Best PC for 3dsmax+vray

[Darwin33]

I am looking for the best configuration for aPC to render on vray+3dsmax. I read that is more suitable to get a i7 procesor with a higer clock rate than a Xeon. I also read that gpu with own processor doesnt make any different bcz vray doesnt use GPU processor. Please can you suggest a Processor and GPU configuration. Budget 2000€

[Anonymous]

Hi, Vray is GPU base.

From ChaosGroup website:

"GPU rendering allows V-Ray RT to perform the raytracing calculations on the GPUs installed in the system, rather than the CPU"

https://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/VRAY3MAX/Set+Up+V-Ray+RT+GPU

And read this for CPU tests performances, can help to make your choice.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/AutoDesk-3ds-Max-2017-CPU-Performance-823/

And to be honest, a system at 2000€ is pretty standard for 3d. Some boosted computers can cost more than 20 000€.

[Darwin33]

Thank you so much for your answer. Finally is clear that I7 processor are better for rendering than xeon. I am an architect with small and medium size projects, under 6.000.000€ project budget, so I dont really need big performance. I underestand that with Vray RT you can render in Real Time, which is a andvantage to control the render result, but which GPU should I buy, the new Nvidia M2000 is quite affordable, do you think Vray RT will work good with small renders and I76700+NvidiaM2000, like standard configuration. Thank you

[Anonymous]

I would say yes, this card should be perfect for your needs.

But to be honest, i never tried this card so just by looking at the specs it looks good, CUDA cores are very important.

[Darwin33]

Thank you very much. Cant wait to be new renders time.

[JJWGallagher]

Just to clear things up, VRay is CPU based, while VRay RT is GPU based. VRay RT has quite a few limitations (https://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/VRAY3MAYA/V-Ray+RT+Supported+Features)

If you want to go the VRay route, then focus on CPU and RAM. The CPU comparison that was posted earlier isn't what you're looking for at all, i7's do not out perform Xeons for what you're wanting to do, read the conclusion more closely and you will notice this: "The most obvious trend is that the dual Xeon E5-2690 V4 was easily the worst performing CPU in 3ds Max for the three aspects we tested. To be fair, that setup is really going to shine when using Mental Ray, Keyshot, V-ray, or any other multi-threaded rendering engine and isn't really intended to be used for the tasks we tested. If you want more information on how good a CPU like that can be for rendering, we recommend checking out our Mental Ray and Keyshot Multi Core Performance articles."

Here's a better comparison for CPU with a render engine (https://corona-renderer.com/benchmark/). I would also highly recommend checking out Corona instead of VRay. It's quite an amazing render engine and a lot easier to use than VRay if you're new. 

If you want to use VRay RT or any real-time software then focus on GPU and RAM. 

If you're going the GPU route don't buy a workstation GPU. Get a 1070 or a 1080. You will benefit considerably more from the 1070/1080 then you would from any workstation card remotely close to the same price point. 

[Darwin33]

Thank you so much for your extended answer. One thing I need to clarify. You said that the test in the article doesnt intend to test CPU render performance. But as far as I know the test try to find out the performance on 3 aspects, 1 animation, 2 viewport FPS and 3 scanline redering. Number 2, viewport FPS try to find out the performance refreshing screen when zooming or editing a file of 3dsmax, and number 3 scanline rendering time, so If you bear in mind this two issues, I could afirm that xeon cpu works significabily worse than i7 for editign+zooming 3dsmax and for scanline rendering ( I dont know if with vray is the same).

Please can you clarify this aspect.

[JGallagherP3A · Accepted solution]

You are correct with the 3 aspects. The i7 has a higher clock speed, which means each core runs faster but it doesn't have as many cores. Things like the viewport, and scanline renderer aren't very good at using multiple cores/threads so you will see an increased performance based directly on the processors clock speed. 

Multithreaded renderers like Mental Ray, VRay, and Corona are able to utilize all the cores and threads so the more cores/threads you have, the better performance you will see. VRay with an i7 may have 4 cores rendering at 4Ghz for example, but a dual Xeon setup could possibly have 48 Cores running at 3Ghz. 

I hope this makes sense to you, the article in question explain it pretty well. 

EDIT: Sorry for replying with the wrong account. This is my work one. 

[Darwin33]

Thank you for helping me to find out how a render program work. I will read carefully both articles. Best regards