Note: This article generally refers to desktop graphics cards. For laptops, see Section 3.1 after following the guides in Sections 1 and 2.
1. Key Considerations
1.1: Graphics Card Performance (PassMark Score):
Lumion needs a dedicated graphics card with as many PassMark points as possible.
The higher the score, the better Lumion will perform and the faster it will render.
Do these two checks here for both desktop and laptop computers:
- Click here to find out which dedicated graphics card your PC has got. (Integrated-only graphics cards, such as Intel HD graphics chips are not supported.)
- Click here to see how many PassMark points your graphics card has got. You can also click here to use the PassMark search.
1.2: Graphics card memory:
More video memory will help with the overall performance of the Project.
The following guidelines describe which graphics card, amount of video memory, and minimum score you will need based on the complexity of the Projects you expect to work on:
- Knowledge Base: How do you Determine the 'Complexity' of your Projects
For laptops, keep in mind the differences between a laptop and a desktop. See also Section 3.1.
1.3.: Is the graphics card Ray Tracing capable?:
Lumion 2024 comes equipped with Raytracing capabilities To use the Raytracing feature, a graphics card that supports this technology is required.
GPUs that do support hardware-accelerated raytracing:
- Nvidia GeForce RTXseries (RTX 20X0, RTX 30X0, RTX 40X0…)
- Nvidia Quadro RTXseries (Quadro RTX 8000, Quadro RTX 6000, Quadro RTX 5000…)
- Nvidia RTX Aseries (RTX A6000, RTX A5500, RTX A5000, RTX A4000)
- AMD Radeon RX 6000 series (RX 6900, RX 6900 XT, RX 6800, RX 6700 XT, RX 6600 XT)
- AMD Radeon RX 7000 series (RX 7900 XT, RX 7900 XTX…)
- AMD Radeon PRO W6000 series (PRO W6800, PRO W6600…)
- AMD Radeon PRO W7000 series (PRO W7900, PRO W7800…)
Note that Ray Tracing is an optional feature. It is still possible to use Lumion 2024 even if your graphics card does not support Ray Tracing. You just won't be able to make use of the Ray Tracing Effect but you can still render using the Rasterization rendering pipeline.
1.4: Which rendering pipeline do you require?
Lumion 2024 supports both rendering pipelines.
Ray Tracing: is an optional feature.
Rasterization: if you do not wish to use Ray Tracing features you can still use the Rasterization rendering pipeline in Lumion 2024.
Summary Requirements:
Requirement | Minimum: | Recommended: | High-End: | |
PassMark Score: | 8,000+ | 14,000+ | 22,000+ | |
Graphics Card Memory: |
Rasterization | 6+GB | 10+GB | 16+GB |
Raytracing | 8+GB | 10+GB | 16+GB |
Rendering movies in 4K resolution requires a minimum of 8GB graphics card memory.
Ensure you also review the requirements for your Projects as in Section 2.
1.5: Processor:
Fast graphics cards should ideally be paired with a fast CPU (Processor). Click here for more information on CPU requirements.
1.6: Power Supply:
Click here to check if your (desktop PC) power supply is suitable for your graphics card.
Laptops have a supply specific to the requirements of the laptop and you can only use what is provided by the supplier.
1.7: Drivers:
Lumion 2024 has a hard requirement for recent graphics card drivers in order to start:
- NVIDIA: At least version 551.23 (Released on 24/1/2024)
- AMD: At least version 24.1.1 (Released on 23/1/2024)
Here's how to get the latest drivers:
2. Graphics card requirements
2.1. High-end requirements (For Ultra Complex Projects)
2.1.1: Extremely Complex:
Such as a detailed city, airport, or stadium.
[By: Aedas, rendered by Beehive: Aedas City, featuring designs and projects by Aedas]
Minimum requirements:
- Pro-only graphics cards with at least 32GB of graphics card memory.
- Well above 22,000 PassMark points.
Examples:
- NVIDIA RTX A6000* (48GB)
- NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000* (48GB)
- AMD Radeon Pro W7900* (48GB)
*Supports Raytracing.
2.1.2: Large-scale:
Such as a detailed landscape made with high-end Lumion features such as Fine-detail Nature and 3D Grass.
[By: Chuck B_ Edwards, Pine 43 | Large Scale Master Plan]
2.1.3: Highly Detailed:
Such as a detailed multi-floor building with interiors made up of many models and HD textures.
[By: GAtlamaz. Highly Detailed Interior Visualization - Night Render]
Minimum Requirements:
- 16 GB+ graphics card memory.
- 22,000 PassMark points.
Examples:
- NVIDIA: Geforce RTX 3090*, RTX 3090 Ti*,RTX 4070Ti*, RTX 4080*, RTX 4090*, RTX A5000*, RTX A5500*, NVIDIA RTX A6000*
-
AMD: Radeon RX 6800 XT*, RX 6900 XT*, RX 6950 XT*, RX 7900 XT*, RX 7900 XTX*
*Supports Raytracing.
To keep up with these graphics cards, your CPU should have as high a GHz value as possible per thread and should exceed a Single-threaded CPUMark score of 3000 points or more. Preferably 3500 or more for the ultra-high-performance cards such as the NVIDIA RTX 4090 or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX.
2.2. Recommended requirements (For Complex Projects)
Such as:
A small park or part of a city made with OpenStreetMap or other simple models.
[By: Act-3D, Villa Winery, model by Ten Over Studio]
A large home with detailed interiors made up of several models and HD textures but mostly Lumion Library content.
[By: Act-3D, Villa in Casale, model by Marco Caccini]
A single residential or commercial model with a single section of landscape using some high-end models such as Fine-detail Nature.
[By: Act-3D, Museum Development, model by Obra Visual]
Minimum Requirements:
- 10 GB+ graphics card memory.
- 14,000 PassMark points.
Examples:
- NVIDIA: GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, GeForce RTX 2080 Ti*, RTX 3060*, RTX 3070*, RTX 3070 Ti*, RTX 3080*, RTX 3080Ti*, RTX 4070 Ti*, RTX A4000, Quadro RTX 5000*, Quadro RTX 6000*, Quadro RTX 8000*, Quadro P6000, NVIDIA TITAN XP
- AMD: Radeon RX 6700 XT*, Radeon RX 6750 XT*, Radeon RX 6800*, Radeon PRO W6800*,Radeon PRO W7700*, Radeon Pro W5700X, Radeon VII
*Supports Raytracing.
To keep up with these graphics cards, your CPU should have as high a GHz value as possible per thread and should exceed a Single-threaded CPUMark score of 2600 points or more.
2.3. Minimum requirements (For Simple Projects)
Such as:
A small park or residential building with Lumion models and textures.
[By: Act-3D, Villa Cabrera]
Minimum Requirements:
- 6 GB+ graphics card memory.
- 8,000 PassMark points.
Examples:
- NVIDIA: GeForce GTX 1060, GeForce GTX 1660, GTX 1660 Ti, GTX 1660 SUPER, GTX 1070 Ti, GeForce GTX 1080, RTX 2060*, RTX 2060 SUPER*, RTX 2070*, RTX 2070 SUPER*, RTX 2080*, GeForce RTX 3050*, RTX 3060*, NVIDIA TITAN X, Quadro K6000, Quadro RTX 3000*, Quadro RTX 4000*, Quadro RTX 5000*, Quadro P4000, Quadro P5000, Quadro P6000, Quadro K6000, Quadro M5000, Quadro M6000, Quadro P4200
- AMD: Radeon Pro W5500, Radeon RX 5500 XT, Radeon RX 5600, Radeon RX 5700, Radeon RX 5700 XT, Radeon Pro 5700, Radeon Pro 5700 XT, Radeon Pro W5700, Radeon RX 6600*, Radeon RX 6600 XT*, Radeon RX 580, Radeon RX 590, Radeon R9 390X, Radeon Pro WX 9100, Radeon Pro Vega 56, Radeon RX Vega 56, Radeon RX Vega 64, Radeon Vega Frontier Edition
*Supports Raytracing.
The CPU should have as high a GHz value as possible per thread and should exceed a Single-threaded CPUMark score of 2200 points or more.
Please note that this configuration would not be capable of processing Lumions' high-end features such as Raytracing or 3D Grass. Also, rendering in 4K and 8K resolutions requires at least 8GB of video memory. We recommend upgrading your hardware should you find that your computer is close to these minimum requirements.
3. Frequently Asked Questions
- Knowledge Base: Which laptop PCs do you recommend for Lumion 2024?
At the moment Intel ARC GPUs are not officially supported.
You should try and aim for the best in performance along with maximizing memory. But for Lumion, generally, graphics card performance is the key criterion, and then the amount of memory.
You would only focus more on the memory of a card if you intend to work on complex, or, extremely large, and complex Projects. For smaller-scale Scenes, the price/performance benefit is to focus on graphics card speed.
NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon cards can render gaming-based 3D graphics very fast.
- Examples include: NVIDIA RTX 4060 8GB, NVIDIA RTX 4080 16GB, NVIDIA RTX 4090 24GB, AMD Radeon 7600 8GB, AMD Radeon 7800 XT 16GB, AMD Radeon 7900 XTX 24GB.
NVIDIA Quadro, NVIDIA RTX A series, and AMD Radeon Pro cards, often referred to as professional or workstation cards, may sometimes have more memory and can calculate and render lines and fills very fast in CAD software. They also often include certified drivers for specific CAD software but could be more expensive.
- Examples include: NVIDIA RTX A5000 24GB, NVIDIA RTX A6000 48 GB, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 24GB, AMD Radeon Pro W7900 48GB.
Many of our customers use consumer (game-based) graphics cards when working in both Lumion and in their CAD software. Although there are slight differences between consumer and pro/workstation graphics cards, consumer cards work fine in CAD software.
If you need to choose between a more expensive pro/workstation card and a less expensive consumer card with the same PassMark points, then the consumer graphics card is usually a good choice.
For every purchasing decision, always consult with a hardware professional for your computers' specific requirements.
Multiple graphics cards (in NVIDIA SLI, NVIDIA NVLink, or AMD Crossfire configuration) will not boost the performance or render speed in Lumion. Lumion will only use the graphics card that is connected to the monitor that the Lumion window starts on.
Some of our users make use of two graphics cards connected to two different monitors. That way, you can use Lumion on one monitor/graphics card while the other monitor/graphics card is used for other software. This arrangement tends to have a negligible impact on performance.
Note that if other software is running that demands a lot from the computers' CPU, then this may result in extended render times as the computers' max performance will be split between many programs.
It's also worth mentioning that NVIDIA has discontinued support for the SLI bridge.
The GeForce RTX 40x0 series does not utilise NVLink but makes use of the PCIe Gen with higher bandwidth.
NVLink is available but is currently limited only for the GeForce RTX 3090, RTX A6000, and RTX A5000 and newer. It is not compatible with the bridges from the 20-Series and Quadro RTX cards.
Please see this article:
- Knowledge Base: Can you use an External Graphics Card Unit (eGPU) with Lumion?
Docking stations (for example the Dell D6000) are not officially supported and we cannot guarantee that Lumion will work as expected.
If you have an AMD Navi graphics card, you should use the very latest AMD driver (from 1st of April 2020 or newer).
See also:
- Knowledge Base: What kind of computer does Lumion 2024 need?
- Knowledge Base: Which power supply do you need?
- Blog Article: Lumion computer advice for faster 3D rendering (Spring 2023 Update)
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