Small Render Setup: 2 or 3 workstations vs 1 big server

[krysalis]

Looking at a new render setup and appreciate any advice. I came up with these scenarios (based on DIY component build cost and published Vray scores):

Option	Configuration	Cost (ea.)	Vsamples (ea.)	Qty.	Cost (Total)	Vsamples (Total)
A	Server: Dual AMD Epyc 9755 128-core, 1.124TB RAM	$35,000	354,400	1	$35,000	354,400
B	Workstations: AMD Threadripper Pro 7995WX 96-Core 256GB RAM	$17,000	188,200	2	$34,000	376,400
C	Workstations: AMD Threadripper 7980X 64-Core, 256GB RAM	$11,000	130,200	3	$33,000	390,600

Here's how I see it:

Option A

• Most power efficient / lowest power bill over time
• Least administration (just one node)
• Highest scaling density (3X more power in a rack)
• Highest up-front cost
• Lowest aggregate performance
• No redundancy (one node goes down and I'm incapacitated)
• Dedicated system / not practical for swinging to workstation use

Option B

• Somewhat between A & C, but more like C just costlier

Option C

• Least up-front cost
• Highest aggregate performance
• Most redundancy (three nodes, so can limp by on two if one goes down)
• Easier self-support (can transplant parts from working system to troubleshoot hardware issues)
• Flexibility of potential to be used as workstations part-time
• Less power efficient / higher power bill over time
• More administration (multiple nodes vs one big node)
• Low scaling density (takes 3X physical space to achieve same performance as Option A)

Did I miss something? I'm leaning towards Option B or C because of the redundancy and flexibility, as well as the fact I can more granularly add performance. For my uses, I'd actually be more comfortable doing a double order of one of these options to get the render times I'd like.

PS: I know the RAM isn't equal - I could go to 512GB RAM in the workstations for ~$1600 more each and I probably would. 256 is enough for what I've been doing, but nice to have some cushion. The larger amount in the Epyc server is just to fully populate all the channels for performance and seems like the thing to do with so many cores.

[Muhammed_Hamed]

I would go option B or C, preferably option B
There are many 7995wx CPUS outhere, it will be easy to find solutions for any potential issues on the software or the hardware side. Plus all components for this setup will be consumer components.
Dual socket, you will most likely run into more issues that are not easy to solve considering how rare this setup is. We don't have anything like this here in the Sofia office, while we have multiple Threadripper workstations. Plus, most of the components are server grade.

Best,
Muhammed