Okay, can you put a price on this? What would you think it would cost?
Processor(s) Intel i7 Quad Core Enhanced Performance Processor (4.4 Ghz)
System Memory 32GB DDR4-2133 (4 - 8GB DIMMS)
Optical Drive 20X Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer
M2_Storage_1 256GB SSD M.2 PCIe Drive
Expansion card slots NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan X 12GB - (Special Order)
Operating Systems Microsoft Windows 10 Professional Edition 64-Bit
Warranty BOXX Premium Support 1 Year (Years 2 and 3 Standard) - US and Canada Only
I am ready to purchase a new workstation. but I want to make sure I am not getting robbed. If we are talking a 30% markup, I can deal with that, but not much more.
1) Get 64 gb of ram, much less worries about poly count or amount of grass in the scene
2) Definitely go for 8 or at least 6 core cpu. Considering the volume of work you do, it will pay for itself quite quickly. You will be wasting much less time on preview renders.
3) Ditch the Titan if you don’t do much rt gpu rendering. Something like 970 gtx is more than good enough for viewport performance (and leaves more money for better cpu)
The BOXX goes up a whole lot with 64GB of RAM. I think they add +700. I’ll have to check into that. Right now, I have 32GB of RAM and I don’t think I have ever ran out of RAM. It’s the CPU that is my bottleneck.
Yes. I started looking for something better when I purchased my current machine, which is a little over a year. This one has served me well, so I am always second guessing if I need something better. I think I am a week from pulling the trigger. My current workload is insane, so either I start missing deadline, or I purchase a faster machine. I don’t want to spend a ton of money for a computer just a little bit faster.
trying to get one machine to do everything is a waste of time. You can get 4 i7 boxes for under a grand each and send your images to them via backburner, to render while you work on other things.
Most people upgrade every 4-5 years. you wont see much of a difference after 1 and you’ll feel like you’ve wasted your money. Especially recently, processor speed increases have slowed down.
That is how my previous setup was and it was a nightmare to manage. I decided to build one beefy machine where everything is local. Pulling textures from an SSD is a ton faster than across a network. Also, there is now the node licensing things, which I wanted to avoid. My plan was to get good at optimizing and render local with good render times. With my 8 machine farm, I got really lazy, and through everything at it. I think my planned works.
I agree with Neil. Also: new intel processesors are coming out this year (forgot the name). I’m personally holding until it does, it’s supposed to be a tock upgrade instead of a tick. That said, Bobby, with your volume of work, I’d go with a dual 8 core machine and spend the extra cash, getting 1-2 render farm machines to do the rendering so you can continue working (although, I do hope you take some days off and enjoy yourself sometime soon).
Is this one still relevant? I got this quote last year, but never pulled the trigger. I would use me existing GTX970 graphics card, however, I might add a second one.
For my opinion it is good enough .
Though i stick to opinion that having one machine with high workload is a bad idea - better is to spread workload and have one workstation free to work.
While peoples need differ always, I will say that as far as quality, and reliability, the BOXX I have since 2013 has been solid.
For the small monthly payment, it was totally worth it. Also, as a sole proprietor,
it was very nice to be able to finance it instead of shelling out 2-5 thousand dollars at once. I work 3 jobs, and really don’t have the extra time
to build my own, but I would like to if I ever had the time.
I’ve also used to use a small farm setup with a few boxes, but TBH, I am relieved to not have to deal with that anymore.
In the end, you must decide which route to go, but FWIW, the BOXX, is a solid quality.
Side note:
Do I wish I had one of those Helmer type setups, yes.
Do I have time to make one, no
I have been keeping my eyes on BOXX for awhile and I am seriously considering. The thing that always makes me question BOXX is, the default comes with 16GB of RAM. To me, for a company to specialize in computers for guys like us, that isn’t enough enough RAM to take it seriously. I am sure it has something to do with it’s “starting at price”, but it makes me question them. Now, hopefully they are not letting guys like me buy a machine with that little RAM.
not all their customers render or render complicated scenes. 16GB is still plenty if your modeling, if the machine is for GPU rendering or the scenes aren’t that complicated.
i think your over thinking it if that’s what makes you question how serious they are.
