Building a high power 3D rendering machine for architecture and animation requires careful consideration of several components, such as CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, cooling and power supply. Different render engines may have different requirements and preferences for these components¹²³.
A general guideline is to choose a CPU with high single-core performance for modeling and other active work within your 3D scene², a GPU with CUDA support for fast and unbiased rendering using OctaneRender⁴, at least 16 GB of RAM for storing geometries, textures and shaders¹, a fast SSD for loading large files quickly², a good cooling system to prevent overheating⁴, and a reliable power supply unit that can handle the high power consumption of your components⁴.
However, depending on your budget and specific needs, you may want to customize your build further. For example, you may want to add more GPUs for faster rendering speed or use a network of multiple machines (a render farm) to distribute the rendering workload⁵. You may also want to check the compatibility of your components with your software and render engine before buying them.
To help you with your build, here are some useful resources that explain how to build a 3D rendering machine in more detail:
– How to Build Your Best Rendering Machine Ever by Chaos Group¹
– Best Workstation Computer for 3D Modeling and Rendering by CG Director²
– GeForce Garage: How To Build The Ultimate Home 3D Rendering Rig by NVIDIA⁴
– How to Build Computer for 3D Work & Rendering by Arch Viz Artist (YouTube video)⁶
(1) How to build your best rendering machine ever | Chaos.
https://www.chaos.com/blog/how-to-build-your-best-rendering-machine-ever.
(2) Best Workstation Computer for 3D Modeling and Rendering – CG Director.
https://www.cgdirector.com/best-computer-3d-modeling-rendering/.
(3) The PC You Need for 3D Rendering | IEEE Computer Society.
https://www.computer.org/publications/tech-news/trends/what-kind-of-computer-do-you-need-for-3d-rendering/.
(4) GeForce Garage: How To Build The Ultimate Home 3D Rendering Rig.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/geforce-garage-how-to-build-the-ultimate-3d-rendering-rig/.
(5) How to build your own render farm | Ars Technica.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/05/how-to-network-lots-of-dumb-computing-muscle-in-a-fast-efficient-render-farm/.
(6) How to Build Computer for 3D Work & Rendering – YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qecq0oN2B2U.
Build a Render Beast (#3) for under $3700.
