Creating Render Box - Suggestions!

[Jesse]

ok...i am sick of waiting for things to render on my main modelling box when i could be working, its slowing me down alot...so i am going to build a render box...just wondering if you guys had any suggestions...

i was thinking dual xeons...and a nice chunk of ram (1.5-2 gigs)...i shouldnt need too large of a harddrive and i guess a network card to move scenes over to it...and a cheap MOBO...

xeon or p4 though...cause i could get a top end p4 like 2.8 gigs for the same price as a xeon 2 gigs...just wondering which would be better...isnt the xeon specifically designed for rendering and such intense calculations...and both chips have 512 L2...so i dont know which to get...the 2.8 would be faster?...and for now i might only make a single CPU box cause i am kinda strapped for cash...

i think i will steer away from AMD cause of heat issues lately...

[cocolas]

actually i got a dual AMD 1900mp and I haven't had any problems w/ heating. When I used brazil public beta it was so slow it would take 10 to 13 hours for a 1024 wide arch still (hehe..those were the good ol' days ) ....so I would let it render and there were no problems....same these days with FR and VRAy, only shorter (much shorter render times )......
i got 1.75 GB of ram in it with an older 128 MB oxygen card .....somewhat old but still working real well.....you could prbably try one of those new nvidia GFX 5200 cards - look really good...

anyway, AMD are real work horses and i haven't had any problems w/ them even in heavy-duty usage...plus they tend to be cheaper and sometimes faster then the overpriced pentiums.
However at work I use a dual xeon @ 2.4 ghz w/ 2 gBs of ram.. and it still pretty good but quite expensive.

hoep this helps.

Paul.

[Syclone1]

If your looking for just render slaves then you mite also want to check out the Shuttle PC's there small inexpensive and come loaded with features to the extent all you have to ad for a render slave is a CPU, RAM and HD and your good to go. Im looking at building 2 to 4 here for my office with P4's and can build them for about $1000cdn with a 2.8ghz HT P4. And you can get them in Intel or AMD flavours. Lastly their incedibly quiet also

-dave

[Jesse]

Awesome! thats sounds perfect! i just need something to render while i am modelling...speeds the whole process up ten fold! i'll check that out! thanks for the suggestions!

[marina]

I have dual athlon 1900+ as workstation and athlon 2200+ for rendering while working. I have no problems with heat or stability and all goes fine, for a lower cost than P4. Memory is an important issue, so invert some money in good DIMMs

Regards

[Jesse]

i didnt know memory played such a big roll..what do you suggest for memory...

cause i figured out i am gonna buy the shuttle pc from NCIX.com they got awesome prices...and a 2.4 gig p4...that should come to around 500 bones ...then all i need is RAM so what do you guys recommend!

i need at least a gig for sure...

[marina]

Yes, you're right, a gig at least (if you can put more, better)

[Jesse]

well i added it all up...

607.91 dollas! the whole system for that price...thats sweet!

but thats only with 512 Megs of DDR 2100

and an athlon xp 2400

30 gig hard drive - maxtor 7200 2mb

plus shitty ass canadian sales tax...which is like 50 percent now..hehe...more like 15 percent i guess...700 dollers...

i'm gonna pick this up sooooon! cant wait!

[Syclone1]

Hey Jesse, give www.memoryexpress.com a try. Its local to me but there is only GST for tax as their in Alberta or closer to you mite be www.bigfootcomputers.com and another favorite in B.C. is www.ntcw.com


-dave