ZBrushCentral

Newbie system question

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi all!

I guess I need some help here.
Since upgrading to 3.5 I experience slow handling in Zbrush.
I´ve read the system specs and 4Gigs of ram i recommended and
I only have 2Gigs.

Since I´m very poor in knowledge when it comes to pc (I use Mac at work and have a pc home wich I only use for Zbrush) I could really use some pointers.

If I put some more ram in my pc will Zbrush work better or do I need something else like a new graphic card or even a new pc?

I´m trying to find out how much I need to spend and what I need to buy to get great performance.

This is my system at the moment.
system.jpg

Thank´s Husse

#2

Graphics cards have little bearing on performance in ZBrush. Get as much RAM as your motherboard and OS can recognize. It’s all about the RAM, and luckily RAM is relatively cheap…as long as you don’t buy it directly from Apple :slight_smile:

#3

Thank´s dustinbrown!

I guess that´s why I can only get like 1.5 millions of polys then?

I hope my system can have more ram or I need to get a new pc :frowning:

#4

ZBrush is about the number of cores + processor speed + having the full allotment of RAM. Any off the shelf graphics card will do but if you will be using other 3D software you still will want a good card. The current GeForce cards are working great with nearly all 3D software. ATI, well not so good.

If you are on Vista 32 using a flash drive for “Ready Boost” will also help you. ZBrush appears to see it as RAM.

#5

This largely depends on your operating system. To get the most out of larger amounts of Ram, and out of Zbrush, you will need a 64 bit OS. It is wasted on 32 bit OS.

To sum up, since I didn’t see your OS listed:

Win XP 32 > anything over 2GB largely wasted…the OS can’t use it on a per application basis.

Vista 32> Can use something in the ballpark of 3GB per app.

Vista/Win7 64> No significant Limit.

As of ZB 3.1 (could be different in 3.5, i don’t know) ZB as an application can’t use more than 4gb of ram.

All that said, just because you have X ram or there might be a limit involved, doesn’t mean ZB gets all that Ram. Your OS will take a chunk. So putting more Ram in will free up the chunk the OS eats so ZB can use it.

Still, if you really want the most out of ZB, you should be on 64 bit OS. ZB on 64 bit OS and at least 4 gb of Ram has a substantial Max polygon potential over a 32 bit OS. And if you happen to still be on an XP system, its probably not worth 4 gb of ram.

#6

I will say this though. Generally speaking, the performance in ZB 3.5 is significantly improved, in power and polycount potential over 3.1. If you are having slowdowns on the same system you run 3.1 on, this is an issue you should work with support to resolve.

#7

I just love you guys! Thank´s a million!

I spoke to a friend of mine who is a pc techie and he will help me to upgrade my system. He too talked about a waste of ram on 32 bit. So he is going to make it 64bit, windows 7 and quad core and 4 gigs of ram. Think that will do the trick?

Again, super, super thank´s for your input!

Husse

#8

Hi, it´s me again.

It seems that 3.5 doesn´t run on 64bit. If that is true, what kind of systems are other people using that can devide their models to multimillion meshes?

#9

I have a Vista64 system with 12GB of Ram and ZBrush 3.5 works great.

#10

What makes you say that? (It does). If you are having some sort of installation problems, you need to take it to the installation forum.

#11

Well I have read a couple of threads on the forum that stated taht it it didn´t work on 64bit but I gues they were wrong wich is great neews for me since I can have my machinf upgraded!

Husse

#12

Well, I’ve been running it fine on Vista 64. Which is not to say there might not be individuals having issues, but these are things that should be worked out with support, and the exception, not the rule.

#13

Ok, that´s really good to know!