Using an Imac for Rendering

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Level 1

8 points

Using an Imac for Rendering

I wanted to know what experience anyone has using an imac for rendering. I do 3D modeling using SketchUp and render them using Shaderlight which relies very heavily on the CPU and RAM. I have a system right now with an i7 4770 cpu, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 4gb video card, 32 gb of ram and a Samsung SSD. Id love to convert to iMac for the simplicity it will bring to my setup and I love how my Macbook Pro runs windows so smoothly. I would max the imac out with the fastest i7 quad core and max out the RAM so I have as much muscle as I can get. The renders can take from 5 minutes to several hours depending on the size of the models and I am concerned about the CPU being able to run at full capacity during the render without throttling down because of possible heat issues and any possible inability to vent the heat as fast as it is created. I don't know much about the imacs true performance so I am just looking for some guidance from someone out there. I know that getting the Mac Pro with 8 cores or more is the best solution here, but its a tough justification to spend that much more on one when I am not rendering 100% of the time. Thanks a lot for the help.

iMac with Retina 5K display, Windows 10, null

Posted on Oct 5, 2015 9:42 AM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,494 points

Oct 5, 2015 10:21 AM in response to DDSDESIGN

This is really a technical support forum. I know that many rendering professionals use iMacs for doing their work however that is the only thing I can really say. I would recommend contacting the developers of the applications you intend to use and ask their opinion and also visit an Apple Store and ask for someone that has rendering experience.

To be honest, I doubt you will be disappointed.

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Answer 2

DDSDESIGN Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 5, 2015 10:47 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks a lot for the reply rkaufmann...I did go to Apple store and I couldn't get any answers about this...I was actually pretty surprised of how little they knew about the hardware and its capabilities but that's ok...its such a specific question that I was frustrated but I understand. My technical question still holds relevant about the heat. I watched a really interesting video over the weekend where they ran benchmark tests and when the temperature rose the computer actually throttled down the CPU so instead of running at 4-4.4 GHz it was running below 4 and that is what I am really curious about. I am impressed at how little fan noise there is but its a concern.

Thanks again.

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Answer 3

babowa

Level 9

78,568 points

Oct 5, 2015 10:55 AM in response to DDSDESIGN

If you are doing this professionally and intend to run the processes (rendering) for hours on end, I would suggest you take a look at a Mac Pro - more expensive, but iMacs are really consumer level machines even if they are maxed out.

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