System RAM or GPU

preddragonhgames

Hello, about a month ago, I started experiencing random BSOD's when using Daz. Turns out, my system was running out of ram. It still only had had 16gbs at time. I recently upgraded my ram to 32gbs and will once again upgrade in the coming weeks to 64gbs since I noticed that sometimes, my ram would hit 31gbs of use depending on the scene composition. More like 25gbs for the rende since my pc on idle eats up about 4 to 6gbs; Daz running but not rendering it goes up to 8 to 10gb and rendering can go up to 16, 25 or even 31gbs.

 

I am using my CPU (Ryzen 7 2700) for Iray rendering since my GPU is not supported by Daz. As most of you are aware, rendering via CPU is slow. Really slow. But that is not something I am too concerned about since I mostly render either before hitting my bed or when I am about to leave my house to things outside.

What I want to ask is this - outside of faster render times, what will be more beneficial at this point. A new GPU (possibly a 3060 12gb since I don't really have much to spare owing to transitioning to a new job and ungodly expenses) or just get as much ram as I can. I am willing to ramp my ram up to 128gbs if 64gbs will prove to be lacking. Again, rendering times is not really a concern for me since it gives me a break from sitting in front of my PC for extended periods of time. I just want to understand how gpu rendering will benefit me and what happens if the GPU memory is not enough?

Richard Haseltine

RAM will be a benefit only if you are currently running out - otherwise it will just sit there, burning a bit of power. A GPU would improve simulation speeds (if you use dForce) or other GPU-accelerated tools, and would allow you to do preview renders more quickly (which may be useful for checking things like lighting). However, if the overall speed is OK for you and you don't need the extra RAM then it is possible that neither option would be benficial.

crosswind

In general, good GPU / more VRAM will bring you faster rendering (as well as preview and simulation). If VRAM is not enough, rendering will fail or fallback to CPU (as per your setup in Render Settings) that'll result in very slow rendering process.

Well sufficient RAM will be mostly benificial to holding big scene for you in Viewport as well as better performance, but normally it better be no more no less, 'cause the redundant RAM is a waste. If you aim to frequently make pretty big scenes (complex environment & props, multiple HD characters, HD wearables, 4K-8K HD texture maps, etc.), 128GB RAM is a fairly nice choice. And more VRAM should be needed as well for rendering big scenes. But if you seldom touch big scenes, 64GB RAM is more likely good enough.

 

richardandtracy

A 3060 GPU will speed up your renders a good deal. On my machine it's about 10x faster than my 14 core i5-13600 at rendering. It is something you will appreciate, especially as it means you can have iRay preview on many scenes before doing the final render. I have 64gb ram and haven't had issues yet, so I'd say that is an upgrade for after the GPU.