Different results in lighting CPU vs Hybrid

[ValeroStudio]

So I sent a render over to GarageFarm to test their services (great by the way) but I did notice something weird. Their lighting looked different than my draft on my local machine. After dealing with their tech help, we figured out that because they are running pure CPU rendering, this could be the issue. So I ran a test and sure enough. Look at the shadows and even the reflections in the kitchen area - softer when using hybrid and hard when rendered with CPU only.

Is this normal behavior? Product of the GPU?

[savage309]

GPU/Hybrid is different engine than the CPU. Result will always be slightly different. The GPU/Hybrid engine is specifically re-written to be friendly for different hardwares like GPUs.

if you want to have guaranteed the same results, stick to the one of the two engines. For example, always use CPU or always use CUDA/Hybrid. If you stick to CUDA/Hybrid, you will be able to urilize both your CPUs and GPUs.

Best,
Blago.

[ValeroStudio]

This is way more than slightly different. The two images have very different shadows and reflections. I like the hybrid a lot more, but render farms typically use CPU only. Users should beware.

[savage309]

Hybrid has no problem running in the farms. It is up to the farms to just enable it (it doesn?t need GPU, nor special hardware of software). If any of the guys in the farms need help for that, please forward them my mail (blagovest.taskov@chaosgroup.com).
I agree we should make more clear that we have two different engines in one package.

Best,
Blago.