Anyone using more than 32GB system ram? I most just do GPU renders, nothing complex so far.
Current Build:
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X(8core/16Threads) 4.6Ghz
Kingston DDR4 32GB/3200Hz
Corsiar DDR4 32GB/3200Hz
Samsung 980 Pro 2TB M2
GTX 1660 Ti 6GB
Ive been running both these system ram kits on this same motherboard a year last April without issues.
Now heres my questions, I just got new GPU, (few months ago lol, have a boy that just turned 1 year old) RTX 5050 8GB, and havent had the chance to replace ol trusty 1660 Ti. My original thoughts was tow keep the 1660Ti along side the new rtx 5050 8GB. Now Im 2nd guessing myself, if I should try using both GPU's in the same system?
I have enough parts, or almost to build a 2nd AM4 build. So would yall build two separate builds or run two GPU's in the same build? And last 64GB or 32GB on system ram do yall use?
thx, Shane
I'm not sure on the logistics of using 2 GPUs... If they're different brand cores (one AMD, one Intel), might possibly be some compatibility issues to make sure they could work together, but another thing to consider with 2 GPUs in the same system is to make sure your power supply is rated high enough to handle both.
As far as RAM, I'd lean towards more is better, esp for long term planning, but that's me. :D System memory could handle a larger file that way.
But I'd be curious to see what others say too.
Also a consideration: 8GB VRAM is not that much; depending on what you use Blender for, you might run into situations, where you have to switch to CPU, because your GPU runs out of Memory. So it might be better to combine the 2, if possible.
And I'd also go for 64 RAM, but not with 2 different brands, if possible. Also prefer DDR5 over DDR4. That being said, Blender isn't very heavy on the System Memory these days, so 32GB might go a long way, depending on the complexity of your Scenes and what else you do (Browsers, for instance, can use up a lot of RAM).
Personally, I would opt for the 2 systems. That way you have one for rendering and one for main system. You can use flamenco which is developed by blender studio for a render manager with both machines on the same network.
As for the other option, Having both GPUs in the same system will only provide a 5% to 30% improvement on Blender depending on your Main/Mother board's PCIe type, bus speed, and power supply(Gold rated is preferred, but Silver rated cover you). As already mentioned, make sure that the power supply has enough power to run everything at top speed.(AKA the Wattage) You may get 15% to 40% increase on renders though.
For the RAM you will want to check your Brand of CPU and see how much cache it has. If it has less then 36MB Or if it's listed by cache level L3 is usually 32mb, L2 is 4MB, and L1 is 512KB. If L1 is 256 or L2 is 2mb or less, then you want to stick with 32GB in my opinion. Note: I'm over simplifying. Basically if you start having scenes that are large enough to go past 32GB the CPU will run hotter because it has less cache. When the CPU starts to overheat it will throttle down.(AKA become slower) Just because someone will probably say something, Yes, you can counter this with an advanced or high-end cooling system.
If you're on Linux the following Desktop Environments can make full use of 64GB RAM. GNOME, XFCE, KDE Plasma, and Cinnamon. Other will support it, but currently don't manage it as efficiently as those in my experience. What I mean by that is that if you have the lower cache they handle it in a way that reduces or event stops the CPU from heating up compared to windows. I know Linux Techies will argue that it's the kernel version and Memory Management subsystem that the distro uses that's more important, but that hasn't been my experience so far. Regardless most 64bit desktop distros can handle 2TB easily.