New Workstation

[glorybound]

I can't get what I want for much under $20,000. Basically, 3090X Ryzen 32 core, 128Gb of RAM, and 2 RTX 3090's. Is this what I should expect to pay for a decent machine?

[Muhammed_Hamed]

Hey Bobby!

-This is the old 2990wx in the screenshot, don't get that. It is not very good (many issues with memory compatibility and whatnot)
The 3990x is much better in every way, and 64 cores should fit within budget

-Bad cooler, 120 MM is not enough for this CPU
Get a 280 or 360 .. something like Masterliquid 360 TR4 edition, which covers the whole socket

-I recommend spending more on Mobo for this kind of build/CPU
MSI Creator TRX40 or Asus Zenith Extreme 2 TRX40 (they offer many cool features and they can handle this CPU)

-Very slow RAM you have in the screenshot, Ryzen loves fast memory it affects raw CPU performance.. (ECC is not helpful in any way for what we do)
Priority should be like this,
3200 MHz @CL14 if you can find these, then 3600 @CL16 then 3200 @CL16

-Wrong power supply choice, 850 Watts is not gonna be enough for 1 GPU .. not even 2 get 1300 Watts at least

Pricing depends on GPUS, they are twice the price in most places. This is such a terrible to build a machine sadly
without GPUs the parts should be around 7000 Euros (includinig drives and case)
Maingear are great if you wiill not build this on your own, and most importantly their pricing is quite fair unlike Dell or others

[glorybound]

I knew the power was not enough, which was a red flag. I couldn't find a thing on DELL's site and BOXX was about twice the price of everywhere else. I'll check out Maingear. Thank you!

[super gnu]

i cannot recommend the 3990x enough. its a monster and (for our line of work) well worth the enormous pricetag.

the only downside is when you set up a scene that renders nice and fast, then send it to a farm and they tell you it takes 2 hrs a frame and will cost a fortune to render. (happened today)


if you dont want to get into watercooling, this cpu cooler has rave reviews:

https://www.icegiantcooling.com/

all other advice above seems solid... i chose a n unsuitable motherboard (asrock creator) because a) i originally specced 32 core cpu and b) it has a nice layout and fits 4 double width gpu slots in one atx motherboard...

i do regret it a touch since ive had a broken vrm fan, flaky /non functional sound, and the limited continuous power it can deliver limits the boost clocks of the cpu a little.


if you want to save cash, id ditch the second rtx3090, or even use an old gpu for now and ditch both of them. ..

first, as Muhammad stated, gpus are like gold dust at the moment and well overpriced.

second, since getting the 3990x, ive not touched gpu rendering.. - and i was heavily leaning towards it before. its sooo-ooooooo nice just to use all of the vray features without worrying about compatibility or wierd crashes.

Given the current prices you could basically get a second entire 64 core rig for the price of the gpus... which, i would suggest, would be a better investment as things stand.

[glorybound]

I have a Titan, so maybe that will do; However, Vlado said one 3090 is twice as fast as my Titan. I got the price down to $12,000 on Maingear with the 3990X 64 core, 128Gb of fast RAM, and two RTS 3090's.

[Neilg]

The workstations we use at DBOX cost $1500... animations stick to an hour a frame, 6-10 hours for a 6k still.
I cant think of a situation where I could justify 20k on a machine. it's all your eggs in one basket if you get a hardware failure.

[glorybound]

Yes, but what kind of farm do you have access to?

[Neilg]

It's 8x $1500 machines. few are rendering full time if they need to, the rest are workstations and going at night. This is 6 people in Miami with multiple jobs on at once.
I think the NY studio has 30 of the same machines.

Edit: i wasn't trying to bang on about that, i was just saying - get a powerful desktop, but maybe ease it back to mid power range - 10k even seems ludicrously high and get a second which can render while you work as a backup. If one goes down you're not totally screwed.

The 3950x is half the speed as the 3990x - so 2 of them in DR should be pretty close to the same, except you've spent $1,400 on cpu's instead of $4,000

[glorybound]

The workstations we use at DBOX cost $1500... animations stick to an hour a frame, 6-10 hours for a 6k still.
I cant think of a situation where I could justify 20k on a machine. it's all your eggs in one basket if you get a hardware failure.

Mind sharing your specs?

[Neilg]

It's this - https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kdjNDc
I was wrong about it being $1500 all in - that doesn't include a video card. Upgrading the cpu to a 3950x would be an extra $250.

$1,750 for a machine which is half the CPU rendering speed as one at $20,000

[super gnu]

The 3950x is half the speed as the 3990x - so 2 of them in DR should be pretty close to the same, except you've spent $1,400 on cpu's instead of $4,000

yes but you have to include 2x every other component including windows.. youre spending $2600 more on a machine, which is 3.5x faster (the 3990x isnt only twice a 16 core chip, and enabling PBO puts it through the roof. ).

(dont get me wrong.. i used an old 6 core until recently.. i was all set to get the 32 core cos the 64 is super expensive, buuut.. just as i was about to hit the button, i got a big job in, and thought "what the heck.. itll last me a good while and pay for itself in rendering etc.. and im sure it has already. a friend of mine got one on my recommendations, and it renders faster than all the other workstations in his office together with DR.. while consuming 4x less power.

i agree about the "eggs in one basket" thing, and i am seriously considering getting a second cheaper machine as backup.. however comparing only cpu cost isnt correct.

also, when im using tyflow or IPR, those 64 cores are fantastic. a farm cant do that. .

[super gnu]

It's this - https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kdjNDc
I was wrong about it being $1500 all in - that doesn't include a video card. Upgrading the cpu to a 3950x would be an extra $250.

$1,750 for a machine which is half the CPU rendering speed as one at $20,000

my machine cost £5500/ $7500), without gpu (i already had one) expensive, but not 20,000

[glorybound]

A big difference between 12 cores and 64 cores. Right now I have 64 cores, but they are aging and pretty slow.

[glorybound]

16Gb of RAM? How can you work with that little bit of RAM?

[francomanko]

I'm just curious but whats the reasoning behind getting 2x 3090 as well as a 32 core cpu...wouldnt it be more cost effective to choose either cpu or gpu route?