Ky Lane Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hey guys. I have an 8core Mac pro which has been running lovely, however as with most things, the complexity of scenes and requests from clients mean its now starting to struggle a bit. It currently has 4GB of RAM (running Vista64) and a Nvidia 8800GT card. The viewports are getting chuggy depending on the scene, and Im having to drop back settings to render without error. So, will 8GB of Ram make much of a diff? Also, what would you recommend in terms of video? I can go to a Quadro ($1000's of dollars though), or my local mac shop has recommended going to the ATi - http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd3800/macpc/index.html Any other suggestions? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Lane Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 Guess not *shrug* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amer abidi Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Well i'd say 8GB of RAM is entry level into the 64bit world. Sure a quadro will make youre model twist and turn around, but it wont stop the crashes! And on a deeper note, try rendering the same scene that crashes with max 32bit.. it doesnt make sense, but has sometimes worked for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianKitts Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Silly former PC owner.... don't you know how to upgrade a MAC??? http://sautter.tumblr.com/post/59166281/how-to-upgrade-an-apple-mac-cartoon-via Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I would try upgrading to 8 gigs first, since that would be the cheapest thing to do (provided you do the upgrade yourself and shop wisely for the Mac-approved dimms). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camby1298 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Our machines here used for rendering are equiped with 8 gigs. Usually we are running scenes at about 6 gigs, sometimes it will peak up to 8, but I find that 8 is adequate (not to say I wouldnt appreciate more ). Depending on the complexity of your scenes I would say 8 gigs of ram is safe for now. We've done scenes with thousands of proxies and had no problems with crashing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackb602 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I don't know if they'll ship to Australia, but OWC sells absolutely reliable RAM for great prices. You can now get 16GB for $360. I've been using them for years and never had a bad piece of RAM. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Lane Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Thanks for the replies. 8GB it is then. And I found an "apple approved" memory supplier with lifetime warranty for about 1/5th the price from apple themselves - so all good there. Just not sure about the video thing. Its really getting hard to work on models when there moving things at 1fps. Quadro is overkill I think, but my apple support guy tells me we cant SLi Nvidie cards under Bootcam (god knows why not). And thanks Brian - as always Ive been PC all my life, but this mac has changed me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I'm considering going Mac myself for my next workstation. I was hoping we would hear something about a Mac Pro update at Macworld Expo, but the keynote address was a yawn fest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Lane Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 (edited) I'm considering going Mac myself for my next workstation. I was hoping we would hear something about a Mac Pro update at Macworld Expo, but the keynote address was a yawn fest. I can vouch for it. Its an awesome workstation. Been very happy with it, and now Ive found a supplier with parts the fraction of the apple price, with lifetime warranty and guarunteed compatability, Im stoked. Edited January 7, 2009 by Ky Lane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I keep hoping they'd come up with a desktop class Mac and not quite understanding why they've left that gaping hole in the lineup. But the keynote wasn't a complete yawn, if I had the money I'd get one of those 17" MBP's for the battery alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Lane Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Desktop class mac? You mean the iMac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 An iMac with an i7 and 8 gigs of ram and I'd be happy. The Mac Pro is really a bit of overkill for me because I don't render on my desktop unless it's small tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 No no, the iMac is the all in one, and the Mac Mini is... special, but I mean a consumer class midtower like they used to sell, with card slots and drive bays only with maybe a Core 2 Quad / i7 / whatever CPU and priced somewhere between the Mini and the Pro. There's no Mac equivalent to the PCs most of the people on this site buy with 4 cores and a good Geforce card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Lane Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 No no, the iMac is the all in one, and the Mac Mini is... special, but I mean a consumer class midtower like they used to sell, with card slots and drive bays only with maybe a Core 2 Quad / i7 / whatever CPU and priced somewhere between the Mini and the Pro. There's no Mac equivalent to the PCs most of the people on this site buy with 4 cores and a good Geforce card. I guess they know they cant compete on that market, but they do what they do well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackb602 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Apple does sell the Mac Pro with a single quad core CPU for $2300. It's the same case with all of the expandability of the 8-core Mac Pro. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for, but it is available. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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