Upgrading systems - would like opinions of some power users
bsmcbride_b4dcae9181
Posts: 13
Good day.
I expect that this (or something similar) has been asked before.
I've been using an older trusty Dell Precision M6800 with an AMD graphics card. I got a great deal on it (not really fond of the AMD card, though). It is, however, reaching the end of what I would call really practica for creating DAZ and Poser images (it takes 30 - 40 minutes to get a usable render per image (an hour plus if I'm being really picky, and it takes about 8 - 10 minutes to tell if an image is 'viable' with no oddities).
I have a bit of a budget now for replacement and plan to stick with Dell and a laptop form factor (other things are in play, but those two initial items are where I am starting - Dell branded Laptop form factor). I also plan to only get an nVidia card this time around. I just historically have had better luck with that.
With my budget in mind, I am watching the rotating stock in the Dell Outlet store on their site (refurbished / scratch n' dent / etc...). I'm not picky and don't need "bleeding edge" 10th gen stuff (and can't afford that).
There are two machines types that consistently fall within my budget with two differences with the CPU and the GPU (no surprise).
1) A system with an 8th gen i7-8750H processor, but with an RTX 2060 card (6 gb vram) and 16 GB of RAM
2) A system with a 9th gen i7-9750H processor, but with a GTX 1660 TI card (6 gb vram) and 16 GB of RAM
So, here's my dilemma...slightly older processor (8750h) with a slightly better GPU (RTX 2060), or newer processor (9750h) with a slightly worse GPU (GTX 1660 TI)? I want to get at least 4 - 5 years out of the thing before upgrading again. My gut says go with the RTX series due to it having more cuda cores and (from what I've read) having better raytracing abilities, but I don't want to wind up regretting having the one-year-older CPU. Upgrading laptops is hard to do, so the intial purchase here is critical (and I have to have a laptop for logistical reasons).
I also play some games, but I would much prefer that I focus on the 3D and CGI image abilities of DAZ and Poser over how a system performs with games. I also know that there's a "if you spend a bit more you can get THIS!" situation, but my top budget fits me currently in having the two options I explained above.
I help folks spec systems as part of my job, but I also wanted the opinion of some power users here as to how DAZ (and Poser) handle the differences between the two possible configurations (asking power users who may have used both configurations is *always* and excellent place to start). e.g. I didn't want to find out afterward that DAZ works better with the 1660 TI versus the 2060 due to some quirk I didn't know about, etc...
I fully recognize that either of these will be a nice upgrade...I'm in a no-lose situation for getting an upgrade, but I just want to make certain I'm targeting the right thing for overall performance.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for the feedback.
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Comments
I would say go with system #1. For iray rendering in Daz Studio the 2060 will be a lot faster. I am using a 5th generation i7 processor (machine is just over 5 years old) and I'm going to stick with it for a few more years yet. The next upgrade with be a faster graphics card when I can get hold of one of the 30xx series.
I'm sure that the first system will also give you much better gaming performance.
Yes, go with the RTX option rather than the GTX.
TD
RTX 2060 is the better choice.
Much apprecaited, everyone. You validated the way I was leaning...the RTX was what I was taking a long hard took at.
Once I get it, I will let folks know how it works.
For reference, my current system has an AMD FirePro M6100 and an i7-4600M processor. When I put in "AMD FirePro M6100 vs nVidia RTX 2060" into the UserBenchmark website, it laughed for so long that the website timed out. Okay...not really, but it said that the 2060 would e 500%+ performance boost according to benchmarks. I'm looking forward to seeing how true that is.
Cheers!
Honestly.... I would choose neither of those laptops.
Your M6800 still has some room to grow... If you don't mind taking apart the machine and upgrading it yourself.
Depending on which screen is installed in your laptop, you could upgrade the GPU to a mexwell or Pascal Nvidia card.
Any M6800 can be upgraded to a Geforce GTX 980M (Alienware version) or Quadro M5000M (both are 8GB cards)
An M6800 with the IPS display can upgrade to a Pascal card. Quadro P4000 8GB or P5000 16GB are your options.
Any of these options will require that you purchase the Nvidia version of the GPU Heatsink and modify the .inf file to install the drivers.
James,
You are 100% correct. I would have, except that the laptop was also having other issues that lead me to belive there are other issues going on (probably quirky mobo...I got it used about four years back). That led me to look at a full replacement.
One of my kids will get it as a hand-me-down as it's still a decent gaming system as long as they don't push all the settings to ultra. If it hadn't been acting up, I would have milked it for more life. :-)
Can I ask, why a laptop? You could get a decent PC for the price of a laptop with the specs you mentioned. Remeber that a laptop 2060 is not the same as a desktop 2060 (performance wise)
Sure...you can absolutely ask (and I expected the question). It's a logistical thing. I do a lot of moving around and desktops are just not practical for me most of the time. I like to take my system with me for entertainment and for the side-work I do when I travel/visit family. I would totally love to work with a desktop (and I do have a nice one of those custom-built also). The laptop was simply the form factor that I need (hence the questions to the power-user base here). I do realize the performance I give up, but for me it's made up for by the mobility. I try to find the best balance I can so that I can keep having fun.
Thanks!
Might I suggest upgrading to a newer model used Dell Precision? (btw, the 77x0 Precision models are really nice with crazy awesome cooling. I just upgraded the GPU in my 7710 to a Quadro P5000 and can run full boost clock without ever going above 65c)
The Precision 7730 for example: On ebay right now there are several examples with the Nvidia Quadro P5200 16GB GPU going for $2100 - $2500.
The Precision 7740 with a Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000 8GB are on the Dell Outlet site for around $2000 refurbished (with a 3 year on site warranty)
Oh, I would LOVE to have bought a new Precision. :-D
Unfortunately, it just was not in my budget. Even the used ones were outside what I could afford right now. :-(
That hearkens back to the reason I came here to get advice from power users. I had watched the outlet store for weeks and saw the type of systems my budget would allow. Then I came here and asked where I should focus...video card or CPU. My experience told me "video card" and that's the answer I got here (nice to know some things stay the same). Even though the mobile 2060 isn't as good as the desktop version, it's still going to be a decent upgrade for me in both CPU and GPU.
Now...if FedEx just doesn't damage or lose the thing, I should have it by the weekend. :-)
Good day, folks. I promised a follow up.
I finally got the new system late last week and only got a chance to do any real comparison with it yesterday (Sunday).
As noted, the new system is a 17" G7-7790 (mobile gaming) with an i7-8750h processor and an nVidia RTX 2060 (mobile). The old system was a Dell Precision M6800 with an AMD 6100 video card. The old one was respectable and served me well, but the inability of the graphics card to be used in DAZ to assist with renders was hurting me, in addition, the system was starting to have "quirks". A reformat *may* have helped, but I elected to save up for a few months and get a new system.
The results were very good. I did a test render of a scene with good lighting from multiple sources and two characters based on Genesis 8 female. One the old system, it took two hours and the results were good (it stopped rendering at the two-hour mark with what I would call a good quality result). On the new system, it took less than 12 minutes to get to the same quality render. I went ahead and let it run for about 45 minutes and the differences were more than noticeable. I was super-encouraged when I was able to go to render settings and see the cuda core in the 2060 listed as a GPU available for rendering aside from the CPU (I only saw "CPU" listed on the old system).
In addition, I was able to take the old one apart, reconnect and tighten up some connections, then transplant an SSD into it for my son and he's got a respectable upgrades from his old Precision M4500. So we both "win". I might eventually look for some of that generations higher-end video cards for upgrades for it later (as JamesJab mentioned above). The Precision M6800 isn't gone...it's just been retasked to my son and (hopefully) has plenty of life left in it.
In short, the upgrade was, for me, well worth it. I can see that time for rendering images will be cut dramatically and gives me options now to do things with dForce and such that I have not had the processor capability to do easily before.
Thanks for the advice, all.
On a side note, that M6800 still has some room to grow because of the MXM graphics card slot. An upgrade to either the GTX 980M or Quadro M5000M will bring the gaming performance up to roughly GTX 1650ti levels. (Pretty good for a seven year old workstation laptop.)
You will need to make sure to use the Nvidia compatible heatsink for these upgrades (Dell PN: CRF1T)
100% supproted upgrade that will be faster than the current AMD card:
Nvidia Quadro K5100M 8GB (Dell PN: 3YCVH)
Compatible using modded drivers:
Nvidia Quadro M3000M 4GB (Dell PN: H99YY)
Nvidia Quadro M4000M 4GB (Dell PN: 4XR03)
Nvidia Quadro M5000M 8GB (Dell PN: 1JY2V)
Nvidia Geforce GTX 980M 8GB Alienware version (Dell PN: G6RM3)