[simmsimaging]

Hey all -

I've been doing some research here and on the net in order to build one or two more new machines, primarily for rendering. The problem is I am not technically oriented and know nada about hardware etc. That means that while I can find the parts cheap enough, I sure as hell can't build it so I'm stuck with buying a fully configured system from someone.

I'm looking for a recommendation for someone that can build a good rendering and workstation system for me and who sells or ships to Canada. At the moment I'm pricing with Apple, Dell, Alienware, and Boxx but I'm looking for some less costly options, particularly for the second box which would be *just* for rendering.

I tried AVAdirect (which Bullaboo used) but they wont' ship to the great white north. Tons of places have gaming level computers, but most are not quite what I think I need.

Anyone have any good names/companies for Canada?

Thanks in advance.
b

[Jeff Tamagini]

www.xicomputer.com I just got a powerhouse of a machine from them here at work and it rocks...

the spec of this beast are

dual xeon quad core @ 2.66
4 gb ram
nvidia geforce 8800 ultra

[simmsimaging]

Thanks Jeff - I'll check it out.

b

[artaud]

Hi Brett,

Even if you do not have a deep hardware knowledge, my suggestion is to assemble your rendering workstation by yourself. It is not very complex, and with some good suggestions about the configuration and components, you can build a very good, solid, reliable solution saving a lot of money. If you want, I can send you some configurations with 1, 2 or four quad core CPU (ready) tuned for rendering purposes. You can find also some of them on my website www.robotale.com, but unfortunately the description is in Italian. Let me know if I can help you, anyway.

Pietro Meloni

[simmsimaging]

Hi Pietro -
Thanks for the reply and the kind offer of help. If you would be willing to send me those specs that would be fantastic! I am not sure I would be up for building it myself (my hardware knowledge wouldn't even class as shallow) but I'll consider it, and it would certainly help me to shop around for what I need in any case. I will also have a look at your site, but I have no Italian so I may not get very far



Also - thanks for sharing all the great materials!

b

[artaud]

Hi Brett,

One interesting rendering station I recently made has this configuration:

- A CEB (Mainboard format size) compatible cabinet. I use the very flexible YY-W203, that can be mounted as a vertical server cabinet, or horizzontaly in a standard rack.
- EPS compatible power supply, 650 W (you can easily find it from FSP, Cooler Master and other manufacturers;
- Tyan S2692 Tempest dual Xeon quad core mainboard;
- up to 16 Gb ECC 667 Ram (do not use more than 4Gb with Windows 32)
- a 2 Gb DOM (disk on module)
- Quadro NVS 285 VGA board (more than enough)
- Two Intel Xeon 5300 series (2, 2.33 or 2.66 Mhz)
- monitor, keyboard and mouse as you like it.

The main benefits of this configuration are that the machine is network ready (1Gb), has 8 cores for fast rendering, very few noise since there are no fans on the VGA board, and it is very reliable because does not have an hard disk. You can easily install Windows 32 or 64 and Maxwell server on your disk on module, putting it in another PC inside a free IDE connector. As soon as you finished, you put your DOM inside the station, connect the machine to ethernet, and start render. That's all. It is really sturdy and affordable. If you need more details on the components I use (brands, model etc.) and you have a friend that can help you in assembly the machine, let me know.