Boxx

[glorybound]

I was rendering over nights, so I didn't really worry about render times. I usually had 1 job on the board, so it worked. Now, I am working 5-6 projects, so I can't wait for overnight renderings to run. I'll get something soon, just so I can keep up with things.

[hoch5]

Working on 5-6 projects at the same time you should really consider getting another can just as a render node. I know the process of setting it all up until the point it's running flawlessly can drive you nuts. But having one computer doing the renderings on backburner is letting you take on the next project without waiting for the pixels to sort out. You could even set up a file storage on either one of the workstations without the need of an extra file server.

Some years ago I had a system of 20+ nodes. They were really good in crunching the numbers but the administration was time consuming. So I understand your concern about that workflow.
I've decided to change the setup to only two workstations two years ago. One to work on and the other one to get the renderings done. Still I am so happy with that decision. It's been a real time saver and even makes me sleep better at nights without having to worry to much.

I doubt that that just replacing your workstation with a newer one will boost your whole workflow substantial. The CPU development slowed down in the last years performance wise. So if you're happy with your current workstation you might be disappointed when a newer one doesn't change the whole game.

[glorybound]

I doubt that that just replacing your workstation with a newer one will boost your whole workflow substantial. The CPU development slowed down in the last years performance wise. So if you're happy with your current workstation you might be disappointed when a newer one doesn't change the whole game.

You hit the nail on the head!

[AC5L4T3R]

Working on 5-6 projects at the same time you should really consider getting another can just as a render node. .

Would it be possible to use your old machine as a node? 2 computers rendering the same scene is always better than one!

[glorybound]

I really want to avoid the farm setup. I have had nothing but headaches managing them. I just want one machine that can render fast. I work from home, so I usually work around the clock. I don't mind taking a 2 hour break to render something out when I can just make up the time later in the day. You can fit 8 hours anywhere in a 24 hour day. What I can't do is have a rendering take 12 hours, so optimizing a scene to be rendered on a fast machine is my goal.

[AC5L4T3R]

What about distributed rendering? I have four nodes that I use for exactly that. No messing around with a farm, just starting the Vray distributed spawner exe and away you go. Plus, seeing something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPXiITMpHGE is massively satisfying over watching a render tick tock in deadline.

[Oleg_Budeanu]

There is nothing simpler than setting up Deadline 7.2 free version for 2 nodes , but in your case - just compare speeds of new and old processors and you will get the difference to decide worth it or it is not.

[glorybound]

What about distributed rendering? I have four nodes that I use for exactly that. No messing around with a farm, just starting the Vray distributed spawner exe and away you go. Plus, seeing something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPXiITMpHGE is massively satisfying over watching a render tick tock in deadline.

Yes, that's what I was doing, over 5 machines. Those machines were getting old about the time V-Ray's licensing changed, so I retired them and went with my Dual Quad Core XEON. Also, I concentrated on optimizing my scenes. When you have the horse power you just kind of through things at it. When I went to the one machine, with optimizing things, my render times didn't change.

[glorybound]

Found it, I think. It seems to meet all my needs and is priced right.

http://www.amazon.com/CPU-Solutions-...RQKR0FY7W7ZJTX

[viscorbel]

I don't understand your aversion to picking the parts and building the system yourself.
In the time you've spent looking the perfect premade system you could've done it easily, and cheaper at that.

Here's a simple example - much cheaper and with a better cpu (not sure why you want to skimp on the most important part)

[AC5L4T3R]

I don't understand your aversion to picking the parts and building the system yourself.
In the time you've spent looking the perfect premade system you could've done it easily, and cheaper at that.

Here's a simple example - much cheaper and with a better cpu (not sure why you want to skimp on the most important part)

Ah I should have read the post before making this haha. Anyway, I made this as a "like for like" for comparison. Only thing that's missing is the DVD drive because for some reason, Part Picker doesn't give me any options, but you can buy one of those for about $15.

So you gotta ask yourself, is having it made by someone else and getting a warranty worth $800? Even if you manage to mess up then 99% of the time, the manufacturer will replace whatever you broke. ASUS and MSI are really good with that kind of stuff. I put my first PC together when I was about 13 with a mate from high school - it took us hours because we had no idea what we were doing, but we did it and it worked. Since then I've built 10+ machines for myself and friends and never had one problem.

Save yourself some money and build it yourself, or put together a PC worth $3k and build it yourself.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($394.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus X99-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($142.49 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($649.99 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($118.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($145.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) ($125.85 @ B&H)
Keyboard: Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Chroma Wired Optical Mouse ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2202.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-21 06:59 EST-0500

[glorybound]

I am not sure it's worth the trouble to build it myself, however, I could pay the $150 to get it built. Here, are a couple more for conversation.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hn...418268331.html
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ws...456791569.html (only 16GB of RAM)

The only downside is, it's a 2-hour 45-min drive to these computers.

[pixelplume]

for years I have bought used Dell workstations off of ebay....This machine is getting a little old but a 12 core machine with 72gb ram for about $800! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precisi...0AAOSwMmBVwTAi

this store on ebay has a TON of machines in different configurations. http://stores.ebay.com/TheServerStore_W0QQ_fsubZ1999232

much better deals than buying a boxx

[glorybound]

for years I have bought used Dell workstations off of ebay....This machine is getting a little old but a 12 core machine with 72gb ram for about $800! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precisi...0AAOSwMmBVwTAi this store on ebay has a TON of machines in different configurations. http://stores.ebay.com/TheServerStore_W0QQ_fsubZ1999232 much better deals than buying a boxx

that's the one I have, only 32GB of RAM. I think it's the same processor, I'll have to check.

[glorybound]

for years I have bought used Dell workstations off of ebay....This machine is getting a little old but a 12 core machine with 72gb ram for about $800! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precisi...0AAOSwMmBVwTAi this store on ebay has a TON of machines in different configurations. http://stores.ebay.com/TheServerStore_W0QQ_fsubZ1999232 much better deals than buying a boxx

They have some with 256GB of RAM!