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So you are willing to drop several thousand dollars before trying to resize some textures because of "diminishing returns?" That sounds more like diminishing returns on your wallet. If you create a scene that is 60-100 gb in size, it will still take a week or more to render without a server farming it out. You'll only have what, 64 cores, maybe? So you'll have the ram, but not a lot of cores. That's trading one handicap for another, at a very high price. You would still need to get extremely creative about how you set up the render for it to work.
...I did the other night and aside from the basic 32 GB versions, got mostly the multi client access licence versions. So those do not include the core OS?
The Small Business Server Edition would be of no use anyway as that also only supports a maximum of 32 GB like the Standard Edition does.
If it includes the software it will say "Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with 5 CALs" However, to my knowledge, one cannot buy an enterprise or datacenter activation code outside of Microsoft. You can buy additional CALs directly for as little as $100 for 5 connections at some vendors. It is also my understanding that Server 2008 editions are no longer being sold except for those "retail" packages (aka essentials/standard/foundation) already in the channel. Also, beware that there are 2 versions: Server 2008 based on Vista Kernel, and Server 2008 R2 based on the WIndows 7 Kernel.
EDIT: I should note for general knowledge... don't expect high viewport performance from a Windows Server install. The kernal and HAL *ARE NOT* configured for desktop use and do not contain the tweaks that the desktop versions have activated that give the GUI higher priority for refreshes. The server editions' GUI WILL STALL/STUTTER (ie mouse freeze, graphics delay) while operations in the background are active. I have several editions of Windows Server here and would not recommend them for desktop use. They are OK for batch rendering. The ONLY advantage the server editions have is access to more than 2 physical processors.
Kendall
...I was looking at the R2 version (W7 equivalent). So those OEMs "...with CALs" I am seeing for sale are not legit
I can't answer that without seeing the entries. I have NEVER seen a legal version higher than standard for less than $2000.
Kendall
...well that is buggered. W7 Pro and Enterprise top out at 192 GB so in order to upgrade to 256 GB without a Server Edition requires W8 Pro with it's ugly "Fisher Price" UI, no "start" menu (which I actually use), and other "features" that do nothing but hog system resources. Or W10 which robs VRAM and lets MS dictate what goes on my system.
There are at least a couple of well-regarded Start menu replacements for Win 8.
If you *need* more than 192GB of RAM then you're likely doing something wrong or are doing silly crap like I do that sane people wouldn't attempt. (I don't pretend to be sane).
I would also contend that if you're trying to create scenes that large that you are above DS level and need to be using a more "professional" package. Maya runs under Linux and has no RAM limitations.
Kendall
...I also work with Carrara x64 which does not benefit from GPU rendering (unless you are using Octane). Instancing and high detail can eat up a lot of memory very quickly. I am looking to render in very large formats for printing so a high level of detail is important.
The issue with Maya (or anything form Autodesk) is it is now only available by subscription. I have been working with Vue Infinite PLE and looking into moving up to a full licence.
I overbuild systems so there is always "overhead" which results in components not being forced to run at their peak output. My current system was more than adequate until Iray came out.
...I know, as well as to make it look more like W7, whoever that's the rub as you need an add on for something that was offered as a standard feature. Also I understand that W8 forces programmes to open in full screen mode. I often work with widows tiled which suits my workflow better.
Kendall
...I read that they only open in "full screen" mode.
Also can you permanently disable rubbish like Charms, Active Corners & such?
They don't. I boot straight to desktop mode where items are windowed as always, I never use the Tiles stuff.
Yes, 8.1 does 'kill' most of the annoying features of 8...or at least tames them. It still isn't 'classic' Windows, but it's much better than 8.0 was.
..yeah those putrid looking tiles would be the first thing to go. So you can get a W7 like desktop then with 8.1?
What about the other annoying features I wouldn't need like those I mentioned above, can those be easily disabled or do I have to jump though a bunch of hoops and mess with the registry to do so like in W10?
Not sure, as I haven't disabled them, but I think so. (TBH, I would have stayed with Win7 if I could have (broken laptop hinge, Dell couldn't get the replacement part, so they provided a replacement for free, but it doesn't have Win7 drivers.))
I can't remember all I did to my wife's laptop, but yeah, I disabled most everything...it was very close to Win7.
I took advantage of the Win 10 free upgrade when it was active to get away from 8. Actually, 8.1 (which is an active update to 8) brings 8 back to feeling more like people are used to seeing. When I got the laptop that had 8, HP had included their own version of the Start Menu which was pretty decent - one of the few included bloats that were any good.
As an aside, I just checked what was happening under the hood while rendering, all four cores were going 100% and everything was happening in the 8 GB RAM that came on the machine and zero disk activity other than routine Windows housekeeping. I gave DS "Higher Than Normal" priority, anything more freezes the UI most of the time - DS still runs, but you can't do anything productive with it. With my active cooling stand I built, IR measuring (which can look through the vent slots) shows the active heat producers running well within safe parameters.
I got 10 looking (besides some new icon designs) and acting mostly like 7 without digging into the registry. The only thing I had to dig into the registry for was to change how the OS interacted with some hardware that Windows wouldn't let me do otherwise.
After I upgraded to 8.1 before taking advantage of the free 10, I didn't feel any real need to make any changes as the GUI was familiar again. I had 8 working mostly as 7 did, but it liked to slip back to the MS way of doing things with no notice so the update to 8.1 made life better.
Since I run WiFi on the laptop, I told it all my home WiFi APs were metered so Windows no longer will try to update during an overnight render.
...yeah the stuff in W10 I want to disable (like Cortana - I don't need "Clippy" on steroids) require jumping through a lot of hoops and poking around in the registry.
There's also the issue with 10 reserving VRAM as well
If I can get 8.1 working and looking like W7 that may be another option though not sure if it will support the drivers for my ergo trackball. I had to set ompatibility to XP for that in W7.
Cortana pops up whenever it wants while I'm using the touchpad. Even with one finger, it often thinks I'm swiping two fingers to call Cortana. There aren't any real ways of turning it off from what I've seen yet.. I'm blaming it on the hardware. 8.1 remembered the Desktop settings better than 8 did. And with 10, even that is not an issue.
I found out that adding Dforms doesn't extend render times, so I'm happy there.
...DForms don't increase render time as they do not add polys to the model, they only alter the region you want to shape.
As to disabling Cortana, there is a way to do so that I read about on ZDNet, though it only works with 10 Pro or Enterprise and as I understand, it's well hidden as well as involves dealing with the registry.
I thought MS learned their lesson after the failure of "Bob" which was an attempt to introduce a digital assistant for Win95 and NT two decades ago.
Yeah but Siri came into being...
...however like Bob, Siri was an add on and not an integral part of the OS like Cortana is.
That's good as I was afraid they would have added time once I found out about them, many things I"ve found do add time. I'm still going to have to get away from scenes with water as they do add a lot of time. I'm still trying to get the hang of reducing thepizel count in texture without things going quite ugly. That will come & I hope I remember how it happened once it does!
...refraction + translucency + reflecticvity, (all a comnponents of water) are real render time killers.