Recommended RAM per Core or Thread?

[Streetwise]

I'm thinking of adding a used HPZ800 2X X5670 to my little farm. What is the recommended amount of RAM to look for? I've heard 2GB per thread, so in this case, I'd need at least 24GB. Some of the used ones come with 48GB however. Thoughts?

Thanks.

[Morbid Angel]

I had a xeon once running with only ram for one cpu, some how the other one was just working I don't think its that important to have exact ram for the cpu. With that said though, how much would be enough to get your daily tasks done? For me 48 GB is not enough, I have one system with 96 and I feel great with that.

[werticus]

I've never heard of ram per core, tho some cpu's have their own ram banks in multiple cpu systems.

My current farm has 32gb per cpu. Don't feel the need for more.

[Streetwise]

I've never heard of ram per core, tho some cpu's have their own ram banks in multiple cpu systems.

My current farm has 32gb per cpu. Don't feel the need for more.

Given that it will be just a node, seems like 24GB for a 2X X5670 setup would be fine then. Thanks for the info.

[Donald2B]

My rule of thumb is put as much RAM as you can afford into any machine. Some of our rendernodes only got 32GB and it's not nearly enough now, less than 2 yrs later. If you can afford it, get more...min of 32GB.

Also, check out the motherboard and see what the best performance you can get out of your memory configuration. My current motherboard prefers that all 8 slots be filled so that the memory can run in quad channel mode, allowing for more memory bandwidth. This aspect can be easily overlooked and can reduce the performance potential of the machine, especially those that have multiple CPUs. Just something to think about.

[Streetwise]

All good thoughts Troy. There's bunches and bunches of HP Z800 (2x X5670) machines on eBay. Based on what you said, I'll zero in on the 48GB configured ones but ask how the memory is configured. Makes total sense.

[werticus]

when i buy a render box i make sure to get the motherboards with spare ram slots and or get the larger sized ram so that it can be upgraded if needed. It really depends on the scene and how well optimised you can make it.

I had a scene approaching 30gb of ram use and was going to upgrade but i just went through it and managed to cut it back down to requiring under 20gb.