RAM vs. CPU for renders

[thickly]

sorry, I'm not super technical and I was wondering -- does RAM play a big role in reducing render times? My current set-up is Windows XP, Intel P4 3.0 ghz, 1 gig RAM. I use this machine only for AutoCAD, 3DSMax and Maxwell Render (I usually work on a Mac) -- I rarely jump back and forth between applications and everything responds nicely. My main goal is to try to shave some time off my renders (please don't say "switch renderers") -- Will an increase in RAM help do this? I'd rather upgrade my Mac RAM (only 512mb now) if increasing the PC RAM won't offer me improved render times.

 

Thanks for your imput.

Sean

[lambros]

Well, your PC could always use an extra GB of RAM. When doing heavy rendering, if RAM is exhausted, the computer uses the hard disk page file as virtual RAM, which is many hundred times slower than physical RAM. You can check how much memory max uses for a render, but since you use maxwell, you should hit ALT CTR DEL and check under the performance tab how much physical memory is available and how large the PF (Page File) is. This should help you draw some conclusions on whether you really need to do an upgrade. If your scenes are big enough, you could reduce render times a lot.

[thickly]

thanks for the response Lambros -- if I understand correctly, Page File Usage is a bad thing - that is when the system is using hard drive memory because the RAM is maxed out? Page File = Virtual Hard Drive Memory?

 

Unfortunately I am not at my home PC right now, so I cannot test. When I do a test I'll check my Page File Usage and if it is high I will know I need to upgrade.

 

Thanks again!

[AJLynn]

Some PF usage will always happen, don't worry about it, what matters more is whether you run out of available physical memory while rendering. You'd be amazed at the amount of memory Maxwell can eat.