ZBrush

Processor

3D Modeling

Building meshes, extruding polygons and other 3D modeling tasks are single-threaded, meaning they only utilize one CPU core. If using this software mostly for modeling, we recommend a 6 to 8 core processor with a high turbo boost frequency (4.5 GHz and greater).

Animation

Like 3D modeling, animation is also single-threaded. Therefore a processor with high clockspeed and 4 to 6 cores is also recommended.

Rendering

While 3D modeling and animation only utilize one CPU core, rendering is a highly multi-threaded task and therefore a high amount of CPU cores will provide better performance.

Graphics

As technology advances, applications progressively increase graphics card acceleration. ZBrush achieves the largest boost in performance from the processor and the demand on the graphics card is relatively light, so even a mid-range graphics card will be adequate. We recommend at least 8GB VRAM for signifcant raw performance and powering multiple 4K monitors.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16GB (highest performance)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 12GB (most popular)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB

Storage

We recommend a NVMe SSD for the operating system, applications and project files. 1TB is the most common capacity for ZBrush workstations. 1TB is fine if your projects are moderately sized. 2TB is recommended if your projects are large and you will you will use the workstation for a variety of professional applications.

If your projects are complex, are running multiple applications as the same time, and you want to maximize performance, we recommend two SSDs:

1. Primary NVMe SSD: operating system and applications
2. Secondary NVMe SSD: dedicated to active projects

For storage or backup, we recommend a SATA SSD or Hard Drive.

M.2 NVMe Gen4 SSD performs at ~5,000MB/s
2.5-inch SATA SSD performs at ~500MB/s
3.5-inch SATA Hard Drive performs at ~250MB/s

Memory

In general, 4GB of RAM per CPU core is recommended. For example, if you select a single 12-core processor, 32GB will suffice for basic tasks or 64GB for more demanding workloads.