3D rendering is the process of converting 3D frame models into 2D pictures on a computer screen. There are two types of 3D renders: photorealistic and non-photorealistic effects. Because you are dealing with a lot of heavily detailed visuals when performing 3D rendering, you need to have a good graphics card to rely on. NVIDIA and AMD are the primary graphics card manufacturers. We will recommend the best models for both these companies and provide a brief review
Top 3D Rendering Software
Firstly, we need to identify the leading software used for 3D Rendering. For each of the top 3d rendering software we will list the best corresponding graphics card.
Artlantis: Artlantis is one of the top 3d rendering software that is compatible with Windows and macOS. For this software you need a graphics card that has at least 1GB rating and can be used with OpenGL.
Solidworks: Solidworks Visualize is another leading standalone 3d rendering program that also is considered a premium product. The best graphics card for Solidworks is the NVIDIA Quadro GP100 which is compatible with Windows 10 operating system.
Lumion: Lumion requires a graphics card that has at least 6GB of memory and at least 6,000 PassMark points. Such an example includes the Radeon RX 570 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan.
Octane Render: Octane render requires the latest CUDA 9.1 drivers and a NVIDIA graphics card with compute capability support of 3.0 or greater. Quadro and Tesla cards by NVIDIA are recommended because they have more VRAM. 16GB of RAM is needed to run Octane Render efficiently. The Quadro GP100 is one such graphics card that would work well.
Redshift 3D: Redshift needs a NVIDIA GPU with CUDA compute capability of 6.0 or greater and 8GB VRAM. NVIDIA GP100 is one such graphics card that meets these requirements.
Sketchup: Sketchup requires a 3D class video card with at least 1GB of memory and supports Open GL version 3.0.
Some of these software programs will be more CPU dependent whereas some will be more GPU dependent. The best way to find out which is which for you is to consult the website of the specific software that you are using. Compare that with the graphics card manufacturer website to align the specs and you will find out the best graphics card for 3d rendering for you!
PNY NVIDIA Quadro P5000 Graphics Card
This is an excellent choice for 3D rendering because it includes 16GB RAM, 2560 CUDA Cores, and supports display port 1.4. It is twice as expensive as the Quadro P4000 which is indicative of its performance greatness too. The reason behind recommending the Quadro series is because it is a professional product pipeline compared to the GeForce which are intended solely more for gaming purposes.
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Be wary of the brand that is selling the specific graphics card. Because while the core GPU unit is made by NVIDIA the company selling it can be one of many including Gigabyte, PNY, Asus, EVGA, or MSI.
Is your software not on this list? Here’s the trick to finding the right graphics card for your 3D Rendering program:
There are other guides on the internet that may teach you about benchmarking or computer aid design graphics card requirements, but these mean nothing unless your specific software is adept to correspond to the specs of the graphics card.
Step 1: Determine what 3D rendering software you are using
Step 2: Google: “[Software name] + hardware requirements
Step 3: Determine the graphics card hardware requirements on the software’s website
This will give you the accurate idea of the minimum and recommended graphics card specs your PC or Mac needs to have in order to run the 3D rendering software of YOUR choice.
Conclusion
In conclusion, 3D rendering software can be expensive, and so can the graphics cards used to support them. A good PC setup paired with a great monitor will go a long way if you are ready to move to the next level in computer aided design. You may even want to embark a courageous expedition and build your own PC according to your specific requirements. PCPartPicker.com is a website that can help you learn how so many tech users are also building their own personal computer, integrating graphics cards’ processors, and all the like.
