RAM Requirements

[Tyler Olds]

Hey everybody,
I was just wondering if there is a recomended amout of RAM you should be using on your comps for 3ds max. Right now i have 512 on mine but I am still lagging when I load my animation and try to alter it. So i was just wondering if there were ways to reduce lag, or do I just need more ram.
Thanks
Tyler Olds
Head Animator
Team 93

Tman_86@yahoo.com (there's an _ )
AIM S/N Soccerreffreak

[Clark Gilbert]

Let me start off by saying i'm no 3d Studio Max expert.....but i'm almost certain that if you got a better graphics card that should smooth some things out big time....

[Daishichimaru]

RAM is mostly used to hold bitmaps that are being applied in the image. The more you use 'em, the more RAM you need. Most of the rest is processor lag, not a RAM issue.

[Robby O]

The more you have the less performance dip...
The less performance dip, the faster you create
So add more rame and dont procrastinate!

Ah, yes, more ram CAN mean better loading. But usually it's just better with large scenes AFTER they're loaded - No time writing to the page file on your hard drives - which can also be improved with SCSI as opposed to IDE drives.

Also, how large are your scenes (megs)? How many poly's? Are you using any XRef's? Are you displaying everything or only what's neccisary to animate? Are you also displaying textures? Do you have degradation on? Are you using optimize on high in the viewport and no optimization for rendering? All this can contribute to lag when changing a scene.

And if you do decide to pick up a graphics accelerator, check various graphic magazines and websites and the packaging or specs of the card. Most game accelerators DO NOT actually work to help out the rendering process in MAX unless they are specifically stated as doing so. So make sure you know what you are getting, and ask around before making a purchase. Also try http://www.journeyed.com for good deals on good cards. I'll see what I can find on the web and I'll let you know.

Good luck at card hunting, and happy rendering!

-Robby O
FIRSTanimators Moderator
oshortwan@hotmail.com

[Jay Lundy]

512 megs of ram is plenty. I used to have 512 megs (I have a gig now) and I could run 3dsmax along with several other programs such as photoshop and internet explorer without seeing performance hits. I watched the task manager once when I was doing some heavy stuff in 3dsmax (such as rendering with raytracing) and it never went higher than 220 megs.

How fast is your processor? That probably has something to do with it.

[Tyler Olds]

the procesor on this comp is 1 ghz. So i would think that would be pleanty.

Tyler Olds
Head animator

[Jordan A.]

not positive if 3ds supports hardware t&l, but if it does than you would be best off getting a good nVidia graphics card, >=geForce 2

[Nate Smith]

As Robby mentioned, your run-of-the-mill 3d accelerator will not help out with 3DS Max. Most 3d accelerator cards are designed to go from video memory(where things go after the 3d chip does it's work) directly to the monitor. Depending on driver support, it may or may not help with your previews(don't remember which of OpenGL/Direct3D/etc. 3ds max supports), and it most likely will not help your final render, unless the driver supports copying the result data from the video memory back to main memory for copying to the hard drive.

[Spike2756]

Man, 512 is plenty of RAM. This summer I was a production software engineer at a game company and I ran 3Dmax 4.2 on my issued p3 550 with 256mb of ram and a old GeForce256. I actually tested a system there with a p4 1.4ghz, 512mb ram, and a GeForce3 (non Ti) and it actually only ran max a little faster then my slow hunk of junk. In the end I think it just comes down to the size of the sceneyou are working with

[Trashed20]

Im running 3DS max on my 400 mHz celeron with 64 megs ram and it runs... i think i might want to invest in some more ram/faster processor/whole new system

[Ghetto_Child]

ram shouldnt help too much

try some other upgrades, try this link

www.pricewatch.com