Ram Upgrade

[philipnoland]

I put together my computer a few years back.

Here are my specs and I was look for some feedback on RAM upgrades and any other upgrades that would help me out with production efficiency.

 

Mother Board Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon E5520 @ 2.27GHz

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Current RAM GeIL EVO ONE 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model GE312GB1066C7HC

 

Graphics Card - NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700 512mb

 

I would like to upgrade in order of lowest to highest cost

RAM --> GRAPHICS --> CPU

 

RAM - I would like to maximize the amount of RAM b/c RAM is relatively inexpensive.

My motherboard has a Maximum up to 96GB RDIMM/Maximum up to 24GB UDIMM

 

What should I think about when upgrading RAM Do I need to upgrade any other software/firmware/hardware? Power supply?

 

I am not 100% confident when it comes to swapping out parts of a computer and would like to do this the right way, especially in the name of getting the most out of VRAY and 3dsMAX among other programs like PS, AI, Revit etc.

 

Thanks in advance!

Philip

[Jason Matthews]

What is the issue with your current system? Are you running out of RAM during rendering? I wouldn't fix what isn't broken. I would save up for a new system and then use them both for production rendering. IMO, We have seen a huge jump in performance over the last three years with processors and their RAM usage and to upgrade a system that is not as efficient, may be a bad decision.

 

But to answer your question, which OS are you running? That will impact how much RAM your system will see. Windows 7 Home 64 only sees up to 16GB of RAM, but professional sees quite a bit more.

 

As far as the video card goes, you could upgrade to the Quadro 4000 but it is running about $750. There would be some performance increases but probably not enough to justify the cost. I am a big fan of the GTX cards especially for VrayRT. That said, the quadro cards handle the view-ports more efficiently than the GTX cards. How much do you want to spend?

 

Depending on your upgrade of graphics card, you may need to upgrade your power supply. The GTX cards require a lot of juice (if you go that route) but the Quadro 4000 only needs 142W vs. the 450W that is required with your old 3700.

 

CPUs are like car parts. After a while the wear and tear reduces the efficiency of the processors. I would look at upgrading to the fastest CPUs that I could for that board. I would look at 6-cores to replace your quad cores, but check to see what your motherboard can handle. Also a BIOS update will most likely be required.

 

Almost any upgrades to your existing system would warrant a new system. The Xeon systems are fast but all the components are very pricey. Just the upgrade to the dual 6-core would set you back at least $1500, which would buy you a 2600k system outright.

[philipnoland]

Jason - Thank you for the thorough response.

I have considered purchasing another machine to expand my production rendering.

 

- Windows 7 Ultimate is my OS

- I am interested in the GTX video cards. I will look into those more carefully

 

My main problem is working with models that have a ton of geometry. 2mil polygons plus. I am learning how to better manage the parts to increase productivity but at some point the viewports and other windows become slow and difficult to work with.

 

Since my OS and operating system can handle some more RAM, this would be the least expensive most efficient upgrade right now.

 

I was happy building my computer before but if I were to purchase a new system would you recommend Boxx? or Something else as a complete system?

 

Thanks again.

[Jason Matthews]

Unless you are running out of RAM, adding more of it will not fix your issue. You need a powerful video card. The issue you are running into is that the amount of memory on the 3700 is not enough to run your scenes smoothly. You need something substantially more powerful but that costs a lot of money. Save up for a decent video card and make sure your PS is large enough to handle. As I mentioned last post, the Quadro card does not require much power. The Xeon processors on the other hand are power hogs. I can pretty much guarantee that your PS will need to be upgraded if you go to the GTX 580 or 690.

 

As my personal opinion, I can never justify the cost of going through Boxx, Dell (including Alienware), etc, especially when you can build the system for half the cost by yourself. Hell, when I was swamped with work, I ordered all the components online and brought them to a local computer shop. They built the machine, ran it on the bench for 24 hours, loaded all the drivers and OS for $100. You can't beat that! Boxx and Dell are probably your best bet if you want Xeon systems. I am a value guy so I could never justify the cost of Xeons vs the new i7 processors.

[philipnoland]

Okay, now I think I get the picture.- New video card. No Boxx. - 100$ is not bad at all. Last time it was a trade for Jerry Sienfeld tickets and a painting. Good friend, so it was worth it! It's hard to be 100$ though.

 

Maybe what I will do is go with the GTX 690 and a little more RAM. It turns out and I may not of mentioned; I have 850W power so, I should not need to worry about new power, right?

 

On top of that I can get (G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)) (x 3) for 280.00total - But that would be maxing it all out and you said I probably didn't need that much. What amount of RAM would be useful if I can take advantage of higher amounts of RAM? and what exactly would that help me with? Less crashes and more multitasking?

 

If I do this, I suppose keeping the old equipment to swap back in, while upgrading to a i7 processor Workstation and using the GTX and newer RAM in the new machine, once I can afford everything, is over thinking things? Probably should just order a new system all at once leave the older machine intact, and move on? But, what if I could only afford the Graphics Card and RAM? Iam still going to see a vast improvement with just the Graphics Card alone, and so I have heard it never hurts to have more RAM. Please, correct me if I am still not thinking about this the right way.

 

This has been informative, thank you.

[Jason Matthews]

The 850w should be fine. I go to newegg.com and use the power supply calculator. Then specify the components in the machine and viola. I like to have a little reserve on my PS just so I am not running at 100%.

 

In order for the RAM to be used in both systems it needs to match. I'm not sure what MB you have but most likely you need ECC registered RAM which is not used in standard desktop builds, I don't think.

 

RAM will allow Max to store everything such as proxies, bitmaps, etc. When you run your renderings, does it have to unload geometry and load new geometry? What does your resource manager show when you render? If you are at 90% to 100% the. I would say go ahead and buy more RAM. If you are only using like 50% to 60% the. It's a waste. You are right though, RAM is relatively cheap. I will be ordering parts within the next few weeks and I spec'd a MB that takes 64GB of RAM in 8 slots, yet I am only ordering 32GB in 4 slots. This gives room for future expansion later if needed. I save like $200.

 

I would take a look at how much money you have to spend, or want to spend. Then budget accordingly. You can buy parts for a render node for under $1000 and put a kickass card in your old machine for another $750. Then you can work on one machine, utilize the other as a render node.

 

 

Jason Matthews