What is more important? Fast CPU or better GPU?

[daschund]

I am doing photorealistic product images, and was wondering what would help me the most, CPU or GPU? I have to render highres images (6000 pixels and up) and right now on my computer (a MacPro 2013) it takes forever (sometimes up to 20 hours per image). If I invest in a new computer, what should I look for?

[Christoph_Schaedl]

Go with a Geforce 3080 and you are fine if you use a GPU render engine.

CPU only helps if you use a CPU based render engine.

[mspeer · Accepted solution]

Hi!

This depends on the renderer you use.

- If it's a CPU renderer than focus on the CPU.

- If it's a GPU renderer than focus on GPU.

Please be aware of the there is no support for NVIDIA drivers / GPUs on macOS.

If you want to use a Geforce 3080 as suggested by @Christoph_Schaedl  make sure to use Windows and a GPU renderer.

For Arnold on Mac with macOS I recommend to focus on CPU.

[daschund]

Thanks! And does anyone knows if the CPU cores make a difference in both rendering and in normal usage in Maya? Or is it better a higher Ghz with less cores?

Thanks again!

[Christoph_Schaedl]

For rendering go with as many cores as possible. For standard maya modeling go with a fast cpu. 

I would recommend a intel 10900 or a ryzen 3900. If you have a big budget go with a threadripper. 

[mspeer]

Hi!

@Christoph_Schaedl  is right.

For the average Maya user where most of the time is spend on working in Maya UI, the higher clock speed is a better choice, although the difference will be barely noticeable in most cases.

But to answer the question, yes, more cores will improve the performance in Maya, but it will have a higher impact on rendering than on working in Maya.