Help Building A Rig for Rendering
plaul2002
Posts: 127
I am currently using a laptop (CPU only) to render images. It is brutal clearly. I'm not super knolwedgeable about computers or what Daz3d needs the most out of a computer. So I am asking for help from you the community. Maybe a bit of a challenge too. Can you suggest a build on Dell's website or somewhere else for $3,500 or less that would allow me to render quality single character images with background in an hour, multi-charater (2-3) images with backgrounds in a couple of hours, render 30 second animaitons in say <16 hours, plenty of storage for all the Daz stuff I have as well as thrid party content (it is a ton)? Any help is appretiated, links ot builds are doublly so.
Sorry to ask but grateful for help.
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Comments
This was what I was thinking, enough?
https://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel-X299-Gaming-Providence
That's a ridiculous waste of money. You do not need a HEDT system for Daz.
For $3500 you should get a 2080ti not a1080. You can easily find either a Ryzen 2700 or Intel 8700k system with a 2080ti for $2500 roughly.
would also strongly advise changing that power supply. That site says you can go up to a 600w gold rated unit for no extra - do that at the very least. If it was me, i would go down and select that Corsair RM750 for the extra $70. Probably a bit more power than you would need, but its always good to have plenty of headroom with your power supply, and Corsair are regarded as one of the best, if not the best PSU manufacturer. One of maybe 2 manufacturers that offer 10 year warranties. If you follow Kenshaws advise above you will have already saved far more than that $70 to get the better power supply.
IMO, the two main things to focus on are the GPU and system memory. Get the most powerful GPU (with as much VRAM as possible) and as much system memory as you can afford, along with a decent CPU. A 2TB HDD for DAZ should be decent.
If you don't plan on using the system for anything other than rendering, you may want to consider either using the built-in video (most, if not all processors have this) or getting a second, cheaper GPU to drive your monitor(s), dedicating the big one for rendering. I currently use both the built-in GPU on my i7 (3770k) to drive two of my monitors, and my GTX 1070 to drive my main 4k monitor when I am either working on scenes or not using DAZ. When I do a final render, I disconnect the 1070 using the Display controls in Windows and use it exclusively for rendering - that (and the amount of RAM I have) lets me use my PC for other tasks while it renders without messing anything up.
Here are the changed I made.
Swapped the 1 TB HDD to a 2 TB (Seagate Barracuda)
Replaced the default PSU with a Corsair 750w fully modular 80+ Gold (If you are considering upgrades in the future like a second 1080 Ti, memory upgrade etc, I would consider the Corsair 1,000 w PSU for an additional 42$).
Switched the OS from W10 Home to W10 Pro which gives you more control and options over updates (like being able to defer them to a later date just in case there is another Oct 2018 fiasco) and system configuration.
Added Arctic Silver Thermal paste for the CPU
Added 3 Enermax TB Silence fans for the top exhaust fans
I would go with a mechanical switch keyboard (more durable). and three button mouse on your own (particularly if you are going to look into programmes like Blender) than the ones listed as these are pretty universal. If you are not into gaming no point in having one of those over priced lit gaming keyboards.
The case is essentially a rebranded NZXT Noctis 450 with the iBuypower logo. Cable management doesn't seem as "clean as other cases I've seen on other reviews and it is polymer shell instead of a steel or aluminum (save for the inner chassis). Other than that, it seems to be a pretty decent enclosure overall with ample room and a built fan controller. I suggested the three extra fans to provide top exhaust ariflow as your 1080 Ti will not have water cooling. The front three fans have a nice mesh front (the coloured portions of the face) and one piece dust filter that covers the entire front. There is also an underside intake vent for the PSU with a dust filter as well. My one minor complaint is that the SSD mounts are directly above the PSU bay.
Here is a fairly detailed review on the NZXT model (a bit long but very thorough):
Cases are another area some people and builders scrimp on and shouldn't. Airflow is important, particularly if you are running a high powered (or two) GPU(s) that are air cooled. Granted I am a bit spoiled with my old Antec P-193: 7 fans (including a 200mm fan on the left panel by the GPU), all steel/aluminum construction, very roomy inside, and extremely quiet.
As is, with the changes/suggestions I made it still comes to under the 3,500$ top end limit at 3,380$ (3,422$ with the Corsair 1,000w PSU) The one downside is this particular build is it only offers a boot and single storage drive (unless you go with a RAID setup which is significantly more expensive). I would consider adding a second 2 TB HDD for backup purposes by yourself (not a big bother to install as many cases now have "tool-less" drive bays).
...one thing I would stay away from is any system that does not let you choose your MB, or PSU and/or doesn't list what they are using (I find that with a lot of "budget" builds. Last thing you need is a case with inadequate airflow, or an off brand PSU like Great Wall that is not even 80+ certified or a cheap barely adequate MB which doesn't allow for much upgrading. Even thought it may cost a bit more, I would go with a build house that gives you the most options possible to configure your own system. I looked at Dell/Alienware but no specs on the MB and much more limited in choices of components.
So for about the same price as the other model with everything I specified (save for the 1,000 w PSU which isn't available) with a 2080ti there is this build. for 3,385$. Two less fans but this case gets high marks for airflow and construction.
https://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel-Z390-mATX-Gaming-PC-EX
...here's one by a workstation builder with pretty much the same specs as the other two with the exception it has a Ryzen 7 1700 8 core CPU, 850 w Corsair PSU, a Samsung Evo 500 GB SSD, dual 2 Seagate TB 7200 RPM HDDs. and 2 x 16 GB for 32 GB (leaving two DIMMs open for future expansion).
Unfortunately I cannot link to the configurator data as it reboots it ot hte default so here's the specs:
Case: Be Quiet! Silent Base 600, ATX, Black/Silver, Mid Tower Case *
Motherboard: ASUS Prom X470 Pro AMD X470 Chipset, AM4, HDMI, ATX Motherboard
Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 7 PRO 1700 8-Core 3.0 - 3.7GHz Turbo, AM4, 65W, Processor
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX™ 2080 Ti XC GAMING, 1350 - 1635MHz, 11GB GDDR6, Graphics Card
Memory: **CORSAIR 32GB Kit (2 x 16GB) Vengence LPDX DDR4 266MHz, DIMM Memory **
Power Supply: CORSAIR RM850x, 80 PLUS Gold 850W, Fully Modular, ATX Power Supply
CPU Liquid Cooling: COOLER MASTER MasterLiquid Lite 120, 120mm Radiator, 180W TDP, Liquid Cooling System
Thermal Compound: ARCTIC SILVER AS5-3.5G, 3.5g, High-Density Polysynthetic Silver, Thermal Compound
Additional Fan: Be Quiet! Silent Wings 3 x 140mm HIGH-SPEED, 1600 RPM, 77.57 CFM, 28.1 dBA, Cooling Fan
SSD : Samsung Evo 860, 500 GB.
HDD Storage: 2 x SEAGATE 2TB IronWolf ST2000VN004, 5900 RPM, SATA 6Gb/s, 64MB cache, 3.5-Inch HDD
OS: WIndows 10 Pro
* Instead of a tempered glass window, this case has a vent in the left side panel by the GPU to draw in more air past the GPU. A fan can be mounted to this.
** Motherboard only supports up to 2666MHz without overclocking.
Total Price 3,338
Hey Everyone!
Really humbling that you all took time to help me out. Really can't say enough about how just truely awesome you all are! So I tried to take all your advice into consideraiton, and most certainly failed because I am not 100% I understand everything you are saying.
So I went back tothe drawing board and came up with the below coming in at $2,252. What are my weaknesses and where am I blowing money given my aforementioned parameters?
https://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel-Z390-Core-i7-Configurator
1. Sotck Case
2. Intel® Core™ i7-8700K Processor (6x 3.70GHz/12MB L3 Cache)
3. Stock Cooling
4. 16 GB [8 GB x2] DDR4-3200 Memory Module
5. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 - 8GB (GDDR6) (VR-Ready)
6. ASUS TUF Z390-PRO GAMING -- RGB, Gb LAN, USB 3.1 (6 Rear, 4 Front), ASUS TUF Protection
7.850 Watt - Standard 80 PLUS Gold
8. 4 TB Seagate Barracuda PRO Hard Drive -- 128MB Cache, 7200RPM, 6.0Gb/s
9. Gigabyte GC-WB11ACD-I AC400 Wireless Network Card 802.11ac Dual-Band up to 433 Mbps + Bluetooth 4.2
10. Windows Pro
I'd recommend 32 GB of system RAM if not more... I've had DAZ take up more than 20 GB of system RAM when rendering... and that's when it's using the GPU for the actual render.
Sounds good but I'd upgrade system ram to at least 32gigs. I'm on Win10pro and with nothing else loaded 23% of my 32gigs of ram is already used up.
I would still aim for the 2080ti if your budget allows. I'd also make sure the case I chose had as open a front as possible that would get me the most airflow.
I've recently retired my old system (built in 2011 Core i7 2600K 3-4 GHz with 16 GB of RAM, and two 2 TB WD black HD and a 120 Gb SSD and GTX 760, but added a GTX1080 ti last year) and yes, it's still working.
I've built a new system about a month ago.
Here are the specs of the Newer system:
1. CORSAIR CARBIDE AIR 540 ATX Cube Case, High-Airflow, two built-in 140mm front fans, one 140 mm rear fan.
2. Intel Core i7-8086K Desktop Processor 6 Cores up to 5.0 GHz unlocked LGA 1151 300 Series 95W
3.Cooling - CORSAIR HYDRO Series H115i PRO RGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler, 280mm Radiator, Dual 140mm ML Series PWM Fans, Advanced RGB Lighting and Fan Software Control
4. CORSAIR Vengeance RGB 64GB (4x16GB) DDR4 3200MHz C16 Desktop Memory
5. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti - 11 GB (GDDR6)
6. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti - 11 GB (from my old computer)
7. GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS ULTRAGAMING WiFi-OP (Intel LGA1151/ z370/ ATX/Built-in 32GB Intel Optane Memory/Front USB 3.1/ 2xM.2/ SLI/Motherboard) with onboard WiFi
8. Seasonic X-Series SS-1050XM - power supply - 1050 Watt - 80 PLUS Gold
9. WD Black 1TB High-Performance NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD - Gen3, 8 Gb/s - WDS100T2X0C (Sequential read speeds up to 3,400MB/s)
9. WD Gold 8TB Enterprise Class Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5 Inch
10. Windows 10 Pro 64 bit.
Minus the old GTX 1080 Ti, this rig set me back about $4500 (it took me nearly two year to save up).
...for the CPU I'd at least get a better air cooled CPU cooler than the stock one provided.
For rendering ion the GPU the more VRAM the better,. The 2080 is a waste. If you cannot afford a 2080 Ti, then better to go with the 1080 Ti. Keep in mind that W10 WDDM reserves about 18% of your card's VRAM so that 8 GB becomes something like 6.5 GB useable for rendering so you would be paying a lot for limited performance.
I'd also look at a case with superior airflow, particularly if you intend to stick to stock CPU and GPU cooling. The Be Quiet! on I suggested would at least give your system more "breathing room". and provision for 7 fans.
Regardless of CPU, I highly recommend a Noctua CPU cooler. I have the NH-D15 on my i7 6700K and it cools it off really fast. Under full load at 4.2GHz, I average 65C, even in the summer.
Personally speaking, best bang for your buck for video cards is the Zotac ones. I have two 980TI AMP Extremes that came over clocked out of the box and run at 1400MHz. They do an excellent job handeling my scenes in Iray.
Never, ever cheap out on the power supply. Go big as you can and then you never have to worry about not having enough power. Also make sure you buy a good brand.
An SSD is good for C Drive but far more costly then a regular HDD. So only buy one for C Drive and your computer will boot quickly, as will your programs. As for the rest, again, go big cause HDDs for cheap for the amount of space you get. 8GB would be good if you only need the one drive for storage.
Thats odd, I just checked my machine, Win10 Pro (1703) and I am only running 10% of my 32GB ram right after boot.
4. I wish I could have gotten 64GB when I bought my new one in 2016 as that is the max my z170 will take. Sadly I could not get any 64GB kits at the time.
8. I honestly went with a 1600W. My power cable for it looks like it belongs to a stove cause its much thicker then normal computer power cables.
9. You sir have class. I want to replace my 4TB with an 8 or 12TB gold drive for internal storeage.
10. Make sure you have it set to business branch for updates. My system is still running version 1703 after 2.5 years and I only get security updates instead of all those wonderful feature updates.
Ok so followed everyone's advice I think and this is what I came up with. But it's coming in at $3,800. Where can I save money and still hit the aforementioned parameters?
https://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel-Z390-Core-i7-Configurator
1. be quiet! Silent Base 601 Gaming Case - Black with 2 Pure Wing Fans
2. 3x [White] Corsair ML120 PRO Premium Magnetic Levitation 120mm White LED Fan
3. Intel® Core™ i7-9700K Processor (8x 3.60GHz/12MB L3 Cache)
4. iBUYPOWER 120mm Addressable RGB Liquid Cooling System - Black
5. 64 GB [16 GB x4] DDR4-3200 Memory Module
6. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti - 11GB (GDDR6) (VR-Ready)
7. ASUS TUF Z390-PRO GAMING -- RGB, Gb LAN, USB 3.1 (6 Rear, 4 Front), ASUS TUF Protection
8. 1050 Watt - Standard 80 PLUS Gold, Full Modular
9. Mechanical Hard Drive 4 TB Seagate Barracuda PRO Hard Drive -- 128MB Cache, 7200RPM, 6.0Gb/s single drive
10. Gigabyte GC-WB11ACD-I AC400 Wireless Network Card 802.11ac Dual-Band up to 433 Mbps + Bluetooth 4.2
11. Windows Pro
Maybe go with 32 GB of system RAM to start, with 2 X 16 GB DIMMS. Then you can add the other 32 GB later when you have cash available. From the prices on the site it looks like that would bring the cost to under $3,500.
Don't use all your RAM slots to get your memory; 2 x 8 not 4 x4 as an example.
That last system looks good, but I'd consider an AMD; unless you are a very serious gamer, they offer a better deal.
Where's the SSD? Not quite essential, but vastly improve the experience; I use all SSDs, only using mechanical for backups which I have in a caddy and can just unplug; alternatively a USB 3 enclosure can work too. (I like SSDs due to noise, or the lack of it.)
All else the same and going instead the below would I still be able to hit my parameters? That brings me in at $2,800? Does this give me flexability to add memory and another graphics card later?
5. 32 GB [16 GB x2] DDR4-3200 Memory Module
6. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti - 11GB (VR Ready)
This rig is being built purely for rendering. I'm not a gamer at all. I want SSD , maybe 1 TB Seagate Barracuda Hard Drive -- 64MB Cache, 7200RPM, 6.0Gb/s but I'm already stretching... I could go AMD AMD Radeon RX VEGA 64 - 8GB (VR-Ready) cross fire and save some money but would I still hit my parameters?
Ok....soo for $3,474 where am I wasting money or not meeting my parameters? Or do we have acommunity approved rig?
https://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel-Z390-Core-i7-Configurator
1. be quiet! Silent Base 601 Gaming Case - Black with 2 Pure Wing Fans
2. 3x [White] Corsair ML120 PRO Premium Magnetic Levitation 120mm White LED Fan
3. Intel® Core™ i7-9700K Processor (8x 3.60GHz/12MB L3 Cache)
4. iBUYPOWER 120mm Addressable RGB Liquid Cooling System - Black
5. 32 GB [16 GB x2] DDR4-3200 Memory Module
6. AMD Radeon RX VEGA 64 - 8GB (VR-Ready) Crossfire
7. ASUS TUF Z390-PRO GAMING -- RGB, Gb LAN, USB 3.1 (6 Rear, 4 Front), ASUS TUF Protection
8. 1050 Watt - Standard 80 PLUS Gold, Full Modular
9. Mechanical Hard Drive 4 TB Seagate Barracuda PRO Hard Drive -- 128MB Cache, 7200RPM, 6.0Gb/s single drive
9.5 250 GB WD Black 3D Series M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD -- Read: 3000MB/s; Write: 1600MB/s
9.9 1 TB Seagate Barracuda Hard Drive -- 64MB Cache, 7200RPM, 6.0Gb/s
10. Gigabyte GC-WB11ACD-I AC400 Wireless Network Card 802.11ac Dual-Band up to 433 Mbps + Bluetooth 4.2
11. Windows Pro
You do not need the 9700k or the liquid cooling. Get an 8700k and a good but not crazy air cooler. Also do not buy the be quiet case. Be quiet is a brand dedicated to silent builds not performance. It is not what you want. You also don't need all the extra case fans. The fans that come with the case, if you choose a case with decent airflow and enough stock fans will do fine without any add ons.
That should save you most of 1k.
I believe that nicstt was referring to AMD for the processor as opposed to the Intel i7. If you intend to render Iray, you need the NVidia GPU.
4. Im not sure what they offer but a good fan colling heat sink, but the ones from Noctua will do just as well.
6. You need an Nviadia card to render in Iray.
9.5 You are better to go to a 512GB and make sure you have plenty of space then risk it with a smaller drive.
9.9 You dont need that if you have the 4TB.
Switching to the 870 only save me $16 believe it or not. Liquid cooler is stock and going air save me only $12. Changing the case to stock saved me $80 and dropping to stock fans saved another $80. Switched back to Nividia and went with 2080TI
Brings me in at $3,391
Switching out to an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Processor (8x 3.7GHZ/20MB L3 Cache) with all else the same comes in at $3,383, $4 savings and going with threadripper is more expense.
I suggest you take the list of things you need (A PC with an NVIDIA GPU) and either e-mail or physically visit outlets for advice. Just a glance at your intended purchases I'm thinking you're about to waste a colossal amount of money. Stores will give you completely free advice for the potential sale of a system, so just go around and get advice from professionals because this isn't cutting it.
Just throwing the equivalent of that system into pcpartspicker picking high-end parts I end up a good 800 dollars below the numbers you're quoting.
Find a professional. Don't spend 3400 dollars on the advice of the dazstudio forums. This is a mistake.
If you can assemble the system I can spec the system for you and you can order the parts and build the system yourself and save at least several hundred dollars.
...my suggestion instead of a single 4 TB drive get two 2 TB HDDs one for your Daz content library and one for storage/backup. I have done fine with a 256 GB HDD for my boot programme drive drive (which will be replaced with a 240 GB SSD) as I don't use Daz connect so nothing goes into the Documents folder on C:
My previous Library HDD was one TB and it was about 70% filled which included all my content , my massive freebie collection (been at this for 10 years) zip installers and DIM install file backup. 2 GB will be more than enough to last a while (probably the lifetime of the drive).
My updated drive setup will be a 240 GB SSD (C:) 2 TB 7200 RPM Library HDD (D:), and 2 TB 5400 RPM storage/backup (F:).
I have an older 4 core i7 (930 Nehalem) being replaced with a Lynnfeild 6 core Xeon (LGA1366 socket MB) and use a Cooler Master Gemini IIS cooler which keeps CPU temperatures at a reasonable level. Granted this is older tech but I am on a fixed income so I need to upgrade this system as best I can within it's limits. I also hae a secondary PSU (850 w) to power the render dedicated Titan X. I also have a 2 GB GTX 560 Ti to drive the displays as well as work in Iray view mode.
As to the case, I would go with one that has a left side vent (as your GPU will not be water cooled) which does enhance airflow. Make sure that it also has top exhaust vents as well.
Here's a review of that Be Quiet case by Linus:
I would highly suggest finding some one you know who knows how to put a computer together for you, and letting some one here give you the specs you need.
for that price you could put together a heck of a machine and get more from it then a "pre built", the typical "gaming" build by manufactures almost always have an intel processor, and thats going to raise your price considerably over a amd and isn't going to give you that much benefit.
your best bet is to spend 2,000 to 2,400 on video cards, and use whats left for the rest of it.
after i fried a motherboard, I bought a new cpu, mobo, 32gb of ram for $600, but this machine has 6 video cards, just for iray.