Need new rendering server

[ShadowChaser]

I'm currently using my own rig for my school's video production team. It's got an overclocked 6600K (only at 4.0 Ghz) for longevity, but with only 4 threads, it takes forever. I'm looking to build a server to offload this from my rig. With a budget of $150 and change, I'm kind of stuck. Preferably I'd try to get an 8+ core machine, and multithreading would be a plus. Power isn't a concern, electricity is cheap where I live. Also noise is a concern, so I'd rather not get a 1U server if I can help it. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[NullPointer_]

You won't get far with that budget unfortunately. I know there are dual socket motherboards and cheap dual or quad Xeons on eBay, but factoring in PSU, RAM, a rack mount case and disks, you won't get far. I think you would be pretty far stretched to get a complete system for less than $150 and I highly doubt it would be better in performance.

[ShadowChaser]

6 minutes ago, ItsQuantum said:

You won't get far with that budget unfortunately. I know there are dual socket motherboards and cheap dual or quad Xeons on eBay, but factoring in PSU, RAM, a rack mount case and disks, you won't get far. I think you would be pretty far stretched to get a complete system for less than $150 and I highly doubt it would be better in performance.

I should've put this in the title (duh) but I just need a mobo and processors.

[combine1237]

Are you going to sell the 6600k or what is going to happen to it?

[ShadowChaser]

Just now, combine1237 said:

Are you going to sell the 6600k or what is going to happen to it?

That's my main PC CPU

[m0k]

24 minutes ago, ShadowChaser said:

I'm currently using my own rig for my school's video production team. It's got an overclocked 6600K (only at 4.0 Ghz) for longevity, but with only 4 threads, it takes forever. I'm looking to build a server to offload this from my rig. With a budget of $150 and change, I'm kind of stuck. Preferably I'd try to get an 8+ core machine, and multithreading would be a plus. Power isn't a concern, electricity is cheap where I live. Also noise is a concern, so I'd rather not get a 1U server if I can help it. Any suggestions? Thanks.

for only $150 your best bet is to sell your 6600k for $200ish and buy a used i7 6700 or 6700k

[ShadowChaser]

35 minutes ago, mok said:

for only $150 your best bet is to sell your 6600k for $200ish and buy a used i7 6700 or 6700k

 

33 minutes ago, CUDA_Cores said:

Also another thing to add:

 

the i5 6600K is a quite fast CPU at 4GHz. That CPU will outperform a lot of 8 core LGA 1366 servers in benchmarks, and an 8 core LGA 1366 server is probably all you can afford. Basically it would be a sidegrade, it wouldn't be any faster than you have now. 

 

Keep saving kid. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The point is I don't want any renders running on my main PC. I have other things to do and while renders are running, my PC turns into a netbook in jelly. I'd just like to have something to offload these projects onto.

 

I suppose I could wait for a few paychecks, but the sooner I get something, the better.

[Psittac]

what part's do you have that will be used with this mb/cpu combo you hope to buy.  The motherboard is the most difficult part, most are proprietary layout's so if you can just put it ontop of a box just look for a mb with the same memory type then use the rest of the budget on the best xeon cpu you can find

[ShadowChaser]

Just now, Psittac said:

what part's do you have that will be used with this mb/cpu combo you hope to buy.  The motherboard is the most difficult part, most are proprietary layout's so if you can just put it ontop of a box just look for a mb with the same memory type then use the rest of the budget on the best xeon cpu you can find

I have plenty of ddr2/3 ECC RAM, as well as a literal pile of PSUs. I just don't know where to start to look for mobos. Should I go 1366 or 771 or something else?

 

 

[Psittac]

I know that lga775 is dead so I'd assume lga771 is as well.  Other's previously have mentioned lga1366 and while it's been a while since I've looked into a xeon build, I'm pretty sure they hit the nail on the head

[m0k]

i think you should just raise the issue with your teacher or some staff - that you can no longer render videos on your personal computer.

if its for school, then ask them to purchase a computer for students to use

[ShadowChaser]

13 hours ago, mok said:

i think you should just raise the issue with your teacher or some staff - that you can no longer render videos on your personal computer.

if its for school, then ask them to purchase a computer for students to use

The PCs the school provided had C2Ds and 4th Gen i3s. These take even longer to render (we used to leave them running overnight). I suppose I can ask, but I think I'll try to get everyone to chip in and see if we can scrounge something good up.

[m0k]

2 hours ago, ShadowChaser said:

The PCs the school provided had C2Ds and 4th Gen i3s. These take even longer to render (we used to leave them running overnight). I suppose I can ask, but I think I'll try to get everyone to chip in and see if we can scrounge something good up.

those i3 pcs are no good

convince them to buy one new or used pc with an i7 - they have the budget for this stuff

 

[brob]

Something like an FX-8320 or FX-8350 on an inexpensive motherboard should come close to your budget. Eight admittedly weak cores should do a reasonable job rendering.

[ShadowChaser]

4 hours ago, brob said:

Something like an FX-8320 or FX-8350 on an inexpensive motherboard should come close to your budget. Eight admittedly weak cores should do a reasonable job rendering.

Cool, should I try to find one used or just buy new. I think I might even have an AM3 mobo laying around somewhere.

[brob]

6 minutes ago, ShadowChaser said:

Cool, should I try to find one used or just buy new. I think I might even have an AM3 mobo laying around somewhere.

Find the least expensive working cpu. New if possible. Would be excellent if you have a mobo and memory that could be used.

[ShadowChaser]

I'm not sure since it's a generic board, but does ddr3 ecc ram work on consumer boards?

[brob]

1 minute ago, ShadowChaser said:

I'm not sure since it's a generic board, but does ddr3 ecc ram work on consumer boards?

I believe it will work, although ECC functionality will not be available.