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Question on a new Windows laptop

johranshadijohranshadi Posts: 142
in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)
So far I've only been using daz with Macbook and this will be my first Windows machine. That also means I will be a newbie on Iray too. I have some questions before I install everything,and I really don't need things to go the wrong way especially that I haven't used Windows in almost a decade. So I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read and answer: 1. Should Daz content be fine on a Hard drive (SSD is only 250gb compared to 1TB of 7200 rpm on hard drive) or should I get an external SSD? 2. Does RTX 2070 work with the current version of Daz or only the beta? 3. Do I have to update the NVIDIA drivers (I read somewhere people encountered issues after updating and had to downgrade, a process I am not familiar with at all)? 4. Is it okay if I continue using Daz and the content on my old Macbook (the TOS are not specific about that but I thought it's worth checking)? Thanks a lot, I appreciate any advice or any of the questions above.

Comments

  • mclaughmclaugh Posts: 221
    edited September 2019

     

    johranshadi said:
    So far I've only been using daz with Macbook and this will be my first Windows machine.

    Welcome to the Dark Side. devil 

    johranshadi said:
     1. Should Daz content be fine on a Hard drive (SSD is only 250gb compared to 1TB of 7200 rpm on hard drive) or should I get an external SSD? 

    Should  be fine on the SSD, but 250Gb is awfully small, so eventually you'll want to migrate to a larger drive. Might as well do it up front and skip the pain later. Personally, I've got my library on an 5400 rpm external HD, and I don't find the transfer speed to be an issue. YMMV.

    johranshadi said:
    3. Do I have to update the NVIDIA drivers (I read somewhere people encountered issues after updating and had to downgrade, a process I am not familiar with at all)?

    Try it with the installed driver first. If it works, consider leaving it. If you DO decide to update the driver, create a restore point first in case the update borks something. (I upgraded the driver and ran into an issue that DAZ tech support is still trying to help sort out.) NVIDIA builds a clean install capability into their driver installers, so it's easy to downgrade if you do run into a problem with an update, though.

    johranshadi said:
    4. Is it okay if I continue using Daz and the content on my old Macbook (the TOS are not specific about that but I thought it's worth checking)? Thanks a lot, I appreciate any advice or any of the questions above.

     Without taking the time to check the EULA, you'll probably be OK, provided that you're only running one device (Macbook or Windoze) at a time.

    Post edited by mclaugh on
  • kenshaw011267kenshaw011267 Posts: 3,805

    1) Install the content on the HDD. You'll want the SSD for programs and the OS.

    2) RTX cards work just fine on DS 4.11 but for best results get the beta. 4.12 is faster overall and has support for the RTX features resulting in very significant improvements in render speeds.

    3) It depends on which driver is installed. The current driver works fine so I'd install it. Just turn off Windows Update's ability to install drivers. On the subject of drivers you'll also want the latest drivers for the chipset, WiFi and ethernet. You should be able to get that all from the laptop makers website.

    4) As far as I've seen its ok. I know other people have one machine to setup scenes and another to render on so you should be fine.

  • johranshadijohranshadi Posts: 142
    mclaugh said:

     

    johranshadi said:
    So far I've only been using daz with Macbook and this will be my first Windows machine.

    Welcome to the Dark Side. devil 

    johranshadi said:
     1. Should Daz content be fine on a Hard drive (SSD is only 250gb compared to 1TB of 7200 rpm on hard drive) or should I get an external SSD? 

    Should  be fine on the SSD, but 250Gb is awfully small, so eventually you'll want to migrate to a larger drive. Might as well do it up front and skip the pain later. Personally, I've got my library on an 5400 rpm external HD, and I don't find the transfer speed to be an issue. YMMV.

    johranshadi said:
    3. Do I have to update the NVIDIA drivers (I read somewhere people encountered issues after updating and had to downgrade, a process I am not familiar with at all)?

    Try it with the installed driver first. If it works, consider leaving it. If you DO decide to update the driver, create a restore point first in case the update borks something. (I upgraded the driver and ran into an issue that DAZ tech support is still trying to help sort out.) NVIDIA builds a clean install capability into their driver installers, so it's easy to downgrade if you do run into a problem with an update, though.

    johranshadi said:
    4. Is it okay if I continue using Daz and the content on my old Macbook (the TOS are not specific about that but I thought it's worth checking)? Thanks a lot, I appreciate any advice or any of the questions above.

     Without taking the time to check the EULA, you'll probably be OK, provided that you're only running one device (Macbook or Windoze) at a time.

    Thanks! I'm so excited about getting started on all the windows-only cool stuff. I managed to put the storage on the hard drive and while G1 and G2 load fast, newer generations take a while. But it's still loading faster than the SSD on my Mac so I have no issues with that so far. The GPU is still not being used despite me checking the GPU box in the advanced tab. I guess I will have to update but first I must figure out how to create a restore point (I remember doing that long time ago). Thanks a lot for the tips, and sorry to hear about your issue with the drivers. That's unfortunate. 

  • johranshadijohranshadi Posts: 142
    kenshaw011267 said:

    1) Install the content on the HDD. You'll want the SSD for programs and the OS.

    2) RTX cards work just fine on DS 4.11 but for best results get the beta. 4.12 is faster overall and has support for the RTX features resulting in very significant improvements in render speeds.

    3) It depends on which driver is installed. The current driver works fine so I'd install it. Just turn off Windows Update's ability to install drivers. On the subject of drivers you'll also want the latest drivers for the chipset, WiFi and ethernet. You should be able to get that all from the laptop makers website.

    4) As far as I've seen its ok. I know other people have one machine to setup scenes and another to render on so you should be fine.

    Thanks a lot! I turned off the automatic update on the drivers. It will take me a while to familiarize myself with Windows I suppose. I'll keep this thread updated if I encounter further issues with my GPU. 

  • mclaughmclaugh Posts: 221
    johranshadi said:
    mclaugh said:

    The GPU is still not being used despite me checking the GPU box in the advanced tab

     Open the NVIDIA Control Panel, click the Program Settings tab, and check if DS is set to use the GPU there as well. Not sure why, but on my laptop, DS will sometimes drop to CPU if the GPU isn't selected in the CP.

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