Hello,

I am a filmmaker using iClone 7, CC3 pipeline. Because I am using larger, more memory intensive scenes I want to upgrade my processor and mobo now. My current graphics card has 8Gb (GTX 1080) and I plan to upgrade later this year when nVidia releases their next generation.  I realize having a 12 Gb card would be the most effective gain. 

My choice for processors is either AMD 3900X for $499 or the new 3950X. for $749 (if I can obtain one). My question is will more cores and threads enable me to handle larger scenes more effectively? If so, should I go for 12 cores or pay for the 16 cores?

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks, 
Nathan

Nathan

As a fellow ryzen user, get the big cpu and max the ram. You won't regret doing it. You WILL, however, regret not doing it.

@jarretttowe thanks for responding. So, I will have 4 slots for memory and I have 2x32 right now. Go for the full monty and get 128Gb ram?

Nathan

Only as time and money allowed. It would definitely help when you think about things like having iclone, character creator, and photoshop open at the same time, etc.

I was going to recommend the bottleneck calculator for an optimal configuration (https://pc-builds.com/calculator/), but it doesn't seem to like AMD Ryzen 9 processors.

The idea is to select a processor that will not be a bottleneck for the selected GPU, but I get a 100% bottleneck with the message that the CPU is to powerful for the GPU, even with a 2080 Ti, which doesn't make sense...

However, according to the calculator, your current configuration of Ryzen 7 1700 and GTX 1080 works great, with a very low bottleneck. For an RTX 2080 Ti a Ryzen 7 2700X would do.

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It is a wacky! But then again, it's not the GPU getting bottle-necked at all, it simply does not require the entire power of the CPU to feed the card. That's how I read it, anyway.

Funnier is that it recommends that you replace your RTX 2080ti with an RTX 2080ti!

@Animagic thanks . Great resource. I am going to look at others who currently run the 3900X to see which GPUs they have.

@Rampa, yes very strange. After a second look I see it is recommending 2 x 2080ti. I suppose I could take out a 2nd mortgage on my home

Nathan

I was always under the impression that Iclone ran on only 1 core and did not benefit from a multicore processor. If this is true I wonder if you could buy a 2700 ( currently a bargain ) and overclock it to get the same performance as the 3900 series.

Yes, there are limits to what a 39xx processor can do, but I still believe the real performance gains wont be in render speeds, but in workflow speed increases gained from using multiple apps at once, faster transformer imports, faster fbx exports, etc. That processor and a 2080 ti will still be considered a fast computer 5 years from now.