Bandoned
patreon
On GPUs and the future
🕑 Added 2022-03-08 13:39:49 +0000 UTCI need some input, guys. I'm a bit of a bind. I need help deciding on my new GPU purchase.
So, as most of you know, I'm working on a literal potato GPU from 2016, an old 1060GTX, and while I can still work, I'm running into more and more problems as time goes on. My GPU is a massive bottleneck. It's damn near 6 years old by this point. I'm worried it might just crap out on me any day now, and I'll be stuck rendering on my APU, which, while possible, would set me back lightyears in terms of how much I can produce.
My Patreon page is exploding with new patrons, and I'm starting to make actual, serious cash from you guys supporting me. The thing is I can't help but feel I'm not delivering enough actual content. I manage 1 animation per week due to hardware constraints, but I know I could crank out 2 with the proper hardware. It's a massive hindrance to my workflow and my render time.
I'm spending an ungodly amount of time on rendering animations, because my GPU is so ancient, and because I've started to render up so many versions of my animations. I mean, it's fine because I want to reward you guys for supporting me, but it's seriously eating up the time I can spend on animating. I had the entire day off yesterday, time I could have spent on making animations, but I was forced to waste it on letting my computer render forever. It's kind of killing my motivation. It's difficult to explain, but once I start rendering an animation, I'm pretty much done with it. I want to move on to something new and tackle that, but instead I'm usually stuck rendering stuff for a good two days on my off time.
Then there's my workflow. My FPS in Blender when I play animations is so atrocious that I can't really preview what my animations look like unless I render them out and play them as a video file. It's the most ridiculous thing, and it adds so much wasted rendering time that breaks up my animating, and it's just frustrating to no end.
So. Why am I telling you guys all this? I need a new GPU. It's just obvious. The problem is I don't know what to get, and when to get it. The current price of GPUs is still pants on head retarded, but prices are dropping fast. By all accounts, I should wait another 6 months or so for the next 4000gtx series to get released by Nvidia, but I'd be stuck in this crappy GPU limbo for another six months.
So I can bite the bullet, buy an overpriced GPU and really start cranking up my production right now, or I can wait 6 months, continue at this snail's pace but have an awesome futureproof GPU for years to come. I just don't really know what to do.
I'm not going to beg for even more money from you guys for my GPU fund, I just want you guys to know I appreciate all you've done for me over the last couple of months. It's quite the journey, and I hope I'll be able to take the next step soon.
Anyway, this was my blogpost. Thanks for reading. Animation is done tonight.
Comments
I have a 1060 and I feel you. I'd recommend jumping as soon as possible to a new GPU, a 3090 if possible.
Bandoned
Well, that's what bugs me as well, I spend too much time rendering and not enough time animating. Or at least, that's how it feels. Thanks for the advice. I think I'll just bite the bullet at the end of this month and buy something. Hopefully prices will have gone down some more.
Bandoned
Yeah, I'm thinking buying something now, or in the very near future, is probably the best way to go.
XYZ1422
Hard desicion I'm sure but futureproof? Trust me when I say there's no such thing. I have a 1070ti that I bought in 2016, "futureproof" look now. 6 years and it's not futureproof. But you know what? It does a pretty good job. It takes a LOT to push that thing to 100%. Now income, you're exploding right now but slowing down. If your content increases maybe you'd get more patrons? I think it's worth busting the check on a 3080ti right now. Not only do you increase in workflow, but it's a powerful card (x3 the capabilities of the 1070 & 1080 ti) then when the card fails (my 1070ti burnt out, and now it's suffering random malfunctions) you could save up to replace it with something better. Trust me when I say future proofing doesn't work, I think jumping on a 3080ti now may be better. Currently we're suffering a chip shortage, which is why GPU's suffer so much. That and- crypto nuisances. But biting the bullet now would definitely let you scope out future options. Look how long it took us to see a 3080ti? How about a 2070? And they all cost the same. Personally though, I just miss the morr frequent side of this patron, video or not. It was enjoyable getting such frequent insights and updates but now we're left with maybe 2 posts per week? Either way - hope you can make a desicion that works for you. Cheers
HPB
I think if you look for 2070 super and upwards you are fine until the 4000 series comes out. If you can get a good deal for a used one even better. I would recommend the Overclocked versions tho they have superior cooling and are very reliable.
Bandoned
Yup. I paid around 200 for my 1060 way back when. I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. I actually need a new GPU, sooner rather than later. I'm thinking I can't wait forever if I want to keep making cool stuff and grow long term. Let me know if you do need help with Blender, by the way. I have no idea what I'm doing, mind, except how to animate.
Bandoned
With the whole Ukraine situation nobody has any idea if the downward trend of gpu prices is going to keep going, or if we get hit by another supply or resource problem again. That's what's tempting me to just bite the bullet and buy as soon as next month's pledges come in.
Bandoned
Well, that and they tend to release the high end cards first, while I doubt I have the funds to by the 40 series equivalent of a 3090. Thanks for the offer. Well, I'd love to buy a 3090, but that's still 2100 euros at the cheapest where I live. So that's entirely out of my budget range unless I suddenly start raking in like a full 200-300 bucks more each month. I can save up *some* of the money I make via patreon, but it's not like I can stash away 600 bucks each month for my new GPU. I'll be happy if I can get a 3070 or even a 3060ti. That's the problem I have right now. My budget doesn't allow for more than like 600-700 bucks by the end of this month. That used to get you a solid midrange card, now it barely gets you a budget card. To be fair, even a 3060 would probably speed up my render time by like 3 or 4 times.
Darth Vengeant
I am on a Gforce GTX 960. I got it in early 2016. I feel your pain. I want to build a new PC, but I am not selling a kidney to pay for the ridiculous prices right now. You cannot find a halfway decent GC for less than 1500 bucks now. I paid $300 for my 960 in comparison. This is RIDICULOUS with the prices. I read that prices came down 12% in the past month. So, there is hope. But man, I really want to build and PC and learn to do what you do. I just wont pay these prices though. I do Photography and that's now bogging my PC down since Photoshop and Lightroom require more umph now days. Stuff that used to be nearly instant 5 yrs ago is slow now because of it.
Danny
I seriously doubt most people will be able to get a hold of a 4000 series card unless you get lucky, since demand will still be strong regardless of prices. Personally if I were in your position I'd just buy a 3000 series card now (specifically a 3090 since it's supposed to be a beast at rendering), even with the inflated prices. More animations potentially means more patrons which will eventually cancel out the inflated price of the GPU. Worst case scenario is you have a card that will sell for near the price you paid since the hardware shortages are nowhere near ending. If you'd like to get an idea of how long an animation of yours would take to render on a 3090, I'd be cool with helping out since that's what I have. Any animation, doesn't even have to be yours, as long as you can compare render times to your results. Just tell me the settings to use (I barely use blender so I'm not the best at it) and I'll leave it running and let you know.
Sunc
This sounds really tough! I think you should go ahead and buy a new gpu soon if it will make things a lot more enjoyable and easier for you, but if it hurts you to much financially then just wait it out It’d be worth it in the end
