Upgrading to new machine: utilizing old rig

Hello CGArchitect!

I'm starting out pretty soon and I have been using my trusty Phenom x6 1055T + HD 5770 (served me really well) for at least good 4 years now (bought it when I was a student so I couldn't afford the best pieces) and it's about time to upgrade my machine. Due to budget I've decided to jump to an i7 4970k + GTX 770 4gb/GTX 780(would love to get the 6-cores but that's out of reach at the moment) and utilize my Seidon 120XL cooler. I do Arch-Viz stills, but plan to learn the animation side of it in the near future.

I guess what most people would do is sell off the old parts to gain some profit and place the money for the new one, but I would like to use my old machine as a node/slave instead. I am uneducated in setting up such parts but I have tried to do my research and all the references I could only find were for larger networks comprising of usually 6 and above units of computers. I'd love to hear some experienced advice on how to set up such a configuration. As I am doing some work from home I'd like to keep power consumption to a minimum with my slave unit by doing away with parts that aren't really needed so to speak. I'd also like to save some space since I am also moving to a new case (my current case is about 8 years old), are there alternatives to small form factor cases (since these usually have space to house a GPU) to further save some workspace? I like my workspace spacious, if that makes sense. I have also found out that I would need a common storage space for both machines for distributed rendering - does this mean I need to purchase a seperate server HDD-housing unit or can I just insert an additional HD in the new case and link them together?

I apologize if I sound pretty messy right now but I would definitely appreciate any kind of help and tip to a direction. Thank you very much!

There are ITX solutions, with either horizontal or vertical ITX cases that have a pretty small footprint (not MacPro small, but, close) and can house a i7 + full length GPU easily. You can even fit your Seidon or most 120mm CLCs. The only real shortfall is that you cannot do more than 16GB of RAM with those, since ITX boards have just 2x dimm slots, and DDR3 memory controllers in i7s don't support sticks bigger than 8GB (UDIMM only). Otherwise a ITX system can extract 100% the performance of a i5/i7 as good as any form factor.

Same is true with mITX too, guessing the smallest form factor that can get you 32GB with a s1155/1150/2011 & FX CPU.

Again, even tho s2011 CPUs can do 64GB with 8x8GB configurations, there are no mATX boards with 8 dimm slots that I know of.

But all this is relevant for your new machine. The old one, I doubt there is reason to "transplant" in another case - unless what you have now is ridiculously bigger than it could (happens).

To keep consumption of a potential 1055T node, the best thing you can do is replace the GPU with a completely basic model. It won't be doing much, you just need it to boot up in most motherboards. You 5770 is not that power hungry to worry you. Sure, modern R7 or equivalent 6xx/7xx models sip less power when idling (what GPUs will be doing 99.9% of the time in a render node) but doubt you can recuperate the costs of a new card through electricity savings in a timely manner. Just don't run your node 24/7 (when not needed) and you are golden.

As far as networking goes, you don't have to have an external file server / NAS. You can store files on your workstation for the node to use.

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply Mr. Tolios, I appreciate it! A lot of information.

It's a good thing I don't have to go ITX with the new machine, I'm looking at a Fractal Design R4 right now. Is the amount of RAM in the node significant? I'm moving the old one to a new case because dust keeps settling in it(the side panel is gone) and I'll be keeping the 5770, but I also do want to know if the integrated GPU of the mobo I'm currently using will suffice?