What is the best size for the cache? What are the tradeoffs?

[Jennifer Boyle]

Now that we can have a cache of up to 9984 mB, I am wondering what the ideal size is.  Can it be too big, or is bigger always better?  If not, do some things get worse while others get better as it gets larger?  Does the ideal size depend on the hardware and/or software environment?  If so, how does that work?

Any help with this question will be appreciated.

[Cerise Sorbet]

Hi, generally the bigger the cache, the better. If the computer has very little memory, like close to the minimum requirements, the cache index does use some, so that could be a reason to keep it a little smaller. If you like to clear the texture cache as a habit, it will take longer to delete more files, but that is really just a startup thing.  For low end hardware built in 2011, 5 GB is fine.

[Chelsea Malibu]

More cache means more content on your machine which in theory, improves performance however, lets say the scene you are rendering is less than what you have in cache? Your system now has to process that cache as well as the new content to load your assets.

Furthermore, if you do not have the RAM or Graphics Card Capacity to support a larger cache, you will more than likely freeze up or crash as you memory reallocates.

At the end, a GB or less is usually adequate. Mine is set to 2GB and I have all my settings at their highest levels.

[Jennifer Boyle]

Thanks for the responses. I think I'll set it to the maximum just to see if I can see a difference.

[Smoothie Perl]

Let your client to set the default value.

Normally it will be the best for you and your computer

Don't make thing more complicate than it is