Purchase advice for network rendering

[Fake Pilot]

For various reasons, I'm working with Macs. At work and already have two at home.
I'm of course a bit furious, that Apple is going the AMD route, but I'm so hooked to this workflow now.
My iMac at work and my Macbook Pro Retina, both got Nvidia CUDA cards. The one at work, is actually functional and fast for previews.
The one on my MBPR, only works for testing really.

With the new network rendering, I'm considering buying a PC with Linux or Windows and use that only for GPU rendering over network.
Have anyone done this before? Is it an option?

If it is, I'm interested on how to buy a computer like that in Stockholm, Sweden (or nearby for delivery).
What graphics cards are recommended? If the budget is around 2.000 EUR to start with?

[rappet]

Hi,
I render with one windows PC as master over network with two Windows PC's as slaves.
That works perfectly.
Do you want to render with Mac as master and use Windows or Linux as slave?
Do not know about that?
Cheers,

[pegot]

Why not just build a Hackintosh?

[Fake Pilot]

I have no idea how. Don't wanna spend so much money only to get stuck? That actually goes together with the purchase advice.
Really don't know who to trust, either. This motherboard here, that there. If your not very technical, building one is scary.

Isn't there any complete packages for this yet?

[glimpse]

hi there,

to build hackintosh is not so hard =) at all, the problem is that You're limited to parts & there's a bit of fiddling with installation to make everything work..that might require some extra time.

If I were You I would continue working on MacOS if that's You preferred system but simply build a box as You say for network rendering.
Keep in mind You need to buy extra licence to use network rendering.

Pluss If You would like to get Your laptop somewhere else =) You can always power up PC/Linux box & use standalone to render Your scene on that computer. Pluss You can have it in other room to avoid noise.

To help You out with Your purchase please try to be more specific what for You're going to use it =), what are Your future plans in terms of upgrading =) & we'll try to give You advise based on that =)

Give us Your preferred online shop for ordering parts =) I know there is good one in Norway called Komplett, but You might have somewhat similar in Sweden. Google up for one =)

for 2kEU You can build quite powerful render node =) the questions is, as I said before, what are Your future plans =)

[Fake Pilot]

Thanks for the replies.

My plans are to use this for private projects and keep on experimenting, getting better. I already have a job at an advertisement firm. But the projects we get there, usually doesn't require 3D rendering. We do most stuff just moving graphics and/or over video. Sometimes though, we do. And I have an iMac with a GeForce GTX 780M 1536 4GB. That works for setting a scene, then I could do full render at home.
But yeah, mainly for hobby reasons and for the future, I want to keep learning and advancing becoming a better 3D motion graphic designer.

To simply not having to worry about huge render times and be more experimental. Sounds like heaven to me.

Started looking at a machine from komplett.se!
https://www.komplett.se/k/config.aspx?C ... emId=10935

If I save for a month or two, I could have two MSI GeForce GTX TITAN BLACK 6GB.
Or, two ZOTAC GeForce GTX 780Ti 3GB earlier?

There are other options there for graphic cards... Also, since this would only be used for network rendering. I would like to save money on CPU, RAM and hard drive etc.

[glimpse]

For CPU You can get something very basic like anniversary dual Core from Intel =) should work perfectly. For the ram, You should be more than happy with basic kit, just try to get 3x4 times of the what You GPU has.

As for the card, 3GB is totally fine for testing out, I've started with 1.25GB, but if You start messing with bigger scenes, multimillion poly meshes & want to get higher textures in, I believe 6GB is the best deals in term of future proofing =) so You don't have to throw some parts. Titan Black is nice card - bottom line everything depends on Your needs =)..

As for whole system You don't need X99 based, Z97 chip would be more than enough (especially if You try to save some money), You can pair it with dual core, OC'ed AIO (closed loop cooler), Pluss DDR3 RAM modules will be less expensive, compared to those used in X99. So if You go with 6GB GPUs 32GB of RAM should be enough to avoid any bottlenecks even 16GB in most case would be fine to start with if You're not going to stress system out to the max in the beginning (You can add 16 more later).

Get good case with enough airflow to keep cards from trotting down. Think about form factor: ATX or MATX based on Your needs - overbuild is costly & unnecessary in majority of cases. Use proper power supply with upgrades in mind, so You don't need to change it when You get extra card/cards in the future =)

I can also make You custom build if You wish to have more performance & let's say silence at the same time. Think I could arrange delivery for ~400Kr to Sweden =)

however if You need more hall on this - drop some thought bellow =)

[Fake Pilot]

I'm understanding like 30% of what your saying. Haha.. But would love a custom build for delivery.
Have no problem paying you ≈400 kr. Not quite yet, though. Need to save a bit for this computer.

Two details that I would probably be needing. Connect a Thunderbolt screen to it. Does PCs have that?
A fast wireless card for the network rendering.

And also, some support from the place to buy it from. What if nothing works when I get it?
What if it crashes after 2 months.

[salmon]

Hi,
i'm not a technical expert at all so i like to trust in best professionals.
i work as architect from 10 years and for high-end technical systems, i always trust with this company: azken.com
take a look if you wish: GPU Computing y HPC : http://www.azken.com/Productos/Index/Se ... %20y%20HPC
Ask them what are your requirements, x4,x8,GPUS, feel free to ask for a budget.

my purpouse it's not advertisement, only to share my experience to help.

[glimpse]

@Salmon. Good perspective, You avoid headache & just do Your work. However for the same budget, You would spend for server grade systems, some Guys on this forum can tailor build You rigs that would run around Your purchase in circles in terms of performance (You don't need ECC, nor DP nor any other shiny features You pay for while getting Servers). If You have money to blow, that's fine..for the rest of us, building systems from scratch buying parts that give best value & performance, making proper decisions based on needs (more performance, more silence, smaller footprint, etc..) will be way better option. & You don't ask system builders..You have to say them what You need, otherwise they will build You a computer that doesn't fit Your needs =)