I am possibly looking for a graphic card upgrade as well if you guys point out that it is needed. A lot of times when having a more complicated scene it is difficult to navigate in viewports because fps gets really low.
I need a really silent rig as currently I have computer in my room (and so will be the case of render node) so please advise even the cooling, I have Noctua NH-U9B SE2 on CPU now
Also I am looking for best price/performance ratio, it´s been a long time since I knew which hardware to choose so I am really letting it up to your suggestions - but generally 1000 euro would be great upper limit ( if possible )
Couple of questions - does GPU handle only viewport performance? Is it worth to invest money in some high end one? I guess not as all rendering happens with CPU (Corona user
Marvelous Designer - does it utilize CPU or GPU for simulations?
As for render node - would somebody specify what do I need to have installed on render node drive (only system, 3Ds Max and Corona?) and do I need external GPU in it or is it enough to have GPU built in motherboard?
It’s probably easier to just get another s1150 system. H97 (or even H87, B85) motherboard. With 4 memory slots, everything else isn’t as important. 32Gb ram. Speed isn’t important, just the amount. i7-4770, i7-4771, i7-4790 cpu. I suppose you wont be overclocking, so the only reason to get a K model would be resale value. Aftermarket cooler. A Hyper 212 Evo, or something more silent. The stock one might be enough, but under full load it can get hot in a few hours. PSU from your old system. Get a new PSU for your main workstation. 600-700w+, 80+, modular if possible. No GPU for the render node. The integrated should be enough, even for some basic modeling. Old case for this node, and get a new silent one for main workstation. (Fractal R5 for example, no window version)
The GPU only affects viewport performance. For work, a used Geforce 780 would be great if you can find one locally for cheap. From lower end Geforce 660, 660Ti, 760, 670, 680, 770 all are good too. From newer series, Geforce 970 and up. When choosing between brands, just look who has more base/boost clock speed.
Avoid Geforce 960/950, as they are only ok for games, the viewport performance in 3dsmax is not even close to those older cards.
Also, for most of these, it would be better to get that 600-700w+ power supply.
I haven’t tried Marvelous Designer 5 yet, but all previous versions use only CPU.
Overall, you’ll be upgrading some parts on your main PC, and staying well in the budget. For that extra, you can go for more silent cooling, case, psu, etc.
I’d try to look for the cpu, and cpu cooler used. You could save up to 100euro on the cpu alone. (and put that to better PSU, or GPU).
I see the 212 Evo on that same site as gpu for 20euros. Also a 780 gpu, a Fractal Define R5, i7-4770 and probably more than I can find using google translate
If worried buying used, just get what has warranty left, and buy rest new
Overall the build is good, just pricey.
Johnymrazko, where do you reside ? Not in Bratislava by any chance ?
Since you’re already looking for some used hardware, I have quite few in my wardrobe I don’t even plan on using and I can’t be bothered to sell them on any website ( I have both 760 and 670 with 4/3gb of memory from Asus I think, the 760 doesn’t even have 1 year in use), 256gb Samsung SSD I think…and bunch of other stuff. Can definitely give away cheaper than that one on Bazos and I think I am bit more trustable ;- ). Just an option. Actually I have full 6-core PCs I might not need, not even sure. Too much HW around..
Otherwise, I agree with what Jann said, all great advice there. For the budget you have, compromise and some smart re-organizing have to be done.
Hey Juraj yes I live and work in Bratislava so your offer comes reeeealy handy could you please provide me with details maybe even for that whole pc´s ? I really might buy one of them if the price is good so I would not bother with building up a new one (though I really love building computers)
I wrote a post about how 120gb is not good under any situation but then I figured you probably want to place than one in node and keep your current 256 in new workstation ?
So it didn’t apply :- ) But I can’t delete my post, or can I as moderator ? not sure
I currently have 256gb in my workstation so I was thinking about placing 120gb into a node but now I am not sure if it would be enough. What do I need to have installed on node drive?
Our gues for the rendernode is 2x X5670 or similar intel xeon procesors with 12threads for each procesor. Those are not tne newest one but the best in price\speed.
16gb or more DDR4 RAM.
The chapest there is 256 GB HDD (Better 256 GB to increase virtual memery in case of trouble with a pagefile)
How do you ran a pc without gpu? those xeons dont have one, i tought it wont boot without one..
I guess you install them with a gpu and run team viewer or something like that without it?
The need for GPU on server board has nothing to do with form factor. Blade is only thin case, nothing else.
You can modify bios (by default modern motherboards use uefi which need gpu to even boot up) to not check for gpu and than you run it through console.
Server OS (Windows Server, and Linux distros) can use remote access using software emulated GPU.
I love the work you are doing Necro, but you are obsessed with pagefile and low RAM, for some reason. I guess cost. For me I wouldn’t build any rendernode machine with less than 32gb ram and that is if my budget was extremely limited. 64gb is much safer and you no longer need to worry about jobs not rendering or falling back to slow pagefile causing delays.
A good, reliable 250/6GB SSD for the OS will be more than enough. Probably 120/8GB would be fine too. You’ll be rendering to your main machine anyway, so file storage on the node is probably not a big consideration. Cheapo basic graphics card for output (but make sure it’s got display port for future-proofing!). Throw as much money as you can on the processors and lots of RAM, that’s my advice to the OP.
Thank you guys I am currently looking for some used hardware on local market and would not definitely go into 16gb RAM but into 32gb minimum. So to sum it up - some i7 4770 CPU, 32 or 64gb RAM, and 250gb ssd. Don´t you guys by any chance know what are the limitations of 3ds Max licensing when using render nodes? Is it possible to use same license as on my main workstation?
Just curious, how much does one gain in speed with one reder node/slave with the specs mentioned above? I was thinking of building The 500$ render node from the pcfoo site but a bit unsure if it’s better to go for one more expensive unit as above or a cheaper one and then add more of those further on.
