What hardware makes Archicad go faster?

[4hotshoes]

I will be buying a new Mac to replace my 6 year old one. But I am not sure what upgrades will make the most difference.

The new 15" MacBook Pro has options for:
Processors: Both are 8-core i9, one is 2.3 Ghz the other is 2.4 Ghz +$200
Memory: 16 or 32 GB +$400
Graphic Cards: Radon Pro (each with 4GB memory) 560X, Vega 16 +$250, Vega 20 +$350
All HD's are SSD

If I only have $600 more to upgrade the the 15 inch MacBook Pro's basic offering, which of the features above will have the most influence on keeping Archicad running fast?

In other words, if 16 GB of ram is more than enough, buying 32GB will not improve anything, Right?

Or while the higher priced graphic cards improve game play, does Archicad tap into their power to make it worth spending an extra $350?

The speed upgrade from 2.3 to 2.4 Ghz seems rather insignificant from my lack of knowledge. Is it insignificant? Is it worth the upgrade?

How does Archicad use these?

I would think that a Windows tech guru could also answer these questions too.

[Lingwisyer]

What RAM configurations are available in the MacBook Pro? How many DIMM slots are there? How easy is it to access the DIMM slots? If there are 4 slots, and you can get 2x8GB sticks, I would say to go for the better CPU for now, then in the future, you can add another 2x8GB sticks.



Ling.

[rm]

I'm sorry, are we not allowed to ask questions here? I can read what he wrote about not using it for Artlantis or TwinMotion. But perhaps there are other people in his same position who might benefit from a response to my added comments about gpu as well. If you you don't wish to answer with a helpful comment, perhaps no comment is best.

BTW, there is clearly something wrong with my account here on this forum. Not only that I cannot upload jpegs in post, now when I try to use the reply with quotes option, it never shows the quotes in the preview window, is that normal site behavior?

LaszloNagy wrote:

rm wrote:
The GPUs and now eGPU availability on newer Macs since High Sierra came out, is another issue to consider.

The people at Epic / TwinMotion, seem to point to getting the FASTEST possible AMD GPU cards possible for Mac users, as nvidia no longer supported by Apple.....not now anyway.

He said he does not want to use it for Artlantis or Twinmotion:

So if I have no intention of using Artlantis or TwinMotion for AC 22 or 23, I should be fine with the basic option currently being offered for the 15" MacBook Pro?

[rm]

Lingwisyer wrote:
What RAM configurations are available in the MacBook Pro? How many DIMM slots are there? How easy is it to access the DIMM slots? If there are 4 slots, and you can get 2x8GB sticks, I would say to go for the better CPU for now, then in the future, you can add another 2x8GB sticks.



Ling.

Ling -

On previous versions of MBP, you could add or change out memory. Unfortunately, Apple only offers factory build options. So on MBP you get either 16 or 32 GB of RAM. That is why I suggested getting more RAM instead of the faster CPU. Virtually every online review of the newest MBP with the i9 processor shows that the increase in cost for the fastest processor does not net a very good return on investment. Hence the reviewers indicate spending the additional money on RAM instead and or adding a faster GPU.

[Lingwisyer]

On previous versions of MBP, you could add or change out memory. Unfortunately, Apple only offers factory build options. So on MBP you get either 16 or 32 GB of RAM.

So they solder the RAM on now and / or use all DIMM slots (4x4 = 16GB or 4x8 = 32GB)? Whelp...

rm wrote:
never shows the quotes

This looks rather odd as the BBCode looks correct but it is not converting it in only your posts...



Ling.

[Laszlo Nagy]

rm wrote:
I'm sorry, are we not allowed to ask questions here?

Sorry Robert if you feel offended. I usually like to answer just the questions of the original poster and not bring additional topics that can complicate the situation. But I understand you point, which is also totally valid.

By the way, the BBCode setting in your Profile was set to disable BBCode by default, this is why the quotes were not displaying correctly. I have modified this setting for you so now they should display correctly.

I have also fixed them in your posts so now they are displayed fine.
For anyone who has this problem, this can be done by Editing the post, and unchecking the "Disable BBCode" checkbox below the Editing field, then clicking the "Submit" button.

[Miha_M]

LaszloNagy wrote:
...
1. RAM
2. CPU
3. SSD (NMVe)
4. GPU

I would agree 100 % with Laszlo here. But only within the same CPU generation (Moore's law)!
RAM, CPU & SSD are important for bare Archicad functionality. GPU & GPU RAM are important for everthing displayed in 3D. Since V22 I think Archicad does use the GPU's power for rendernig also, maybe for some other display options as well, as it does work much smoother. So maybe one should consider more CUDA power to be future proof? As for RAM I am using 24GB ECC and have no problems at all.

[Erwin Edel]

As far as I know CUDA is no longer available after High Sierra, since current support for nVidia is lackluster at best and no new mac machines are being made with nVidia GPU.

Cinerender does not use the GPU for anything that I'm aware of (on windows at least).

Sadly there has been no noticeable development in over a year: https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/1042520/drivers/-when-will-the-nvidia-web-drivers-be-releas...

[4hotshoes]

Thanks for all your input. This has been helpful. I welcome more comments as well. For now, I am just adding RAM until I get busy enough to expand or my needs evolve. The message here seems to be consistent. It is good to know that Archicad alone does not require a super GPU. It is an amazing app for all that it does with fairly standard hardware. For now I don’t even have time to create detailed models that are photorealistic.

[Miha_M]

Erwin wrote:
Cinerender does not use the GPU for anything that I'm aware of (on windows at least).

True. The GPU is used for 2D graphic acceleration since v22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=n7Gemx6e6HA

[rm]

LaszloNagy wrote:

Sorry Robert if you feel offended. I usually like to answer just the questions of the original poster and not bring additional topics that can complicate the situation. But I understand you point, which is also totally valid.

By the way, the BBCode setting in your Profile was set to disable BBCode by default, this is why the quotes were not displaying correctly. I have modified this setting for you so now they should display correctly.

Lazlo -

Thanks for fixing how quotes work on my setup!

As to your other point, I completely understand, sometimes the original posters thread gets "hijacked" and taken a completely different direction. So I appreciate your effort to keep the comments on point. In this case, as I think you realize, I thought given the original post, CPU and GPU comments were relevant.

To the point, Miha_M rightly pointed us to Graphisoft's own link showing GPU does make a difference in screen redraws. I was not aware that, which makes my question about whether going with internal GPU or an aftermarket eGPU on a Mac is a better route. I guess knowing the GPU does affect redraw speed, makes this question relevant to PCS as well! The advantage to my PC using colleagues, is they can probably upgrade on their laptops, Apple does not let its customers do that.

Miha_M, thanks for posting that GS link, that is very relevant to this discussion.

Thank you!