Max RAM

[JakeMM]

Currently in the process of buying an older 12 core Mac Pro as a rendering workhorse.

They seem to come up with 32gb RAM, 64GB, 96GB or 128GB.

At what point does this become a useless for Twilight?

Also as far as I'm aware, graphics cards make no impact on render times?

And I guess an SSD shouldn't make any noticeable differences either?

[Chris]

As long as you are using a 64 bit version of SketchUp (SU 2015 and later), Twilight Render can make use of all the memory you can provide. So it kind of comes down to cost vs practicality. Are you ever going to actually use 128 GB of RAM?

You are correct, the graphics card does not make a significant difference to Twilight Render (but it can with SketchUp). And an SSD is unlikely to make a noticeable difference either.

[JakeMM]

How much is the most you've ever seen Twilight use?

I know they're all a bit crazy (I currently use 8gb on my MacBook to render), but most are prebuilt with one of those specifications.

[Fletch]

How much is the most you've ever seen Twilight use?

You can see other computers from other artists and compare their render speed and specs to yours here using Twilight Render:
Subject: V2 How Fast Are You - Official Twilight Scene - Bauhaus Lamp

A nice machine someone posted here:

Dell precision T3610
Intell Xeon CPU E5-1650 v2 @ 3.50GHZ
16GB 1333Mhz

SSD increases speed of basic computer workflow/time spent opening+saving large SU files... makes no difference with Render Times, but reduces time spent saving rendered images. SSD is highly recommended for enjoyment of computing.


RAM is great for multitasking, that is, you can render, and still do other work. But it does not actually compute anything for the rendering. It only keeps the information in instant access memory.
So it is the number of threads in the CPU that is most important.

16Gb seems more than plenty of RAM for current computer needs of most power users.
We have not tested more than 8Gb on our machines, but, as Chris said, Twilight will make use of as much RAM as you throw at it (64bit systems only). Increased RAM usually means increased stability and faster workflow with multi-tasking on the computer in general.

8Gb is good enough, 16Gb is great, 32Gb is more than plenty for most people, and more than that is gravy.