Ghetto-Rigged Transcoding Server Idea?

[EposVox]

Before reading, these LTT videos for context:

• Under $150 budget CPU/mobo/RAM
• 36-core Render Server & Cineform Explanation

Hi all, after initially watching the 36-core render server video, I switched to transcoding all of my video footage to Cineform before editing. It has saved me SO MUCH time and I really don't think I could go back.

However, this creates a problem: My main rig is then out of commission for long periods of time while footage transcodes.

 

Then after seeing the "budget CPU/mobo/RAM" video, I thought to combine the two ideas. I don't have the $$ to throw at a copy of my rendering rig to make a transcoding server, but I could justify $200-300 on building an actual transcoding server by using older server parts from eBay, if that's worth the cost.

 

I want to know if you all think this would work out/be worth it?

 

• BUDGET: Ideal max of $300
• AIM: Ingest video footage from SD cards/disk folder, transcode to Cineform in Adobe Media Encoder and spit out to network drive (or local drive)
• Monitors/etc.: irrelevant. Will mostly remote in.

UPDATE: I've purchased the motherboard for this project and Kingston agreed to send over 32GB of ECC RAM for it.

 

CURRENT PARTS LIST:

 

• CPU: 2x Intel Xeon X5660 2.8GHz 6-core ($150)
• Motherboard: Supermicro Server X8DTi-F EATX ($150) purchased
• RAM: ECC RAM - DDR3 1333MHz (KVR13R9D4/16)  provided by Kingston
• GPU: GTX 750ti ($125) or donor card

32GB total RAM is enough for just file copying & AME rendering. May want to upgrade if I make the server do more than that, but those sticks are expensive.

 

Still need a GPU. Interested in buying used ones or accepting donor cards!

 

---------------------

 

Here are my current thought-about parts...

 

 

ORIGINAL (BUDGET) PARTS LIST:

• CPUs: 2 Intel Xeon X5460 Quad Cores (3.16GHz) - ~$30-50 [sample listing]
• Motherboard: Dell Precision 490 F9382 - ~$20-35 [sample listing]
• RAM: 2x 16gb kits Kingston DDR2 universal ~$20-80 (VERY HARD TO FIND SOMEHOW) [sample listing]
• Storage: Any small 60GB+ SSD, 1-2TB HDD just for local temporary storage
• GPU: GTX 750ti? (Or 970 if I had funding lol)

 

PART NOTES:

CPU: Linus recommended a lesser-powerful CPU, but I decided on the X5460. It had a bit higher core clock without adding much price to the total cost.

MOBO: I chose that motherboard, as it had plenty of expansion slots (unlike Linus's example), including a PCIe with a GPU clip, and more that I could use for potential expansion - USB 3.0 ports, ideally? etc.

GPU: From what I remember and this list of top 5 GPUs for rendering, the GTX 750ti is the cheapest effective GPU for rendering in AME I could get. I would (obviously) love to throw a 980, 970, Titan X in there, but I only even have a 970 in my main rig and that would totally defeat the purpose of doing this super cheaply.

RAM: I had a lot of trouble finding that RAM (and am now mad I didn't go on and order that listing), as most of the listings are for specific mobos or AMD CPUs. Kingston said they no longer carry it.

 

Thanks for the help/feedback!

 

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EDIT:

Using LGA 1366 for DDR3 and Hyperthreading was suggested, so I would need help picking compatible parts. Current thoughts...

 

New (Unsure if Compatible) Parts Ideas:

• CPU (option 1): 2 of these Intel Xeon W3550 3.06GHz quad core
• CPU (option 2): 2 of these Intel Xeon X5660 2.8GHz SIX CORE (MUCH more expensive)
• Mobo: Intel S5500BC LGA 1366 Socket B System Board MotherBoard (still has expansion, but might not be compatible?)

 

 

Unsure of compatibility with this stuff.

Would any DDR3 RAM work?

[Decon]

 

eww electrolytics on that mobo...

 

I'd strongly recommend a 1366 setup if possible; CPU's are basically the same price but you get hyperthreading  and DDR3

[EposVox]

unrelated: i see your youtube comments on every single video

lol

 

 

eww electrolytics on that mobo...

 

I'd strongly recommend a 1366 setup if possible; CPU's are basically the same price but you get hyperthreading  and DDR3

 

Well this would drastically raise my price point.

 

DDR3 RAM - at that point would any DDR3 be compatible? That would make life easier.

 

If I wanted to bump up the price for a lot of power, would 2 of these 6-core CPUs work out well? 

 

There's also this Quad Core listed for flipping $10 ._.

 

Here's a quad core with higher clock speed and cheaper. So hyperthreading would mean I essentially had 16 cores working with 2 of them, right?

[EposVox]

That motherboard is not compatible. Looks like easy-to-come-by motherboards support the Intel Xeon 5500 and 5600 chipset CPUs, which is that 6-core I found.

Here's a Supermicro Mobo for that which I like. Will this motherboard work with desktop-grade DDR3 RAM?

 

 

Going to try to go back to budget and find ones compatible with the cheaper CPUs

[EposVox]

Alright, I've updated my parts list in a very Work in Progress manner, as I work out incompatibilities. This differs from the OP. 

 

PARTS:

• CPU: 2x Intel Xeon X5660 2.8GHz 6-core ($150)
• Motherboard: Supermicro Server X8DTi-F EATX ($150)
• RAM: 32GB of General desktop DDR3 RAM to start, plan to upgrade later? ($150) [might be able to get some from Kingston]
• GPU: GTX 750ti ($125)

Base cost, excluding accessories, PSU, storage, etc. would be about $575, which is a bit more that I want to spend, but it'd be a badass server, regardless.

Problem is that it wouldn't have much other use outside of this, given it only has SATA 2 connectivity, so I'm not sure it'd be worth it over my initial build idea.

I was looking at around $150 for my original build list, so I'm not sure if I should veer from that platform. 

 

Thoughts? 

Compatibility between desktop DDR3 and that motherboard?

[EposVox]

Update! The parts list in the above post is what I'm working with!

 

I went ahead and ordered the Supermicro Server X8DTi-F motherboard.

Kingston agreed to send over 2 sticks of 16GB ECC RAM - DDR3 1333MHz (KVR13R9D4/16) 

32GB total RAM is enough for just file copying & AME rendering. May want to upgrade if I make the server do more than that, but those sticks are expensive.

 

Still need a 750ti. Interested in buying used ones or accepting donor cards!

 

Will have to get the CPUs next month when I have more dough to throw. Spent too much as-is, as I had to buy some other work stuff, too.

[GoldenBE]

Have you thought about software already? 

Only thing I can find is a program that auto transcodes using handbrake.

here's a link: http://ctl.du.edu/staff/josephlabrecque/DropFolders/

Or are you going to do everything by hand?

 

ps: How do you think a desktop mobo, and a i7 920 will handle rendering? Time isn't really the problem I can put all the videos in and let it run trough the night. I'm a bit concerned about power use though. Average power bill is going up like 40% thanks to our government and their new taxes. ( not running dual xeons since used server harware is much harder to find in Belgium )

[EposVox]

Have you thought about software already? 

Only thing I can find is a program that auto transcodes using handbrake.

here's a link: http://ctl.du.edu/staff/josephlabrecque/DropFolders/

Or are you going to do everything by hand?

 

ps: How do you think a desktop mobo, and a i7 920 will handle rendering? Time isn't really the problem I can put all the videos in and let it run trough the night. I'm a bit concerned about power use though. Average power bill is going up like 40% thanks to our government and their new taxes. ( not running dual xeons since used server harware is much harder to find in Belgium )

 

I'm using Adobe Media Encoder with automatic watch folders for the transcoding.

 

Desktop mobo should be fine for one CPU!

[GoldenBE]

I'm using Adobe Media Encoder with automatic watch folders for the transcoding.

 

Desktop mobo should be fine for one CPU!

That ends my search, adobe should advertise that more I didn't know it had that feature. And the best thing about it is that is supports cineform.

Thanks for the help  

[EposVox]

That ends my search, adobe should advertise that more I didn't know it had that feature. And the best thing about it is that is supports cineform.

Thanks for the help

Yep! You can actually add multiple "Watch Folders" to automatically encode as soon as files go to it. 

 

So you can set 1 up for converting to Cineform, 1 for converting to H264, etc. - whatever you wanted - and have them export to different folders.

[GoldenBE]

Yep! You can actually add multiple "Watch Folders" to automatically encode as soon as files go to it. 

 

So you can set 1 up for converting to Cineform, 1 for converting to H264, etc. - whatever you wanted - and have them export to different folders.

Awesome, is a video on it coming soon?

I've been checking your channel everyday but still no luck

[EposVox]

Awesome, is a video on it coming soon?

I've been checking your channel everyday but still no luck

Still in progress! I have the motherboard, CPUs, RAM. A friend and I are doing a sort of "Scrapyard Wars"-esque show with it. The wait will be worth it

[GoldenBE]

Still in progress! I have the motherboard, CPUs, RAM. A friend and I are doing a sort of "Scrapyard Wars"-esque show with it. The wait will be worth it

One more question I totally forgot about, how GPU intensive is transcoding to cineform? I think I found a nice build for sale with an i3 540 and Nvidia gt630. I plan on upgrading it to a single xeon x3450 or similar. The thing is I'm not really sure if I need a good gpu. I tested with my 4770k and gtx 770, gpu usage never goes above 20%, cpu usage does jump to 100% ( on 1080p )

[EposVox]

One more question I totally forgot about, how GPU intensive is transcoding to cineform? I think I found a nice build for sale with an i3 540 and Nvidia gt630. I plan on upgrading it to a single xeon x3450 or similar. The thing is I'm not really sure if I need a good gpu. I tested with my 4770k and gtx 770, gpu usage never goes above 20%, cpu usage does jump to 100% ( on 1080p )

I don't have specific data, but the direct process of transcoding to the format does not appear to utilize the GPU strongly. The GPU gets more usage when actually using Cineform format files within your NLE/editor, and when encoding your final video export from Cineform to H264/etc. 

 

I'm looking to get a 750ti for this build - as it has some of the best CUDA performance for the money, but isn't a power hog. (This will do some Cineform to H264 encoding, too.) 

 

So AFAIK for just transcoding from various formats TO Cineform, CPU cores are more important than GPU power, but you'll still want a Nvidia GTX GPU of some sort in the long run, ideally 660 or higher.