Everything related to Maxwell Render and General Stuff that doesn't fit in other categories
User avatar
By choo-chee
#400496
looking to buy a new work station. in the past I went with Intel only but I understand that AMD are better now? someone has some experience using Maxwell on AMD cpu's and can elaborate a bit? I plan to use a new RTX 30XX with it. any well known good value configuration? thanks guys.
User avatar
By T0M0
#400498
Same here. I built my workstations based on Intel CPUs in past (rest in peace dual Xeon WS), but this changed last year when I upgraded to AMD Threadripper 3990X.
If your budget allows you and you mostly stick to good ol' CPU rendering in general, this processor is the ultimate best what you can get for rendering.
Intel currently can't offer anything better in HEDT besides their overpriced Xeons based on ancient 14nm++++...+++ technology.

Definitely check the benchwell page it might help you choose your right CPU, but personally I would stick with AMD in these days.

Sadly, my experience with Maxwell ends with benchwell only, since 2016 CPU engine didn't receive any significant improvement so I stopped using it long time ago.
User avatar
By Matteo Villa
#400500
1) Start considering the actual hardware shortage.

Like T0M0 said, Maxwell Render didn’t improved so much in performance in CPU rendering.

I would focusing over GPU computing for the near future.

But seems to be one of the few Rendering Software easily scaling up with a loot of cores, so you can find valuable CPU for rendering with Maxwell.

2) AMD Threadripper are the best choose if you plan to render mainly with the CPU.

threadripper have some plus over other platform:


- ECC RAM SUPPORT ( Intel don’t support ecc on consumer motherboard)
- PCIE 4
- More pcie lanes for multy GPU setup and M2 storage.


The best CPU for rendering are:

2990WX
3970X
3990X

2990 WX you could use 64 GB ram
3970x work well with 128 GB ram
3990X require at last 128 GB ram, better 256 GB ram.

AMD Threadripper work better with high frequency RAM.

The safe spot is 3200 MHZ.
The best overall frequency is 3600 MHZ.


If you plan GPU computing with Maxwell Render, keep in mind only NVIDIA cards will work.

Maxwell render GPU COMPUTING is based around CUDA Cores.
So AMD GPUs would not work. ( for now ).

Best NVIDIA gpu for rendering:

1080-TI
RTX 2080 / Super
RTX 2080 TI
RTX 3090


Considering the GPU shortage your best price/performance solution would be buying the first option:

————————— OPTION 1 ———————————
4x 1080TI ( gpus ) used ( 1600€ on eBay 4 gpus)
1x 2990WX ( cpu ) new/used (around 1000€ Amazon)
1x Zenith Extreme ( MB ) ( around 600€ Amazon)
1x 1200 watt PSU ( 400/500 € Amazon)
64 GB ram 3600 MHz ( 300/400€ Amazon )


————————— OPTION 2 ———————————

If you want a little more performance and higher
CPU frequency.

3x 2080TI ( gpus ) used ( around 400 for gpu) on Amazon or EBay —-> 1200€ total
1x 3970x ( cpu ) ——> 2000€ ( Amazon )
1x Zenith Extreme II ( MB ) —-> 900€ ( Amazon )
1x 1200 watt PSU ( 400/500 € Amazon)
128 GB ram 3600 MHz ( 600/800€ on Amazon )


————————— OPTION 3 ———————————

Best performance

2x RTX 3090 (Gpus)
( actually good luck find them at a good price.
————-> 2500/2700€ for gpu on Amazon -( New )
————-> 900€ for gpu on Amazon ( used )
1x 3990x ( CPU ) —-> 4500€ ( Amazon )
1x Zenith Extreme II ( MB ) —-> 900€ ( Amazon )
1x 1200 watt PSU ( 400/500 € Amazon)
128 GB ram 3600 MHz ( 600/800€ on Amazon )

————————— ———————————

When Maxwell Render 5.2 will released I will post some benchmark with a dual 3090 configuration.


For any question I’m here. :wink:
User avatar
By choo-chee
#400503
thanks for all replies. I don't plan on using GPU rendering as it can't handle any of my scenes that usually consume about 10-30 Gb of RAM. I also don't have a budget for multi-GPU machine. I'm looking for best priced CPU and I understand AMD threadripper or Ryzen 9, and GPU is mainly for quick refresh of the viewport in Maya . I strictly rely on CPU rendering as for now. If I knew that Maxwell can use the RAM for GPU rendering then a stronger GPU was a factor to consider.
User avatar
By Matteo Villa
#400504
1080 TI have 11 GB GDDR5X memory.

I use 4 of them for light to medium projects.

Until the scene can be loaded inside each card you wouldn’t have any kind of problem.

4 of them are definitely fast. They changed my life :mrgreen:

If you need a huge memory GPU go for a 3090 RTX
You’ve 24 GB of memory.

Using 2 with NVLINK would give you 48 GB of usable memory.

But I’m waiting the 5.2 release to test them, since now Maxwell don’t support series 3000

Personally never used so much memory on any render scene. My maximum was 20 GB.


If you plan to use only CPU
Your best solution is a 3990x

I can easily create an usable render in 15/20 minute and denoise it with Topaz Lab denoiser
( much better then the one used by Maxwell)
By luis.hijarrubia
#400505
I just remember that Maxwell does not support NvLink and does not share memory between cards. All the scene and complete image buffers have to fit on each card.

At least for the moment.
User avatar
By Matteo Villa
#400506
That’s a point to resolve fast.

Other rendering engine use NVLINK to increase slightly even the rendering performance between the GPUs.

But firstly to increase the total memory to load more complex scene.
User avatar
By Matteo Villa
#400520
1) give us a budget limit
2) write down what hardware parts you’ve
( for example PSU, SSD, )

For sure you’ve already keyboard/monitor/mouse :mrgreen:

With a specific budget ( in € or $ ) I’ll write down you a list. :wink:
By Andreas Hopf
#400523
Matteo Villa wrote:
Thu Feb 25, 2021 2:45 pm
I can easily create an usable render in 15/20 minute and denoise it with Topaz Lab denoiser
( much better then the one used by Maxwell)
Best render helper ever for no money at all. This thing is a miracle cure.
User avatar
By choo-chee
#400525
I'm trying to keep the budget under 2500 euros. I'm in need of 2 new workstations so total for both is 5000... I've lost some clients or payments due to this pandemic situation (they went bankrupt or just stopped many projects to wait and see what's next...). We're looking for stronger CPU machines as HPU rendering for now at least, is out of the equation .... from what I see GPU cards are shown as 400-500$ in Nvidia's site but all of the cards in their shop are "out of stock" of course :( and other onlinie shops charge double and more for the same ?!

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