What kind of hardware would I need at home to render stills in high end 3D apps like Maya, Cinema 4D, etc?

Question

Ive used apps like Bryce before and it took forever to render anything, even on my fastest PC (Pent III, 3 Mhz, 512 RAM...). I know there are many factors, but can someone give me some advice? Maybe what kind of graphics card with how much memory, etc.? Or is it only practical to render on a network? THANK YOU!!!

Answer 1

graphics card i can help you with.

go with anything that uses an nvidia quadro GPU. They're made especially for that purpose. The more memory, the better (not less than 128MB).

Also, if you're building/buying a new computer, get one with the dual or quad core CPU. Most application like you mentioned are multi-threaded and perform multiple tasks at the same time. The multiple cores take advantage of this and will dramatically speed up the process.

Also, video cards by Matrox are good too.

Oh, it's never practical to render on a network, too slow.

PS - Ignore everyone else's suggestions for video cards and CPU's. Although, what they recommend is great for a gaming machine, you have a totally different use and the drivers used on gaming cards don't work well with your applications. You need to think more Workstation and less Gaming maching.

Example:
AMD quad core Opteron processors
2 to 4 GB of RAM
nVidia quadro graphics card
200 to 400 GB Hard drive (or 2 drives in a RAID configuration, it's faster)
Windows XP 64-bit edition

Answer 2

I'd suggest something like P4 3.0GHz+ or better, duo core would help alot. 1.5GB+ RAM, 100GB hard drive, graphics card should have around 256MB ram, but at least 128MB. It's pratical to render on a single computer if you don't have the money, just make sure the computer is fast. If you plan to network render later on, try a rack computer, that way they can all be mounted into an enclosure.

Answer 3

well if you want to make it render in sort of real time, i would advise getting a dual core, amd say fx-55/60 etc..
these are the top of the range machines u dont get in dixons.
and about 2-4gb of ram.
these machines can easly reach about £2,000 with ease.
i use http://www.overclockers.co.uk for most of my hardware since they sell some good stuff..as for graphics i would suggest 2 ATI 1900xe on a ATI crossfire motherboard this will set u back about nearly 1k but well worth it.

Answer 4

U opt for a 256 mb graphics card from ati or nvidia with a neat sound card for your true xperience in audio also

Answer 5

False

Answer 6

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