As there is a lot of questions about “best system for X”, “building new system, need input” it would be good to have a single post to have that guidance in one area.
NOTE this is not a “one fit all solution” but should provide some guidance for those who seek info on what to get.
------ Section 1 : Key aspects to consider --------------
Purpose Use
CPU Thread
GPU Compute
Primary consideration
Secondary consideration
Viewport - Modifiers
Single
NO
Most modifiers, e.g. mesh reduction (Decifier??) are not multicore as such single powerful core is required
Memory depending on complexity of the mesh on which the modifier needs to operate on
Rendering - Cycles
Multi
Multi
Multi GPU – drastic reduction in render time RTX Ray tracing Cores will provide another boost in 2.8x+ releases GPU Memory - 8GB+ for larger scenes
CPU – Prepping scenes, initial compute only. Not sufficient rendering boost (mixing CPU+GPU) when paired with high end GPU’s.
Rendering - Eevee
Single
Single
Prioritize GPU - Single GPU only (for now)
CPU – Prepping scenes, single Core computing priority
Simulation
Multi
None
CPU, highly threaded. No GPU Support Lots of memory depending on simulation complexity
Video Editing
Single
None
Main Memory for larger projects
Ultrawide Monitor, for larger projects, Fast storage?
Sculpting
Single
None
With significant volume of Polygons, displaying it at quick rate is critical. Powerful Single GPU is a must
Stylus aka digitizer pen (eg. Watcom Tablet)
A bit of everything
Multi
Single
Good balance of CPU + GPU
------ Section 2 : (NEW) System Benchmarks, for guidance on component selection: dated September 10 2019 ------------
Hey, I have been using blender for the last months on a MacBook Pro (2010) which has done me ok but now realising more and more that a new computer is needed, I have researched a bit and now know what parts of the computer are used for what when it comes to how Blender works (A bit)
I don’t have a massive budget but have tried to make the best computer for what I can afford.
Below is the spec (including monitor and keyboard) £1250 inc vat
Basically I want to know firstly if it’s a good computer and how Blender will perform on these specs. The budget is pretty much maxed but if it comes to another £50 or so to get a much better performance I can probably push it.
It’s a copy and paste from the website so sorry it’s long.
Thanks in advance
SPEC
CAS: Cooler Master E500L Black Mid-Tower Case [-2]
FAN: Corsair Hydro Series H45 High Performance Liquid Cooling system w/ 120mm Radiator, Extreme OC Compatible [+6] (Corsair CPU Water Cooling, Extreme OC Compatible)
FLASHMEDIA: None Selected
FREEBIE_CU: AMD 2019 Xbox Game Pass for PC Game Bundle
FREEBIE_SSD: None Selected
FREEBIE_VC1: NVIDIA Super Bundle (Wolfenstein Youngblood and Control) [+0]
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT – As standard on all PCs
OS: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition) Perfect for most people with all the core features of Windows 10 including: automatic updates, Cortana and DirectX 12 graphics support (No Recovery Media)
OVERCLOCK: Pro OC (Overclock up to 10%) [+29]
PCABLE: None Selected
POWERSUPPLY: Cooler Master MWE V2 650W 80+ Gaming Power Supply
RAID: RAID 1 (Mirroring For Increased Security) [+7]
Haha, I had a good laugh at that, The “feature” that ultimately drove me away from Windows and Cortana praised within the same breath. WOW.
Now, seriously:
I am not really familiar with UK price structure but it does seem a bit pricey to me. Now I have to say, that I am no expert for pre-built PCs. Have you considered building it yourself?
Just two or three points I am not particularly fond of:
The Motherboard. B450? Well, yeah you could get away with it. Personally I’d always go for a X. But then, I use virtualization. Not everybody needs it.
RAM. I know it’s a pricey subject but buying 4x8 now is somewhat locking you I’d rather watch for 2x16.
The HDD. I understand that it’s two of them? Yeah, would make for 2TB. Just be warned that they will fill up quickly when you start collecting assets like Hdris and other Textures. But then you can get cheap storage later on.
Two mice? I understand you want to also game on this rig. (Based on the Wolfenstein item). Ok, I can understand it for that. But then that Keyboard is crap. And you really don’t need gamified input devices for Blender.
All in all it’s certainly not a crappy rig but I’d opt for something a bit more “future-proof”. Watch out that you have a bit room for upgrading to a second GPU later on. (Depending on how serious you want to get about Blender). Hrmpf, and that monitor. You’ll see, soon you will want a bit more res and real estate.
Oh dear, sounds a bit negative, doesn’t it. I really didn’t want to come of like that.
It’s an OK-ish machine. It totally depends on usecase.
That’s some really good advice, thank you, it is one I built online so I can modify it to what you have suggested and see what the price is coming out at.
I want to invest but have something that will last me a while with potential to upgrade later.
Ok I get you now, I wouldn’t know where to start, I watched a video the other day and looked easy enough (static to watch out for) but what are the parts I need?
I suppose again I can watch another video ha.
Any advice on parts to use? I won’t it to be good, for example I did a dinosaur but when it came to scales and dine detail my computer wasn’t happy at all (2010 mac so wasn’t surprised at all) but every time I look at people reviewing parts I just get lost in the computer lingo.
Get a RTX nVidia card if you can afford it. It has better features for blender and its opengl is much faster in viewport. Cycles and Eevee works just better with nVidia.
Well, for parts you can use the list you posted. But you can look individually for each one where you get the best price. Assembly here in Germany could make a difference anywhere between 70 and 150 Euros you can otherwise spend on parts. And don’t be afraid of the work it’s almost like playing with LEGO. As long as you don’t use brute force you won’t break anything. Static electricity is a real thing. But it’s usually sufficient to touch any grounded metal. Like a water pipe, or your heating. Just don’t wear a very wooly pullover. ( Or a cat)
Edit: Oh, I almost missed the dinosaur the most limiting factor for working with fine detaill be your CPU and RAM. But you already
picked pretty decently in that regard.
I don’t know if you’re aware of the current problems Blender is facing in regard to viewport performance, so I will just say, that it’s possible you might not experience that really big jump at first. But the gurus are at work.
Edit: Oaaah, so much typos. Darn mobiles. I’ll leave it that way…
Refreshing article with current system support and current hardware releases. If there are errors, please post, if you have good article to link, post and i’ll update the article
EVGA’s new 2060 KO’s have TU104 dies in them, such that for compute workloads they are approaching 2070super and non-super 2080 cards - not quite comparable but definitely better than normal TU106 2060’s.
For games it’s about the same as normal 2060’s except less thermal overhead for OC’ing.
It looks like those 2060 KOs were little more than a paper launch to take the limelight off the 5600XT launch. I don’t think people will be able to get hold of a 2060 KO for love nor money if they haven’t already got one on order.
In terms of choosing hardware for Blender, the new Blender Opendata site is an invaluable resource to use. There are some genuinely surprising results regarding nVidia vs AMD and with the Vega GPUs being heavily discounted it’s no longer an obvious choice for nVidia.
It depends on what price point you’re at of course but a couple of second hand Vega VIIs could be a very attractive option right now.
owh… i don’t even meet the low spec requirements and still working on a full lenght movie project, which will be rendered on my machine.
my specs are R1700 16gb Mem and GTX1070
… but at least, i still need around 3 to 5 minutes per image.
ohw… so at least, i should buy new hardware
No worries, these are just recommendations based on the currently available hardware. So I dont’ really look at Ebay and such.
the GTX 1070 is quite good, and on par with the RTX2060 with RTX part isn’t used. And lets be honest, it’s NOT the hardware that makes a project but the person behind he screen.
I’ve seen many amazing pieces of work coming from people with limited hardware.
Though I’m up for updating the charts based on users recommendations. After all its for us.
Though I did look at the OpenData, that reflects a significant population across all different versions of Blender.
The idea of this article is that if someone is currently looking at purchasing hardware, they can start looking at this and adjust as needed. so the 2060 is equivalent to the GTX 1070 in my book.
the most limiting factor for working with fine detaill be your CPU and RAM. But you already
