Advice for upgrade to PC
Discussion
I’ve found that my computer struggles a bit at various time when using Blender 3D software. I’m following a sculpting course and it seems to lag. I don’t know the technical term but it seems to hang a bit, then get going again. (People of retirement age know what I’m talking about.)
I was wondering if there was an upgrade to my computer that a) is not too expensive, b) will be able to cope with the demands of someone who’s a hobbyist, and c) is not too expensive.
I build my own computers, and have done for decades, so obviously prefer to change bits and pieces rather than buy a new computer.
AMD Ryzen 3 2200G with Radeon Vega Graphics, 3500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) on an Asus Prime A320M-K motherboard with 32GB (2x16GB) 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM. Asus Radeon RX 570 ROG STRIX OC 8GB Graphics Card. 750w PSU.
All idea welcome, especially those that are not too expensive.
I was wondering if there was an upgrade to my computer that a) is not too expensive, b) will be able to cope with the demands of someone who’s a hobbyist, and c) is not too expensive.
I build my own computers, and have done for decades, so obviously prefer to change bits and pieces rather than buy a new computer.
AMD Ryzen 3 2200G with Radeon Vega Graphics, 3500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) on an Asus Prime A320M-K motherboard with 32GB (2x16GB) 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM. Asus Radeon RX 570 ROG STRIX OC 8GB Graphics Card. 750w PSU.
All idea welcome, especially those that are not too expensive.
Lagging could be disk access/swapping into memory - you haven't mentioned your disk storage but if you haven't already then using an M2 drive would be a performance boost over even an SSD. Otherwise memory looks good but the standout from the specs mentioned is the CPU - 4 cores with no SMT. Changing to a R5 3400G (I think) with give 4/8 cores.
Also checking the blender config for thread/system priority and changing settings may improve things.
Also checking the blender config for thread/system priority and changing settings may improve things.
Cheers, guys.
I use mainly the Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher trio, all of which I'm assured will not be troubled by an R5/7, and Power Director, which seems impervious to such matters if the forums are to be believed. Everything else in minor league, like Office and such. I've used Resolve video editor recently, and that seems a drain on the GPU rather than CPU. At least, I've had the fans kick in a couple of times.
A simple CPU upgrade is tempting, although it seems a bit of a pain as the R3 copes well with the other 'demanding' stuff that I've got. Still, I need something to spend the money I saved from not buying petrol and coffees.
Thanks again.
I use mainly the Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher trio, all of which I'm assured will not be troubled by an R5/7, and Power Director, which seems impervious to such matters if the forums are to be believed. Everything else in minor league, like Office and such. I've used Resolve video editor recently, and that seems a drain on the GPU rather than CPU. At least, I've had the fans kick in a couple of times.
A simple CPU upgrade is tempting, although it seems a bit of a pain as the R3 copes well with the other 'demanding' stuff that I've got. Still, I need something to spend the money I saved from not buying petrol and coffees.
Thanks again.
That's not a terrible spec for a PC, certainly a decent amount of RAM, which is the normal cause of "hesitation"
Try having task manager open on the "Performance" tab while you're using the software, and see if there's any resource (I'd guess disk or CPU) that is looking heavily taxed when you experience the problem - that will give you an idea where you might want to spend money for best effect.
Is the storage currently an SSD or a mechanical hard drive?
Try having task manager open on the "Performance" tab while you're using the software, and see if there's any resource (I'd guess disk or CPU) that is looking heavily taxed when you experience the problem - that will give you an idea where you might want to spend money for best effect.
Is the storage currently an SSD or a mechanical hard drive?
Derek Smith said:
A simple CPU upgrade is tempting, although it seems a bit of a pain as the R3 copes well with the other 'demanding' stuff that I've got. Still, I need something to spend the money I saved from not buying petrol and coffees.
Certainly looking at https://www.blender.org/download/requirements/ the Optimal spec is an 8 core CPU, so they at least think there software scales with core count.https://www.cgdirector.com/blender-benchmark-resul... also shows good performance scaling with increasing core count.
Derek Smith said:
I’ve found that my computer struggles a bit at various time when using Blender 3D software. I’m following a sculpting course and it seems to lag. I don’t know the technical term but it seems to hang a bit, then get going again. (People of retirement age know what I’m talking about.)
I was wondering if there was an upgrade to my computer that a) is not too expensive, b) will be able to cope with the demands of someone who’s a hobbyist, and c) is not too expensive.
I build my own computers, and have done for decades, so obviously prefer to change bits and pieces rather than buy a new computer.
AMD Ryzen 3 2200G with Radeon Vega Graphics, 3500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) on an Asus Prime A320M-K motherboard with 32GB (2x16GB) 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM. Asus Radeon RX 570 ROG STRIX OC 8GB Graphics Card. 750w PSU.
All idea welcome, especially those that are not too expensive.
Blender scales really well with cpu threads Blender benches half way down this pageI was wondering if there was an upgrade to my computer that a) is not too expensive, b) will be able to cope with the demands of someone who’s a hobbyist, and c) is not too expensive.
I build my own computers, and have done for decades, so obviously prefer to change bits and pieces rather than buy a new computer.
AMD Ryzen 3 2200G with Radeon Vega Graphics, 3500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) on an Asus Prime A320M-K motherboard with 32GB (2x16GB) 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM. Asus Radeon RX 570 ROG STRIX OC 8GB Graphics Card. 750w PSU.
All idea welcome, especially those that are not too expensive.
So you really need the most cores (that you can afford) that will run on your A320M-K motherboard ( support list here might need to upgrade the bios on the MB first though.)
IMHO I'd aim for the 3600 (6 cores 12 threads) as at less than £170 it is good value for money. I'd look to over-clocking the ram as well if it supports higher speeds.
Agree with much of the above.
Fast storage if you don't have it.
For CPU, I'd Suggest.
R5 3600
or R7 3700
These are both 65W parts so should be fine on the A320 boards. Update BIOS for compatibility (I checked the ASUS site).
If you are pushed for budget, a R5 2600 can be found for good money also.
Fast storage if you don't have it.
For CPU, I'd Suggest.
R5 3600
or R7 3700
These are both 65W parts so should be fine on the A320 boards. Update BIOS for compatibility (I checked the ASUS site).
If you are pushed for budget, a R5 2600 can be found for good money also.
Derek Smith said:
I’ve found that my computer struggles a bit at various time when using Blender 3D software. I’m following a sculpting course and it seems to lag. I don’t know the technical term but it seems to hang a bit, then get going again. (People of retirement age know what I’m talking about.)
I was wondering if there was an upgrade to my computer that a) is not too expensive, b) will be able to cope with the demands of someone who’s a hobbyist, and c) is not too expensive.
I build my own computers, and have done for decades, so obviously prefer to change bits and pieces rather than buy a new computer.
AMD Ryzen 3 2200G with Radeon Vega Graphics, 3500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) on an Asus Prime A320M-K motherboard with 32GB (2x16GB) 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM. Asus Radeon RX 570 ROG STRIX OC 8GB Graphics Card. 750w PSU.
All idea welcome, especially those that are not too expensive.
It depends on what render you are using within Blender. Cycles or EEVEE?I was wondering if there was an upgrade to my computer that a) is not too expensive, b) will be able to cope with the demands of someone who’s a hobbyist, and c) is not too expensive.
I build my own computers, and have done for decades, so obviously prefer to change bits and pieces rather than buy a new computer.
AMD Ryzen 3 2200G with Radeon Vega Graphics, 3500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) on an Asus Prime A320M-K motherboard with 32GB (2x16GB) 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM. Asus Radeon RX 570 ROG STRIX OC 8GB Graphics Card. 750w PSU.
All idea welcome, especially those that are not too expensive.
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