New Render Nodes

[Dimitris Tolios]

Wish you a lot of productive up-time for your nodes.

Shop around before you get a LGA 1155 workstation - especially if you don't get it this month or so...Haswell (the upcoming generation of mainstrem i5/i7s that will replace the current Sandy and Ivy Bridge cores), will be LGA 1150 - totally incompatible with mobos etc.

 

If all you need or willing to afford is a quad i7, the LGA 2011 socket might suit you well along with an i7-3820 (on par with 2600/2700K performance wise). Intel announced IB-E s2011 CPUs will be coming around Q3 2013, and those will be 100% X79 chipset/board compatible - which gives LGA 2011 at least a couple of years of upgrade choices - CPU wise.

 

Currently the i7-3820 is dirt cheap (doesn't come with a cooler, so a CM 212 or equiv. $25-30 cooler has to be counted in, still with that you get it for less than a boxed 2700K/3770K easily), and certain stores like Microcenter have nice offers on them (aka $50 off if you bundle it with a s2011 mobo). I got the 3820+Asus P9X79 Pro for $20-30 or so more than I would pay for a 3770K + P8z77 pro combo, "buying into" this upgradability path.

[Jason Matthews]

Wish you a lot of productive up-time for your nodes.

Shop around before you get a LGA 1155 workstation - especially if you don't get it this month or so...Haswell (the upcoming generation of mainstrem i5/i7s that will replace the current Sandy and Ivy Bridge cores), will be LGA 1150 - totally incompatible with mobos etc.

 

If all you need or willing to afford is a quad i7, the LGA 2011 socket might suit you well along with an i7-3820 (on par with 2600/2700K performance wise). Intel announced IB-E s2011 CPUs will be coming around Q3 2013, and those will be 100% X79 chipset/board compatible - which gives LGA 2011 at least a couple of years of upgrade choices - CPU wise.

 

Currently the i7-3820 is dirt cheap (doesn't come with a cooler, so a CM 212 or equiv. $25-30 cooler has to be counted in, still with that you get it for less than a boxed 2700K/3770K easily), and certain stores like Microcenter have nice offers on them (aka $50 off if you bundle it with a s2011 mobo). I got the 3820+Asus P9X79 Pro for $20-30 or so more than I would pay for a 3770K + P8z77 pro combo, "buying into" this upgradability path.

 

I will definitely look into bundling the system next round. Who knows, I may be buying an additional render node sooner than I thought. I have all the parts fro the render nodes on their way. The custom desk is built with the option of expanding to accommodate additional render nodes. Right now it will house my existing workstation, 2500 quad core, and the incoming render nodes. Now I am praying I can get these comps built and the render farm functioning without any issues. Wish me luck!

[Dimitris Tolios]

Well, good luck...

Boy, that desk will be hard to sit in/under with all these fire breathing monsters attached to it - interested to see pics / build log !

[Jason Matthews]

Well, good luck...

Boy, that desk will be hard to sit in/under with all these fire breathing monsters attached to it - interested to see pics / build log !

 

There is really not much to look at. 3/4" MDF. Took about an hour to build. I'll post pics once I have my machines up and running. It looks massive without the computers in it. The design was simply to house the boxes, keep the cables organized, and keep as much air flow around the boxes as possible.