NVIDIA External GPU Attached to a CHEAP Laptop?
Fauvist
Posts: 2,038
in The Commons
This isn't about Mac. Can an external NVIDIA GPU be attached to a really cheap Windows PC laptop or desktop to render IRAY?
Thanks!
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Sure. Most of the eGPU's attach by way of USB type C so the laptop needs that sort of connector.
So, if I loaded all my content and runtimes etc. onto an external HD, and plugged it into a cheap Windows laptop, then pluged an external NVIDIA GPU into the laptop - I could render IRAY?
You should be able to
You should but you getting up there on the number of external conectors you need. You might also find it cheaper to buy a cheap desktop and a decent GPU at that point.
But wouldn't all those issues of adequate "power suply" and ventilation be solved by just haveing it in the housing for the external GPU? Or do those housings not have adequate fans and power suplies?
That's exactly why eGPU's are so useful: they have their own power suppply and ventilation, so you don't need to rebuild half your computer if you want to add a GPU it was not intended for. Beware on purchase though, some units sold as eGPU's do NOT come with a graphics card, but are only a case with ventilation, powersupply and the appropriate slot to insert a graphicscard. On top of that, your laptop or desktop or whatever you want to use it for will need a USB-3 port, for the higher data transfer speed. Some older rigs still have USB-2 instead of USB-3, so make sure you have the right one, they look similar at first glance.
So let me get this straight - the GPU actually DOES the IRAY render? It's the graphics card that does the render? Or is the graphics card just showing you the render as it's being done?
Remember that you have to have the right kind of Thunderbolt 3 port to support some of these things. Dual or quad channel. You need to know which kind you have and what kind the external unit requires.
Laurie
Yes, the GPU does the rendering, as long as the GPU (video card) has enough memory to render everything in the scene. If the scene is too big to fit on the GPU, then Iray will render it on the CPU. This brings up another important consideration that hasn't been mentioned yet. Your "cheap" laptop should have 2x or more RAM compared to what your video card has. DS will need enough RAM to hold your "raw" scene data, and have enough RAM to hold the Iray data to be sent to the GPU as well. With that in mind, say you get an external GPU with 8Gb memory, to be safe your "cheap" laptop would need 16Gb of RAM. Now your cheap laptop is getting more expensive. Now add into the equation that you need either a Thunderbolt 3 or high speed USB C port on your laptop, and it most likely got a bit more expensive to where the cost of the eGPU enclosure, plus GPU, plus laptop, just got more expensive than an inexpensive desktop (not to mention the possible tech hurdles you might need to cross to get everything running properly).
I'm guessing that you want to keep things "simple" like with your Mac. Unlike Macs, adding things like this to a PC can be a bit more complex, and you would definitely want to get and knowledgeable opinion for your laptop/eGPU pairing before purchasing them. IMHO, the simplest, and most cost effective solution for faster rendering in Iray would be to get an inexpensive desktop. If you get one from a reputable system builder, you shouldn't have to worry about the power supply being powerful enough for your chosen card (or just get a 750W PS and you should be good unless you add more than one 2080 Ti GPU's). Adamant Computers makes some nice systems at very reasonable prices (usually with a 3 yr. parts/labor warranty). I'm sure others will have vendor suggestions as well if you decide to go this route.
Of course a laptop/eGPU combo might fit your needs better. If so, it can "easily" be done, you'll just need to ensure the laptop and the eGPU are compatible, and that your laptop has enough memory to support DS/Iray for the GPU you select.
Or, to avoid buying a PC at all, Jack Tomalin's Iray Render Server service may be a good option as well. You can find out more about it here: http://www.jacktomalin.com/iray/
Note: I haven't used it, but it seems to be a good option, from someone well known around here
There are reasonable laptops on the used market that could work for this but you'd have to do some research before buying to make sure it has what you need. The same with the enclosures. Any enclosure selling for $300 or so is just an enclosure no GPU is included.
How does one know how much memory is needed to render everything in a scene? What affects the memory used in the scene? The actual size of the render? The number of lights and figures used? How do you calculate the amount of memory needed for a scene?
I'm not in the United States, so finding a reputable system builder may not be easy. And I pay about 30% more for everything because of currency exchange rates. And the import duties on computers and the cost of shipping is astronomical.
I may also try this!
Ouch! That does make things a bit more difficult. If you go with a desktop, just make sure it has a 650W (or greater) power supply, that will ensure you could put a single 2080 Ti GPU in it if you wanted to, and 16Gb RAM (24Gb if you get a 2080 Ti).
This is a tough one to estimate, but if you get Scene Optimizer, you can easily fit a lot more in the scene. The image below I did on a 6Gb card - without optimization (2 G3F, 1 G2F, and 1 Genesis figure), IIRC it consumed about 14Gb of system RAM (that's 14Gb without counting what the OS and other programs were using), but that number would have dropped a bit if I had save the scene, closed DS, and reloaded it. If you have a rough idea how much RAM your scenes are using now, double that amount and you should have a general idea as to what you would need for system RAM, however, the scene will only need 1/2 of that (or often even less) on the GPU.
The size of your render will impact your GPU memory as well, so larger renders do use up more GPU memory. I would consider a GPU with 6Gb the minimum, unless you don't put a lot into a scene, then you could get by with 4Gb. The image below was rendered at 2533x1425, so that should give you an idea regarding what you could fit on a 6Gb card (Scene Optimizer would allow you to easily put more in the scene).
I just found out about it. If your internet connection is good enough to efficiently upload your scenes, then it could very possibly be a great option for you. You would only need to use Iray to do lower resolution/quality test renders on your Mac, then upload them to Jack's service for final renders. With 4 1080Ti's, the scenes should render quite quickly. It might be a much more affordable, and simpler option for now. Jack will give you a temporary test account so you can use it to render one test image, so it definitely would be worth at least testing it to see if it would work for your needs.