Please crit: Computer build for Octane animation Renders, C4D simulations, 3D modelling

[TedLeSwer]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a freelance 3D designer, who is currently increasing my cliental workload. I am currently operating of a macbook Pro with, 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 and Radeon Pro 560 4 GB Intel HD Graphics 630 1536 MB. I am looking to build a computer which better caters to my now busy workflow.. and octane renderer!

Most the work I do are hyper-real renders of interior spaces for galleries, animations and simulations using x-particle and RealFlow, for artists who work in moving-image and I edit their videos in 4K across Adobe. All animations are exported in 4K.
I'm also starting to incorporate Houdini into my work flow.

I'm opting for a GPU Rendering system, which utilises Octane with C4D.

I need an efficient work screen in c4d, which can processes simulations without crashing the system. Whilst also being able to render them out in 4k for my clients.

Any thoughts and opinions on whether this is the right set up for me, advice would be hugely helpful. My budget is 4000£ , but I would be interested in spending more if it gives me faster workflow speed.

Becuase my work often has tight deadlines, render times are extremely important.

Thanks!

CPU: AMD Threadripper 1920X 3.5GHz 12-Core Processor ($398.98)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 ($73.51)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X399 Aorus Pro ATX TR4 ($279.99)
Nvidia RTX 2080 Super
Nvidia RTX 2080 Super
Nvidia RTX 2080 Super
Memory: 64GB (4 x 16GB) G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4-3200 C16 ($229.99)
Storage PCIe-SSD: Samsung 970 EVO 1TB M.2 Solid State Drive ($153.25)
Power Supply: EVGA Supernova 1200 P2 80+ Platinum Power Supply ($274.94)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($149.98)

 

[Alex Glawion]

Hey TedLeSwer,
As many others who are expanding in the gpu rendering world you'll have to decide if you'd like a single pc that can do active work and gpu rendering pretty well, or if you'd rather want two pcs, one being a specialized active workstation and the second being a gpu render node which will not be worked on (just for rendering stuff).

The reason for 2 of course is, that you can make each of those PCs perform really well for their respective specialized workloads, while when only getting one allrounder pc, this one pc will be OK/Good at everything but not as good as 2 specialized pcs (obviously).

My recommendation usually is: Go the 2-pc route when you see yourself expanding in the future, get more clients, bigger projects and so on, and will need more render power than a single pc can handle.

If your client base stays roughly the same and you don't expect more work or render demand, get the allrounder pc. Or start with an allrounder and get a second just for rendering lateron. Here an in-depth article on rendernodes: https://www.cgdirector.com/how-to-build-your-own-render-farm/


That said, I wouldnt recommend a Threadripper 1920X for an active workstation, especially not if you are only using 2060 supers or 2070 supers. Reason is, that cpu has a low clock and will not be fast in active workloads. Also, you won't need pcie x16 for a 2060 or 2070 super, you can easily get away with x8 pcie bandwidth, meaning you could get a mainstream CPU such as the 3950X (which gives you much better active work performance) and a Motherboard such as the Asus WS ACE x570, which also supports 3 gpus at x8 pcie speeds.

Hope this helps,
Alex

 

[TedLeSwer]

Hey Alex,

Thanks for getting back to me so fast and so efficiently, really interesting stuff!

Ideally I would create a 2 rig workstation, that being an active workstation and a GPU render node.
However, for the price, I think its better to create a strong and diverse single workstation. For now at least, until i'm able to afford a second station as a render farm.

Thank you for the advice on the CPU, after doing some further reading I absolutely know what you mean and would most likely upgrade to the 3950x.

For the GPUs, I'm now thinking of either getting 4 rtx 2070super or 3 rtx 2080supers as either setup would be for around £2000.
Which would you recommend?
-the 2070supers has 2560 cuda cores so x4 that = 10,240
-the 2080super has around 3000 cuda cores so x3 = 9000

Which of these setups would you recommend?

Thanks!

 

[Alex Glawion]

You won't be able to drive 4 GPUs on a mainstream CPU. That's sort of the trade-off that I was talking about. So 3 GPUs max on a 3950X and x570 Board. That would leave you with the 2080 Supers, which are good cards.

 

[TedLeSwer]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have a further read around.

Really appreciate the help!

 

[TedLeSwer]

Hi Alex,

Hope you're well.

After doing further research, I'm going to go ahead with the decision to build a workstation that can do active work and rendering fairly well. With the intention of making a second render computer down the line, once I have the cashflow.

In the meantime, i'm considering running a station that supports x4 rtx 2070supers. Could you recommend a non-mainstream CPU, that would support 4 cards on enough bandwidth? i'm trying to decide whether this is a financially viable option for me in the meantime.

Thanks in advance

 

[Alex Glawion]

Sure, you'll have to go HEDT such as Threadripper here. Of course current gen Threadrippers are quite expensive and if you don't need all of those cores you can get a 2nd gen Threadripper and still have access to the pcie bandwidth needed to drive 4 gpus.

Here's an example build of such a system:

CGDirector.com Parts List: https://www.cgdirector.com/pc-builder/?=en4RI0z0Pll

CPU: AMD Threadripper 1950X 3.4GHz 16-Core Processor ($419.99) (could also be 1900x, 2920x, 2950x)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 ($79.90)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X399 Aorus Pro ATX TR4 ($229.14)
GPU: Nvidia RTX 2080 Super 8GB - Gigabyte Turbo ($879.00)
GPU #2: Nvidia RTX 2080 Super 8GB - Gigabyte Turbo ($879.00)
GPU #3: Nvidia RTX 2080 Super 8GB - Gigabyte Turbo ($879.00)
GPU #4: Nvidia RTX 2080 Super 8GB - Gigabyte Turbo ($879.00)
Memory: 128GB (8 x 16GB) HyperX Fury DDR4-3000 C15 ($673.99)
Storage PCIe-SSD: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB NVME M.2 Solid State Drive ($128.79)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 G2 80+ GOLD 1600W ($413.69)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 ($167.98)
Total: $5629.48

 

[TedLeSwer]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for getting back to me with some helpful suggestions.

I think I have nearly rendered down the final build making a few adaptions on your advice to save some money- without hopefully scraping off too much performance and compatibility! Most notably changing the memory to Vengeance 4x16gb (64gb). My other concern is temperature of the GPUs, as i don't believe the 2070supers are the kind that push air out and through the gpu and case, so stacking them may be getting slightly toasty?

If you could let me know your final thoughts, i'd very much appreciate it.

Thank you in advance for looking over again.


CPU: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X Processor £300
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 £79
Motherboard: Gigabyte X399 Aorus Pro ATX TR4 £230
GPU: Nvidia RTX 2070 Super 7GB - Gigabyte Turbo £460
GPU #2: Nvidia RTX 2070 Super 8GB - Gigabyte Turbo £460
GPU #3: Nvidia RTX 2070 Super 8GB - Gigabyte Turbo £460
GPU #4: Nvidia RTX 2070 Super 8GB - Gigabyte Turbo £460
Memory: VENGEANCE® LPX 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16 Memory Kit - Black £290
Storage PCIe-SSD: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB NVME M.2 Solid State Drive £124.79
Power Supply: LEADEX GOLD 1600W FULLY MODULAR "80 PLUS GOLD" POWER SUPPLY - BLACK £300
Case: Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 £130
Total: £3,293

 

[Alex Glawion]

This is what the gpu should look like. I wasn't able to find a blower style 2070 super from gigabyte. Where did you see it?

Amazon.com: ASUS GeForce RTX 2080 Super 8G Turbo Edition GDDR6 HDMI DisplayPort Graphics Card (TURBO-RTX2080S-8G-EVO): Computers & Accessories

Amazon.com: ASUS GeForce RTX 2080 Super 8G Turbo Edition GDDR6 HDMI DisplayPort Graphics Card (TURBO-RTX2080S-8G-EVO): Computers & Accessories

www.amazon.com

The rest of the build looks great!

 

[TedLeSwer]

Thanks for getting back to me Alex.
Think I'm going to get the founders editions 2070 supers, https://www.nvidia.com/en-gb/geforce/graphics-cards/rtx-2070-super/ . Do you think they would be alright in this workstation stacked above each other?

Thanks

 

[Alex Glawion]

The Nvidia Reverence design is not blower style, so you'll most likely have sub-par performance in a stacked config. The Asus Turbo edition GPUs I linked above are blower style. Those perform good in a stacked config.

 

[TedLeSwer]

Thanks Alex, will definitely be considering this.
Also will now be waiting until early september to see what Nvidia announce about the new RTX 3000 range, only just have I come to realise that the 2070s 80s and ti's been discontinued. So thinking it best to hold fast for a moment and see what the new range has to offer- in relation to power and price.

 

[Alex Glawion]

The reviews will go up today and it seems like the GPUs will perform very well and be a lot cheaper.