Laptops and Daz questions
Sfariah D
Posts: 26,254
Got some questions about Daz Studio and laptops! I was wondering if the laptop still needs a nVidia GPU or can it do without one? Also what are the basic needs for a laptop for making graphic novels with software such as Daz Studio.
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Comments
You don't need an nVidia GPU, but rendering in Iray will be much slower without and so the CPU speed will matter more.
If you want to render your scenes in a reasonable amount of time, a Nvidia GPU is a must. All of the desktop rules about vram and render scene complexity are the same.
4GB = forget it.
6GB = simple scenes with 1 G8 clothed.
8GB = moderate complexity with 2 G8 clothed.
16GB = the sky is the limit! (High end Quadro GPUs)
Your basic needs are a desktop.
Daz Studio is poorly optimized as it is. Don't torture yourself trying to use it with a laptop, which are both more expensive (for equivalent functionality) and handle heat poorly.
JamesJAB, after looking at the information you posted, would you care to explain to me why I can render an iray image without even having an nvidia card and only 4 gigs of ram?
Richard is right, it does takes longer, much longer, there are a few things that you can do to reduce that, but it can be done, depending on how much patience you have.
I agree with Margrave, laptops are not the best option for any 3D program and limit your ability to upgrade it.
What he means is that a GPU with only 4GB of VRAM won't be able to render much without dropping to CPU, thus providing little to no benefit while likely adding to the price.
Though with the current GPU market, it may be easier to purchase a gaming laptop with an 8GB RTX GPU than trying to get an 8GB desktop Gforce of any generation....
But yes in my above post I'm taling about the Video RAM that is on the GPU. Your actual system should have at least 16GB of system RAM to run Daz Studio well. And then the rule of thumb past that your system RAM should be at least double your Geforce cards VRAM.
Hmm ... maybe with out-of-the-box characters and resources. Using Scene Optimizer, I can render Stonemason sets with 3-5 fully clothed G8 figures and a few kitbashed props on my Dell G5 gaming laptop ( 8Gb RAM, 6GB GTX 1060 Max-Q). Not exactly a speed demon rig, but 95% converged 1280x1720 renders typically run under 90 minutes.
I also have had good experiences with two laptops by now, none of them with an 8 GB VRAM card. I think the values given above are much too general. On my first laptop, I rendered with an external GPU (GTX 1050Ti, 4 GB), and that was usually quite fine for one clothed G8 with a bit of background rendered at FHD. And even CPU rendering was not that terribly slow with small scenes. So depending on what you want to do, you might not really need an NVidia GPU at all.
I'd strongly recommend it though, and an RTX one if possible, because the difference between my first laptop and the one I have now is really amazing speed-wise. The new laptop has an RTX 2060 (6 GB), and it will render a fully clothed G8 with long, complicated hair in a few minutes. I could also render the Hog and Barrel Pub full exterior set that was on sale recently with no problems at all, complete with all the grass etc. Same with Stonemason's sets. So a laptop can be quite fine for working in DAZ in my experience. Again, it really depends on what you want to do. For complex scenes with lots of figures and props, you're probably better off with a monster desktop. For all else, a laptop seems to work just as well, for me at least.
I render on an 8 gig nvidia card and it isn't that great. I kept things back at 4.11 and can kind of make things work,but you'll get 4.15 dropping to cpu in quite easily as it it plus the drivers will devour a 8 gig gpu
I started with a laptop with no graphics card. It would render an image in about 10 hours (often overnight while I slept). I later got a laptop with an nvidia 960m ... a moderate card at the time and it could do the image in about an hour. Still later I got a laptop with an nvidia M6000 ... and it would do the image in under 10 minutes. It makes quite a difference ... but in the real world, the expense of the card must take consideration. Also ... make sure your laptop has good cooling fans if you do that.
EDIT: since people are mentioning how much memory certain things take: keep in mind if you work with all Michael and Victoria 4 level stuff you can have a lot of items in a scene with no problem. IF you move to Michael 8.1 with dforce clothing and hair ... well ... your laptop probably will just not be able to do it. The amount of additional memory taken by each new generation is significant.
Thanks for clarifying
3141592654 is right about what generation of models you use. Older one's are not as heavy in the scene, same with props and environments. Each new generation and with the advancment of Daz, things started getting heavier. Also depends on if you plan to use iRay, the main ingredient for a DAZ scene these days, covering both textures and lights. You can use other types of textures and lights, might take more work, yet that depends on how much time you want to spend on setting up your renders, also if you plan to animate.
All of the computer systems and laptops everyone has mentioned here is far above me. Current computer doesn't have nvidia and only 4 gigs of ram, as I mentioned before, the new one I'm waiting on has a GTX650 Nvidia with only 1 gig of vram and the system have 32 gigs of ram, then again I am not a fan of iRay and won't be using it much, so I don't expect long renders.
I still agree that a desktop is better, when it comes to power, as I don't believe a laptop can surpass that, though I might be wrong, been a while since I checked on laptops.