Questions about CPU/RAM for a new build

Narkon

I feel like this past year all I've been doing is plan for the new build, only to have the pandemic and crypto mining delay it again and again.

I was planning to use a 5600X at the core of the system, but lately, with the drop in prices, the Intel i7-10700KF and especially the Ryzen 7 3700X look like a better choice. In most cases, the benchmarks I've seen put them higher than the 5600X when it comes to multi-core performance and they are both cheaper. Sadly, most benchmarks and videos focus on performance in gaming, so I was wondering which characteristic of a CPU is most useful during rendering. Is it the IPC, clock speed/boost clock speed, or core count? And how much does the CPU affect speed and quality when you have a 3060Ti or 3070 doing the heavy lifting during rendering?

Finally, when I choose RAM, what should I focus on? Low latency, RAM size, or speed? For example, is there a clear winner between 3200MHz C14 and 3600MHz C16?

Thanks.

ps2000

CPU and RAM aren't important for rendering in DAZ-Studio (if you use iray). You should focus on a nvidia gpu with enough vram. Because if the scene doesn't fit on the card it can't render it. 16GB of Ram should be perfectly reasonable. 

I changed my setup recently from an old 6-core cpu to a newer ryzen 2700x with 64GB RAM and I can't notice a difference working in DAZ-Studio. 

I think RAM speed also matters mainly for games to press out some more frames. 

I would go with 3000MHz Ram because it's cheaper most of the time. But maybe you can get a good deal for faster RAM.

alexhcowley

For iray rendering, a fast CPU and memory will have no effect on quality and comparitively little effect on on render speed. As you've already figured out the GPU will do all the heavy lifting. 

I would go for the most expensive Nvidia GPU you can afford.  I would also go for slower memory, 2600 ghz, but 32GB, instead of 16GB.  Popular wisdom has it that your main memory should be at least twice your GPU's memory.

Cheers,

Alex. 

Narkon

Thank you both for your answers. I am planning for 1x32GB or 2x16GB  of 3200MHz RAM which I can easily expand to 64GB if I need more.

For the CPU, at first, I was considering the Ryzen 5 5600X (or non-X if it comes out), but now I think I'll go for the i7-10700KF because I read that Intel CPUs have less compatibility issues and they don't need high MHz RAM to perform well.

prixat

I would get any stories of 'incompatiblity' checked out, I don't think that has been true for any CPU for decades!

AMD and Intel have effectively swapped places and Intel is now the 'value' option, with lower performance to go with those lower prices, but with the high heat and power consumption that Intel have always had. That Intel i7-10700KF is probably the best value right now.

PerttiA

prixat said:

I would get any stories of 'incompatiblity' checked out, I don't think that has been true for any CPU for decades!

 It was actually never about CPU compatibility, but chipset compatibility.