VR Video Production Post PC Build

Bobby Holbrook,

The requirement for fast VR rendering reside in having a very high CPU single thread rate for 3D modeling while the rendering is done on GPU's- and requires a lot of RAM. There is a conflict in the idea of the highest single thread rate and multiple GPU's as the fastest CPU's will also have only four cores and four cores will mean fewer PCIe lanes and lower memory limits. The highest average single thread rating is held by the i7-7700K , having a Passmark average of 2586. The problem though is that the i7-7700K supports only 16 PCIe lanes and has dual channel memory with a 64GB maximum. It's possible to see straightaway the limitations on multiple GPU's as for full performance, as each GPU needs x16 lanes and 3X 16= 48. The only way to achieve that is to run two or more E5 or E7 Xeons having 40 PCIE lanes each.

My suggestion is to review the Intel LGA 2066 releases in the next few weeks. The good news is that the new i9 Skylake processors have both a good core count and high clock speeds plus 44PCIe lanes. There is to be very soon- the next three weeks?- the i7-7820X which is 8-core @ 4.3/4.5GHz, runs up to 128GB of DDR4-2666, supports Optane memory, and is overclockable but that has only 28PCIe lanes. The X299 platform has tremendous potential and for example ASUS is releasing an "Ultra M.2" PCIe card that will run 4X M.2 in a variety of RAID configurations.

I am tempted already by the i7-7820X to which I'd add a single new Quadro Pascal P4000 8GB GPU- as fast as GTX 1070 and called the Quadro "VR- entry level card" plus 64GB of RAM and a Samsung 960 Evo would be enough for me. In fact the P2000 5GB (faster than GTX 1060 and Quadro M5000) is proving capable enough at the moment. My hope is that the new Skylake Xeons with the ridiculous Walmart naming system of Silver, Gold, Platinum and etc. will follow on soon behind and there sill be a Xeon 6-core @ 4.3 /4.5GHz having 44 lanes. Then, at least the 3 GPU's can run at x16, x16, x8 and there is x4 for M.2 PCIe. if you don't like to wait, the i9-7900X for about $1,000 looks fantastic- 10-core @ 3.3 base, turbo 2 = 4.3 and Turbo 3 = 4.5, 140W and 44PCIE lanes. Of course, an "X" marks the spot for overclocking, but I'm not a fan of heavy overclocking in rendering. I've had enough crashes using a Xeon/ ECC/ Quadro configuration, although most of those were memory limitations. I wish the i9's had a bit more cache though. There is also, the upcoming AMD release of the workstation and server processors- that are worrying Intel so- there is to a 32-core / 64 thread CPU and that series may well be worth waiting for in terms of comparative features and the cost/performance ratio.

A quick comment about the 3rd GPU, the AMD W9100 in that this may present a driver conflict if used simultaneously. I think there could be a configuration that could select the W9100 or GTX 1080Tis' as primary so it ran the associated driver, but I've only heard of that when it an all NVIDIA combination: Quadro /GTX and I use a Quadro /Tesla combination simultaneously (in HP z620 / 2X Xeon E5-2690) and those drivers are different.

In summary, watch for the flurry of new Skylake i9 and Xeons, looking for the top clock speeds in 4, 6, and 8 cores and corresponding release of X299 motherboards, Optane, and multiple M.2 configuration cards.

Option for those Persons in a Hurry > the following system was built a month ago for 3D modeling, graphic design, and CPU rendering and would be quite good in your use with a couple of GTX 1080 Ti's:

HP z620_2 (2017) > Xeon E5-1680 v2 (8-core@ 4.1GHz) / 64GB DDR3-1866 ECC Reg / Quadro P2000 5GB / HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB + Intel 730 480GB + Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB / ASUS Essence STX PCIe sound card / 825W PSU / Windows 7 Prof.’l 64-bit > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) / Logitech z2300 2.1 Sound

[Passmark Rating = 6166 / CPU rating = 16934 / 2D = 820 / 3D= 8849 / Mem = 2991 / Disk = 13794] 5.4.17 Single Thread Mark = 2252

Total cost was about $1,900. Performance is very good and this was the highest rated z620 on Passmark until a week ago. The single-thread mark is particularly important to 3D modeling and the goal beforehand was to have something over 2100 - in combination with a good GPU is just fine.

This used a new z620 case, chassis, power supply, CPU with a used motherboard, RAM, and drives from the previous z620. The E5-1680 v2-has an unlocked multiplier rated by Intel to overclock to 4.3GHz and seems to have used more often in Mac Dustbin Pros than in Windows systems. If you're in a hurry, consider using an E5-1680 v2 on an ASUS P9X79 WS, overclock to 4.2GHz (there are a number of these running at 4.4!), start with 64GB of DDR3-1866 with space for 128GB, and boot from a Samsung 950 Pro M.2 using the "legacy boot"- the z620 will not ordinarily recognize NVMe for the boot drive, but will for storage.

Cheers,

BambiBoom