I just discovered I can use cycles nodes if I render with my graphics card (ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, 4GB, Pascal architecture) instead of Intel (I'm using Poser 11 Pro for the PC). Doy! Before that, materials were black in my Superfly renders. Also, I had read something somewhere that seemed to indicate my graphics card wasn't new enough (correction: I MISREAD that!).

I finally can play with ghostship2's wonderful freebie materials and Afrodite-Ohki's wonderful freebie materials. AND I think the renders are much faster with these materials and my gpu render setting in Superfly, but I'll need to play more. I need to learn how to create/use more cycles materials--and that means reading the Poser and Blender manuals. And play with Superfly settings, too. And lighting (IDL or not? HDRI or not?). The usual stuff when venturing beyond Firefly.

In the meantime, I have a question about my Win10 graphics settings. I'm not sure if I should turn on my "Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling." It says it reduces latency and improves performance. Does anyone know of any drawbacks? I have 32GB of RAM and Intel Core i5-8600K CPU at 3.60GHz, if that makes a difference. Thanks.

I would guess that it has nothing to do with rendering in a 3D application. Probably more to do with monitor refresh rates and the like. I have two cards in my PC. The newer RTX card is free to render as fast as it can while my older card runs the monitor.

The old true methods, consult the manual and run the test yourself by selecting/deselecting the settings to see if it makes a difference. If it's negligible then you have the option to use it or not.

Thanks, ghostship2 and hborre. I have it running now. Refresh rates makes sense. MY LATEST WOW: I didn't know you could have TWO graphics cards in one PC. I guess that's what your "RTX2060Super+GTX980" means. I checked my motherboard specs. It looks like it can handle two graphics cards but my power supply is only 700W. (Something I'm reading on the web says it might need 850W or more.) Anyway, trying to maneuver two graphics cards is above my (retired) pay grade, but it's good to know.

One can have even three GPUs lined up on a regular motherboard: 2x for rendering (remember to switch off SLI, if the bridge is present) and 1x for display (remember to disable CUDA, if it is another discrete nVidia card). My power supply is a 750W Corsair, btw.

jarek2001, 3 cards with a 750W power supply and your computer hasn't blown up? Wow, I'm really going to consider this in my next computer. Or, if I'm adventurous enough, I might attempt to install a second card myself. My power supply, according to the sales order sheet, is "THERMALTAKE, PS-SPD-0700NPCWUS-W, 700W 80 Plus PSU." It seems like the tower has a gazillion fans running, too. I guess they correspond to the heat generated from the power supply.

Most of PC PSU calculators estimates my whole built recommended PSU wattage at around 650W. Like yours, my power supply is a quality brand unit. Play with outervision.com/power-supply-calculator or bequiet.com/en/psucalculator to see what PSU wattage would be recommended for your project. Note that I use two second-hand medium-range GPUs from 2014 rated at 150W max. each, while the display GPU is rated at 20W max.

Interesting info, Jaerk2001. Thanks!

yw, have fun!

I discovered, using the Basic calculator at outervision, my power supply needs are load 197 and psu 247, so I guess I add these together to round up to 450W. I learned my memory cards are unbuffered and my graphic card isn't SLI, so these would have to be replaced to run more than one graphics card. But I'm just a retired hobbyist, so what I have is probably just fine. And it's nice to know I probably have a good enough computer to not worry about it blowing up. (I've seen too many video clips of computers on fire, I think.) And my computer probably does all I need it to do. I'll have to learn to be patient with Superfly renders.

Thanks again. This was fun trying to figure out my computer specs from Device Manager and my Sales Receipt.

For the record:

desktop; 6 intel(r) Core(tm) i5-8600K CPU @ 3.60GHz; 2 16GB DDR4 Module (unbuffered, so no FB DIMM); 1 nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 TI (zotac brand, no sli/cf); 1 SATA SSD, 1 SATA 7.2K RPM; 1 DVD/CDRW combo drive (also Bluray); 1 LED 27-inch monitor; computer utilization time 8hrs/day ???; gaming/videdit/3d rendering time 4hrs/day ???

Outervision Calculator Results: Load Wattage: 197 W Recommended PSU Wattage: 247 W

Recommended Power Supply: Energy Cost (with monitor): $76.87/yr EVGA Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA 450 GM, 80 Plus Gold 450W, Fully Modular, 7 Year Warranty Power Supply

What I have: THERMALTAKE PS-SPD-0700NPCWUS-W 700W 80 Plus PSU

Actually, you don't add these figures. The recommended PSU wattage to supply your system is just 250W. The online calculator suggests a 450W unit.

Your PSU is an overkill that leaves plenty room for upgrade. Staying within a very very safe margin, say 50% of PSU load of 350W (50%x700W) gives you a 100W (350W-250W) room. However, having a closer look at your PSU specs, I wouldn't recommend crossing a 60% load margin (leaving up to ~200W room for upgrade). Seems like your system has a capacity to support 2x medium-range graphic cards.

Moreover, as you have already noticed, your Intel i5-8600K processor has its own graphic processor. Your display can be setup to use it thus freeing your discrete GPU for rendering purposes only.

Thanks, jarek2001, for this info. Hardware stuff is all Greek to me. I thought I read somewhere I needed SLI to use multiple cards, but I MISREAD that on a second read. So, if I understand you, I could add another graphic card so long as it doesn't exceed a PSU load of 250W (700W - 250 recommended - 200 margin - 250W), and both cards require their own separate psu loads. I may be misunderstanding this, so I did a search on "GeForce GTX 1050 TI psu" and it says, "GeForce GTX 1050 (Ti) - On your average system the card requires you to have a 300~350 Watts power supply unit.Oct 25, 2016." So I may have used the calculator incorrectly.

One thing I could do is speak with the nice folks at Cybertron (where I bought this computer and the one before this). They have a record of my system and can advise me with my options for this specific system. I'll probably want to increase RAM to 64GB, too. Thanks!

The GTX 1050Ti does not support SLI, anyway it is recommended to switch it off for 3D rendering.

Recommended PSU wattage refers to your complete system. Your GeForce GTX 1050 Ti draws just 75W max. Play with the power calculator - add / change the GPU and compare the results. See your system power demand without a discrete GPU (presuming it will use the in-built processor graphic controller).

For GPU 3D rendering you should be looking for a GPU with max. number of CUDA cores (shading units), max. graphic memory and min. power demand. Adding another 32GB RAM to your motherboard will not help your GPU(s).

Talking with your retailer before spending any money would definitely be a good idea.

Thanks. I wasn't sure about the extra RAM and rendering.