Render Boxx Pro

Does anyone have experience using this hardware?

http://www.boxxtech.com/products/rendering-and-simulation/renderpro

If so, what configuration and what are your experience and opinions of it?

Thanks,

David Turner

BOXX is generally a great manufacturer, but waaaaaaayyy overpriced for just the name. You are better off doing a little research and building one yourself.

Check this thread out; http://forums.cgarchitect.com/72910-formula5-ikea-renderfarm.html

We tested one of those, quite a beast machine from BOXX, but we ran into limitation of Vray and Max before the performance increase justified the price. I do not know the actual specs off hand. We were attempting real-time renderings with RT for client reviews.

 

Check this thread out; http://forums.cgarchitect.com/72910-formula5-ikea-renderfarm.html

No, please don't build anything like this... it only looks cool on forum.

The above machine from Boxx is btw quite good solution and yes, extremely overpriced. It doesn't feature really good parts (the case lol...PSU unit, fans, etc...) but the core and idea is sound. It's about 100 perc. pricier (double the price) than sum of its parts. Not that bad...considering some of their workstations seems to have even much higher margin :- ).

I was bit swarmed with work for past 2 weeks, but I will write tomorrow (if I am not lazy...) an article describing my dual Xeons builds as "nodes" (not workstations) and why it's actually really good choice even when it comes to price/performance to some degree.

But...if your company pays for it, just buy those BOXX, I mean, they're good, not much can be said against (well...apart from those few listed parts). But if you're interested, you can build it in much higher build quality, and for half the price :- ).

But don't even think about building another IKEA case renderfarm. Forum "cool" points are not good thing when you buy HW. It won't even save you money, trust me, I'll explain everything in detailed math later. But quick info bellow.

One of my Xeon machines: Same price as the IKEA, smaller, silent, vastly more capable (64GB), around the same MT performance, Workstation switchable, super silent (

Everyone should get atleast one.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

It was my understanding that Boxx had a reputation for being over-priced.

Regarding having the company buying it...well I am the company, and I need to get the most bang for my buck.

Juraj, I'd be interested in reviewing your specifications for your hardware and how you use it in your workflow.

I have to admit that I have a limited interest when it comes to hardware. I just want dependable, well performing machines to help me work efficiently.

I appreciate everyone sharing their knowledge and experience here. It has been very helpful.

Thanks.

-DT

With BOXX you get the machine slightly better specced for rendering than very vaguely general pre-built configurations from Dell and HP, but with margin that rivals them a lot, and reference price for those is already high.

One doesn't even need much interest in HW nowadays, it's still worth to support small local builders. The guy who builds computers for me now, takes around 2perc. of the price on top of parts, as the communication and service, and everything, is likewise as superior if not much more than Boxx or any company.

But if you're the company, then you absolutely should go custom way as well. I understand the need for different type of support if a company buys 100s of machines, and if they don't have in-house technical deparment themselves (500+ size molochs), HP,Dell or Boxx would provide good deal.

But if you're willing to maintain regular amount of workstations and nodes, there is like zero benefit, there is nothing gain. With custom build you get same service, higher build quality (or cheaper price for equivalent OEM parts), and unbeatable price, so you might as well get 2 machines for what you would otherwise pay for one.

I have a RenderPRO from BOXX and yes it's powerful, yes it's dependable, but I just don't think that justifies the price. I went with Dimitris' "Almost $500 render node" (http://pcfoo.com/2013/02/8350-rendering-node/). I had my local Micro Center put the machines together for a small fee. They take up a lot more room and they're in a really ugly cheap case but they're quiet and they work. I ended up getting 150% more buckets and nearly 500% more GHz per $ than I would have with another RenderPRO. Like they say themselves, you're paying for the quality and for the support, too. But at that much lower of a price, I'm happier just replacing one of my custom built machines if it fails. Plus, at a lower cost per node it's easier to scale up incrementally. Of course with Chaos Group's new pricing system you can get burned with having too many nodes.

@Juraj

What Xeons did you use?

its about 3x3930/ 5x3770/ (or maybe 7xi5?)

For 5000€ its a good solution...one single PC with 64GB or RAM....buying 2/5/7...x 64GB is not so cheap+all other devices...

@Juraj

 

What Xeons did you use?

its about 3x3930/ 5x3770/ (or maybe 7xi5?)

For 5000€ its a good solution...one single PC with 64GB or RAM....buying 2/5/7...x 64GB is not so cheap+all other devices...

E5-2680 v2. I was surprised they render 24/7 with turbo at 3.15GHz for all the core (10c/20threads each, so 40 buckets total per machine). Since it's ivy-bridge based Xeons, it's really 95perc. what non-clocked 3x3930k would do. It could even be built for less, seems after all, 32GB would still use full performance, some people don't need 1000W platinum PSUs and Asus Board, so if you switch those out, it can be had for 4.5k euros instead.

The price comes so close (or even 'even it out to same level ) to what you would pay for multiple nodes, but you don't really compromise at all.

I'm with Bradley and Juraj, Boxx is seriously overpriced and you can have the same thing built for at least 20% less. I've had 6 of them over the years, the last one had all kinds of problems right out of the box, that isn't supposed to happen since they say they test them before shipping them out. Your better off finding a local company and having one built, you'll get a more powerful machine for the same money.

Other option would be buy off lease computers, I got one HP600 2x Xeon X5650 @ 2.67, yes it is a little old machine but those CPU just crunch renders like nothing. The best of all I got it for $650. I am waiting for a payment to come and I'll get 2 more. I usually build my machines and as juraj mentioned for a small company or freelancer is a better option but off lease computers are a valid option too

Hey Juraj what CPUcooler you have in your xeon? are they that silent as you describe?

The case is silent overall :- ) but the CPU coolers do a good job as well, I only run them at 900rpm each fan. It's Noctua NH-U14S, "small" brother to NH-D14.

This sort of setup ("no" GPU...well) doesn't really call for water cooling, and among AirCoolers, this is the single top model out there.

I guess one could fit dual D14s just fine, probably using 3 fans, but this works just fine.

Inside XL R2, with only 4 other fans running at 700!RPM (the PSU is passive under 500W of load, and the "GPU" is passive as well), the noise is absolutely minimal. You can sleep next to it, and I mean it, in no hyperbolic sort of over-statement. I am extremely pedantic when it comes to noise.

Noctua, ok the colors seems familiar in your photo I wasn't sure, as mentioned the HP I got works great the only thing is under heavy load the small fans really kick in and it gets too loud, I was wondering about water cooling instead but I'll check those Noctua first thanks for the tip,

now regarding they are so silent that you can sleep by, that mean that you sleep at work??

don't work that hard Juraj.

I can't, the NAS (SynologyDS213 with 7200rpm HDD) is too loud for my liking, so it disrupts all the silent computers :- ).

I am very satisfied with all the Noctuas I have. They're pricey, surely some of that can be attributed to their heavy marketing and "designed in Austria" brand, but it's still worth it. I've never looked at their lower tier coolers, because if you have some budget computer, paying for expensive cooler might not be ideal solution. But on other hand, if you were willing to go close-looped water system, then this is still better value and price.

agree on boxx being a total rip off

get a custom specced HP dual xeon instead.