Single high performance or DR ?

[mmikee]

Hello all.
I would like some opinions. I am not sure what would be better in the rendering department. Would I be better off using a single high performance computer, like an AMD x2 or dual xeon, or buying 3 or 4 Athlon 64 machines to DR with ? Right now I am using an Athlon 64 as main machine. I am also using a couple of pentium 4 machines to DR. I do, almost exclusively, arch stills. I have not had any trouble with viewport performance, so I am mainly asking about render times with Vray.

Any input would be helpfull. If this is not the proper place to post this question I am sorry.

Regards,
Mike

[DaForce]

seeing as you can get an X2 for not much more than a A Athlon64 you may as well get a few of X2's

[mmikee]

Hey daforce.
The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ is around $700.00. And the a few hundred more for the board and RAM. But I can get full athlon 64 3400 computers for about $500.00 each.

I could use the 3 comps I have now to DR with a more powerfull com as main. Or I could buy a few more less powerfull comps to use with DR.
It seems to me that I would be better of with more comps to use with DR, but Im just not sure.

Thanks,
Mike

Ps...Love the avitar

[arobbert]

I think the 4200's are priced at the sweet spot right now and they work about as well as the 4800. You may also want to look at a dual 265 which may be a little cheaper than two single 4200's. They have been getting some good benchmarks.

[jujubee]

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ is around $700.00

I would recommend upgrading the main computer as you will use that primarily for running tests and the slaves for final render at a larger size. Think of what you use the most and how much juice you'll get over your current comp.

There's a price bell-curve where performance meets ridiculous price and the 4800 is there. The 4200 x2 and 4400 x2s are plenty enough - after that they raise ridiculously in price. 3800 x2s are suitable for slaves and can be had for $325 on pricewatch.com.

Stay away from the Xeons and had on over to our benchmarking threads.

[mmikee]

Thanks for the replies.

BTW, I rendered the benchmark at 12 min......ouch.

[DaForce]

yeah.. no point getting the 4800.. they are way too expensive.
Get either the 3800 or the 4200 of best bang for your buck. And the total cost for the X2 machine will definitly come out far less than 2 athlon 64 machines and faster as well

heheheh meow!!

[SteveC]

I run a X2 4800 for my workstation and have 4 X2 4200 render slaves and they seem to easily keep up with the 4800 during DR

[DJ-Studd]

My X2 4200 is absolutely fantatsic. It's clocked at 2.5GHz and hasn't skipped a beat.

I'll get around to running the benchmark on it oneday.. anyone want to make a Viz version of the file?

-- DJ

[ene.xis]

i m just running on a new X2 4200! and i tell this is sweet!
Oc to 2.45...

i just swap it over my intel dual 3.2 workstation....
ohh....and the 7900 GTX is Great!

[mmikee]

Yea, I think Im going to go for the x2 4200 + 3gig ram. That will give me a total of 4 machines to render with. Thanks for the info everyone.

[plastic_]

another thing to consider is that DR doesn't really work. to be honest.

[SteveC]

another thing to consider is that DR doesn't really work. to be honest.

Hi Plastic,

What is the problem with DR i keep hearing it said that DR does'nt work but i've not had any problems with it.

steve

[mmikee]

I use all the time...works great. Its very easy to setup, and is one of the best features in Vray.

[plastic_]

i wish it worked for me but there's always some problem, conflict, bugs, unreliable behaviour, etc.
i gave it up because i want my workflow to be predictable, i can't stand strange problems when a deadline is approaching.