network render on mac - input needed Tweet

[Blecker]

hi there,

i am quite a newbe in 3d abd octane so pls forgive me if i ask for a bit of patience with me. all this is sometimes overwhelming :O)

i am using octane render (a standalone) on my imac with this card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4096 MB

lowresolution like 500 by 1000 pixels work ok. but everything a bit more highres can really suck

so i thought that maybe the network rendering might be an option to improof my process

i have a pro mac here with 4 free slots and from my understanding i could put in there 2 new grafic cards (e.g. the gtx 970 4096MG) (only 2 because my dealer said they are so thick that they need more space)

also i have a macbook with a small nvidea card. only 1gb.


now i am wondering first of all: does all that make sense?
is the network rendering easy enough to set up?
is it reliable?

the costs would be around 350 euro per card. so around 700.- together
plus an extra standalone license per slave computer? correct?

i must admit i am not a very technical person. so if you feel you have some thoughts to share pls image you are speaking with a child ;O)))

would be great to hear from you
o.

[bepeg4d]

Hi,
you cannot render something more wide than 1000 pixel because the iMac display is sucking almost all the vram from the internal GPU leaving very little space for Octane.
You can reduce the display resolution but this is not ideal and does not free up so much vram.
On the other side, the old Mac Pro is capable to handle two doble side full length GPU like GTX 970 or Titan X for example, plus you can have a single side low power GPU like the GT 120 for display only. I have this configuration myself too You only need an external psu for feeding the GTX, here is a discussion about it:
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=47443
Unfortunately, regarding net rendering, this doesn't change the vram limitation, if you use the iMac as master, since the limited vram will be the limit for your rendering in any case
Better should be to use the Mac Pro, with the above configuration, alone or via teamviewer from the iMac or Mac Book.
If your iMac has a thunderbolt port, you can look at the eGPU solution:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=43439
In this case, the net rendering solution become interesting because you can leave the internal iMac GPU for display only and populate both the iMac and the Mac Pro with good GTX and use all of them via octane net rendering.
I hope to have helped you, is something is not clear, don't hesitate to ask
ciao beppe

[Blecker]

thx bepeg4d...

your msg is very much appreciated

so if i get you correctly the best way to go might be to pimp up the mac pro with two extra gpu and do the render work on that computer?

here are some hard facts: mac pro beginning of 2009
2.226 ghz quad core intel xeon
12 gb 1066 mhz ddr3 ecc
with yosemit 10.10.5

do you think this will work so much better that the expensis would be justified?
in other words: is this what you would do?

thanks for a short note
o.

[bepeg4d]

Yes, exactly
I have the same Mac Pro and I work with it and Octane from 5 years now.. In the past I have used on it GTX 285/460/560/590 and now 780. The monitor is attached to this GPU and it is placed in between the two 780:
http://www.ebay.it/itm/Scheda-Video-Nvi ... Swo6lWQiG8
You can use any GTX PC card, no need for flashed ones for working with octane, but if you don't have an Nvidia Mac card the boot is different and the screen stays black until the desktop is completely loaded (eg. you can't choose a different partition on boot).
It's better to leave the mac opened for a better airflow, GPUs can easily work at 80° degrees and more.
Here is a picture of the coplete set up, it's not very stylish but it works smoothly from years:

ciao beppe

[Blecker]

thx so much beppe... this helps a lot
be well
o.

[Blecker]

hey.... i hope it is ok that i come back with some more detailed quesitonn?
i saw dealer today to get some more information about the setup and i am not really sure what to ask for

this ven on the top: this this just a van or a power supply?

for some reason i thought you would have put the cards INTO the mac pro

now i think that you might have them i some sort of tray or case in the outside??? my dealer told me a crazy price like 2000 or so just for a case
and that would on top of 2 videocards just to much

would be great to hear from you cause my suffering with my current configuration is HUGE ;O)

[bepeg4d]

Hi,
the external PSU is necessary only if you want to put more than one GTX 970/980 (eg. one or two 980ti or Titan).
on top of the Mac Pro there is a standard PC PSU like this, for example:
http://www.amazon.it/Corsair-CP-9020056 ... rsair+850w
then you need to make a little trick for let it working without a direct connection with the Mac mother board:
https://youtu.be/5FWXgQSokF4
Then connect the power cables to the GPUs, turn on the external PSU and then the Mac. That's it
There are more expensive external solution, or here is a very interesting solution from another user of the forum:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=47105
ciao beppe

[Blecker]

thanks beppe!!!

so your videocards are actually IN the mac and they just get the power from the external PSU?

:O)
o.

[bepeg4d]

Exactly
ciao beppe

[Blecker]

thanks mate ;O)