Render farm for less than £1000, can it be done?

[davegraham]

Building a budget render farm for less than £1000? can it be done?

Anyone ever tried?

- Dave.

sure....1000 pounds is an easy target for us in the states 'cos that's about 2K here. :) gotta love exchange rates.

my recommendations:

a.) G33 based microATX boards (intel) ($160.00)
b.) Intel e4300 processors ($200.00 post july price drop)
c.) Gskill/Kingston 2GB (2 x 1 GB) x 2 ($210.00)
d.) cheap-ass steel cases ($80)
e.) Seagate 80gb SATA ($80)
f.) Linux (free)


there you are. :) PSUs included in the case.

that's two machines (4 cores) that'll do you good. you could probably double that for the amount you'll spend.

dave

[everlite]

Thanks,

So don't you need a graphics card or monitor? What would i do, hook it up to my main workstation somehow?
Cheers - Dave.

[davegraham]

the GFX is integrated into the mainboard on the G33 so, no, you won't need anything there.

you could get a KVM which will allow you to share across one monitor, keyboard, mouse for OS installation, etc.

principally, however, you're going to use these as render nodes so, your queue manager (a la mental ray, dr queue, etc.) will be passing data to them without need for your intervention (or, you can manage this from your host). I'd put these all on a 100/1000 (GigE) switch if possible.

make sense? I can provide a visio if you want.

dave

[K-Arts]

If u are out of money and dont wann buy a kvm switch then install realvnc server on each pc or when installed ubuntu/linux use the preinstalled vnc server. Check out google and look for realvnc

ralf

[gdavisiv]

I have a similar plan as well... to build a new computer with dual quad core processors and then also to revamp my old pc with a quadcore processor.. so I will have more than enough omph' to get my scenes rendered..

:D

[everlite]

No, it don't make much sense :) I'm new the concept of setting up a render farm, and probably a little silly for thinking it would be simple :)

Can you give me a real basic 101 on a general setup, say using Max/Mental Ray.

Do i build up the render node as i would any other PC? and just network it up the main base?

What's a KVM? (i'll google it)

Cheers - Dave.

[davegraham]

If u are out of money and dont wann buy a kvm switch then install realvnc server on each pc or when installed ubuntu/linux use the preinstalled vnc server. Check out google and look for realvnc

ralf

that's a good idea as well. :)

cheers,

dave

[davegraham]

I have a similar plan as well... to build a new computer with dual quad core processors and then also to revamp my old pc with a quadcore processor.. so I will have more than enough omph' to get my scenes rendered..

:D

sure, that's a decent idea as well, but, that'd far exceed 2K. :)

the issues I have with current quad cores is that their memory streaming is VERY limited compared to some of the better designed duals out there.

think of it this way (on the intel side)

If you have a 4 inch sewer line and only two people "using" it, chances are, things are going to flow smoothly (outside of routine illnesses... :) )

If you have the same sewer line and four people "using" it, things are going to get more clogged. By doubling your people and NOT doubling your line, you've effectively limited the available "bandwidth" to your system. Now, for the days when only 2 of the 4 are home, sure, things will work, but when all 4 are going at it...well, do the math... :)

quad core is nice in theory but give me a good set of dual cores and onboard memory controllers ANY day of the week....


cheers,

Dave

[davegraham]

No, it don't make much sense :) I'm new the concept of setting up a render farm, and probably a little silly for thinking it would be simple :)

:) not a problem. I'll try to explain things over PM/Email to you and then re-post here.

Can you give me a real basic 101 on a general setup, say using Max/Mental Ray.

sure....I'll do this (as stated above) over PM/Email and re-post here.

Do i build up the render node as i would any other PC? and just network it up the main base?

exactly. so, each node is a PC connected to a network. I'll diagram this out for you.

What's a KVM? (i'll google it)

Cheers - Dave.

a KVM is a device that allows you to share a Keyboard (K), Video monitor (V), and Mouse (M) amongst different PCs. Here (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=260736)is one that is particularly decent. Another way to do this is in software using a VNC client (as K-arts mentioned above).

cheers,

Dave

[Chrisguy]

Here's a renderfarm that I plan on getting under 2000$, you can afford 3 of these :)

http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/13-186-120-02.jpg Foxconn MCP61SM2MA-ERS2H Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813186120)
Item #: N82E16813186120
($57.99 each)


http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/11-190-003-09.jpg Athenatech A100SC.200 Black/ Silver Steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 230W SFX Power Supply - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811190003)
Item #: N82E16811190003
($42.99 each)


http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/19-103-773-02.jpg AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADX6000CZBOX - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103773)
Item #: N82E16819103773
($215.99 each)

http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/20-146-565-04.jpg Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820146565)
Item #: N82E16820146565
($114.99 each)

http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll/22-145-082-02.jpg HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 (0A30356) 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822145082)
Item #: N82E16822145082
($39.99 each)

No need for graphics card or monitor, extra network equipment costs vary though

[grantmoore3d]

I didn't really read all the posts here, but it seems everyone is just suggesting a single computer to render out what you need. While this may satisfy, there are other alternatives.

If you have both space, and can afford the electric bill whenever you need to render, you could possibly build your own network of computers for rendering. And this can be done for fairly cheap as long as you don't discriminate against speed.

Pick a minumum speed, like 1Ghz, and pick up every used/old computer you can that is above that. If you end up with 20 slower computers at 1ghz each... it will end up being far faster than any single computer you can build. This method is better for speed and price of hardware (as you can probably pick up old computer for next to nothing)... but it will hit your electric bill everytime you want to render something.

The article below goes through setting up something like this. I know if I had the time/money I would:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1847365,00.asp

This method is more work, but it could be a fun project if you enjoy fixing old computers. But if not, I would just go with what everyone else said and build a kick ass computer.

[davegraham]

AMD does have great offerings and they just dropped their prices yesterday. problem is, deeper cuts are being positioned by Intel at the end of this month which mitigate performance per dollar against AMD.

it's a close battle, really.

cheers,

Dave

[davegraham]

I didn't really read all the posts here, but it seems everyone is just suggesting a single computer to render out what you need. While this may satisfy, there are other alternatives.

If you have both space, and can afford the electric bill whenever you need to render, you could possibly build your own network of computers for rendering. And this can be done for fairly cheap as long as you don't discriminate against speed.

yeah, this has already been proposed by me and several others. :) i did read your first sentence again though just to make sure I wasn't missing anything. ;)

Pick a minumum speed, like 1Ghz, and pick up every used/old computer you can that is above that. If you end up with 20 slower computers at 1ghz each... it will end up being far faster than any single computer you can build. This method is better for speed and price of hardware (as you can probably pick up old computer for next to nothing)... but it will hit your electric bill everytime you want to render something.

this is a good idea except that you're now kludging a hell of a lot of old parts together that, unless you're sure of their origin and care, can fail at ANY moment. granted a 15.00 part failure is better than a 200.00 but, the evolution of technology mitigates this more and more. sometimes, legacy parts can be offered at a premium over contemporary when the calculations are done (checked SIMM prices lately? ) :)


The article below goes through setting up something like this. I know if I had the time/money I would:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1847365,00.asp

This method is more work, but it could be a fun project if you enjoy fixing old computers. But if not, I would just go with what everyone else said and build a kick ass computer.


i used to like extremetech and then i realized that, with the occasional rare exception, they're all fluff and no substance. :) but i WILL read that article.

EDIT: article from ExtremeTech linked here (http://www.flickerdown.com/dcc/BuildYourOwnRenderFarm.pdf).

cheers,

Dave

[PanzerMKZ]

but it would be nice if you did read all of the post to a tread before you added to said thread. Yes a render garden for a hobbist would prob be easier on older parts, it is often alot easier and cheaper to get newer parts. I would have to agree with dave that for render nodes then maybe a dual core is better then quad core.


now if you have a junkyard laying around then old stuff makes alot of sense.


Panzer

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