for me, rather than a primary avocation. As the app and the content get more expensive and prolific, I find that I'm increasingly unwilling to let it drive my choice of devices. I am a bit of a pragmatist. It has to remain a relatively inexpensive pursuit and not create too much drag, or I jettison it and move on.
Now, how about this one?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-256gb-solid-state-drive-shadow-black-chrome-green-paint-finish/6364574.p?skuId=6364574
True, my laptop renders in an extra room by itself so it's not heard or seen as it renders.
Not desirable to render on CPU is subjective though. If I were Andy Warhol and had his following, I'd say "Crank it and and send me the money!"; but in my case I have no following and so slow CPU renders just keep me from producing too many flat looking renders of soup cans and Marilyns.
Now, how about this one?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-256gb-solid-state-drive-shadow-black-chrome-green-paint-finish/6364574.p?skuId=6364574
That's much more capable. The 1050 has a very low amount of VRAM,2 Gb IIRC, so you'd have to keep scenes simple. However only 256 Gb of storage means you'd need an external drive for your 3d assets.
Thank you. I use an external drive for assets anyway, so that might do the trick. I do light scenes (mainly portraits and studio shots) anyway.
If you're patient, you can pick up a refurbished Dell G5 gaming laptop from Dell outlet with 1TB hybrid drive and a 4GB 1050TI or a 6GB 1060 for about the same price, and it's not all that uncommon to see eighth gen quad core I5s with 16GB RAM/6GB 1060TI/256GB SSD/1TB HD for under $600 after a coupon code discount. (I snagged one right after Labor Day for $574 and change.) There's currently a 1050TI model for $457.68. Coupon code 79816Ali knocks another 16% off, taking it down to $384.45.
You can do CPU, but you will still be waiting for a very long time. If you want to render faster, you need a Nvidia GPU, period.
Does it absolutely have to be a laptop? If you are trying to save money, a laptop will always have a significant premium over desktop parts. You could get a much better machine for the same price, plus almost any desktop can be upgraded as opposed to trashed like a laptop.
Anyway, I looked up your current laptop, and it could be either a 2 core or 4 core Pentium. It has no Nvidia GPU.
Now since your current laptop has only 4gb, then you are obviously making small scenes, or Daz would crash.
So if you can get a 4gb GPU then you could probably get by, as long as you keep making similar scenes.
But getting a laptop with 4gb Nvidia GPU on the cheap is not so easy. The 1050ti is about all you will get, and a very crappy CPU to match. That deal mclaugh linked is about as good as a laptop deal gets for a 1050ti. Otherwise they are $600+ anywhere else new. Some even go to $1000...for a 1050ti!
If you are willing to forgo a laptop, you can have a much better machine. This would give you a 6 core 12 thread CPU that bury your current one, and 1650 SUPER which is a big upgrade over a 1050ti, let alone doing CPU only renders.
This comes from here https://hothardware.com/reviews/hothardwares-component-buyers-guide
This is not prebuilt, that will add to the cost.
My experience has been limited but my old dual core Pentium laptop with 4GB of ram had a significant speed improvement with the substitution of a 1TB SSD in place of the orginal HDD (7200rpm). For $100 it was worth getting the speed improvement, lowering frustration, and making my old lappy be able to dance instead of amble for another few years.
Run: yes.
Fun experience, nope.
This should really read: it's marketting blurb; it's designed to sell you something you think you're getting.
Update:
I finally went with the HP Pavilion Laptop 15-cs2064st because it met my budget and couldn't be worse than what I was coming from. So far, single character test renders of 30 minutes have many times the iterations and several-fold quality of the work produced on the other lappy, with none of the frustration. I'll try to share an example when I find some time.
One thing I did notice is that, rarely, a render will be all black, and cause me to have to cancel it and restart the render, at which time I restart it, and then it's fine. That's occurred about twice in perhaps 10 tests. Not sure what that's about, but I know not to start a render and walk away until there's one visible iteration.
Out of memory (VRAM).
But if that were true, why would simply cancelling the render and restarting it (the render, NOT DAZ) work?
Odd, just about everytime I rendered a total black image, it turned out the camera was being blocked by something, or inside some geometry.