Cinema4D (for my 4K Footage, adding in rendered elements/edits) + Deep Dream/Style Transfer Rendering Build Help

[ArthurAardvark]

Hey all, casual techy, know basic python/regedit/PC hard/software optimization/upgrades. Use my Dell XPS 9575 w/ i5-8305G + Intel HD6300 dGPU/Vega M GL (4096 vRAM) vGPU + 8 GB DDR4 RAM primarily with Ableton, Photoshop, Lightroom, After Effects and that's about it (plus infinite Chrome tabs haha).

So C4D (+ Octane and whatever else for the photorealistic renders!) and Deep Dream/Style (AI GAN type) scripting is relatively new to me. I don't know what will be the bottlenecks and what really matters for a smooth, lagless performance for each (e.g., I know I don't need to care about RAM clockspeed, but the detail of having 32GB as opposed to 16GB will improve in-scene building up in C4D).

I know Deep Dream I should look for a CUDA supported GPU - but should I be looking for multiple GPUs? Just one and in the future I can always get more?

I know for C4D it matters more about the speed of a single core as opposed to having 64 slow cores. Once again a good GPU is necessary for Octane.

Donno what I'd need RAM wise for a smooth experience if I just have some Chrome tabs open (let's say 10-20) and just 1 of the aforementioned programs going to render a 3-5 min long video.

Currently I don't REALLY want to invest in an entire rig so if I can get away with spending $500 on a high-end GPU + eGPU to hold it and hook it up to my laptop, that's fine with me! Haha. But to be honest, when I run Ableton with a bunch of plugins utilized my laptop will start lagging and will crash in rare instances so I would fear more of the same with C4D/DD. Or if I'm getting 10/10 bang for my buck, I'd splurge on the nVidia RTX 3090 @ $800 for example

If I SHOULD build a PC I'd like to scrape by spending $1.5k tops - on a case + Fans/Cooling + Power Source + Mobo + CPU + GPU + RAM + HDD. Used/New parts, doesn't matter to me. I'd definitely opt for a system that can be added/expanded out - but hope with minimal swaps (as in 100% for only getting 8 GB RAM right now with an 8 GB RAM addition in future. Wouldn't look forward to getting a crap tier CPU that I'd just sell/chuck in 1-3 years and switch out for a great one!)

Thanks for reading, hopefully didn't ramble too much or you speed read hahaha, and thanks for the help in advance!

AA

 

[Alex Glawion]

Octane and other Render Engines make great use of multiple GPUs, I am not sure about Deep Dream though (not familiar with it).

The question is: Do you think you'll need up to 4 GPUs, or will 2 be enough for a while? If it's 4 you'll have to go HEDT System on a Threadripper CPU, which is a bit slow in active work performance though. If up to 2 GPUs is enough, go AMD Ryzen 5xxx series CPU, which has very high active work performance.

eGPUs usually perform much worse than internal GPUs. You would waste a lot of potential here.

You can get something like the following that you can then upgrade when more money comes in:

Ryzen 5600X
MSI Unify X570
RTX 3070 or RTX 3060Ti (can add a stronger GPU later on like the 3080)
16GB of Ram
an NVME SSD such as the Adata XPG 1TB
A PSU that has enough wattage for upgrades. E.g. beQuiet RMX 1200W
Case