Hi all,
If you require extra render power and can build your own computer, then maybe you will be interested in this new product, it is still under development but should be available soon. Renderpockets is basically an empty lasercut plexiglas case that fits inside Ikea Helmer drawer perfectly, this saves you alot of time if you wanted to build your own helmer renderfarm.
To keep track of the project you can follow on facebook: www.facebook.com/renderpockets
Thanks,
Art
latest prototype:
Ohh.. very interesting =)
Can you tell us the maximum Ghz provided with your solution and the cost/node
thanks! =)
Sure, with i7-4770, you get 3.4GHz 4cores so thats 4x3.4 = 13.6 Ghz per node, but maybe somebody can correct me, with hyperthreading it will be 8 x 3.4 = 23.2 Ghz per node.
The cost per node is about $800, here is the list of recommended specs:
Interesting price.
Why not the new Core i7 5930K (3.7 x 6 = 22.2 Ghz). Right now, it’s be best CPU quality/price (about 500 euro)
It’s near 2x faster than i7-4770 (255 euro)
So, with “only” 1600 euro, you have something like 2X speed in the same space. It’s huge difference.
Also, is it possible to install 32 GB RAM?
All our nodes have 24 or 32 GB RAM. 16 isn’t enough
Thanks
Core i7-5930 requires 2011 socket motherboard, which is about twice the size of 1150 socket, Renderpockets at the moment can fit only the mini-ITX board. i7-5930 also consumes almost twice as much power as the i7-4770, so the cpu stays almost twice as hot, which will require better cpu cooler, and will not fit inside the helmer drawer.. So must make some sacrifice, if you want compact low power consuming 6 nodes renderfarm under your desk, or a very high power 2-3 nodes that are larger than entire helmer cabinet.. The 16GB is max yes, but seems to work quite well, there might be possibility to add micro ATX board which supports 32GB later.
Actually, there will be a possibility to maybe add core i7-5930 cpu later on, but will have to sacrifice 1 extra drawer for ventilation, so 3 rendernodes with i7-5930 instead of 6 with i7-4770!
Back to the drawing board!
Art
Hi artmaknev i have looked at this setup for a while, with the original ikea helmer but i cant find an atx plan for all the holes
Are you puting 2 pc on each drawer?
it looking so sweet!! it is acrilic or somethig like that?do you have some pic with the whole system ?
Yes its 3mm acrylic, all the parts snap into each other so no need to use screws, its also very lightweight!
The 2pc in one drawer is possible with pico psu, but I wouldn’t recommend it, even with 3 fans in the middle, it still got too hot when rendering…
Do you mean miniITX plan for the holes? I don’t have the atx plan, it was actually hard to find, so I ended up measuring from the motherboard, some trial and error until got the exact location of the holes..
Here is the pic with system inside the case:
!(http://finalmethod.com/renderpockets/rp-front vent5 web.jpg)
!(http://finalmethod.com/renderpockets/rp-front vent1 web.jpg)
2 pc in 1 drawer (not recommended, but possible):
!(http://finalmethod.com/renderpockets/duo web1.jpg)
!(http://finalmethod.com/renderpockets/duo web2.jpg)
Whoa ! I want one, I can imagine it would get warm next to your legs and whats the noise like ?
Hi Art,
thanks so much for the explanations =)
It gets a bit warm, its nice in the winter you don’t need a heater. The noise depends on what kind of fans you use, I recommend noctua fans or some other good brand, I bought cheaper fans and they were louder, then I switched to more high quality brand and it was more silent, but it doesn’t get too loud, maybe I will post a video soon.
Art
Not my cup of tea, but hats off :- ) Nice work !
Thanks Juraj
I see you are more of 1 powerful machine vs small budget rendernodes type of guy, tell me, if renderpockets was made bigger to fit the full ATX boards with dual xeons, would you be interested?
Personally I won’t, I do like the flexibility of boxes being ambigiously swapped in use (render node ↔ workstation but also other) depending on current requirements, so I do move them around between rooms, people,etc.
I am not sure if you could fit E-ATX though with enough cooling factor.
But I do like how precisely you’ve created this, it makes it look really clean and well-thought.
It was designed and fabricated in Germany, -/+ 0.1mm accuracy 
Its not possible to fit the dual xeon boards into helmer, thats true, but the idea is to use custom case, but thats just a thought..
What is your option about this motherboard: SRock Fatal1ty X99M LGA 2011-v3
Some people requested microATX option, so I am just looking whats possible with those boards, this one seems like an impressive board for its size! Xeon® 18-Core Processor support, that means if 3 ndoes with this boards are inside Helmer, you would get 162 render threads?! 64GB Ram!
The issue with single CPU Xeon units is that you loose the biggest economic factor of it. 18-core Xeon is merely 2 GHz, meaning overclocked 4960X will almost outperform it at 1/4 of price. That’s why no one outside of Apple is building their workstations like that.
Btw, every LG-2011 (1/2/3) platform supports whole range of architecture spectrum, so both i7 and Xeons E5 1xxx/2xxx v1/2/3 will fit into mainstream motherboard.
I guess the fabrication isn’t cheap process. It looks so clean, is it laser cut ?
Yes its all lasercut, its not cheap lol, they charge by the minute for the lasercutter, and this design development took way too much time! But I love designing, and problem solving, so it was more relaxing to me than going to spa!
That was my understanding with Xeon’s as well, they are preferred in dual setups.
About the microATX LG-2011 v3 boards, I am interested in those now, because they can fit the 5th generation i7, and will fit into helmer (somehow, very tightly..theoretically)
mATX is as small as it will ever get, LG-2011 has larger chipset that could physically fit into mini-ITX, so I doubt we will see enthousiast miniITX in upcoming years. It would be cool though :- )
Then tell them to be faster (Client from hell :- D)
haha I tried! but faster means less precise!
mATX is definitely good to have as option then, but mini-ITX still nice for very compact builds!