ARTvps RenderDrive RD5000 ??

[FlytE]

I was wondering if anyone can offer any input on how much they think a second hand RD5000 would sell for these days. Its so hard to tell with high end hardware devices. Its a few years old but perfect workable condition etc... any thoughts on what a fair price might be?

[DavidR]

Last year we offered ours for $25,000 CDN, which was a package deal including 3 RD5000, 2 RD3000 and 2 RD2000. We dumped them and got 12 dual Opteron 275 nodes, which are ~ $4000 each, and are many, many times faster than an RD5000, and allow you to run any software you want (I'd wait for the Cloverton quad cores, Q5 '06). I would never, ever go with a hardware solution again. We had them for 6 years, and they were great for the first 2 years, but they didn't add any new features (but were always 'working on it') and they just got comparatively slower and slower as computers got faster. Seriously, I wouldn't give you $100 for an RD5000. I will say that it seems like ART finally pulled their head out of their ass (after 6 years with no new features) with the new RD, which also runs mental ray, so you FINALLY get GI, caustics, multi-pass, 64-bitness and all sorts of mr goodness. The RD5000 doesn't do any of those things. If you want the same capabilities as RD5000 but faster + cheaper, just use your software renderer and turn off secondary illumination, caustics, etc. You'll be back in the rendering stone age using only fill lights and raytracing, just like an RD5000.

[FlytE]

Thanks for the info David, much appreciated! Can you recommend any good sites/forums for selling hardware like this?

[tecton3d]

aside from E-bay, I've bought stuff from the 2cpu.com for sale/trade forum and have had great results. The kicker (which I'm sure you're already aware of) is there just won't be a lot of chaps out there looking for something like this:(

[FlytE]

Yeah I know you are right, but 'he who dares wins' as they say... Thanks for the suggestions

[DavidR]

CGTalk is a good spot too.

[dano_bat]

Hi Andy,

 

Did you work out a price for your drive. Can you give me the lowdown between the 5000 and todays 6400? What are its shortfalls?

 

cheers,

 

Dano -London

[FlytE]

I dont find it particularly quick or easy to use, although my experience of it is somewhat limited because i decided to concentrate on vray which is hard to beat.

 

In my opinion, the renderdrive is best suited to product modelling. As far as maximum efficiency for money goes, with regards to archviz its most effective if you tend to do alot of animations etc. From what i understand the rd6500 is far better than the 5000, but we have seen some decent renders done with the 5000 in the office.... so im not going to bash it too much.

[dano_bat]

I currently have a pure card and find it good, but slower than I had hoped, so I am considering a renderdrive but the cost is somewhat steep. I do a fair amount of product work so it would suit me. I need to research the difference between what todays pure card can do and your RD5000. If the differences are just speed then I might be interested in it.