Core 2 Duo for Iray GPU render machine?
Scavenger
Posts: 2,664
I may ask the wrong questions here, as other than have an idea in my head, I haven't looked into any thing yet....
I have an unused Dell Optiplex core 2 duo sitting around. (It used to be a hackentosh before I got my present computer, and then was a media pc, until I got my AppleTV).
I was thinking..."hmm I wonder if I could find a decent NVIDA card for this for rendering, while I set up scenes on my Mac. (I read someone doing something like this elsewhere here)."
Then I thought.. "hmm Core 2 Duo..that's a bit old these days..I wonder if this will work."
Then I thought "Though, if it's all about the GPU, then as long as I can run the OS (win 7 would be the likely choice) then it shouldn't be a problem."
Then I thought "Shouldn't is such an important word there..maybe I should ask on the Tech forum...should be some hardware folks around there."
Which brings me to this post at this time....
Thoughts?
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If it has a full speed (16x) PCIe lane and a beefy power supply, so that you can drop in a good Nvidia card, yeah it should work. Probably won't be as fast as a newer machine, with the same card and it will be forribly slow if it drops to CPU mode.
The key things are 64 bit OS/Studio and a good GPU.
Well it does have a PCIE 16x slot (http://www.dell.com/us/dfb/p/optiplex-755/pd) BUT looking on ebay, i see that while the dell might be outdated tech, the cards would not be and are ridiculously expensive, so I think this plan is a bust.
I could look into parallel precessing with it, if any of the engines support that..
If that machine has enough RAM in it to run Daz Studio and you want to try a little bit more power than your current machine you could throw one of these in there:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KJGYOBQ
Unfortunately, compared to your current machine it probably wouldn't be a huge increase in performance but it would give you more GPU ram in order to render more complicated scenes, and at just over $110 it's not too bad of a price. NVIDIA has a cuda comparison page ( https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-gpus ) that rates both of those cards as equals, so really it would be all the hassle of a second slower machine in order to get 4GB of video ram.
you could drop a PCIe 3.0 card in the PCIe slot (you could but ask around on forums first as to power needs and other unforeseen issues) but the card could drop in performance somewhere between "You probably wont notice" to "Huge mistake", depending on other factors.
LuxRender wil support that CPU as a stand alone render or a network assisted asset provided you have as much RAM for your scene as you need on the host computer to render so if you have a render that requires 4GB RAM and your Core2 has 3GB RAM it wont be able to participate.
Let me get a clarification.... in order to use the Dell as a lux networked render assist machine to my main computer, it needs an equal amount of ram?
The other thing to keep in mind is the power supply. Do you know what it's rated at?
from the link above, and it's all stock except for the video card which I got rid of the onboard one for an ATI one that I could connect to the tv, as i recall...
Small Form Factor
Number of Bays
1 internal 3.5", 1 external 3.5", 1 external 5.25"
Dimensions
H: 12.45" W: 3.65" D: 13.4
H: 31.63cm W: 9.26cm D: 34cm
Slots
1 low-profile PCI
-(H: 2.5" X L: 6.6")
1 low-profile PCIe x16 graphics
-(H: 2.5" X L: 6.6")
Power Supply
275W
It needs as much RAM as it would to render the scene by itself, it does not need to match any other computer in the render farm setup as far as RAM.
If the render takes 4 GB RAM and computer 1 has 128 GB RAM and computer 2 has 4GB RAM it will work. If computer 2 has 3 GB RAM it wont.
and that power supply may be a show stopper depending on your card of choice. Dell makes aftermarket replacements but some of their chassis have a very proprietary fit and buying a new PSU for that chassis might come with an inflated price tag.
And other than guessing by looking at Activity Monitor/Task Manager how much memory a scene uses?
Activity Monitor on the Mac is going to give you the best answer, same with Task Manager on the Windows side
and yes your farm can be mixed Mac, Windows, Unix as long as they have the LuxConsole software (free with Luxrender - which is still free)
I think there is a limit on the Mac that you cant use a core 2, it has to be core 2 duo and above so if you have a warehouse of Dual CPU G5 PPC's they are door stops and little else.
Not a warehouse, BUT I do have Dual G5 sitting right next to the imac...AND a Yosemite (b&W) G3 ..and a Quadra 650...AND a Mac SE....floating around.
That power supply won't cut it, unfortunately. You're better off building a new PC than retrofitting that old one. Personally, I've been thinking of buying something with at least an i5 and adding a video card to it. It seems as though manufacturers like Dell and HP charge a premium for including video cards, even low end ones.
Why won't it cut it? (I'm a software guy, more than hardware--Macs hardware is hardware).
Building a new pc isn't in the cards..this was an idle thought to use something I had lyring around
https://youtu.be/1DPcx9b2MWQ
Probably best for me to leave the explanations up to the "experts." I personally wouldn't add a video card to a system with less than 500 watts power supply. Though the video I've linked to applies to gaming, the fact that the same cards are used in rendering makes the same advice applicable, imo.
The power supplies vary between models, but if this is one of the lower end Optiplexes that originally had XP, the PS in those are rated at no more than 300-350 watts. The 740 that DAZ_Rawb pointed out consumes about 65 watts all on itsown, and the specs call for a *minimum* 400 watt for the whole system. Dell is known for its power supply issues, so always factor in some overhead (maybe 25% or so). Don't run a Dell to the wattage hilt.
This may be a 64-bit machine, but unless it came with at least Vista, dollars to donuts it'll have a 32-bit OS on it, and will not run Iray in any form. It will run in your Lux render farm, though.
So you can start to tally theupgrade expenses: Upgrade to Win7 OEM: $100; larger PS: $75; GeForce 740: $100; at least 8GB RAM... well, you get the idea.
It isn't just the power rating for a PSU; if it is a gold or platinum rated PSU, you get more power out for the same in. Take the 900 series, they require between 90 and 250 Watts (950: 90; 980ti and titan: 250). depending of hard drives in your computer there could be a requirement for say 200w excuding graphics card. You want to leave some headroom, as pushing any PSU very close to its max will shorten its life.
A decent 500 Watt PSU could be OK, but don't take too much advice from everyone here; we need a detailed breakdown of the specs, then you don't actually know how knowledgable we all really are.
Personally, I like to see a system; looking at how it's been look after; how much dust has got into the case might indicate use, and also if its been opperating for long periods warmer than it should; these are all hard to quantify, so it can be a best guess. Using an old computer as backup, or to try out Linux is one thing; using it for rendering, when it is impossible to throw too much resource at the 'job' is quite a different matter; having said that, it could actually work well for some time; some components just last longer than others - which in part comes down to the binning process (a means of finding better quality) but when a processor (as an example) gets chosen to be a core2duo, it wasn't suitable for something better.
AnandTech and Tomshardware both offer good advice and reviews; then there is also Hardware secrets, also an excellent resource.
http://www.anandtech.com/
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/
You can get good information from wikepedia, but it isn't peer reviewed, so you have no idea how good it is; some contain a list of references at the bottom, this is encouraging and it is at least then possible to check those references.
the problem is with the Dells Power Supply Unit (PSU) form factor for the optiplex. In some models (mainly desktop) many 3rd party PSU's wont fit in the chassis. it's a brick, literally shaped like a brick but heavier, and since it was not designed to be a demanding PSU powerhouse supplier you might not be able to get anything bigger than a >300W PSU
http://www.techpartswarehouse.com/product/DE-MH300-Dell-275W-Power-Supply-Optiplex-GX745-SFF-2934.cfm?sid=google&gclid=CJeMpYST_McCFY9gfgodLRwO5Q
If it's a tower you may have the option to dump a corsair in there and call it a day, desktop, it's dicey.
Also theoretically if you repurposed the PPC G5 dual as a unix box and RAMed the daylights out of it you proably could make it a farm server for LuxRender. The 2005 - 2006 models cap at 16GB RAM but it would be an old warhorse on it's best day.
I've considered maybe just using the G5 as a media server..but it's so big and heater like, it just doesn't seem worth it.
(I do need to rev up the G3 to clear out some scsi drives before getting rid of them).