Better hardware for intensive 3d?

[n88tr]

My current set up

Cpu:
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core

Memory:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500)

Graphics:
Evga 560 GTX ti

Motherboard:
ASRock H61M-VS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Harddrive:
250 gb boot
1 tb storage

OS:
Win 7 x64 ultimate

Power:
750 Antec

It takes over 1 hour to bake a 1024 normal map. Seems excessive.
Also mad lag when I am working with over 300k polies for a highpoly mesh.

What is so taxing in Maya? The processor? The memory? I thought 8 gigs would be plenty.

Looking to upgrade and get a more powerful system for 3d modeling and using more intensive programs like Zbrush, etc.

My motherboard is a micro so I only have 2 slots for memory so if I did upgrade I would need to find bigger sticks.

[daverave]

Try xnormal for normal maps, its free.............dave

[petersrin]

huh, my system is worse than yours on everything, except since I have an i7, (older and slower than your i5) it's got hyperthreading, so I have 8 "cores" instead of 4. I don't notice any of that. Baking normas def. never took that long for me... though my 6GB of ram is a triple-channel setup with DDR3 1333. Those should only see fractional improvements though. I dunno. Seems suspect.

[NextDesign]

Your rig is fine, it's something else.

[n88tr]

"something else"
yeah that's helpful

could you elaborate on your thoughts of what it could be

[petersrin]

I don't know your experience level, but I've often found that my lack of experience and knowledge regarding optimization are often the culprit to abnormally long-seeming render/processing times. Times like "oh, duh, I should turn down samples" happen all the time to me. Google/SimplyMaya search for optimization techniques for the particular things that are slow. Sorry I can't be much more help than that.

[n88tr]

yeah this was helpful
trial and error is the answer?
why bother to have a forums?

[petersrin]

Your initial question was regarding computer components (which many of us have said should run Maya reasonably well) and woefully laking in details. As such, our answers will be comparatively vague. But yes, trial and error is often the answer anyway.

You mentioned the normal map bake running slowly. Is this the same poly that you said slows down the viewport? The one with +300,000 polies? Is it higher? Is it a a higher to lower poly transfer map?

The +300k hi-res mesh: are you running the viewport in shaded, Viewport 2.0, wireframe, "high quality rendering"? Do you have texture maps on? Is the viewport texture map size set too high? All of these are the kind of troubleshooting details that A) help us to be helpful and B) help you to find solutions.

Upgrading your system may or may not help, but I personally suspect we've overlooked some important detail or variable that is making your system slower.

[Ozgalis]

people are going to be less willing to help you out if you answer with snide comments the way you have been so far, also. I also dont know if you have noticed in your time working in 3D or any program for that matter, its all trial and error...This being said. Do you have any programs running in the background while your working in these applications?

[NextDesign]

"something else"
yeah that's helpful

could you elaborate on your thoughts of what it could be
Do you really expect me to list off every possible reason why your computer would be slow? Especially with the lack of information you've given me? (Not to mention the attitude)

Just as a word of warning, when people go out of their way to help you, and are given snide comments back, they will rarely want to help you in the future. Your initial question was if your current hardware was poor for 3d; it's not. I answered that as simply as possible. If you wanted more information, you should have asked.

[n88tr]

Do you honestly think "something else" was a helpful response? I see it as anything but.
I apologize if that sounded rude but I felt it was rude what you typed in the first place.

[daverave]

Your rig is fine, it's something else.
n88tr NextDesgn answered your question and advised you to look for some the other than your system not sure why you are being rude about it...............dave

[n88tr]

Are you people trying to upset me?
Give me some suggestions what you think the problem might be with all the lag

I do not
have intensive programs running the background
have high quality render turned on

But
Is it possible to allow Maya to use more memory, something in the preferences for that?

[petersrin]

We are not trying to upset you. You have given us minimal information and are demanding answers from a group of people who want to help YOU for FREE but are now insulted by your assumption that the world revolves around you.

We can't give suggestions when you don't give us details. Now that we know HQ is turned on, turn it off and find out if the lag is still there. Or try Viewport 2.0. If it isn't there, you know it's a problem with HQ display. That's how troubleshooting works. You notice a problem, then you *work* to eliminate other possibilities until you've pinned down the source of the issue.

If you're running 64bit maya on a 64bit OS then it will use as much memory as you have and it needs, though I'm sure there are some little optimization tweaks that others know that I don't, so feel free to chime in if you're still around.

Forum etiquette: do NOT say "fix my slow computer" and leave it at that. It takes work on both your side and our side to find solutions to issues when the answer is not immediately obvious.

[Kurt]

Maya has and most likely always will have a slow render time.

300k polys in Maya is really high and would even slow my computer down i`ve brought in models from Z brush around 200 k to test lighting and form and it bogs right down when in shaded mode. X normal would be a way better idea as far as making your maps, then just use a lower base model to see in Maya view port. I would say the lag is more from the video card with such a high mesh. More expensive cards would help a bit but not that much like quadros.


As far as ZBrush goes ZB is still more of a 2d program and uses mostly the cpu and ram and not any of the video card memory. Runs totally different then Maya as far as system usage.

So in short if your going to be using Maya more then ZB a 300 k mesh will slow down almost any computer a bit, look into a higher end 3d video card.

If your more like me who uses ZB more then Maya then look more into ram and cpu.

[Creck]

Yes, you can set the memory limit, however as I know it works just for rendering via mentalRay, to as much or little as you like, but do not forget to leave something for OS, as well. Under Render options panel you should see Render->Batch Render; click on that small box next to the title; in Memory section tick off Auto Memory Limit and write below how much MB of memory you allow to Maya to use.