How much RAM is enough

[art3mis]

Was thinking 32GB for my new build. Is that enough for most Houdini work? Or should I go with 64? (My mob will support 128 I believe).

[Sepu]

I got 64GB myself, if you can afford it go for 64GB. Ram is cheap these days

Edited August 31, 2016 by Sepu

[acey195]

8 GB is enough if you work on small scenes without doing too much simming/compositing, or about 1.5mil vertices per scene

16 GB allows you to do some compositing and limited simming.

32 GB you should be able to do most things on a low to medium level

64 GB will allow you to have large scenes loaded, with a lot of textures. at this point the GPU may become the bottleneck for having more vertices (if you need to see them when working on them)

128 GB: Personally I have had cases where stuff was using 95% or more of my 64GB setup. Usually it should be possible to optimize memory better so that doesn't happen, but having more memory allows you to spend less time on optimization and more on features.

 

So basically, 32BG would be the minimum advised if you are a freelancer using Houdini as your main software.
That said, whenever I'll build my next machine, I will make it have 128GB

(Also feel free to correct me, on those statistics if you feel Im too far off)

Edited October 3, 2016 by acey195

[ben]

I agree with Twan.  He should optimize memory better

[shawn_kearney]

At 16gb I found myself spending a lot of time waiting for Houdini to crash after making a mistake and made learning Houdini a serious pain. I've upgraded to 56gb/8gb vram. Learning has gone a lot smoother.

[art3mis]

Hi

Reviving an old thread.

Currentlyrunning 8x8 GB 2666 MHz Corsair Vengeance kit on a new X399 platform but am only seeing 2133.

Contemplating a huge investment in entirely new GSkill Flare X 2999 8x16 GB kit.
Besides the extra headroom I've seen some tests which claim up to 50% performance improvement in certain simulations when going from 2133 to 3200.
Anyone else considering going up to or is currently running 128 GB? 
Is it worth it?
Thanks

[lukeiamyourfather]

3 hours ago, art3mis said:

Currently running 8x8 GB 2666 MHz Corsair Vengeance kit on a new X399 platform but am only seeing 2133.

What processor do you have? The memory controller is on the processor and it'll affect the maximum speed of the memory. Most higher end memory is marketing bullshit and doesn't affect performance for most users. Overclocking involving more than just the processor multiplier being the exception to that.

3 hours ago, art3mis said:

I've seen some tests which claim up to 50% performance improvement in certain simulations when going from 2133 to 3200.

In the "real world" the differences will be minimal between one speed of memory and another. It's also a moot point to compare anything to 3200 MHz memory because almost nothing out there can support that without overclocking.

[art3mis]

Just got the TR 1950x. Santa was nice to me this year:) A lot of mentions about 'Samsung B die' being the 'best' for X399 but unclear what thats about.

And just got this reply from GSkill Tech support.Seems to be a tradeoff between speed and capacity:(

 

Quote

 

We recommend DDR4-2400MHz and DDR4-2133MHz in total kit capacities of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, any capacity higher such as 128GB is not supported.

 If you wish to use DDR4-3200MHz, the max supported capacity that we have tested on your Threadripper platform is 32GB(8GBx4) and we would suggest [Flare X] F4-3200C14Q-32GFX.

 Please also note that the stability of running at DDR-4 3200MHz will depend on the capability of your CPU, so a highly selective CPU is required.

 

 

However, just because its not officially supported, doesn't mean it won't work!

At least one user over on the ASUS ROG forum reports successful 128GB install at 2933MHz

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?96980-128GB-working-kits-with-Zenith-Extreme-and-1950X/page2

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by art3mis

[lukeiamyourfather]

15 hours ago, art3mis said:

However, just because its not officially supported, doesn't mean it won't work!

This requires overclocking so all bets are off. It might work for one person but not another. With four single rank DIMM the max speed for the memory controller on that CPU (without overclocking) is 2133 MHz which is what you're seeing now. This thread might be helpful.

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/788240-buying-ryzen-confused-about-ram-read-here/

[art3mis]

Thanks. Good info although biased towards gamers. And a lot to digest. I'm going for a mild OC at 3.9GHz and with a few BIOS tweaks am also able to run my RAM at its rated 2666 speed with all 8 DIMM slots occupied so I am a happy camper.:)

Having this kit and NOT OC'ing to me is like owning a Formula 1 Race Car and refusing to ever go over the speed limit! The Threadripper and Zenith Extreme combo were designed from the ground up with OC'ing in mind. The only caveat being to have adequate cooling and carefully monitor your CPU temps! This thing is power hungry!

Finding my total system pulls almost 400 W peak during a Cinebench CPU render,  roughly 50 W more than a GPU render using 2 high end cards, a TitanXP and GTX  1080. Will have to do a render benchmark in Houdini comparing the 2.

Yes AMD warns you about voiding your warranty when OC'ing but they also make an app dedicated to customizing your overclock (RyzenMaster)

Edited December 23, 2017 by art3mis