Tackling the Challenge of GPU Rendering with a NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti in Blender
Hello everyone!
Today I want to share a challenging yet insightful experience I faced while trying to utilize my NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti for GPU rendering in Blender. Like many of you, I aspired to shift the rendering workload from my CPU to my GPU, hoping to shorten my project render times significantly. Initially, the GPU usage was disappointingly low, hovering around 3-5%, with an initial spike that didn’t last. Meanwhile, my CPU (an i7-8750H) was being pushed to its limits. After a bit of research and trial and error, I managed to find a solution that worked for me. I’m excited to walk you through the steps I took, in hopes that it might help someone facing the same issue!
Understanding the Problem
When I first noticed that Blender was barely using my NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti, I was perplexed. After setting up everything as recommended for GPU rendering, why wasn’t Blender utilizing the GPU effectively? Initially, I suspected it might be due to incorrect settings or perhaps outdated drivers.
Step-by-Step Troubleshooting and Fixes
1. Verifying Blender Settings:
The first thing I checked was whether the GPU was correctly set up in Blender. Under Edit > Preferences > System, I made sure the CUDA box was checked and my 1050 Ti was selected. It’s important to note that for different types of cards like AMD, you would select OpenCL instead.
2. Updating GPU Drivers:
Next, I updated my NVIDIA drivers to the latest version. This is crucial as newer versions often provide significant performance improvements or bug fixes that affect rendering.
3. Adjusting Tile Size for GPU Rendering:
In Blender, adjusting the tile size can significantly impact rendering performance. Generally, GPUs perform better with larger tile sizes. I experimented with this under the Performance section in the Render Properties panel, setting the tile size to 256×256, which improved GPU utilization.
4. Disabling Integrated Graphics:
To ensure there were no conflicts or automatic switching between the integrated GPU and the NVIDIA GPU, I disabled the integrated graphics in the Device Manager on Windows. This step ensured that Blender only had the option to use the NVIDIA GPU.
5. Monitoring and Benchmarking:
After applying these changes, I monitored the GPU usage using Task Manager and noticed a significant increase in performance. As a benchmark, I used a complex scene and noted the rendering time before and after the adjustments.
Conclusion
Finally, after these adjustments, my NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti’s utilization improved drastically, showing usage spikes up to 80-90% during intense rendering operations, and the overall rendering times decreased. It was a relieving moment seeing that I could indeed streamline my rendering process using the GPU.
In conclusion, if you’re facing similar issues with low GPU usage in Blender, I recommend going through these steps. Each setup can be unique, so some tweaking and testing might be necessary to find the perfect balance for your specific scenario. Happy rendering!
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