[itsallgoode9]

So, I just started the process of building a small, budget conscious renderfarm and thought you guys might be interested in seeing the progress and results. Possibly you guys can benefit from my research and process and look into building your own. In the end this the whole setup should cost somewhere around $8,000 (render node licences included)and should theoretically be around 8x faster than my current i7 980x cpu. Buying computers in sets of 3 (cheaper due to maxwell licensing pices), each set of three is approx $2,000. So this is a really easily scalable setup, if you're interested but don't have money to spend on a 12 computer setup.

The plan is to have 12 computers using the intel i7 2600 cpu while keeping the price as low as possible. I've decided on using the 2600, as opposed to a "k" series processor because I don't intend to overclock. I originally planned on getting the 2600k and overclocking but decided it would be too much of a headache to do with 12 computers. Instead I am going with the non k series and going with 12 instead cpus of the originally intended 9 cpus. The motherboards that do not have the overclocking capabilities are significantly cheaper than those with, so the pricing worked out to be about the same in the end as should performance.

Also, I made sure to choose a motherboard that could take advantage of the built in gpu which cut out the graphics card costt.. Regarding ram, I happen to have 60gb of ram in my desk drawer currently, so I am going to be using that, assuming it's compatible.

Below are the parts i'm testing out:

MOBO x12
Foxconn H67S http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813186211
this is a miniITX board...there are some cheaper micro ATX boards available but for my mounting solution I went with this smaller one.

CPU x12
i7 2600http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115071

PSU x12
XIGMATEK 80+ Bronze Certified http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817815007

HDD x12
Seagate Baraduda 160 gb hd http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148698

Switching and Networking x1
LINKSKEY LKV-1680 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817107211
D-Link DGS-1210-16 Gigabit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833127351

Case x2
Helmer Drawer from Ikea http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/produ ... /20107873/

Power Switch x12
LED Rocker Switches http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1909/ ... witch.html

Misc:
Standoffs x1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00032Q33S

Fans x12
Scythe Slip Stream http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CYPWTG

HDD Mounts x12
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001UZQWG

Fan Grills x12
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036WTDHK


I'll update as I go and let you know the final results. If anything looks odd or you have questions about choices, let me know. Hopefully everything is compatible, this is my first foray into sandybridge territory and the mobos are frankly, pretty confusing.

[numerobis]

nice project!

this board has only two slots, so how much RAM do you plan to use?!? only 8GB?

thanks for sharing!

[itsallgoode9]

nice project!

this board has only two slots, so how much RAM do you plan to use?!? only 8GB?

thanks for sharing!

That was the plan...do you think that will be too little? Considering there won't be anything else running on these cpus I assumed 8 gigs would suffice?

[numerobis]

i don't know what you plan to render (bottles? ) and i think you know how much ram you need, but for me it would be not enough anymore - i have 12gb for my nodes.

i think within the next weeks the first 8GB modules will be available

[itsallgoode9]

ah, gotcha...I just wasn't sure if there was something I was missing in terms of ram usage with networked renders. This should be fine for my uses. The bottles usually only end up being a few hundred thousand polys (if that) and only use a handful of textures, so they aren't too bad when it comes to ram usage.

I have one of these computers ordered for testing purposes, so I'll make sure I test that out before I buy the other 11.

If it comes down to it, I can get 4 slot micro atx boards for the same price, so I will just switch over to that. I'll have to switch up the mounting, but it isn't a major deal.

[numerobis]

one more thing... i can't find anything about the chipset revision on newegg or foxconn.com. Is this already the B3-stepping of the H67?

[itsallgoode9]

hmm, I didn't even think to look about that. Yeah i haven't been able to find anything either...i looks like there IS a b3 version of this board but I can't tell if the one on newegg is or not. What is the benefit of b3 in this generation? I remember looking into stepping i the last generation of chips but haven't this time around.

The more I think about it, I think I'm going to get that drawer rack before I order the mobo so I can make some measurements of the interior of the drawer. If a micro ATX will fit in there with the power supply (without ending up with too weird of a mounting setup), it would give me more flexibility in the motherboard features and pricing.

[numerobis]

What is the benefit of b3 in this generation?

There is a bug in the first released version of the chipset which CAN result in a decreasing SATA performance.

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/int ... g-solution
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4142/inte ... ins-recall

[dmeyer]

Would highly recommend using a Gigabit switch instead of a 10/100.

Also make sure you have a plan to deliver 12 cpu's worth of power to that location. A typical residential circuit may not be able to handle it.

[itsallgoode9]

ahh, good point dmeyer! I didn't think about the speed when looking into the switch. I picked a different one. This is an area I don't know much about so I just kinda picked one that was managed (managed seemed like a better choice? )


The power was a bit of a concern that I was going to tackle when I starting hooking everything up and seeing how it went. Basically if it doesn't have enough power here, I'm going to move into an office space that will handle that. I live in an apartment, so do I even have an option of getting extra power run? I'm not sure if that is something that is through the landlord or electric company, if I wanted to look into it as an option.

[Aji Enrico]

About power units, don't go too cheap on those parts. Get 80+ certified PSUs at least, they have usually better components inside and they will probably be able to endure long renders.
I will also recommend gigabit network as mentioned previously.
And about windows clients OS (non server), they can only have max 10 concurrent connections.

And about the number of nodes and power. I assume that each node will need around 300 watts, give or take 50W. To make an example with the Swedish standard of 220 volt with an 10 Ampere plug, it will results at 2200 Watts to be used (if I'm not mistaken).
So 12 nodes will probably need around 3500 watts of power and a plug of 16 Ampere at minimum, and that is in my opinion too close to max usage. Either separate the power to 2 or more plugs but if you are unsure, please consult with an electrician so you can avoid fire and such

...And make sure your ram is DDR3 compatible

[itsallgoode9]

I didn't realize about the 10 connections thing...although I looked into that after you brought it to light, and it says that with windows 7, the number has been raised to 20 connections.

You're probably right about the power supply issues. one of things I knew but was like "bbuuuuuuttt I can save money this way!" I''ll look around and see what i can find.

*** EDIT***I updated the power supply to an 80+ Bronze Certified. I haven't used this brand before but the reviews were overall positive for it.

With the electricity issue, are you meaning I would need 2 wall outlets minimum? Or are "plugs" meaning something higher up the chain, like at the breaker or something?


The ram is ddr3...I had purchased two different 24 gb sets when trying to get 24 gb to work in my current system. Although they work fine, I couldn't get all 24 gigs to play nice with my current mobo. I just never around to sending it back so I'm going to try it in these mobos before I purchase ram.

[numerobis]

With the electricity issue, are you meaning I would need 2 wall outlets minimum? Or are "plugs" meaning something higher up the chain, like at the breaker or something?

It's meaning a complete circuit that is connected to one fuse. If you have 230V and a 16A fuse, it's 3680W for the complete circuit.


but this should be no problem with a non overclocked sandy bridge with integrated graphics
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/san ... 831-7.html


...and here is an article about TOO cheap PSU's - but i think your second choice should be ok
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/low-cost- ... 32182.html


...and here about the efficiency of an overclocked sandy bridge
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/san ... 50-13.html

[itsallgoode9]

awesome, thanks for those links. newegg has a psu estimator where you put what components you are using and it give you a rough number. it says my setup would be around 225w per system, so that would be 2700. My research says you don't want to go over 80% of the circuit capacity, so I should be golden.

I hate you for tempting me with those efficiency charts of the overlocked cpu!!! I want to really bad, but my office is also my bedroom, so I'm trying to keep heat and noise down. I guess heat might not be an issue since it will take less time to render, but I'd have to have my fans running at higher RPM likely.

[itsallgoode9]

a new question, how does Unbuntu work with something like this? I'd really like to not have to pay over $1500 for windows licenses, so I wanted to do linux (i'm also just kind of interested in learning about this OS). I've never used linux before but I know lots of server systems and farm use linux, so it seems suited to that? If my main machine is running windows, will maxwell on the linux machines be able to communicate correctly with it?

man, i'm really a noob to doing something like this....I've built plenty of computers in the past, but never budget minded systems and never something networked like this. thanks for all of the help!