any experience with Cryo PC (uk) + some other questions

[BBB3]

i was looking at various vendors for a second workstation and came across the Octane workstation by Cryo PC, a monster overclocked machine very decently priced.

I am inclined to go for it but wanted to check if anyone had experience with them. they have answered all my questions quickly and seem to be getting good reviews but mostly from gamers (they also build high-end consumer rigs). any thought anyone?

being an old-timer, i am also wary of the jump into the water-cooled, overclocked world. dont want a noisy beast that bursts a pipe every other week since overseas maintenance for Cryo is limited. any thought on that also much appreciated.

EDIT: Sorry, here is a link.

[PIXELBOX_SRO]

Hi Bertrand!
unsure about Cryo, but any overclocking means the parts will die sooner especially processor no matte rhow you cool them.
My overclocked machine just went to heaven only after 3 years.

Would it not be better to consider a rack solution?
Easy to maintain and expand

[BBB3]

good to know. i may hold off then. my current, not-OCed machine has been a wonder of reliability so far. am too much of a tech-idiot for rack solutions am afraid.

[PIXELBOX_SRO]

i am just getting ready to say good bye to standalone rendernodes.
i will be exploring options of rack mounted solutions, i will let you know the results ))

[Neilg]

am too much of a tech-idiot for rack solutions am afraid.

1)get a rack
2)plug a blade server into it
3)plug a monitor in and set it up/network it
4)stop thinking about it. maybe point a fan at it if you get a few.

if I was going solo or as a small team, i'd keep the workstations cheap (but with a good video card) and go blade for renders/DR.

[BBB3]

What's a blade server?

... No, seriously, I'd probably manage to burn down the house. I only tinker with computer entrails when I absolutely have too. My personal engineering feat was to install a new graphic card and change the PSU. Haven't done anything more challenging than that.

[super gnu]

if you managed that, you are overqualified to build a rackmount system. the rack is basically a frame with horizontal rails in it.. open at back and front, unless you have a nice one with doors on it.

the servers come in different sizes, 1u 2u 3u etc, and this relates to their height. a 1u server is typical for a rendernode. it fills -one- set of rails in a rack. its literally just a pc in a flat box. has all the same connections and components.

you slide it into the rack and connect the cables at the back. depending on the size of the rack you can fit a lot of them in a small space.

the "blade" system that people talk about takes it a step further, and can be more complex.

you get a rack, and add a 10u box into it (10x the height of a 1u server) then you add extremely small "blades" into that box, normally vertically. they are very small and you can often fit a lot of rendernodes into that 10u box.

the thing with rackmount stuff (and even moreso blades) is the noise and heat. they use lots of very small, fast fans to keep things cool, and tend to make a real racket. you wouldnt want them in your living room.

having a lot of them in a rack will generate a lot of heat too, most places ive seen that use rackmount stuff tend to have it in a seperate a/c'ed room.

having said that, if you just get a little 10u rack, and put 5 2u servers in it (lower density as they are bigger, but quieter as they can fit bigger, slower fans in) you might be able to share a room with it.


to be honest blades are great as they fit a lot of processing power in a very small space, but they are pretty much the most expensive way to package rendernodes.

cheapest (and quietest) is normal pcs. but they take a lot of space and are not considered "sexy"

[super gnu]

hang on.. just realised you were asking about workstations.. why are we talking about racks? having your workstation rackmount doesnt really give any benefit at all.

ive been happily using overclocked systems for years. you get the most bang for your buck by a mile, but sometimes have to put up with some instability. my current workstation is a 2.66 i7 which runs 24/7 at 4.2 ghz. stable as a rock. but your mileage ma vary, ive had machines in the past that got a bit flaky after a while of being overclocked.. however they you just "turn down the heat" and go back closer to default speeds. problem solved. never had one die on me.

[BBB3]

Thanks for the wealth of info. I see things a bit more clearly now. Still not completely sure which way to go, though. I hear the more recent the CPU, the safer it is to overclock. Not sure whether that applies to the Xeon this particular workstation is based on.

[super gnu]

if youre buying a pre-overclocked system, it should come guaranteed up to the eyeballs. also, most of the problems occur with heavy overclocks, a boost from 3.4 - 4 ghz is quite a mild one.

ive posted this link a few times, but its a very impressive package.. (probably doesnt fit with your desire to avoid fiddling about with stuff though... they also do whole overclocked systems too.. similar to the ones you were looking at, but quite a bit cheaper it seems. ..)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...d=2051&subcat=

[flino2004]

I would go to OC workstation...even if they died in 3 years is OK to me....I usually replace my computers every 2-3 years anyway.
I have an small renderfarm(racks workstations) and it's expensive....buying the rack 15U and depending of WS I had to but the brackets to insert the workstations inside the cabinet, I also got a Lacie 19" NAS, Switcher, etc

My main workstation is an OC i7 and so far I really like it and it's very affordable, I just to buy Wokstations from Dell or HP now I build it for 1/3 of the price and abusing them for 2-3 years...if they still alive they will become a rendernode.

Fernando

[BBB3]

a boost from 3.4 - 4 ghz is quite a mild one

Well, actually, in the configuration I was looking at, Cryo is boosting a Xeon 5650 from 2.66 to 4.00. Does that sound like a recipe for disaster?

Thanks for the link. Good to have and compare.

Thanks Fernando. Given the price of that particular system, I was hoping to keep it afloat for slightly longer, give-or-take the extra component or two.

[super gnu]

well its not a small overclock, however, as you mentioned, the new intel chips are so easily overclocked, they barely break a sweat. its no coincidence that recently a lot of companies have started selling machines with guaranteed overclocks..

older intel, and particularly most amd's struggle a bit more with stability at large speedups.. youll notice the pro systems they offer have a lower overclock than the gaming ones, probably for the reason of overall reliability and stability. however, you might want to ask about extended warranties to be sure.

would never deny that an un-overclocked system is -on average- less likely to have issues, but ive done a lot of fiddling in my time, and only a few times have i had a dud, and i build all my own. the money ive saved over the years has more than offset the small chance of a crash every now and then. - i have all my work mirrored and backed up, i have a UPS, and i save (and use autosave) religiously. but then id do that anyway.

i spent £1600 total on my machine, and it performs like a dual xeon 2-3 times the price.

[leehumphries]

Although a little more expensive check out http://www.boxxtech.com/products/ren...o_overview.asp

The unit sits ontop of your workstation and as far as i have heard they are as quiet as a workstation. Although dont quote me on that

I have one of their 8550 Dual Xeons at home although it cost £3500 from Escape Studios i havent had a problem with it, they are designed for what we do. You may be able to get something similar for cheaper but these guys build machines for the business we do,not someone selling a workstation that is actually a hi power games machines.. Its personal preference but its reliability that comes to mind first im my personal preference.

I think i read that Peter Guthrie built his own - i7 880's water-cooled so it would be worth asking what his thoughts are as slaves. They will be alot cheaper than the Boxx unit tho.

[PIXELBOX_SRO]

i spent £1600 total on my machine, and it performs like a dual xeon 2-3 times the price.

may i kindly ask what specs is that???

when you overclock sandybridges, how do you fight the instability when the memory is volted at 1.65V
from what ive read there are many issues with Sandybridges not being able to work with such memory voltages properly
not to mention that Gigabyte boards for example wont let you set voltages to 1.65 even if you ate your own balls ...they only let you set it to 1.64 or 1.66...for me the whole overclocking thing is a bit in haze as there are so many threads on the internet that one doesnt know

anway, i just had a quad dying OCd from 2.66 to 3.4 for 3 stable years...i know it would be kinda old to be use dnow but still its a money wasted in the end