Photorealistic Rendering and RAM

[bluedogsb]

I'm not sure if this is in the right forum, but I'm running a 2.2 GHz processor with 2 gigs of ram. It works for small renders, but nothing impressive. I am pretty sure another 2 gigs of ram (4 gb total) would benefit me, but the question is will I be killing processor? I know I need something way more powerful overall, but for now...

What systems do you guys run for extreme rendering.

[Ankit3d]

Which software do you use?

[bluedogsb]

I am running SUPodium. I was using IDX Renditioner and that worked fine, but only for small renderings. I use SUPodium with Google SketchUp. I also use TurboCAD 3D, but do my renderings through SketchUp and SUPodium. I am supposed to receive my new RAM today so I'm up to 4 gigs, but haven't attempted any new renderings just yet.

Are there better rendering programs out there that perform better?(SUPodium is pretty sweet) I know of Revvit, and some others, but they most are not for apple computers. And I would rather have fully integrated software and not have to use 3 programs to get a successful rendering.

[Ankit3d]

Increasing RAM will definitely increase your rendering speed. But if you want to get maximum benefit from your computer than use 64 bit Windows. A 32 bit windows doesn't allow more than 1.5 GB ram to a single program, so remaining RAM will go waste and not be used by your program.

Cheers.

www.vrayexpert.com

[bluedogsb]

Thanks for the tip on the 64 bit vs 32 bit processor. Didn't think of that.

[ArchvizStudio]

bluedogsb, RAM doesn't kill the CPU. You can have as much RAM as your OS permits.

If your rendering software crashes when rendering, or if you experience memory loads close to 80% of RAM on the rendering software alone, then you need more. If none of these things happen, you're alright with what you have.

A 32 bit windows doesn't allow more than 1.5 GB ram to a single program, so remaining RAM will go waste and not be used by your program.
www.vrayexpert.com

Actually, a 32 bit system is able to address as much as 3,5 GB of RAM (video card memory included) to any 32 bit application.

So, if you have 3 GB of RAM and a 512 MB video card, you're OK. Anything more than that will be unused on a 32 bit OS, and you'll need a 64 bit os.

[archiform3d]

I am on an eight core MacPro at 3 GHZ and with 16 GB of RAM. I run Cinema4D in 64 bit and a ton of other software on it.

I like Mac OSX for this kind of work although more options on available 3D software would be nice... But I still love C4D regardless, which runs perfectly on it.

[Guest]

I've written an article on this exact topic