Best Performance/dollar Render Build(s)?

[Bluethulhu]

Hello all - 

 

I'm looking for a dedicated render PC (or several) for some heavy number-crunching, and while my 3930k is certainly fast, it's just not necessarily cutting it in terms of performance. I've been considering a system based around 2x Xeon X5650s, which I can pick up for approximately $70/each on eBay. Most rendering will be done through Renderman/RIS, or After Effects (network rendering). Please keep in mind this will be sitting away from my main PC, so looks or noise are of little concern. Second opinions or other advice is appreciated. Here is a ballpark build of what I've been thinking:

 

CPU - 2x Xeon X5660 - $70/ea

Mobo - SuperMicro X8DTE - $90

RAM - 8x8GB (64GB) DDR3 - $140

Storage - ADATA SP550 120GB - $35

GPU - Already owned

Case - CM HAF 912 - $50

PSU - Corsair CX500M - 55

Total - $510 (not incl. shipping)

 

Thanks

[Lotus]

You're going the right route, but since those boards don't support overclocking, it will be worth it to go to the x5670 ($150 for a pair) depending on if your budget can tolerate it. The clock speed bump is significant. You also might want to reconsider the PSU. A EVGA 500B would be a better choice if you're strapped for cash. You can also probably find that memory for a bit cheaper, maybe even down to $100-110. The SSD IIRC has the same problem as the 840 EVO with old memory decay, so I'd probably avoid it.

[Streetguru]

16 minutes ago, Bluethulhu said:

 

Otherwise FX 8 core if you don't feel like going used
 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7kJWMp
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7kJWMp/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD FX-8320E 3.2GHz 8-Core Processor  ($126.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock 970M PRO3 Micro ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard  ($65.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($55.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 5450 1GB Video Card  ($27.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $311.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 21:56 EDT-0400

[Bluethulhu]

7 minutes ago, Lotus said:

You're going the right route, but since those boards don't support overclocking, it will be worth it to go to the x5670 ($150 for a pair) depending on if your budget can tolerate it. The clock speed bump is significant. You also might want to reconsider the PSU. A EVGA 500B would be a better choice if you're strapped for cash. You can also probably find that memory for a bit cheaper, maybe even down to $100-110. The SSD IIRC has the same problem as the 840 EVO with old memory decay, so I'd probably avoid it.

Thanks for the reply, but would you mind pointing me in the right direction of a dual-socket 1366 motherboard that can OC? The only one I could come across was the EVGA SR-2, which is upwards of $350-400 on eBay.

 

[Trey222]

You could go with two E5 2670s. The motherboard are a bit more expensive but you get 4 more cores and 8 more threads. It is also a generation newer. Also you could get ECC RAM. It is a bit slower but a lot cheaper.

[SLAYR]

15 minutes ago, Bluethulhu said:

Hello all - 

 

I'm looking for a dedicated render PC (or several) for some heavy number-crunching, and while my 3930k is certainly fast, it's just not necessarily cutting it in terms of performance. I've been considering a system based around 2x Xeon X5650s, which I can pick up for approximately $70/each on eBay. Most rendering will be done through Renderman/RIS, or After Effects (network rendering). Please keep in mind this will be sitting away from my main PC, so looks or noise are of little concern. Second opinions or other advice is appreciated. Here is a ballpark build of what I've been thinking:

 

CPU - 2x Xeon X5660 - $70/ea

Mobo - SuperMicro X8DTE - $90

RAM - 8x8GB (64GB) DDR3 - $140

Storage - ADATA SP550 120GB - $35

GPU - Already owned

Case - CM HAF 912 - $50

PSU - Corsair CX500M - 55

Total - $510 (not incl. shipping)

 

Thanks

depending on your max you are willing to spend dual e5 2670 and a dual socket mobo will be a bit more expensive about $250 more expensive due to the mother board, the processors cost about $70 a piece on ebay, but the performance is great on these chips.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro-X10DRL-I-B-Dual-LGA2011-Intel-C612-DDR4-SATA3-USB3-0-V-2GbE-ATX-/201483622876?hash=item2ee95c19dc:g:B8kAAOSwAKxWa473

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MATCHING-PAIR-SR0KX-XEON-E5-2670-8CORE-2-60GHz-20M-FOR-HP-WORKSTATION-Z620-Z820-/131567596182?hash=item1ea20a3296:g:uXYAAOSwiylXBpZ8

 

[Lotus]

6 minutes ago, Bluethulhu said:

Thanks for the reply, but would you mind pointing me in the right direction of a dual-socket 1366 motherboard that can OC? The only one I could come across was the EVGA SR-2, which is upwards of $350-400 on eBay.

 

That's the only one in existence, and last I checked going price was around $600, and they are very rare and seldom go up for sale. There have been offers for modders to get a bios mod to enable overclocking on any other dual LGA1336 motherboard, but it's never been done.

[Bluethulhu]

I found some parts on eBay, calculated performance/dollar (I know, passmark), and I found the results pretty interesting:

 

Spreadsheet Link

 

They all come out to approximately 29.5 performance/dollar, so now I'm wondering what the deciding factor would be between these systems. Performance/watt? Ability to OC? I'm honestly not sure, any definite pros/cons to these?

 

[SLAYR]

10 minutes ago, Bluethulhu said:

I found some parts on eBay, calculated performance/dollar (I know, passmark), and I found the results pretty interesting:

 

Spreadsheet Link

 

They all come out to approximately 29.5 performance/dollar, so now I'm wondering what the deciding factor would be between these systems. Performance/watt? Ability to OC? I'm honestly not sure, any definite pros/cons to these?

 

For wattage the x5670 is at 95w per cpu same as the x5660, and the e5 2670 are at 115w a piece so a 40w difference is not huge. As for OC I don't know how much you can overclock with server boards.

 

Depending on the task the time saved in rendering on one cpu compared to its price should be considered, and whether or not the time saved is worth the premium conpared to the others.