Hypothetical small render slave/farm

[Moflea Andrei]

Budget (including currency): 700-1000 eur

Country: Romania

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: It will be used for cloud / render farm in 3dsMax + Corona

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): No peripherals, will be a pc/server with remote acces

 

Hello,

 

At this point, the build is hypothetical because I do not have the budget ready, yet...estimating 3 to 4 weeks.

I work as an architect and for the current workflow, clients require a lot of renders either exterior or interior, depending on the project. Either way, I use 3dsMax and Corona renderer for this, which is a CPU based rendering engine.

 

• The rendering engine is highly dependant or the number of cores/threads (and CPU speed also);
• It will require around 64 gigs of ram, 128 being the sweet spot; (I know that this alone will ramp up the price)
• It will not need a dedicated fancy GPU;
• Ideally, low power consumption .

 

I wish to build a new or second hand PC / server that can be used to offload the rendering tasks from my current 4790K + 24 gigs of ram.

Additional details can be provided if required, because as of now, I honestly do not know what else I can add up in this post.

 

Thank you,

Andrew M.

[jaslion]

For a new system a 5600g would be about as good as it gets:

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/78xNrr

 

Used well you have many options:

 

Used xeon v4 or newer workstation with probably dual cpu options.

Used xeon v4 or newer server with probably dual cpu options.. WARNING these things are INCREDIBLY LOUD and you CAN NOT SILENCE THEM without impacting the cooling. So these are for if you have a good separate not in use room that does not let sound through. Basically imagine a loud vacuum on 24/7.

X299 ali express setup with engineering sample cpu's. It's probably the best option BUT also a risky option as you aren't really guaranteed anything.

Used ryzen setup. Avoid threadripper 1000 it gets beaten by second and thrid gen ryzen desktop stuff and not a good used priced.

 

As a gpu in all these systems the quadro p620 is available on ebay for quite cheap and is supported in the current gen of autodesk products so you won't have an issue there.

[mariushm]

Won't make a new system WITH cores AND lots of memory in that budget. 

 

Look for refurbished workstations/servers can be bought at that price

 

For example something like this : https://www.citgrup.ro/servere/refurbished-2/server-hp-proliant-dl380p-g8-036821

 

HP ProLiant DL380p G8, 2 x Intel 10 Core Xeon E5-2670 v2 2.5 GHz, 64 GB DDR3 ECC, 1 TB HDD SAS - for around 4200 ron / $850

 

(But my advice is to either opt for 128 GB from the start, or go in person and make sure they're installing (or ask to install) 8 GB sticks, so you'll have empty slots to upgrade to 128GB in the future. )

 

or another example (both sites are Romanian stores btw)  : https://www.pcmadd.com/retelistica/server/dell-poweredge-r720-2-x-intel-xeon-e5-2665-2-4-ghz-128-gb-ram-ddr3-ecc-controler-raid-h710-dimensiune-2u-caddy-hdd-8x2-5-2xpsu.html

 

DELL POWEREDGE R720, 2 x Intel Xeon (E5-2665) 2.4 GHz, 128 GB RAM DDR3 ECC, controler RAID: H710, dimensiune: 2U, caddy HDD: 8x2.5, 2xPSU

 

or this but negotiate for 128 GB memory or make sure there's empty slots to upgrade : https://www.pcmadd.com/retelistica/server/dell-poweredge-r620-2-x-intel-xeon-e5-2680-2-7-ghz-64-gb-ram-ddr3-ecc-hdd-2-x-300-gb-sas-15k-controler-raid-h710-dimensiune-1u-caddy-hdd-6x2-5-2xpsu.html

DELL POWEREDGE R620; 2 x Intel Xeon (E5-2680) 2.7 GHz; 64 GB RAM DDR3 ECC; HDD: 2 X 300 GB SAS 15K, controler RAID: H710; dimensiune: 1U

 

 

And yeah, especially the 1U servers will be NOISY... they're meant to sit in a rack where noise is irrelevant.

 

 

[jaslion]

2 hours ago, mariushm said:

Won't make a new system WITH cores AND lots of memory in that budget. 

 

Look for refurbished workstations/servers can be bought at that price

 

For example something like this : https://www.citgrup.ro/servere/refurbished-2/server-hp-proliant-dl380p-g8-036821

 

HP ProLiant DL380p G8, 2 x Intel 10 Core Xeon E5-2670 v2 2.5 GHz, 64 GB DDR3 ECC, 1 TB HDD SAS - for around 4200 ron / $850

 

(But my advice is to either opt for 128 GB from the start, or go in person and make sure they're installing (or ask to install) 8 GB sticks, so you'll have empty slots to upgrade to 128GB in the future. )

 

or another example (both sites are Romanian stores btw)  : https://www.pcmadd.com/retelistica/server/dell-poweredge-r720-2-x-intel-xeon-e5-2665-2-4-ghz-128-gb-ram-ddr3-ecc-controler-raid-h710-dimensiune-2u-caddy-hdd-8x2-5-2xpsu.html

 

DELL POWEREDGE R720, 2 x Intel Xeon (E5-2665) 2.4 GHz, 128 GB RAM DDR3 ECC, controler RAID: H710, dimensiune: 2U, caddy HDD: 8x2.5, 2xPSU

 

or this but negotiate for 128 GB memory or make sure there's empty slots to upgrade : https://www.pcmadd.com/retelistica/server/dell-poweredge-r620-2-x-intel-xeon-e5-2680-2-7-ghz-64-gb-ram-ddr3-ecc-hdd-2-x-300-gb-sas-15k-controler-raid-h710-dimensiune-1u-caddy-hdd-6x2-5-2xpsu.html

DELL POWEREDGE R620; 2 x Intel Xeon (E5-2680) 2.7 GHz; 64 GB RAM DDR3 ECC; HDD: 2 X 300 GB SAS 15K, controler RAID: H710; dimensiune: 1U

 

 

And yeah, especially the 1U servers will be NOISY... they're meant to sit in a rack where noise is irrelevant.

 

 

Funny thing is that dual e5 2680 even with perfect scaling do not perform as well as a 5600g.

The e5 2665 is even worse.

The dual e5 2670v2 WITH PERFECT SCALING (not happening) is about the same as a 5600g.

 

So yeah that is why I don't recommend going below v4.

[mariushm]

I agree, but a  pair of 32 GB DDR4 sticks cost $310 / 260 euro here ... so if he wants 128 GB, he blows through half his budget just on ram.

Not even getting into compatibility issues and how easy for motherboard to do 128 gigs. 

 

 

[Moflea Andrei]

@jaslionYea, I was thinking about xeons. I know 1U are terrible in cooloing and noise. Had to get a DELL R610 (with 2* Hexa cores X5650) in 2018 for my old employer

Dunno about Aliexpres, because as you said, it's a lottery on getting the parts you ordered..

@mariushm I know, the 700-1000 eur budget it's not realistic for a new system, especially with the amount of memory I dream about getting.

I think that, for now, the best option is a refurbished server and negotiate the ram.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Just buy a cheap dual socket chinese lga 2011-3 mobo aka "dual x99", two 16 core xeon e5 2683 v4 es cpus, and maybe 4 16gb ram sticks for 64gb (you can also do 8x8 but that kinda borks futureproofing though you can use quad channel ram)

 

 

Dual 2011-3 boards are around 150$, 2683 v4 es are around 145$, though ill have to check the prices of 2400mhz ecc ddr4 it shouldnt be that expensive, maybe around 200$ for 64gb 2400mhz ecc ddr4 2400

 

All can be had on aliexpress

[jaslion]

15 minutes ago, Moflea Andrei said:

@jaslionYea, I was thinking about xeons. I know 1U are terrible in cooloing and noise. Had to get a DELL R610 (with 2* Hexa cores X5650) in 2018 for my old employer

Dunno about Aliexpres, because as you said, it's a lottery on getting the parts you ordered..

@mariushm I know, the 700-1000 eur budget it's not realistic for a new system, especially with the amount of memory I dream about getting.

I think that, for now, the best option is a refurbished server and negotiate the ram.

Oh no you get the parts you wanted but those x299 i9's can range from ok to great in terms of clockspeeds. That is what I'm saying

[jaslion]

11 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Just buy a cheap dual socket chinese lga 2011-3 mobo aka "dual x99", two 16 core xeon e5 2683 v4 es cpus, and maybe 4 16gb ram sticks for 64gb (you can also do 8x8 but that kinda borks futureproofing though you can use quad channel ram)

 

 

Dual 2011-3 boards are around 150$, 2683 v4 es are around 145$, though ill have to check the prices of 2400mhz ecc ddr4 it shouldnt be that expensive, maybe around 200$ for 64gb 2400mhz ecc ddr4 2400

 

All can be had on aliexpress

Don't even need ecc just generic ddr4 works too.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Don't even need ecc just generic ddr4 works too.

Well if generic 2400mhz is cheaper than ecc 2400mhz then sure i guess just go for that unless you need ecc

[jaslion]

6 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Well if generic 2400mhz is cheaper than ecc 2400mhz then sure i guess just go for that unless you need ecc

New you can get it for as little as 180

[Moflea Andrei]

I got a rough ideea. I'm leaning towards Dell with 2 hexa or octa second hand. Will come back once I get the budget and transform this topic from hypothetical to realistic.

 

Thank you all for the help and time!

Andrew M.

[mariushm]

21 minutes ago, Moflea Andrei said:

I got a rough ideea. I'm leaning towards Dell with 2 hexa or octa second hand. Will come back once I get the budget and transform this topic from hypothetical to realistic.

 

Thank you all for the help and time!

Andrew M.

Just wanted to give you another idea.

 

The old Threadripper processors are sold at a quite bit discount these days, for example the 8 core/16 threads Threadripper 1900x is 160$ on Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Threadripper-16-thread-Processor-YD190XA8AEWOF/dp/B0754JNQBP/

 

Motherboards are a bit harder to find and a bit expensive, because the current Threadripper processors use different chipsets. You need a board with the old x399 chipset.

 

For example there's one here at 1399 RON (280 euro) : https://www.prostore.ro/placi_de_baza/asus/72418-prime-x399-a-socket-tr4-eatx/

and you can find on olx deals with 1900x and mobo at 1900 ron, here's one (though it's listed since february) : https://www.olx.ro/d/oferta/kit-threadrippertr4-1900x-asus-x399-a-la-cutie-ideal-rig-mining-IDaK8J9.html#519b0b81c3

 

You can also get them on eBay, they start from around $270 plus shipping : https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=x399+motherboard&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_BIN=1&_fcid=167

 

 

[Moflea Andrei]

31 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Just wanted to give you another idea.

 

The old Threadripper processors are sold at a quite bit discount these days, for example the 8 core/16 threads Threadripper 1900x is 160$ on Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/AMD-Threadripper-16-thread-Processor-YD190XA8AEWOF/dp/B0754JNQBP/

 

Motherboards are a bit harder to find and a bit expensive, because the current Threadripper processors use different chipsets. You need a board with the old x399 chipset.

 

For example there's one here at 1399 RON (280 euro) : https://www.prostore.ro/placi_de_baza/asus/72418-prime-x399-a-socket-tr4-eatx/

and you can find on olx deals with 1900x and mobo at 1900 ron, here's one (though it's listed since february) : https://www.olx.ro/d/oferta/kit-threadrippertr4-1900x-asus-x399-a-la-cutie-ideal-rig-mining-IDaK8J9.html#519b0b81c3

 

You can also get them on eBay, they start from around $270 plus shipping : https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=x399+motherboard&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_BIN=1&_fcid=167

 

 

Even though this looks incredibly good, I do have a small question that's bugging me. I'm unsure of the compatibility between my current 4790k and the AMDs - different CPU architectures that might result in picture artefacts, info found on the official corona forums from Aug. 2020