Jump to content

Max 2010 rendering is a cpu hog


Tim Nelson
 Share

Recommended Posts

If you are using a multi-core machine, open Task Manager, go to the Processes tab, right click 3dsMax.exe, click on Set Affinity... and uncheck one or two cores. The drop will happen immediately with no hiccup on Max and you now have free power to do other stuff.

(Personally, I like that Max uses everything my machine has...when rendering something that will take a while, I just take a break :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Mike,

 

Thanks for the reply. Sometimes I do that and I only uncheck 1 of the processors and that usually works fine, but I can't stand losing that speed. For some reason max 2009 would be able to render at 100% and still let me do minor things in the background like email and web. At least that was the case when I used DR. When I didn't use DR it was always a little more power hungry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see. Other than that...dunno.

I think it a degree it depends (seemingly randomly) on the scene as to when that power grab happens and to what extent.

I've had scenes that when rendered won't let me do anything (and I'm lucky to get the task manager open) and I've had others just as big/complex where I can browse/email, whatever with no problem.

 

Or perhaps its a matter that I've switched over to my browser before Max took all the power? so Windows is letting my browser keep some since it had focus already?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Mike,

 

Thanks for the reply. Sometimes I do that and I only uncheck 1 of the processors and that usually works fine, but I can't stand losing that speed. For some reason max 2009 would be able to render at 100% and still let me do minor things in the background like email and web. At least that was the case when I used DR. When I didn't use DR it was always a little more power hungry.

 

When using Vray DR (max2008) I find the host machine is able to carry on regardless, I mean doing photoshop and stuff no probs. When it is just a local render I found it was sluggish trying to even open a browser.

I havent got DR working with 2010 yet, but its a job for Monday so Ill report back then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

changing priority did not help?

No even with a 3rd party app it didn't help. Its so bad that when I did an intense light cache I couldn't cancel it until at all although I hit the button. It just kept on a' goin.

 

Max 2009 was much more reasonable with this behavior. And with DR, never a problem. Sometimes I would turn DR on, even if I had no nodes just so I could work in the background. Doesn't seem to be possible anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
i use process lasso to stop a process strangling resources, as it throttles back per your settings automagically.

Do you change any settings for the max.exe? I just downloaded it and it seems to be doing absolutely nothing by default. Even my streaming audio skips when I'm rendering! Its bad...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you change any settings for the max.exe? I just downloaded it and it seems to be doing absolutely nothing by default. Even my streaming audio skips when I'm rendering! Its bad...

 

well that was the effect that i had in 2009 with mental ray, even process lasso didn't really help, but you can certainly set the default affinity (each time run) of max.exe to be a core or two down, and reduce the priority class, and up the throttle level slightly to see if any of those help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...