My computer died

Question

The title pretty well sums it up. Everything was working fine when I went to bed, but when I got up yesterday, my machine wouldn't turn on. I've tried all the troubleshooting I can think of. I don't know what happened.

At this point, the only solution is to get a replacement, but funds are extremely limited. I may be able to get something tomorrow. I'll really just have to take what I can get, which is probably going to be on the low end of things.

My question for you guys, though, is what are the real minimum requirements? Can Blender run on a dual-core processor at all? I've been using 2.93 would I need to switch to an earlier version maybe? What topics might I try to focus on until I can get a more powerful machine?

I've only just rediscovered Blender, and I've fallen in love. It's a perfect blend (pun only slightly intended) of technical and artistic. Recently, "Blending" has been what I look forward to when I get up in the morning. I feel like I've hit a brick wall.

I don't want to give up when I'm only just getting started, but I know whatever I get tomorrow won't meet the official requirements. Any help is appreciated.

  • 😢 RIP
  • Martin Bergwerf replied

    Hi Jay,

    That is bad news.

    It's really hard to say, just try it, I  suppose. The minimum requirements on the website are for 3.6, so you'll be able to go lower.

    Blender is known to be able to run on older hardware and dual-core might be fine; although performance will not be optimal of course.

    Don't even think about using 3.0+, but 2.93 could be okay. If not, you'll have to try older versions.

    If Eevee gives you problems, try Cycles on CPU. (Eevee uses GPU...)

    1 love
  • Omar Domenech replied
    Same thing happened to me, only that a computer died one me least five or six times, and it was problems after problem even if they decided to turn on. All my computers didn't last even a year, I would wake up one day and it didn't want to turn on anymore. I had suspicious it was the electricity of the place I was at. I moved, love in another place and I got another computer, I haven't had a single incident in two years, the most stable I've ever had a computer. 
  • Josh Tryon(namelessjay) replied

    Thanks, guys. I was feeling pretty down about this, but after using it for a day or so, the new computer seems to be handling everything ok. It's a little slow, and Blender likes to crash when things get a little too procedural. I figure if Blender isn't crashing at least once in a while, you're not using it to its full potential, though, right? It's really not too bad. Nothing a little patience and remembering to save more often won't make up for. 

    As for the electricity, it wouldn't surprise me if that's what went wrong. My house isn't exactly "up to code". It's good to know I'm not alone, I guess. 

    If you're interested, the new PC has an AMD Athlon Silver 2050 with Radeon Graphics and 8GB of RAM. It's running Windows 11 and Blender 2.93.7, which appears to be the last release before 3.0. I haven't found anything so far that it just can't handle in this version. :)

    • 🤘🏼
  • Martin Bergwerf replied

    That's good news, Jay 👍