Keyshot 9 GPU rendering - GTX 1080?

[mikejb]

I take it that KS9 doesn't support GPU rendering using my current Nvidia GTX 1080 (441.12 drivers)?

[DriesV]

Please check the requirements for GPU rendering in the manual.
https://luxion.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/K9M/pages/1139015787/GPU+Mode

Dries

[figure1a]

Please check the requirements for GPU rendering in the manual.
https://luxion.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/K9M/pages/1139015787/GPU+Mode

Dries

So, what's the better route on KS9? Something like a 32 core Threadripper 3970X CPU or a fast GPU like the Quadro RTX 8000

[DriesV]

...
So, what's the better route on KS9? Something like a 32 core Threadripper 3970X CPU or a fast GPU like the Quadro RTX 8000

Both are fantastic for KeyShot. For typical product shots, the RTX 8000 is going to be very fast.
However, you won't hear Luxion explicitly recommending GPU over CPU. CPU rendering does have benefits. Complex shaders like Cutaway are currently only supported on CPU. Caustics are currently more optimized on CPU. CPU has access to all available RAM. CPUs are not reliant on drivers like GPUs are.

You have to decide for yourself what kind of KeyShot user you are and whether those CPU benefits are relevant to you. If not, then maybe RTX 8000 is a good choice for you.

Dries

[figure1a]

...
So, what's the better route on KS9? Something like a 32 core Threadripper 3970X CPU or a fast GPU like the Quadro RTX 8000

Both are fantastic for KeyShot. For typical product shots, the RTX 8000 is going to be very fast.
However, you won't hear Luxion explicitly recommending GPU over CPU. CPU rendering does have benefits. Complex shaders like Cutaway are currently only supported on CPU. Caustics are currently more optimized on CPU. CPU has access to all available RAM. CPUs are not reliant on drivers like GPUs are.

You have to decide for yourself what kind of KeyShot user you are and whether those CPU benefits are relevant to you. If not, then maybe RTX 8000 is a good choice for you.

Dries

Thanks for the reply. Since another month and half have gone by since I last asked and everyone has had more time to tinker, I'm going to ask again: RTX8000 or 32 core Threadripper? Based on Dries answer above, it looks like some features only work with CPU rendering. How about something that renders just fine in CPU or GPU—what would be faster? CPUs seem to very cheap vs. GPUs (the RTX8000)—so why would I want to buy/use GPU with Keyshot?

[KeyShot]

It depends on your workflow. For many scenes the GPU will be very fast. For more complex lighting the CPU algorithms in KeyShot are faster. The RTX 8000 is the most expensive card. Unless you have a need for all the memory you can get excellent performance with the RTX 2080 ti card as well. Having a fast Threadripper CPU combined with a good RTX graphics card will go a long way. If you settle for a 2080 ti card then you can get a fast 32 core Threadripper CPU and get the best of both worlds.

[figure1a]

It depends on your workflow. For many scenes the GPU will be very fast. For more complex lighting the CPU algorithms in KeyShot are faster. The RTX 8000 is the most expensive card. Unless you have a need for all the memory you can get excellent performance with the RTX 2080 ti card as well. Having a fast Threadripper CPU combined with a good RTX graphics card will go a long way. If you settle for a 2080 ti card then you can get a fast 32 core Threadripper CPU and get the best of both worlds.

Thank you so much for the reply. This info is so valuable.