System advice

Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:59 am

I am going to setup a new computer which is mainly going to be used for Octane. I already have a single 460 card so I was thinking of adding another card which would compliment this. I also have my old 8800 card which I will use to drive the screens. So the advice I want is what motherboard does anyone recommend? Obviously it would be to be able to support at least 3 GPUs. I'd probably be putting an i7 on it with 16GB ram. Also any suggestions for a second (third) GPU? I thought about a 560 2GB because my existing 460 is a 2GB card.

My total budget is around £800 and I'd really like to stay inside that if I can.

Something else to consider, I currently have a 600watt PSU. This may need to be updated?

Sat Sep 17, 2011 8:59 am

I'm very intersted by this thread because I'm also planning to upgrade and my actual config is very similar to yours (see my signature).
I have a 9800 gt that I can actually not use because I only have one PCIe port on my motherboard.

Sat Sep 17, 2011 1:49 pm

Mu current front runner is the ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution. Unless someone can tell me otherwise then that is what I'll go for.

Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:03 pm

you should buy sandy bridge cpu, for example i5 2500k or i7 2600k and mbo with h67 chipset so igp on cpu is supported, then you could use intel graphics for display when you're rendering. that means less heat output and power consumption since you dont need gf8800 at all and you can even buy mbo with room for only two cards insted of 3

Sat Sep 17, 2011 8:01 pm

I am planning on buying an i7 sandy bridge which which the motherboard I suggested sounds like a good partnership. The 8800 card is to drive the screen. If you have ever tried to do anything else whilst Octane is rendering you will know that a GPU to drive the screen is a great option.

YouTube · Sat Sep 17, 2011 10:18 pm

I bought 2 Asus boards (check my signature) a year ago, each takes 3 dbl gpu's. I'm using a 460 for display and 2 480's for render, everything works good, and I have 12gig of ram on each. No water or any other cooling systems but a regular fan. The room is air-conditioned though. The cases are hand made from 2 cartoon boxes!

Sun Sep 18, 2011 8:38 am

That is just a bit too much for my requirements. I am just a hobbyist so 2 GPUs 2ill be a bit more than your average computer owner. My bedroom already gets to about 30 degrees if I've left it rendering all night. What I need is a waterproof case that I can leave outside

Sun Sep 18, 2011 1:20 pm

steveps3 wrote:I am planning on buying an i7 sandy bridge which which the motherboard I suggested sounds like a good partnership. The 8800 card is to drive the screen. If you have ever tried to do anything else whilst Octane is rendering you will know that a GPU to drive the screen is a great option.

i know that GPU that "drives" the screen as you put it is a good option and i'm telling you you dont need 8800 if you're buying sandy bridge because you can use igp on it insted of 8800. that means you might not need to upgrade your power supply and cooling system. i hope you understand it this time

Sun Sep 18, 2011 1:38 pm

I will certainly look into that. Thanks.

Sun Sep 18, 2011 2:44 pm

The only problem with that is that I am driving 2 screens. I don't think that any of the H67 boards can do that.