Boxx RenderPro - anyone have one ? What's inside :)

[JezUK]

http://www.boxxtech.com/products/ren...tion/renderpro

Okay, I'm drooling - this could be the answer for my render node dreams - only the name/pricetag already has me investigating the self-build route (not forgetting the tiny issue regarding the software needed to communicate between it and my single i7......).

Any ideas what components are inside (especially the mobo) ?

Other considerations I'd need to think about ?

Thanks

[glorybound]

I look at them periodically, however can't get past the price. When you part it, it's marked up 200%

[Morbid Angel]

Its quite expensive and, this will be VERY LOUD...so be perpared it'll be like having a vacuum running 24/7.

[joconnell]

It's a "beside your monitor" node so it's pretty quiet, not like their renderboxx rack mount stuff which is definitely loud. I'm watching the mini itx market carefully at the mo, I'd love an i7 machine that's portable, has two drives and can take a geforce 9xx and 64 gigs of ram.

[super gnu]

be careful about wanting miniature stuff. can bite you on the arse come upgrade time.

i got a couple of lovely microatx workstations, 6 core, oc'ed, and i fitted 32gb in them using (then brand new) 8gb ddr sticks. . unfortunately that is the most ram they will ever fit, as non-ecc 16gb ddr3 modules are not going to be produced.

im hitting that 32gb limit more and more often and wishing i could upgrade.

[JezUK]

be careful about wanting miniature stuff. can bite you on the arse come upgrade time.

i got a couple of lovely microatx workstations, 6 core, oc'ed, and i fitted 32gb in them using (then brand new) 8gb ddr sticks. . unfortunately that is the most ram they will ever fit, as non-ecc 16gb ddr3 modules are not going to be produced.

im hitting that 32gb limit more and more often and wishing i could upgrade.

Big coincidence - I too hit a limit on ram only last week and upgraded my workstation to 64gb - a render that took 1hour with 32gb was re-rendered at 49mins with the 64Gb (and with a less OC, 3875 vs 4200Mhz)

Definitely would go for 64gb from now on for all new machines.

[joconnell]

be careful about wanting miniature stuff. can bite you on the arse come upgrade time.
im hitting that 32gb limit more and more often and wishing i could upgrade.

Yep, that's the main thing for me - even 48 would happily cover me.

[Wilyman]

I'd love an i7 machine that's portable, has two drives and can take a geforce 9xx and 64 gigs of ram.

I think this ticks all of those boxes - http://www.eurocom.com/ec/specs(332)ec
I'd be interested to know what the weight and noise of it are like though.

Cheers,

John

[joconnell]

Ah - I think I'd be sticking to a desktop for that - it'd be lovely to have something small enough to carry around or ship easily but I much prefer working on larger monitors and a proper keyboard. I didn't know about that company though so cheers for pointing them out - the spec on that thing is nuts!

[3LP]

that laptop seems sick, all the same specs are you could fine in a average workstation!

Stan

[JezUK]

Okay... I found out the motherboard that would be needed for one of these suckers....

A Supermicro X10DRT

[posterus]

Hi Jez,
The renderPRO is actually very quiet at full load. It's designed to sit right next to the user. The renderBOXX on the other hand is indeed rather loud at full load and it is designed for a rack in a computer room. You might also look at the new renderPRO1 that was just released. http://www.boxxtech.com/products/ren...on/renderpro-1 - with its liquid cooling it's quieter than the renderPRO 2 (previously just "renderRPRO")

In full disclosure, I do Technical Marketing for BOXX. I rarely comment on product related topics, I just wanted to chime in on the noise comment.

Best,
Joe

[JezUK]

Thanks Joe,

If I look at an 8 core (16 thread) single xeon - say an E5-1680 3.2 processor, a RenderPro1 with 32gb and a low end gpu off your site costs just over $6000 plus tax.

My 5960x is 8 core (16 thread).

How much faster would that E5 be compared to my i7 ?

[Companioncube]

it won't really be any faster, very equal. at least with the 5960x you have the option to overclock quite easily to 4.2Ghz or more.
With the Xeons you get the added option of EEC Ram but if you get a good mobo (keep bios up to date) for the 5960x and good ram for it will be stable anyway.

[3LP]

It would be slightly slower because the base clock speed is lower, but you can now OC with one click solution in the motherboard with fully stable i7 really easily, plus the i7 chip would cost way cheaper.
I would never use a xeon as single processor rig, always i7's. The xeons are really advantages when they are used in dual rigs, otherwise $ for bucks is way too high in single rig solution. When they are dual rigs, it's better and that's where we can start to argue that you get the overcosts of xeons back in less software license and maintenance.

Sorry Joe, but I could build a rig similar or faster (with 5960x OC) for about ~2K so 3 times less than the boxpro on the site.
Don't take it personally but I think boxxtech charge way too much for their market.

Stan