3d rendering: which is more important GPU or CPU?

Depends on the application. Most common 3D rendering programs still use the CPU for all the work... while a lot of CAD tools now use GPU's (Quadro's and FireGL specifically).

What program do you intend to use?

Actually both will get an increase. The pre-render stage is more CPU as the CPU calculates vertices and the like but the GPU has to do the actually output to the screen. I'd say hedge your bets and get both. You can get both as mid-range rather than high-end GPU/low-end CPU or vice versa.

In terms of 3d object rendering, if you are modeling/animating the object, the CPU will get the brunt of the work. If you are simply displaying an object someone else created, the GPU will be tasked more. Ultimately, if you are going to create and edit content, get both the best CPU and GPU you can afford. RAM and RAID are also very influential.

Theres really no such thing as a good "cheap" system. Its either going to cost you time/capability or cash

in the place where i live, there isn't any company like newegg, so i have to buy the Laptop (sorry forgot to mention) according to what the local hardware center has, for the budget, there is no LT i found with midrange CPU and a midrange GPU. Also the laptop isn't for me, it is for my cousin, so i gotta ask her which application she will be using. She has some university course in which they do 3d rendering, and the problem is it is only a short period of time, so i dont want to get her a good GPU and a decent CPU, so that after her course the GPU sits their doing nothing while the CPU has a hard time managing the system and running the programs, more info tomorrow, plz wait and thanx a lot.

In that case just get the fastest CPU with a discrete GPU (not onboard).

Yes, like Baron said, make absolutely sure you don't get crappy integrated graphics.

Laptop + rendering = not so good. Does it absolutely, positively have to be a laptop, or prebuilt system? You say you have no access to New Egg. Does that include any component etailer, or system ( :? ) etailer such as dell, HP, Mom&Pops U-Build it?

I run 3Dsmax, Corel and some other apps on my laptop with an AMD A64 3200 and ATI xpress 200M, 1GB RAM, and the best compliment I can give it, compared to my DT is that it will run it. Its not horribly bad, but it is very limited.

The thing is, you can get a DT much cheaper than a laptop, but obviously with out the portability. If portability is a consideration, then the DT point is moot.

what, do integrated graphics suck or something?

that's news to me...

:wink:

GPU by a factor of about 10:1

CPU,CPU and then again CPU I do that sort of things routinely and very differently from gaming, the video card is almost merely that thing that splashes the image on the screen when you talk about 3D rendering. By personal experience and all reviews I have seen (check the CPU charts), render times are directly proportional to the CPU computing power. Just get an external (not onboard) video card like a 5500 or a X300 and you will be OK.
Many people answering GPU confuse gaming with 3D rendering but they're two worlds apart; framerate does not count in 3D rendering of still scenes and movies since the computational part of the CPU is way much havier and time consuming.

CPU,CPU and then again CPU I do that sort of things routinely and very differently from gaming, the video card is almost merely that thing that splashes the image on the screen when you talk about 3D rendering. By personal experience and all reviews I have seen (check the CPU charts), render times are directly proportional to the CPU computing power. Just get an external (not onboard) video card like a 5500 or a X300 and you will be OK.
Many people answering GPU confuse gaming with 3D rendering but they're two worlds apart; framerate does not count in 3D rendering of still scenes and movies since the computational part of the CPU is way much havier and time consuming.

Some renderers can use the GPU for hardware acceleration (mental ray), but for final production, the GPU is almost never used.

Yes, but that is only when you model the scene, when you move and rotate large objects and with my 5200 I only had few problems with a 5MB file once and such size is pretty rare unless you're doing professional, high quality, photorealistic modelling but when you go to rendering and rendering methods like raytracing, reflection/transparency, radiosity, occlusion etc, these are all CPU exclusivities. When I switched from the integrated S3 graphics to the FX5200, render times only improved by 2-3 secsons; all from the improved RAM bandwidth and dedicated RAM of the 5200, while if I overclock the CPU by 10% I get roughly the same 10% of boost in render times.

haha that made me laugh

I agree. If it is rendering in the classical sense as I think of it, then this means making pretty pictures(2d or 3d) which is very very CPU dependant. I have rendered images before of 3d models that have run over night for just one 1600x1200 image. Even for CAD apllications, the only time the video card comes into play is when you are moving the objects, at which point, it is very important. However, RAM is equally important. I use CATIA which is the highest end CAD system you can get (one of the big boys). When opening/loading large files, it can eat through 1GB of RAM in no time.

I would still suggest putting the money in the CPU, especially if the GPU will not be used after this class. I have a dell M60 1.6Ghz, 2GB Ram, and a Quadro FX go700 and use these applications daily without too much pain. It can handle hundred part assemblies pretty well. It is also ok with large surface data and image rendering.

Hope this helps.

BTW, I'm quite back with modelling this picture; It's my Xv on a street side and now have a lot to do no the shops :x

Is that.... a... turd on wheels? Didn't know they made those.

(kidding)

;-)

It's the new VW Beetle.  

It's the new VW Beetle.  

Which end is the front?

  hadn't thought about it, much alike with this color  
It's my last car design project and who lives in Detroit can take a look at the scale model on the North American International Auto Show of this year, from Jan 13th; I was lucky enough to display it there :wink:

It's the new VW Beetle.  

Which end is the front?
http://www.freewebs.com/multid/xv/xv.html

It's the new VW Beetle.  

Which end is the front?
http://www.freewebs.com/multid/xv/xv.html
Nicely done. Congratulations on the show

Thanks!

I'm confused... was this car designed with the intent to hit someone?

You need both CPU and GPU for making 3D. When you render your work, the only thing the computer uses is the CPU. The GPU comes in when you make the 3D.

  Cars are not designed to kill people, however, the stats make it look like they are.

so this is the car for horrible drivers.

lol