FE vs custom

[cisto1999]

I am planning a new workstation for rendering (so no sli-bridge required).

Case: corsair 540 air

3 x Gtx 1070 (two at beginning, later a third one).

Should i buy the FE-Cards with blower cooler or custom-cooled cards? I will position the cards on the mainboard that there is one-slot space between each card.

[racer243l]

I´d say blower. But 3-way SLI isn´t officially supported on Pascal cards. I don´t know about the software you use, it might be supported or not, just as a disclaimer

[Imakuni]

18 minutes ago, cisto1999 said:

I am planning a new workstation for rendering (so sli-bridge required)

Not at all. SLI (and the bridge) has one use, and one use only: gaming. If you aren't gaming, you do not need SLI support.

19 minutes ago, cisto1999 said:

3 x Gtx 1070 (two at beginning, later a third one).

Should i buy the FE-Cards with blower cooler or custom-cooled cards? I will position the cards on the mainboard that there is one-slot space between each card.

Don't buy the FE card. Ever. There's never a single instance where it makes sense. You can buy a blower card such as the MSI Aero, sure, but don't buy the FE specifically.

[cisto1999]

Blender - no SLI necessary

[Streetguru]

1 hour ago, cisto1999 said:

 

Why not find some old titans on sale if you need the VRAM

in any case, go for hybrid cards if possible

But I'd suggest you just go for custom cards, for the noise savings alone

Also if you aren't using SLI do you even need a bridge?

[DXMember]

Does Blender support CUDA acceleration or OpenCL?

if it's OpenCL only I'd highly recommend getting R9 290 or R9 390 configuration

old titans might be a tad better actually if it can do CUDA

[cisto1999]

6 hours ago, Streetguru said:

Also if you aren't using SLI do you even need a bridge?

sorry... i meant NO sli-bridge required.

[SkepticKrab]

Blender supports OpenCL but their are alot more software options for CUDA 

[Streetguru]

3 hours ago, SkepticKrab said:

Blender supports OpenCL but their are alot more software options for CUDA 

Although the 480s would be way cheaper with the same VRAM, not sure on any real performance difference.