Switching from Mac to PC for Daz. Unsure on hardware / Nvidia set-up?
unusual
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I've been exclusively Mac for decades now, and that's been fine for my general day to day Adobe stuff, and some minimal Cinema 4D work.
But I've been using Daz quite a bit more the past 6-8 months, and have really enjoyed the software - but the render times are so sluggish on my macbook pro's CPU ( d-force is so slow, that its nearly unusable ) that I'm seriously considering getting a pc to do Daz projects on.
• I don't have the expertise ( or time, sadly ) to build a system, so I'd be looking for a something I can buy assembled.
• My projects are more focused on rendering single large images for print ( 4000 px x 4000 px or so ) - not too much animation work yet.
• I travel a bit, so I'd prefer a laptop, but open to a desktop if everyone swears by it.
I am a total PC newbie, and while I've tried to research and read the forums I'm still a bit confused.
It seems like I need a machine with an Nvidia graphics card, which makes sense.
But I'm seeing many different categories of Nvidia cards - plus there is this new(ish) RTX push?
According to https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/studio/software/ It recommends the GeForce RTX 2060 or Quadro RTX 3000 for Daz3d usage.
• Do users agree with that? And if so, do you have a prefence between the two? Is there a drastic difference?
• Is it safe to assume that anything in these two lines with higher numbers ( Ex. Quadro 4000 / 5000 ) offer better render times?
• Lastly, how much RAM should I be aiming for?
Any help / insight would be appreciated. Thank You!!!
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Comments
Hi,
Yes, Daz Studio does make use of the RTX technology in the latest GPUs.
No, it does not use any of the 'special features' of the Quadro range. You'll be paying the "professional surcharge" for no extra benefit.
However, if you need the really big memory capacities that Geforce cards just don't have, then you have no choice but to look at Quadro cards.
Lots of things effect the memory load of a scene and large resolutions is one of them! Unfortunately, the only way to know how much your GPU will need is to try it. Perhaps sending your largest scene to someone with a 2060/2070/2080 to see if they can render it.
Not entirely true...the RTX titan has 24 GB of RAM. it's half the cost of the quadro card equivalent.
And honestly, Nvidia is over recommending. I have a GTX 1080 that is still good.
This is my recommendation:
Ryzen 6 core machine or higher,
16 GB of RAM or higher (as much as you can afford)
Video card with 8 GB of VRAM or more.
500 GB SSD for OS drive.
1 TB or more (content library size dependent) for your content.
24" screen.
Backups are the most important. You have reentered the virus zone.
Quadros offer a fairly small number of features that really matter.
They allow creation of 10 bit color images and videos. The Nvidia consumer drivers lock this out.
The newer Quadros have high speed NVlink bridges. This matters in real time AI but is as far as I'm aware not really important otherwise. Any NVLink will apparently support pooling VRAM for rendering.
Quadros can be put into a mode that disables their video outs.
Lot's more VRAM than their consumer counterparts.
That's pretty much it.
I wouldn't buy a Quadro for iRay unless you are trying to create mass battles or the like.
I would consider 32GB RAM the minimum tolerable
When do you "have" to purchase? A lot of exciting things should be hitting the deck this fall... new nVidia 3000 series stuff, maybe udpated Ryzen CPUs etc etc.... if you could wait til September, you purchase path might be a bit clearer.