3ds max 2013, total noob, have only simple questions

[CalinTM_1]

Hello, i am a 3ds max 2013 total noob, never worked in this industry, but i have some minor questions for you to clarify this for me.

I have the 3ds 2013, the student version + update 6.

I want to know basically only 2 things.

1. What is the best/efficient/new/fast rendering program, or what should i call him. On the Chose Renderer windows, there is nvidia iray, nvidia mental ray,quicksilver hardware renderer and another one.

Basically what renderer is better, what is rendering on the CPU what is rendering on GPU, or what is rendering on both on the same time ? Also, there is to download new version of those renderers from the internet, or new renderers ?

2.Where could i find free and large scenes with many polygons, and textures too ? Basically i want to make some benchmarks for my PC. I not want to work projects on 3ds max 2013, only some render sessions.

Could you clarify this for me and help me ?

[ramissin]

Most of what you asking can be found on the internet, Render engines are subjective, each has his own preference.
Here's a good read...

http://www.fxguide.com/featured/the-art-of-rendering/

For scenes, check out the download section over at Evermotion, there are tons of user files/scenes free for download...

http://www.evermotion.org/download