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Hardware advice for a newbie

bbaden6465bbaden6465 Posts: 0
edited December 1969 in New Users

just wondering if you guys can give me a recommendation for a computer (both PC and Laptop) for use with DAZ studio pro 4.5.
I just picked it up and look forward to learning how to use the program but i would like some tips for hardware I'm thinking of getting a computer to use for this the one I'm using now is the communal computer and it isn't always free when i want to use it. I really am interested in the laptop suggestions since personal space is at a bit of a premium though i can make room for a full fledged PC system if need be. It needs to be cheep i have no problem upgrading the system or upgrading to a better system later but funds are at a premium and I'm looking at only a couple hundred i can free up for this anytime soon on top of purchasing some models and such to help me learn the ropes

Comments

  • SertorialSertorial Posts: 962
    edited December 1969

    bbaden6465 said:
    just wondering if you guys can give me a recommendation for a computer (both PC and Laptop) for use with DAZ studio pro 4.5.
    I just picked it up and look forward to learning how to use the program but i would like some tips for hardware I'm thinking of getting a computer to use for this the one I'm using now is the communal computer and it isn't always free when i want to use it. I really am interested in the laptop suggestions since personal space is at a bit of a premium though i can make room for a full fledged PC system if need be. It needs to be cheep i have no problem upgrading the system or upgrading to a better system later but funds are at a premium and I'm looking at only a couple hundred i can free up for this anytime soon on top of purchasing some models and such to help me learn the ropes

    I run DS4.5 on two machines. A laptop with a 2.5GHz i5 and 4GB of RAM - it runs and can do simple renders, but is painfully slow for any decent sized scenes. I mainly using for just testing out content and simple techniques. My main machine is a desktop i7 PC with a 3.66GHz CPU and 32GB of RAM - this renders even very elaborate scenes in just a few hours.


    Hope that helps.

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,340
    edited December 1969

    You can find the minimum and recommended specifications for DAZ Studio here: http://www.daz3d.com/products/daz-studio/daz-studio-tech-specs

    I used to (and still occasionally) run DS on an old 1.6 GHz single-core 64-bit laptop with 3GB RAM. Technically, it doesn't meet the minimum specifications. It worked, but it was very, very slow, especially for complex scenes (though I did successfully render some complex scenes with it). It's a few years old and low-end (it only cost about $300 when it was new).

    My current machine has an AMD FX-6100 six-core processor (3.3 GHz) with 16 GB RAM. It was pretty cheap compared to most "gaming" computers. It renders about 20 times faster than the laptop on average, in the tests I have run. And loading and manipulating items is much faster, too.

    Different people might have other opinions, but I think the main things to look at are:

    1. Make sure the OS is 64-bit. There is a 32-bit version of DAZ Studio, but from what I heard the 64-bit version is much better to use.
    2. RAM...it's relatively cheap compared to other components, so load up on as much as you can afford
    3. Processor: while my old computer proved that you can perhaps get by with a single-core machine, DS is meant to be run on dual-core systems or better. This is a gross oversimplification, but in general Intel chips tend to be better, but AMD chips tend to be better values. The more powerful the processor, the faster the render time.
    4. Graphics card. Important for using the software, but won't make a difference in your render time (at least not for regular 3Delight renders). But it's better to go with a dedicated graphics card rather than onboard graphics with shared memory.

  • AJ2112AJ2112 Posts: 1,416
    edited December 1969

    In addition to 3D graphics, I encode video's. Prior to my AMD 3.7 Ghz quad core system malfunction, noticed quad core performed several times faster then dual core, speeds tripled during rendering & video encoding.

    Using 3.2 Ghz dual core on Daz, software functions at decent speeds, even during image rendering. Now rendering animations with alot of content/detail, is extremely slow, experienced up to an hour or more.

    Processors makes all the difference, in graphics speed. As Scott states with video cards, I've never noticed any real difference in render time, exchanging different ones on the same processor. Video cards are beneficial to displaying game graphics. I've alway's used minimum ram on all my systems, so cannot comment on ram, but I'm sure increased ram would be beneficial.

    Getting ready to build an AMD 8 core system, will report back to this thread, difference in performance.

  • jestmartjestmart Posts: 4,449
    edited December 1969

    Those linked specs haven't been updated in forever. You be lucky if Studio even ran on a system like that.

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