At least 512M of RAM is recommended for using Maya

[DaForce]

512mb Ram is the really the minimum for any 3d program if you want it to run atleast half decent. You can get away with 256mb but if you start doing anything slightly more taxing then you will start swapping.

[Joel Hooks]

The upgrade from 512 to 1024mb of ram was a great one for me. For both 3d and Photoshop I noticed great performance increases.

256. Ick! Ram is so cheap, 256 costs about $30 around here.

[elvis]

agreed: whether modelling or rendering you REALLY don't want less than 512MB of memory. the more the merrier quite frankly.

of course, you have to come up to a price:performance ratio for yourself. obviously filling a motherboard with 4GB of ram isn't going to help you as much as putting 1GB in and spending the rest of your cash on a better CPU etc.

still: start with 512 and work up.

[HONG KONGer]

512M of RAM should be enough, but is it the more RAM the faster the randering is? Do I need more?

[DaForce]

it really all depends on what you are rendering. if all you do is render simple scenes then 512mb would be way more than enough.

But as soon as you start rendering polygon heavy scenes then 512mb would not be enough.

Basically for everyday use 512mb is fine.

[elvis]

ram is quite literally temporary storage space.

imagine you are doing something on a desk. if the task needs a lot of space, and you are on a small desk, then you are going to be constantly moving things from the desk to the floor and back. you don't work any slower per se, but there is time wasted in preparing your workspace.

now imagine you go out and buy a bigger desk. you've got more room now to move your stuff about, and don't waste so much time swapping between the floor and desk. everything is sitting infront of you when you need it, and is instantly accessible.

now of course, would you have had a small task to do in the first place, then the large desk wouldn't have been needed. it wouldn't have made your job harder by any means, it just wouldn't have been used.

now take this analogy and apply it to your work. do you build large models with lots of texturing and advanced lighting? if so then yes you need the extra ram. do you model small items of 1000 polygons or less with single lights and simple textures? then no, the ram isn't necessary, but certainly won't make your system any worse for having it.

no-one here can answer you as to exactly how much ram you need. i know in max there is a small counter in the rendering progress window that lets you know how much memory is being used in a rendered scene. i'm not a maya user, so i can't help you there, but check your current system load during renders and see objectively if you need more ram to compensate for how much stress your normal work is putting on your system memory.

[HONG KONGer]

Sorry folks, I did not make myself clear.

I am trying to ask, if I render a low amount of polygon on the same machine with 512M of RAM versus 1G of RAM, does more amount of RAM speeds up rendering time even with low amount of polygon? The 512M is enough but will it render faster if I have 1G of RAM? Well, I don't think so anyways.

[GregHess]

To add another analogy to the list....

Ram is like a ferrari driving down a highway...when you run out of gas (Physical Memory) you have to get out and walk. (Virtual Memory/Page File)

Ram doesn't usually aid performance unless your running out of it. If your scenes are using 200 megs of ram, and you have 512 megs of ram...adding another 512 megs of ram won't speed up your renders any. But, if your scenes are taking 800 megs of ram, and you've only got 512...adding another 512 will result in a "massive" increase in performance.

Basically if your drive is paging during rendering, add more ram. You can usually listen by ear, sounds like the poor thing is being beaten to death in an alley by a bunch of girl scouts.

This of course applies directly to cg. If you bring Illustrator and Photoshop into the mix, adding more ram lets you deal with a crapload more files/layers/channels simultanously. I don't think anyone needs to mention video work, those guys are rabid ram freaks.

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.