RENDER NODE RAM

[dj_buckley]

Just a query really - I'm about to buy some new PC's, my current one only has 32GB Ram and is causing issues with some heavy scenes.

I'm going to buy new 64GB machines but was hoping to use the current 32GB as a render node for rendering with DR.

I just wondered if the node has to have as much RAM as the host machine, i.e. will that same PC still give me problems when rendering if only being used as a node?

[maru]

Yes, the RAM usage will be roughly the same on nodes and workstations, so they all should have the same amount installed.

[Juraj]

There is slight benefit for nodes that lets them breathe with less ram in certain situations.

The biggest one is 3dsMax 'Bloat', which is more noticeable with Corona as it can't flush this data. If you render subsequently large scene multiple times, the ram consumption in 3dsMax will rise (for example out of 40GB into 60GB). It feels like memory leak but it is not (this is different from "gc()" garbage collection, you can't flush this data directly).
The nodes on other hand will always start the scene from scratch, thus never experiencing this bloat effect that can make workstation run out of memory on second/third rendering.

(before someone tells me the scene is wrong, or it's bug, this has been confirmed by countless users and by devs alike. It's "autodesk" feature).

[maru]

That's why I wrote ram usage is "roughly" the same. ;)
I still think it is safer to keep the same RAM amount across all PCs. Definitely safer than having 64 on one, and 32 on another.

[tolgahan]

I used render  by stripes option  but I was not very successful.A lot of aliasing and noise problem.

[dj_buckley]

Ok cheers guys, was just trying to save myself about £600 for more RAM :)

[Juraj]

Yeah the damn memory prices spiked up twice and from what I've read, they're not going down any soon (if at all).

Two years ago they were so cheap I just told everyone, including myself, to go straight for 64 (and contemplated 128 for all our workstations), but now ? No way.

[dj_buckley]

Yeah the damn memory prices spiked up twice and from what I've read, they're not going down any soon (if at all).

Two years ago they were so cheap I just told everyone, including myself, to go straight for 64 (and contemplated 128 for all our workstations), but now ? No way.

It's a bit of sticking point at the minute - I have a VRay license (£500 or whatever it was), I have a Corona License (30 Euros a month).  Vray works fine with my current setup, or I can pay an extra £600 for new RAM so I can use Corona without an issue.  Scenes aren't getting any smaller.  Every scene I do seems to get heavier and heavier.  I'm losing money as it is, buy spending days optimizing every Corona scene just to get it rendered so the cost implications are effectively a double hit.  Spend days creating an awesome scene, only to then spend another 2 days making it less awesome just so it renders.

[Juraj]

The optimization won't do much anyway, there is some bloat you can't get rid of and it is one of the hungriest renderers out there now.

In case your 32GB Node is still DDR3, then absolutely try second-hand from ebay.

[dj_buckley]

Nope DDR4 - when I say optimizing, I mean reducing texture sizes mainly, splitting things up into hundred of layers to allow me to hide stuff etc, reducing geometry counts etc etc

[naikku]

I am not so hardcore renderer and I have a tiny farm, it sucks yes but is semi-ok.
One comp has 6gb, one 12gb and three have 16gb of ram. Would love to have upgraded
computers but.. have to live with what I have. And my workstation has 16gb also :/

[sprayer]

DDR3 or DDR4 is not much difference, you didn't notice it, only can see in synthetic tests, all files still loading from slow hdd\ssd