So I have a beast workstation, however, as with all, it can't handle rendering animations. So I've decided to build myself a farm. And I wondered what you guys think of these specs. I've designed them to keep in mind CPU and GPU rendering, and plan on building around 3 to start with and going to 6 eventually. My software is Blender and AE.
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Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 $80.70
MOBO: Asus H61M-E Intel H61 mATX Socket 1155 2x DDR3-2200 Onboard VGA $68.28
CPU: Intel Pentium G2030 3.0GHz LGA1155 3M Cache Processor $80.99
GPU: Gigabyte GV-N630-2GI Geforce GT 630 2GB / ASUS GT630-SL-2GD3-L GeForce GT 630 2GB 64-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Low Profile Ready Video Card. $119 / $109. It seems the
PSU: FSP AS550 AURUM S 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified Power Supply $109.58 (They had lower wattage, but the PSU was butt ugly and it looked like one of the ones which would die on you)
RAM: G.SKILL Ares 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz (PC3 12800) Low Profile 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GAB $108.61
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB $63.27 (They have nothing smaller haha)
OS: This is what I'm stuck on. I don't know if I just need a single OS disc or would I need a disc for each computer? I'm thinking Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit DVD-Rom OEM $159
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Each node is roughly $789.50nzd. Does this look like a good render node? Also I have a question on price performance increase. I can replace my CPU, MOBO and RAM with
Intel Core i3-4130 Haswell 3.4GHz Dual-Core Desktop Processor, Gigabyte GA-H81M-S2PH Motherboard, G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory for $375. Would it be worth replacing the previous ones with this? Original is 789.50nzd, while the new one is 897.60nzd.
I'm also stuck on the connection of the nodes. I have no idea which one I should get: http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139234/CATID=86/Wired-Networking-Devices.html Not looking for 24 ports.
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Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 $80.70
MOBO: Asus H61M-E Intel H61 mATX Socket 1155 2x DDR3-2200 Onboard VGA $68.28
CPU: Intel Pentium G2030 3.0GHz LGA1155 3M Cache Processor $80.99
GPU: Gigabyte GV-N630-2GI Geforce GT 630 2GB / ASUS GT630-SL-2GD3-L GeForce GT 630 2GB 64-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Low Profile Ready Video Card. $119 / $109. It seems the
PSU: FSP AS550 AURUM S 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified Power Supply $109.58 (They had lower wattage, but the PSU was butt ugly and it looked like one of the ones which would die on you)
RAM: G.SKILL Ares 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz (PC3 12800) Low Profile 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GAB $108.61
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB $63.27 (They have nothing smaller haha)
OS: This is what I'm stuck on. I don't know if I just need a single OS disc or would I need a disc for each computer? I'm thinking Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit DVD-Rom OEM $159
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Each node is roughly $789.50nzd. Does this look like a good render node? Also I have a question on price performance increase. I can replace my CPU, MOBO and RAM with
Intel Core i3-4130 Haswell 3.4GHz Dual-Core Desktop Processor, Gigabyte GA-H81M-S2PH Motherboard, G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory for $375. Would it be worth replacing the previous ones with this? Original is 789.50nzd, while the new one is 897.60nzd.
I'm also stuck on the connection of the nodes. I have no idea which one I should get: http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139234/CATID=86/Wired-Networking-Devices.html Not looking for 24 ports.