twixx

Yeah, I've seen that, that is some next level stuff. I drooled all over that video haha. I've checked out Gamer Nexus' test with custom 'hybrid' 1080 Ti, they report average performance gains of 5% over the FE. Article here. Now after having a few days to think about it all, the best would be to get the reference cards first, then build a custom loop eventually when more money is available (possibly with some help from experienced builders). However I've been checking various motherboards, and I've seen the ASRock X99 WS board is about 30% cheaper than the ASUS X99 WS-E (at least where I live) and I was wondering what is the reason for the difference. Is ASUS just charging a premium because of their brand? As I'm aware ASRock is a solid manufacturer. So I'm asking because if I don't have to get the ASUS baord, I rather save 30% on it.

Thanks brob for the detailed response! I'd gladly purchase hybrid GPUs, but I can't afford to wait until board partners release them, they usually delay them after their air-cooled versions if I'm not mistaken. So that makes the wait for Skylake-X an invalid option sadly. I have to put together the rig in 3 weeks tops, else I won't be able to meet some deadlines. But, I could make the 3rd and 4th card hybrids, but I'm not sure if it's worth it at that point. The Asus X99 Workstation class board was my choice as well. Thanks for the tip on measuring, I have no idea if it fits right now. Thanks jpms24, a Xeon is definitely interesting, I could save quite a few bucks on that, with cheaper chips having 40 PCIe lanes. Well it's not an easy situation, but you guys gave me some new angles to approach and think about. Thanks!

I'll check out those cases, big and heavy is just what I need thank you! I think it's better to buy a case which can support the final build, to save some work on the disassembling and reassembling of the build. On intel ark it says the 6850K has 40 lanes, and the 6800K has 28, did I miss something? So you suggest to go liquid cooling once I have all the GPUs in I see. Thanks for the advice! PS.: I forgot to give a budget, it is about 2.5-3K USD for now.

Thanks for the comment! Mainly Octane Render in Cinema4D and Maya. I don't need SLI, GPU renderers use every GPU in the system/network separately. Actually, with 4 1080 Ti's I'd be still behind a lot of other professionals. Rendering networks are not uncommon in even small offices who work in 3D, I've seen multiple 7x TITAN X setups. EDIT: I more or less know what I need, I just don't know how to approach. Mainly if some people who have experience in building a workstation similar to this could give some advice, that would be much appreciated.

Hi Everyone! So I do 3D work, recently the business got going, so I need to upgrade from my personal rig, because the output is not fast enough. I do CUDA rendering. Current build is: Motherboard: Asrock B85M Pro3 - a budget 1150 board CPU: Core i5-4460 Haswell Refresh running at 3.2 GHz, turbo to 3.4 GHz - nothing fancy here GPU: Gigabyte G1 Gaming GeForce GTX 1080 RAM: 4x4 GB of DDR3 HyperX Fury 1600MHz PSU: Corsair CX 600 BUILDER Series Case: NZXT H440 - a fairly large case, however it is low noise, not airflow optimized with 3x120mm front fans and 1x140mm exhaust at the back. CPU cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim Everything runs on air cooling. Plans and goals for workstation build: So I have 3-4 GPUs planned, starting with my already existing 1080, and buying a 1080 TI as soon as it's available. Later upgrade everything to 1080 TI. With that said, I need a processor capable of handling 3-4 (more likely 4) GPUs, as far as I know I have 2 options, to go with Broadwell-E 6850K and up, or get a Xeon, although I'm not familiar with the Xeon family at all. I need some advice about this. CPU heavy work is some video editing, and encoding, but video work is rare, so it's not a first priority. Also, the occasional gaming at 4K, but this isn't so important either. If it can be avoided, I wouldn't dish out a shit ton of money for a 6900K. I waited for Ryzen patiently, but they don't have enough PCI-E lanes for the GPUs. Sad. The other thing is cooling. I am really unsure what to do there. I probably need a new case which is airflow optimised. I plan to overclock the GPUs, not by much, but even 5% performance per GPU is a huge bonus when you have 3-4. What I managed to gather from various soruces, is that putting 3-4 GPUs together with the regular cooling fans of the manufacturers are bad because the cards blow hot air on each other, so a blower style cooler works better here. Other option is to buy whichever card is cheap but performs good, and build a custom loop, which I have never did before, so I am a bit scared. Not to mention it would increase the costs. I think the most flexible option would be to buy cheaper blower style cards, which later can be fitted with waterblocks? Miscellenious info: Also, some general tips on other components would be welcome, and about what can be recycled from my current build. PSU capacity tips are welcome as well, I guess I need 1200W+ PC would often run 10-16 hours a day.