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So, I am finally pulling trigger on my rendering rig.

A

alucasa

Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
3,505 (0.59/day)
I've done my researches for a month on parts and have assembled a list of components I am going to get.

This is CPU rendering rig based on 2011-V3.

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2683 v3
This is a 14core / 28 threads monster at 2Ghz. I am able to source this on Ebay for 450CAD. This is a non-ES, OEM, CPU.

CPU cooler: ARCTIC Freezer i11

Mobo: Asrock Extreme4 X99

Case: Cooler Master Silencio 352

RAM: G.SKILL Aegis 32GB (2 x 16GB)

HDD: A single M.2 Samsung 256gb EVO SSD (Already own)

PSU: Cx500 500w

OS: Fedora x64 (Blender performance is far superior on unix than on Windows by a clear margin of 10%+)

GPU: AMD *60 75w version to reduce cable.


The rig is solely for rendering, nothing else. If you have any comments and advice, let me know.
 
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Looks good nothing really to add to it other than maybe a stronger psu in the 600-700 range, but then again 500 W should be enough for it.
 
I'm curious what sort of rendering do you have in mind? I will then have a better idea of any suggestions to make.
 
My main 3D application is Blender.

But I also use Vue and Terragen. I suppose I will use the two on my main rig since it's Windows only application. My final scenes are almost always done with Blender though. GPU rendering is sort of not an option due to needing 10gb-ish RAM.

I've been a hobbyist for some years now and was content with 4c/8t until I started adding particle effect. Things really start to slow down in real time viewport render.

The rig has no need for storage as it will render files on a network storage I have. GPU is there for video output only, so even a cheap 720 will do the job.
 
Once the 1080ti comes out you might be interested in it, it will likely have 12GB of RAM.

Also, I assume you have renders that take quite a long time to complete, so I hope you have a battery backup.
 
12gb ram isn't really comforting. It can go over that easily. GPU rendering isn't an option really. For the similar amount of money, I can build this and not worry about anything at all.

Generally, a render takes 4 hours to 10 hours on i7. Rendering is basically calculating lightning, Depends on how complex lightning setup is and how many bounces it makes. I was going to stick with mainsteam socket but Intel ain't bringing 6 core into it and AMD Zen hype is letting me down.
 
He meant the Titan Xp has 12GB of vRAM, not your system ram. ;)

A quality 550W PSU will be PLENTY for any single card operation including overclocking the CPU and GPU with ambient temps. Something like the EVGA G2 550W would be a solid 'bang for your buck' tier 1 PSU.
 
GPU rendering is limited to GPU's RAM. Render will crash when RAM runs out.
 
You said it wasn't an option anyway...

I was only (trying) to clarify what newtekie was saying which (I believe) you misinterpreted. ;)
 
It is indeed not an option. I am not spending over a grand for a misery 12gb RAM capacity.

With CPU rendering, I can upgrade RAM if needed. With GPU, that's not an option.
 
Doesn't the GPU render a lot faster though?
 
qubit said:
Doesn't the GPU render a lot faster though?
Click to expand...

My Nvidia 760 is slightly faster than i7-6700 (non-K0). That's what I know for a fact.

Against 14c/28t, I am not sure. I reckon GPU will be faster but if I can't render a scene due to lack of RAM, what would be the point?
 
The point is maybe a AMD FireGL with 32 Gigs of Ram. Then you don't need the 14 core CPU.
 
Out of curiosity what is the blender performance difference between a single intel 14c vs a pair of amd 16c chips? I feel like you could build a rig for a similar price with a 2P AMD setup (maybe even a 4p)
 
cdawall said:
Out of curiosity what is the blender performance difference between a single intel 14c vs a pair of amd 16c chips? I feel like you could build a rig for a similar price with a 2P AMD setup (maybe even a 4p)
Click to expand...

You can visit this thread for some info. It took me hours to digest what I should aim for.

https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?239480-2-7x-Cycles-benchmark-(Updated-BMW)

AMD CPU is so slow compared to Intel's that I ruled it out completely within few tens of minutes. Note that some of results there must be discarded because not all users are reporting it honestly. But you can make out general sense of performance level after a while.

From what I can tell, intel cpu is at least twice faster compared to AMD's. No one in the thead was using AMD server grade CPU, so I wouldn't know but I ruled AMD CPUs out.

Besides, I am looking for 1 CPU system due to wanting to stick to m-ATX. I used to own 2P xeon 1366 system for WCG and I felt it wasn't worth it.
 
alucasa said:
I'd still choose CPU render simply due to the price.
Click to expand...
Seems a fair reason to me. That's some serious dollars there for the graphics card.
 
alucasa said:
I'd still choose CPU render simply due to the price. The rig I listed costs around 1,000CAD and upgradable.

Workstation GPU costs way, waaaaaayyyyy, more.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195129
Click to expand...

The point I was making, is that when the 1080Ti comes out, GPU rendering might become an option. It should have 12GB of VRAM, so if your project uses less than that, you'll be fine, it won't be super expensive(probably about half the price of the Titan XP), and it will be way faster than even a 14c/24t CPU. You don't need a workstation graphics card, like you said, your GTX 760 is already keeping up with a 4c/8t high clocked CPU. You don't need a workstation GPU for what you are doing. The 1080Ti when it comes out, might be something to look into upgrading your rig with.

Also, at least with my admittedly limited experience with Blender, when the GPU runs out of VRAM, it will start to page out to use system RAM. The nVidia driver is designed to handle this, and it does it with games as well. It will slow down rendering, but it definitely shouldn't be crashing.
 
newtekie1 said:
The point I was making, is that when the 1080Ti comes out, GPU rendering might become an option. It should have 12GB of VRAM, so if your project uses less than that, you'll be fine, it won't be super expensive(probably about half the price of the Titan XP), and it will be way faster than even a 14c/24t CPU. You don't need a workstation graphics card, like you said, your GTX 760 is already keeping up with a 4c/8t high clocked CPU. You don't need a workstation GPU for what you are doing. The 1080Ti when it comes out, might be something to look into upgrading your rig with.
Click to expand...

The thing is, 12gb is too limiting. What if I want to experiment? I don't use 4k textures but what if I want to use that? A fairly busy scene will eat 10gb. What if I add few more objects? It could go over 12gb. A GPU may be fast but offers no upgrade path. I have to swap out for a new unit.
On the other hand, CPU renderer gives me flexibility with RAM. And with windows, if a render exceeds RAM, it will try to use pagefile to some level before deciding enough is enough. CPU rendering is far more flexible than GPU rendering.


newtekie1 said:
Also, at least with my admittedly limited experience with Blender, when the GPU runs out of VRAM, it will start to page out to use system RAM. The nVidia driver is designed to handle this, and it does it with games as well. It will slow down rendering, but it definitely shouldn't be crashing.
Click to expand...

Nah, the render will stop and crash when vRAM runs out. I've experienced that shit ton of times with my 760 w/ 2gb. Any scene with even low-res textures will exceed 2gb easily. Bah.
 
alucasa said:
Ebay cpu sale link 1

Ebay cpu sale link 2

I was skeptical but user feedback seems to be genuine. Those are non-ES OEM cpus.
Click to expand...
These are so cheap because lots of server cpus get sold on a bunch, with "lots" I mean thousands - it really inflates the price of these CPUs in a massive way. Normally these aren't really affordable.
 
Kanan said:
These are so cheap because lots of server cpus get sold on a bunch, with "lots" I mean thousands - it really inflates the price of these CPUs in a massive way. Normally these aren't really affordable.
Click to expand...

Still need to be careful because I've seen such CPUs from China with fake IHS but those two appear to be genuine.
 
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