Best Budget CPU and Motherboard for RTX 4090 in DAZ Studio?
illmiimusic
Posts: 12
Hi everyone,
I’m planning to build a new PC with an RTX 4090, which I’ll use exclusively for DAZ Studio and Iray rendering. Since my main focus is on the GPU, I’m looking for recommendations on:
- The cheapest CPU that can handle the RTX 4090 efficiently for Iray rendering.
- The cheapest compatible motherboard.
- A power supply that can support this setup.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
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Comments
Pretty much any cpu will do for daz studio as it doesn't use multithreading, so the difference with a powerful cpu is minimal. As for handling the 4090 same, any cpu will do. A fast cpu is needed for real-time rendering as games, but iray doesn't require that, the time it takes to render is slower by far than what it takes to transfer the scene.
the psu should not be skimped on if you are planning to run a 4090 hot to render for large projects. the thermal power requirements for a 4090 is 450W but that number comes from salespeople, not engineers. at the very least an 850W psu should give you a lot more protection from crashing and instability.
I recommend the 4090 with a water cooler. Otherwise, it can be quite problematic to manage the heat inside the case, and it can get noisy. If you plan to leave the case open, then an air cooler is okay, but be careful about dust. I have a lot of experience with that. Now, I have the MSI GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID, which is great and very silent.
Regarding the CPU, choose one that is very fast at single-thread performance. You don’t need many cores. I would recommend an AMD with Zen 4 or higher and X3D. I have the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D, and it is great, but not very cheap.
Power supply 1000 W and go for 80PLUS Gold or even better.
Thanks for the detailed advice, Michal! What do you think about the Intel Core i5-14600K? Would it be better than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D for single-core performance? And would it be the best option for this budget for the CPU?
The 5090 launch is expected in January and 4090 supply is down and prices are up.
Rendering will use 300w on a 4090, the coolers can cope with at least 500w. No need for water cooling.
Get a case with reasonable airflow.
X3D chips are intended for gaming and have a large memory cache, single core speed is average at best. The new 9800X3D is fast all round but expensive.
DDR5 is cheap enough and mature enough now, wouldn't consider DDR4. Get 64GB at a minimum.
I'm running mine on a very good 850w PSU, a decent 1000w PSU would also be fine. Prices would be similar. There really aren't any PSU bargains unless you drop on a sale.
For a cpu and board, something mid range from the last couple of generations, AMD or intel. Look at motherboard chipsets and the features they support, don't pay for stuff you wont need. Also consider quality of life stuff like bios flashback, toolless ssd slots, reinforced GPU slots and quick release GPU latches or buttons. Have a look at what bundles are selling locally to you, then read some reviews.
Gamers Nexus do good case reviews, hardware unboxed have done motherboard round ups with just about all the boards available at every price point, Puget do very good workstation focused but still relevant reviews. CPU and GPU reviews are everywhere. There's a PSU tier list floating about but not sure when it was last updated.
Here is some advice becareful of wire management with the 4090!!! Dont Bend the input cable to the card for astetics just make double sure it is fully seated. The power connector is a very bad design and can burn your card if not properly seated. Honestly, I would wait for prices on 4090's to come down with the introduction of 5090's. If you are looking to speed up Daz Studio better hardware will not work! A faster video card can not fix software issues. Want to make Daz Studio work better dont install everything! Just install what you need for your projects. If you are into 2d Daz is great just use filiment or opengl and fix with photo software of your choice. If you are into 3D animation, there are better solutions. Good Luck.
On the contrary a higher-memory GPU will handle larger scenes without dropping to CPU (or halting, depending on settings) and a faster GPU will render faster (as long as the scene fits). dForce simulations will also benefit from a faster GPU. Of course it won't help with things that are not GPU accelerated, like file loading, but that is hardly surprising.