Choosing hardware for a computer for larger scene rendering
RemiliaSutton
Posts: 173
I have an hp proliant dL 360 g7 server with dual x5660 hexacore Xeons a quadro 600 1gb I wanna put about 32gb ddr3 ram (it takes 192gb max) and an ssd boot drive and upgrade the to a quadro 4000 2gb after I get the auxiliary power cable to hook it up to the server motherboard it comes with. But is that setup enough?
Comments
For what? Neither a 1GB not a 2GB GPU is going to be much use for Iray.
No. 2 Gb VRAM will allow you to render a bare bones scene with one or 2 G8 characters. Beyond that...
Spend the money you want to spend on RAM, 32 Gb is overkill for rendering unless you have a GPU with more than 8Gb of VRAM, on a better GPU.
No!
Get at least a used GTX 1060 6Gb. It sounds less "crazy" than a Quadro, but it will be much faster, because you'll actually be able to use it!
Oh... You are literaly in a tight space with this server.
1U form factor
1x low profile single slot PCI-e 8x (useless for 3D capable GPUs)
1x Full height Single slot PCI-e 16x
Here are your single slot 5GB+ Iray capable GPU options:
Nvidia Quadro M4000 8GB
Nvidia Quadro P2000 5GB (75W card. no extra power connector needed)
Nvidia Quadro P4000 8GB
Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000 8GB (This one uses 10W more than the rating for the slot+power cable
For these you will need to have the following in your server:
* HP DL360G6 PCI Thermal Power Cable Kit
* And at leat the 750W Power supply
You don't have to put quadro's in a server box. Old quadro's cheap enough to be worth putting in are also nearing the end of their support by Nvidia which means end of life in iray as well.
The issue here is that the HP Proliant DL 360 G7 is a 1U form factor. While it can accomidate a full height and full length GPU, it can only take a single slot card.
The fastest single slot consumer GPU is the Geforce GT 1030 2GB.
The Quadro M4000 8GB is still a very good card and can be had for around $275.
To give you an idea of the limited space, here's what the back of this server looks like.
Thats not correct ...
the fastest single slot consumer card is this here
http://www.kfa2.com/kfa2/graphics-card/10-series/kfa2-geforcer-gtx-1070-katana.html
I stand corrected.... let me correct my statement.
"The fastest single slot consumer GPU that you can find for purchase new or used is the Geforce GT 1030 2GB.
I build servers for a living. I don't need 1u explained. There are single slot cards out there and there likely will be single slot 20xx cards soon. Galax and Zotac both have a tradition of making single slot and low profile cards.
Furthermore it is extremely unlikely that the OP is putting that in a rack so leaving the top off the case, or modding it to give more room, are options as is running the card on a riser outside the case entirely.. Anyone buying cheap used servers for personal use should be prepared to do that sort of thing
I'm using a t5610 dell workstation computer with a 1300 80 plus gold rated psu 96gb ram ddr3 (128 max ram and 2x 10 core 2011 v2 CPUs which I can grab used for less than $400) and a m6000 quadro. Will adding a m4000 or two help or hurt? I can't afford a $400 plus gpu! No way no how I'm on a fixed budget. The m6000 I got lucky on when it comes to the third stimulus check but we're not gonna get a fourth but whatever.