My first quad-GPU + Dual Xeons + Kitchen Sink Home Built PC

At the moment I’m using the Corsair Carbide series 330R Black. It’s super silent and comes with a baffle for the top so you can close the front door and put the baffle on the top if you’re using the PC without much load. (Say if you want to watch a film or you’re just browsing etc)

http://www.ebuyer.com/700357-carbide-series-330r-blackout-edition-ultra-silent-mid-tower-case-cc-9011076-ww?mkwid=snLXjtsme_dc&pcrid=51482418059&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=CKu9v426j9ICFYI4Gwod2LwM7w

I’m also using the Corsair Hydro series H100i to cool the i7-5960X. It keeps it super cool for most things and it has three settings for fan speed. The only time I set it to Balanced is if I’m rendering in Keyshot and at full simulation the CPU doesn’t get much hotter than 48 deg c.

Standard GTX970 barely gets a look in to be fair.

When it’s idle the CPU tops out at around 35 deg C

http://www.ebuyer.com/744373-corsair-hydro-series-h100i-v2-extreme-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler-cw-9060025-ww?mkwid=s_dc&pcrid=51508048139&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=CL2Whsi6j9ICFYkaGwodcjoLnw

So the system is pretty silent until I flick a switch but even on balanced mode with all the doors open it’s not that loud. When it’s on performance mode it’s like being in a server room but there is literally no difference in temperature reduction between balanced and performance.

I went for the Asus X99-E WS motherboard for stability.

thanks for the info @2DCube, That case doe slook great, but some new decisions might push me for a larger cube-style box like the Thermaltake X5, more in next post…

Hi all, things have been busy so I have not done much on this other than thinking about it more. This week I want to order the parts and start building next week. but there’s ONE MORE THING…

We decided to make this is fast GPU + CPU rendering box. So we need to up the Xeon game on it. My concerns on noise and power requirement are now even more serious. Also I’m not confident I’m getting good value of those Xeons related to GHz/dollar. I want to Maximize CPU output, but i’m happy to get 70% there in terms of performace if the price on processors is 50% less.

So this is what I have in mind so far (but remember, I have no clue of what I’m doing, so any help will be greatly appreciate it):

components name amazon price units subtotal

CPU Intel Xeon E5-2687WV4 3 GHz 12-Core Processor - 30 MB 2145 2 $4,290.00
CPU Cooler Noctua NH-U12DXi4 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler 65 2 $130.00
Motherboard ASRock Rack Motherboard EP2C612 WS 448 1 $448.00
Memory G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4-3333 595 1 $595.00
Storage 1 Samsung 960 PRO Series - 512GB PCIe NVMe- M.2 Internal SSD 363 1 $363.00
Storage 2 Samsung 960 PRO Series - 1TB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD 627 1 $627.00
Video card EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW HYBRID GAMING, 8GB GDDR5X 665 4 $2,660.00
Case Thermaltake Core X5 130 1 $130.00
Power Supply EVGA 1600W P2 with eco semipassive mode and 9 gpu connectors 346 1 $346.00
OS Windows 10 Pro 64bit - USB Flash Drive? Or how I install?
case fans what do I get? How many?
wifi module PCI? Do I have room?
bluetoooth module PCI? Do I have room?
9589

link to a google docs is here.

Thoughts?

G

If you will render per Octane, why did you decide for a Dual Xeon?

Because a lot of people in my team/client-side render in Keyshot and they will want to compare/review scenes done in both. Seems anal, I know, but that’s how they want to roll, and they are paying for thsi machine, not me.

I understand. It looks like you found the fastest CPU (per core speed) at the upper range - good for Rhino. The price is good for the speed.

Also CPU power doesn’t increase so much anymore, so you could be happy for the next years. For comparison from v1 ( I use here) to v4 the speed increase is only 40% over the last 5 years. Seems to be the CPU development is on the limit now. Only more cores at lower speed are added, but it’s bad for Rhino. So, looks like your choice is right for all your needs.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Interesting for me is, that after 5 years of E5-2687W (v1) there would be no big reason to upgrade for me. That’s crazy. And the next Vray 3 will approx. half the render time of Vray 2. So, I get a higher speed increase by software upgrade. And if more CPU power is needed than after a few years it is cheeper to buy an additional i7 slave machine. A new overclocked i7-6950X could reach the old Dual Xeon E5-2687W (v1).

1 Like

You’re Right Micha, the CPU $ is steep but it does make for a very good Rhino machine. I’ll probably settle on this build.
quick question: how do I buy/install WIndows without a CD drive?

@gustojunk, some quick thoughts:

When getting a system in that price range i would recommend to get professional help before just choosing some items and trying to get them working together.

Above CPU has a quad channel PC4-19200U (DDR4-2400) controller and supports ECC ram, the mobo supports DDR4 2133/1866/1600 RDIMM and LRDIMM. I am not sure if the mobo you’ve chosen does support the G.Skill RAM using DDR4-3333.

Finding the proper Mobo / CPU / RAM combo is crucial with all server and WS systems. You might take a look at the QVL and choose a tested combination…

c.

great advice clement, you guys are my professional help!

  • Noted about the QVL. I changed the memory accordingly to the recommended Crucial - DDR4 - 32 GB - DIMM 288-pin - 2400 MHz.

for CPU compatibility looking here I see:
Intel Xeon E5-2687WV4 3 GHz x 12-Core x 2 cpus= 72 Ghz / total cost for 2 $4290 or $60 for each Ghz
Intel Xeon E5-1650V3 3.5 GHZ X 6-core x 2 cpus= 42 Ghz / total cost for 2 $1300 or $31 for each Ghz

It kills me to pay 3K extra but that gives 60% more CPU rendering performance, for 30% more of the total box cost.

BTW, I showed the shopping list to Boxx to see if I wouldn’t have to do this in a scary way and they said they can build a system like that for me for 20K, nice business they have going on.

1 Like

@gustojunk,

you should decide first if you want 1 or 2 CPUs. The socket you’ve chosen with your mainboard is “2011-3”. Not all Xeons are dual socket compatible. The E5-2687W v4 is dual capable, the E5-1650 v3 is only for single socket systems.

Maybe this link helps to find a dual capable cpu, choose the amount of threads, the clock (or turbo clock) you want and then compare. Important is the ghz/price ratio which is shown in the table below the price (second to last column). btw. I would not choose a 160W cpu in a dual combo unless you or your colleagues plan to use a 10K$ hairdryer 24/7.

c.

It’s been a long while for me, but I think I vaguely remember that in the E5 Xeon, if the first digit is a 1 it doesn’t support more than one processor per motherboard. If you want to use a dual (or more) socket motherboard you will need a Xeon that starts with 2.

I may be wrong, but I definitely think you should check it out.

BTW I take it you meant $1300, not $13,000.

1 Like

looking at the link now. What do you mean by this? [quote=“clement, post:31, topic:41193”]
I would not choose a 160W cpu in a dual combo unless you or your colleagues plan to use a 10K$ hairdryer 24/7.
[/quote]

yup, good catch. fixed. … Now let’s look for a dual compatible Xeon

I mean that these are cpus are pretty expensive and hard to cool in the summer. If you handle the cooling it can get pretty noisy under load. Of course if you have air condition this can be neglected.

c.

1 Like

@clement, looking at that site I see that the 12-core we had in teh list passsed mustard for both:
-working with that mobo (we saw that before)

  • being a dual CPU compatible:

Yeah I see, It will get hot when it works, but I do have AC, in fact a window AC will be very close to it. And also have noise cancelling headphones :slight_smile:

Some progress on specs, with more help from Smicha from Octane forums.

  • now Mobo, CPU, Memory all compatible. And CPUs is dual-compatible.
  • storage changed to SSD SATA drives, no support for NVMe on that Mobo
  • changed CPU fans to have dual 120 hybrid radiators, like this one:
  • changed case to X9 (larger, more air space and more fan-mounting space to cool all those CPUs and GPUs).

spreadsheet/shopping list is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JZlFjvtZYlwh1w2R2OcOB3_P8WrfPywW0dPfX1UW6iA/edit?usp=sharing

CPU Intel Xeon E5-2687WV4 3 GHz 12-Core Processor - 30 MB
CPU Cooler Corsair Hydro Series H100i v2 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard ASRock Rack Motherboard EP2C612 WS
Memory Crucial - DDR4 - 32 GB - DIMM 288-pin - 2400 MHz
Storage 1 Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD
Storage 2 Samsung 850 EVO 2TB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD
Video card EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW HYBRID GAMING, 8GB GDDR5X
Case Thermaltake Core X9
Power Supply EVGA 1600W P2 with eco semipassive mode and 9 gpu connectors
OS Windows 10 Pro 64bit - USB Flash Drive? Or how I install?
case fans Noctua NF-S12A PWM 120mm Fan
wifi module PCI? Do I have room?
bluetoooth module PCI? Do I have room?

Still need to know how Do I get Wifi and Bluetooth in this thing.

and this is my first past at cooling setup, will this work?

My old E5-2687W has 150W and is cooled by air only. The machine is quite silent, since the CPU can’t be overclocked and large air fan doe’s a good job. My case is open and the air blow upward. Also I lowered the CPU voltage. That cause no any risk but helps to keep the temp down. I like this little trick.

I updated it based on feedback from Smicha…