Upgrade Ram or video card for Maya / 3dsMAx

#1

Okay, Don’t Laugh (to hard).

My PC specs:

OS:Win8.1
CPU: AMD A6-5400k APU with Radeon HD 7540D 2GB graphics (2 CPUS) 3.6Ghz
RAM: 4GB

I have Student versions of 3ds Max 15 and Maya 15 installed on this PC. I plan on learning one or the other so I’m going to play around in both this week to see which I’m most comfortable with. Modern games run okay (TOMB RAIDER, ALIEN ISOLATION) when I fiddle with the settings. Maya and 3ds run okay. However, there is slight slowdown when multiple apps are up and running.

I’m a student so I am on a budget. I was thinking about bumping the ram to 8GB (which is what Autodesk recommends for Maya). Or buying a 2GB PCI express video card since I’m running my pc off integrated GPU that is in the CPU. I was wondering if the 8GB would make a difference in performance. What about video card? Ideally, I’d purchase both if only I could find 8GB for under $44 it would fit in my budget to buy it along with a 2GB based video card.

Thanks!

#2

The important bit is which video card? The amount of memory isn’t a good way to determine if it is worth it. the 8GB will absolutely help, but I can’t say if the video card is a worthwhile purchase, the one you have in mind could be as slow as the integrated one you have.

#3

Hello, thank you for replying.

I found a video card on ebay that fit my budget. I hope I made a decent choice. Went ahead and purchased a HIS radeon hd 6870 and an additional 4gigs of RAM since my PC has three empty RAM slots.

Card might be a bit outdated, but numbers show it’s at least better than my current GPU that’s integrated into the CPU.

http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index.php?gid=1354&gid2=452&compare=radeon-hd-7540d-vs-radeon-hd-6870

#4

Thats fine, you should be happy with what you have now.

#5

Okay, just got my extra 4gigs in and installed it. Computer is now displaying “8gb (7.40GB usable)” DD3 1600Mhz, but I can’t tell if the speeds have changed or not.

I fired up CPU-Z and DRAM frequency (798.4Mhz) , CAS latency (11), and NB frequency (jumps around 1300-1497-1596mhz) has roughly remained the same in numbers. The other ram slot is using 4gb of DDR3 as well.

Any help is appreciated.

#6

Help with what? You have more ram, you can now open more complex projects before the system slows down, you can now leave other apps open without having to close them.

#7

All I’m saying is the numbers didn’t really change much in CPU-z app.

#8

Really not following. You had 4 gigs, now you have 8, what else were you expecting to change?

#9

It’s never a bad idea to upgrade your RAM but doesn’t rendering use mostly GPU rather than CPU?

#10

There are very few GPU renderers out there. The overwhelming majority of renderers use only the CPU. The only thing most users do with the GPU is render 3D viewports (or games).