Show us your GPU rig!

[electric_eric]

Hi,

I'm currently looking for a stable rig/solution for 9 x 980ti. We currently have two amfeltec GPU clusters and have had 9 cards working on it, for a time. Of late we've had issues with it with failed PSU's, failed GPU, and also failed cluster boards.

We have a cooled server room and plenty of fans etc for cooling and we are prepared to spend on the rig in exchange for a stable system.

We're now keen to find out what solutions are available so I'd love to see what rigs you guys have, and to hear about performance, cooling and stability.

Thanks in advance

Simon

[glimpse]

hi, Simon.

Stability comes with price or..a bit of creativity.

Amfeltecs solution is pretty awesome..had backplate & splitter & alot of users here also own one of these cluster..however.. steping in the path of signal..the same as with RAID You simply introduce another point of failure =)

if You want stability.. & that's the key word in Your equatation.. get server board & mean.. good server chassis & populate with 8 GPUs..even without OC based on gm200 units (980Tis or TitanXs) You'll be looking at ~1000 i nterms of OctaneBench. That ain't cheap.. thoughwithout cards You're looking to spend few no less than..5k$ or even more (depending on choise of CPUs, RAM, chassis itself..).

alternative solution is to get a great motherboard, single slot mod 7GPUs, plug those directly into motherboard & run all this with propper cooling =) Stability will be there..each GPU will get 8lanes gen3 & 7 cards under watter will still deliver render power of 8 =)

in the very end You get something that would operate at 50C or less under full load in OctaneRender. give You no bottlenecks (as those x1 links) & then.. keep things silent as well, if You wish to use as Your main workstation. However building something like that requires some custom work as there are not so much single slot ready GPUs & then watercooling part itself..if You mess that up You'll have more headache then any use.

So all in all..Server will cost You much more, hurting value ..while custom thing is slightly better option in terms of value, but availability do to custom nature is not so good =) mainly built to order.

[electric_eric]

Thanks.

Do you know of any server options that might be suitable?

We have a budget of up to $10k

[glimpse]

supermicro - I guess =) than somehting liky Tyan..& simmilar companies. Some of them do sell pretty expensive stuff..& You would be getting soemthign that is..well not beneficial. But hey it's Your choise.

[electric_eric]

I've heard Super Micro aren't great, with poor support and a nightmarish BIOS setup.

Very nearly bought one of these but was put off by users on Octane FB page:

http://www.supermicro.nl/products/syste ... 8GR-TR.cfm

[glimpse]

super micro target audience is slightly different, their goals are slightly different compared to ASUS for instance.. if You want good lookin bios & tos of options.. gram ASUS products or so & You'll ave whawt You need.

Experience is always a slippery thing.. as Your own knowledge & taste has a lot of influence there.. jsut because something wasn't working for some, it doesn't mean that it's bad product..-it might actually end up htat user was a bit..how to say it best..You get the point.

so i nthe we get to the ppoint, there's no good or bad, no perfect solution, just one that fit Your needs & one that don't =) that's it! do Your homework, make research..but before that it's worth to put some checklist.

What do You want?
How fast it should be?
How easy the maintaince should be?
How much You're willing to spend? etc.

Once You reply to those & tons more of simmilar questions You start to understand Your own needs & priorities better.. as most of times..I want the best I I barelly get the budget for worst..- whne You set Your stones in places..You can to adjustments & figure out much more easily what You are willing to sacrifice & what not. This will help not only You but those that are trying to help You to find best solution that would fit Your needs.. & You should be clear & straight forward about that..