Helmer Render Farm Aug 2014, need help !

#1

Hello

Finally I’m gonna build my own Helmer Render Farm but after my research for the part I’m a little confuse.

Little background first:

I’ll use the renderfarm for 3DSMAX/VRAY, Cinema 4D/VRAY and After Effect. Mainly for long animations with gi/AO etc.

GPU Animations is not an option

My budget for render node is about $1100-$1200 or less and try to squeezed for as much performace as possible.

This is my first setup:

  • Intel Core i7-4930K 3.40GHz -$579
  • ASUS Rampage IV Gene LGA 2011 -$210
  • G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 16GB -$160
  • Kingston SSDNow V300 Series SV300S37A/60G 2.5" -$60
  • EVGA 430W 80PLUS Certified ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply $35
  • Noctua NF-R8 80mm Fan $15

Total LGA2011: $1059

This is my second setup:

  • Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz-$340
  • ASRock H81M-ITX -$60
  • G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 16GB -$160
  • Kingston SSDNow V300 Series SV300S37A/60G 2.5" -$60
  • EVGA 430W 80PLUS Certified ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply $35
  • Noctua NF-R8 80mm Fan $15

Total LGA1150: $670

Now my questions:

1- I choose this motherboard because is the cheapest one for LGA 2011 socket but if there is anyone better for a rendernode I’mm be more than happy to hear it.

2- Seams that I need a graphic card with this board. Can I use a cheap graphic card for windows instalation and later remove it and work remotly ?

3- Looking for a LGA 1150 solution but that restrict me to 4 core for node. Is cheaper, but is slower than i7 4930K, that has two more cores. The LGA1150 is very appealing but give me 12 cores less when you multiply by 6 nodes, than the LGA2011 option. But Maxon Cinebench for example say that the i7 4790K give 800cb vs 1225cb for the i7 4930K. This is almost a 35% more in performance, almost the same in the price difference.

Really don’t know what to do, any help are welcome.

#2

The helmer case will be very loud but if you don’t have your nodes near you then it should be fine. The GPU renderer are not an option today but maybe in a couple years will become useable and with an helmer case you can not fit one or more GPUs and even if they fit you will have trouble in cooling them. On the 4930 option you will need a dedicated GPU, don’t know if they will fit in the helmer, anyway the price is very cheap, around 20$. I’m almost sure you can find cheaper motherboard for the X79, and I believe you can find better deal on the 4930 too(for mine I’ve paied the equivalent of 480$).
Better to go with a bigger SSD, even if the OS will fit in only 20/30GB windows will use the disk for paging and 60GB is really borderline(I discover this with my first two nodes) add 20 bucks and go for a bigger SSD.
Consider better cooling, if you want to overclock your CPUs you need a good 120mm or bigger noctua fan but again you will not be able to fit that in the helmer case(I’m not even sure you can fit the 80mm version), or you can choose a closed loop liquid cooler but it will be pricier. You will also need one fan in the front and one on the backside of each drawer to properly extract all the hot air inside the case.
Be aware that those numbers you see on Cinebench scores are coming from strongly overclocked CPUs, you will have hard time to get similar results in the helmer with poor cooling, and the overclock is a lottery ticket with this CPUs, not all of them will get the best score only a few.
With all that being said IMO is much better to go for a few properly cooled mATX or ATX cases, if you have space problem you can always pile them, the helmer is a solution if you need density but it will come with many compromises.
I’ve chosen the 6core over the 4core when I was building my farm and I don’t regret. The less nodes the better, less OS license, less vray standalone license, less noise, less machine to deal with in case of trouble, more bandwidth. Someone will argue that because of that a dual/quad Xeons machines are even better but IMO the price is just silly and make sense only on big farm where density, and power draw are a real concern.
Consider also the new 5820k as an alternative to the 4930k, the performance are near identical and the price is much cheaper, unfortunately you will spend all the saving on pricier RAM/motherboard but at least you will have a newer platform.
If you are interested this is my solution:
http://forum.vrayforc4d.com/threads/cheap-rendernodes-for-dr.14214/page-2

#3

Sirio thanks very much for your answer. Yes space is a BIG issue, and aesthetics too :wink:

So this ks what come to my mind after some more research:

  • Intel Core i7-5820K -$394
  • ASRock X99 Extreme3 LGA 2011-3 Intel X99 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard -$210
  • G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 16GB -$160
  • Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5-Inch -$85

That’s the parts that I have sort of sure:

Now PSU, Fans and Case are not sure at all, LGA2011 motherboard DO NOT FIT in helmer like 1150 do in the past so now I think that is time for improvisation:

Perhaps:

Any other option that I’m missing ?

#4

That RAM will not work with the 5820, you need nothing less than DDR4 modules. A 2U case will come with most of the limitation of the helmer, maybe a 4U enclosure will do a better job:
http://www.newegg.com/global/nz/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219029
but you still need a noisy rack(and I think they are not cheap).
If you have space problem you can always build your helmer loaded with 4core nodes or chose a 6core+standard case and pile them up.

#5

I don’t see any point in getting the SSD for a render node, especially a tiny SSD. All of the large data it will be loading will be coming from the network anyway, not the local drive. Also the Kingston SSD are rubbish and have buggy firmware that I’ve experienced first hand which leads to system hangs (see their support and downloads page). I would just get a cheap hard drive like this and move on. It will be less of a headache too cause you won’t always have 5GB of free space left.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145953

As for which processor and platform to use, if you have to pay per license on each render node then consider that a factor too. The Windows licenses and rendering licenses add up and usually ends up being a better deal on fewer machines with better hardware (also means fewer machines to setup and manage).

The case where you’d want more machines that are not as fast is with software that doesn’t have a cost per node associated with it. For example Mantra on Linux. I say more machines that are slower because typically the lower end hardware provides more performance for the dollar than higher end hardware (diminishing returns at the higher end).

#6

I’m just going on a hunch here, that you’ll need some 80mm fans for that thing… not a lot of ventilation to it either. My fear on that chasis design are heat wells, you’ll have to figure out what to do because it looks totally set for positive airflow.

Finding really good 80mm fans to draw enough flow into that thing that are quiet is going to be a big problem.

Plus, that chasis design requires a specific PSU design… you will not be able to use bottom intake like you linked in one of the earlier posts… it will be sitting right against the “close” chasis floor… no air at all. It will need to draw in from the center of the chasis through the PSU out the back… which is only one of two air out flow points on that chasis, one being the PSU exit port, the other being a passive opening above the mainboards IO panel.

I looked at that chasis before, not what I would go with.

Does it have to be rack mounted?.. or is the chasis exterior design a concern because it will be in an open space?

[EDIT]
something “like” this design… not saying this one will work, i’m just pointing out the design:

http://www.newegg.com/global/nz/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817147084

#7

If you are looking for an alternative to the helmer render farm, look at this: http://www.cadnetwork.de/de/produkte/rendernodes/rendercube

These are are a little pricy but you can build them on your own easily.

I was recently thinking about building a helmer farm, but switched to building mini nodes with Xeon E3-1245v3 and Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro, a ASRock board, 16 gig Ram in a Cooltek U2 case. Each node added up to 600 Euro. They are quiet and stack up nicely on my book shelf. Plus, I can take one or two with me if I need a little render power when I am working off-site.