Similar to other software developers, Maxon keeps track of the system requirements for Cinema 4D, which you can use to make sure your system's hardware is compatible with their software. The hardware that is actually required to operate the software is not covered in this list of "system requirements"; rather, it simply covers the bare minimum. We've spent time evaluating various combinations of hardware to find out which one works best with Cinema 4D because of how unreliable those lists can be. We have developed our own list of suggested hardware for Cinema 4D based on this testing.

Because most design jobs in Cinema 4D, such as building, editing, and animating 3D models, can only use one CPU core, a high-frequency CPU, regardless of the number of cores, is the best option for these kinds of tasks. Our Design & Animation workstation therefore prioritizes high clock rates with a moderate number of cores.

However, the rendering capabilities built into Cinema 4D, along with those of other CPU-based rendering engines like Arnold, Mental Ray, V-Ray Next CPU, and Keyshot, are very efficient at utilizing a large number of cores. In fact, most of these engines scale almost perfectly, which makes a CPU with twice the number of cores nearly twice as fast (assuming similar clock speeds). Dual processors can be effective for pure rendering, but they tend to have lower clock speeds and aren’t ideal for workstations where modeling is a core part of the workflow.

The AMD Ryzen 7000 Series, Intel 13th Generation or newer, Threadripper 5000 Series, or newer CPU with Octa Core Processor is the minimum CPU recommended for Cinema 4D.

Although the exact amount of RAM you require will vary depending on your specific projects, we usually advise at least 16GB for Cinema 4D. Very complex scenes may need up to 32GB of RAM, although it is rare for Cinema 4D to require more than 32GB.

In extreme cases, if you will be doing a large amount of complex, high-resolution rendering, you may need 64GB or even more RAM.

The video card has a significant impact on how many frames per second (FPS) the viewport can display a model at when developing, editing, and animating models in Cinema 4D. It will be smoother and more enjoyable to rotate, zoom, or pan around the model you are working on if the frame rate is higher. Generally speaking, 60 frames per second is the optimal framerate, while 30 is the minimum that may be tolerated.

Cinema 4D makes use of your video card in ways that go beyond simple 3D viewing. Redshift, a GPU-based renderer that offers an alternative to C4D's built-in CPU-based engine, was recently bought by Maxon. There are also many additional GPU rendering plug-ins available, such as Octane Render. Additionally, there is also a new feature in Cinema 4D called the Unified Simulation System, which can use the video card alongside the CPU to accelerate certain types of physics simulations.

Primary Drive: OS/Software (SSD/NVMe): Includes your operating system and the base Cinema 4D installation. An SSD is highly recommended as it will greatly improve how fast the OS and programs startup, but you can also upgrade to a faster NVMe drive for a small performance benefit. The recommended storage for installation of software is not more than 15 GB.

Since the primary drive will primarily be used to store Windows and software, including all software (except large Game), it doesn't need to be that large for the majority of users; a 500GB SSD will be enough for Drive C.

Secondary Drive: Project Files (Platter/SSD/NVMe) Having a second storage (either SSD or HHD) for storing assets and effects is a wonderful alternative if you have additional money to spend or keep a lot of them around for use on different projects. Of course, an internal or external hard drive is a more cost-effective option than a high-capacity SSD if you need more mass storage and preservation.