Jump to content

3D Animation Rendering PC

Andy123W
By Andy123W
in New Builds and Planning
 Share
Posted

Hello all,

Recently I have found myself asking a lot from my current gaming PC as I have begin rendering animation in the program Blender. I am looking to do one of three things: upgrade my current PC to be better equipped for this job, build a new PC, or take advantage of cloud computing.

Current Specs:

i5 6600k (4.4GHz) (Custom loop cooled)

z170 mini-itx

16GB RAM

GTX 1070 (Custom loop cooled)

Phanteks Evolv mini-itx case

800W PSU

500GB SSD

 

The first option upgrading would involve me, selling out my mini-itx parts (case and mobo) and buying ATX or E-ATX versions to accommodate up to three more cheaper GPU's (GTX 770's) in addition to my 1070. It is worthy noting here that this workload does not require SLI or matching GPU's, just a great amount of Tflops.

Secondly, I keep my current PC as is and buy a cheap, easily expandable rendering PC (probably a 3, 4 year old CPU and chipset with many GPU slots).

Lastly, I take advantage of cloud computing. However, I dislike this idea for the following reasons: I like building PC's, I would be renting constantly, I would not have the benefit of more PC power when doing test renders or other tasks.

 

What do people think is the most cost effective of the three solutions? I really appreciate anyone helping me, as I am stumped here!
Andy

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/777847-3d-animation-rendering-pc/
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
6 minutes ago, Andy123W said:

Hello all,

Recently I have found myself asking a lot from my current gaming PC as I have begin rendering animation in the program Blender. I am looking to do one of three things: upgrade my current PC to be better equipped for this job, build a new PC, or take advantage of cloud computing.

Optimal (production-grade) hardware

  • 64-bit eight core CPU
  • 16 GB RAM
  • Two full HD displays with 24 bit color
  • Three button mouse and graphics tablet
  • Dual OpenGL 3.2 compatible graphics cards with 4 GB RAM

Are you sure you need more GPUs? I would look at getting into Ryzen7 for 16 threaded performance.

 

Quote

Cycles thrives on the GPU. Yes, it can render on the CPU as well, but the GPU is immensely faster.

Interesting.... I would probably go for Option 1

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU AMD R7 7800X3D    Motherboard Asrock B650E Taichi Lite    RAM Corsair Vengeance RGB 32GB 5200mhz    GPU ASUS RTX4080 STRIX 

Case Fractal Torrent   Storage Samsung 980Pro 2TB, Crucial P3 Plus 4TB x2,     PSU Corsair RM1000x    Cooling Deepcool AK620

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
10 minutes ago, Andy123W said:

Hello all,

Recently I have found myself asking a lot from my current gaming PC as I have begin rendering animation in the program Blender. I am looking to do one of three things: upgrade my current PC to be better equipped for this job, build a new PC, or take advantage of cloud computing.

Current Specs:

i5 6600k (4.4GHz) (Custom loop cooled)

z170 mini-itx

16GB RAM

GTX 1070 (Custom loop cooled)

Phanteks Evolv mini-itx case

800W PSU

500GB SSD

 

The first option upgrading would involve me, selling out my mini-itx parts (case and mobo) and buying ATX or E-ATX versions to accommodate up to three more cheaper GPU's (GTX 770's) in addition to my 1070. It is worthy noting here that this workload does not require SLI or matching GPU's, just a great amount of Tflops.

Secondly, I keep my current PC as is and buy a cheap, easily expandable rendering PC (probably a 3, 4 year old CPU and chipset with many GPU slots).

Lastly, I take advantage of cloud computing. However, I dislike this idea for the following reasons: I like building PC's, I would be renting constantly, I would not have the benefit of more PC power when doing test renders or other tasks.

 

What do people think is the most cost effective of the three solutions? I really appreciate anyone helping me, as I am stumped here!
Andy

 
 

What is your budget

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
19 minutes ago, TheDane said:

What is your budget

Hi, sorry, I actually just opened up my laptop to update the post because I forgot to mention. I would be comfortable spending $500USD, however, I am okay to buy the GPU's over time. So consider the $500USD to maybe include the price of 1 GPU as this is the most easily expandable part.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
35 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Optimal (production-grade) hardware

  • 64-bit eight core CPU
  • 16 GB RAM
  • Two full HD displays with 24 bit color
  • Three button mouse and graphics tablet
  • Dual OpenGL 3.2 compatible graphics cards with 4 GB RAM

Are you sure you need more GPUs? I would look at getting into Ryzen7 for 16 threaded performance.

 

Interesting.... I would probably go for Option 1

Thank you for the reply! Yes I too did shortly consider Ryzen, but my 1070 renders approximately 3 times faster than my 6600k. I too agree that GPU's are the way forward considering it is much easier to get dual GPU's over dual CPU's.

 

It appears I didn't copy the quote correctly. And also, I am using cycles.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
24 minutes ago, Andy123W said:

Hi, sorry, I actually just opened up my laptop to update the post because I forgot to mention. I would be comfortable spending $500USD, however, I am okay to buy the GPU's over time. So consider the $500USD to maybe include the price of 1 GPU as this is the most easily expandable part.

Sorry, additional information, I am expecting to be buying second hand. Especially when it comes to the GPU's.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I am only thinking of upgrading your RAM and SSD

"Make it future proof for some years at least, don't buy "only slightly better" stuff that gets outdated 1 year, that's throwing money away" @pipoawas

 

-Frequencies DON'T represent everything and in many cases that is true (referring to Individual CPU Clocks).

 

Mention me if you want to summon me sooner or later

Spoiler

My head on 2019 :

Note 10, S10, Samsung becomes Apple, Zen 2, 3700X, Renegade X lol

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
1 hour ago, Ordinarily_Greater said:

I am only thinking of upgrading your RAM and SSD

Firstly, the SSD isn't too great in terms of capacity. When I upgrade, with any route I will be buying a HDD. Secondly, do you think more RAM will be beneficial to cycles? Considering the current high cost of DDR4 I'd rather the extra $100+ went somewhere else.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
56 minutes ago, Andy123W said:

Firstly, the SSD isn't too great in terms of capacity. When I upgrade, with any route I will be buying a HDD. Secondly, do you think more RAM will be beneficial to cycles? Considering the current high cost of DDR4 I'd rather the extra $100+ went somewhere else.

$500 to get a GTX 1080 isn't enough, but if you can stretch by 10-50 bucks you should get average GTX 1080 type. But 1080 isn't worth I think for upgrade

 

And when I said about RAM it passed right in my mind. That doesn't mean I purely recommend you to upgrade the RAM.

Also if you change to Ryzen will you be bothered by changing motherboard like changing the whole PC?

"Make it future proof for some years at least, don't buy "only slightly better" stuff that gets outdated 1 year, that's throwing money away" @pipoawas

 

-Frequencies DON'T represent everything and in many cases that is true (referring to Individual CPU Clocks).

 

Mention me if you want to summon me sooner or later

Spoiler

My head on 2019 :

Note 10, S10, Samsung becomes Apple, Zen 2, 3700X, Renegade X lol

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
7 minutes ago, Ordinarily_Greater said:

$500 to get a GTX 1080 isn't enough, but if you can stretch by 10-50 bucks you should get average GTX 1080 type. But 1080 isn't worth I think for upgrade

 

And when I said about RAM it passed right in my mind. That doesn't mean I purely recommend you to upgrade the RAM.

Also if you change to Ryzen will you be bothered by changing motherboard like changing the whole PC?

I don't want to go to Ryzen, as cycles is heavily GPU dependent. Also, when I intend to spend money on GPU's it would be after upgrading to an ATX or E-ATX form factor. As then I can purchase several smaller GPU's. I have done some browsing and found that the greatest GPU power (TFlops) per unit price are the GTX 770's.

 

If I upgrade to ATX or E-ATX, I will go z170, or z270 as this will allow me to keep my 6600k and cooling solution.

My favourite solution currently is replacing my mini-ITX z170 board with an ATX board, and replacing my mini-ITX case with an ATX one. And then buying two (or three if E-ATX) GTX 770's.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
1 minute ago, Andy123W said:

I don't want to go to Ryzen, as cycles is heavily GPU dependent. Also, when I intend to spend money on GPU's it would be after upgrading to an ATX or E-ATX form factor. As then I can purchase several smaller GPU's. I have done some browsing and found that the greatest GPU power (TFlops) per unit price are the GTX 770's.

 

If I upgrade to ATX or E-ATX, I will go z170, or z270 as this will allow me to keep my 6600k and cooling solution.

My favourite solution currently is replacing my mini-ITX z170 board with an ATX board, and replacing my mini-ITX case with an ATX one. And then buying two (or three if E-ATX) GTX 770's.

OK that solution needs something:

  1. Magnetic screwdriver and magnetic tray
  2. Anti static workstation 
  3. And some effort put into patience

"Make it future proof for some years at least, don't buy "only slightly better" stuff that gets outdated 1 year, that's throwing money away" @pipoawas

 

-Frequencies DON'T represent everything and in many cases that is true (referring to Individual CPU Clocks).

 

Mention me if you want to summon me sooner or later

Spoiler

My head on 2019 :

Note 10, S10, Samsung becomes Apple, Zen 2, 3700X, Renegade X lol

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing New Builds and Planning

×