Carrara not using all of my render nodes! Solved!

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  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    Here's my killer Bulldozer cpu: AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz x 8

    Mine was the lower-end model, while DAZ_Spooky got the higher-end 8150 model at the same time. We were both very impressed. Mine still makes me giggle, it's so fast!

     

  • well any amount I entered I was immediately outbid left it at $20 for now, since I am taking a risk not really knowing how I am going to get it working I am not prepared to go over $50, I will try later on as suspect there is a reserve price and it automatically outbids till it reaches it as it is 3:00am in the morning.

    Anyway no great loss, there will be other auctions.

    Just a bit of fun.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    ToeJam said:

    well any amount I entered I was immediately outbid left it at $20 for now, since I am taking a risk not really knowing how I am going to get it working I am not prepared to go over $50, I will try later on as suspect there is a reserve price and it automatically outbids till it reaches it as it is 3:00am in the morning.

    Anyway no great loss, there will be other auctions.

    Just a bit of fun.

    True. Yeah, some folks use an auto-bid feature with a ceiling amount. I've tried a few online auctions and discovered that I really don't have the patience for it. Too bad for me though - we can get great deals if we hang with it. My brother and father both are constantly getting great prices that way - while I just push the "Buy Now" button and be done with it! LOL

     

  • well I got my first house at auction!!!

    it was pretty scary

    if it goes above you comfort price you have to be prepared to walk away.

    and in this case as with the house I can easily.

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,713
    edited November 2016

    if a PC comes up I would probably go a fair bit higher several hundred but again would weigh up additional costs, and definately would inspect first.

    Post edited by WendyLuvsCatz on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    Here's my killer Bulldozer cpu: AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz x 8

    Mine was the lower-end model, while DAZ_Spooky got the higher-end 8150 model at the same time. We were both very impressed. Mine still makes me giggle, it's so fast!

    A lot of it, I think, is also due to this wonderful lower-priced but awesome motherboard I found: MSI 870A-G54 Military-class components for superb stability. Really nice board. Very easy build, nice heavy-duty latches and such... I was very pleased.

    I feed my cores with 2GB RAM each with my G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) RAM

    I powered it all with a CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 650W ATX12V/EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

    and stuck it all into my ever-so-wonderful Antec Three Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded 2 x USB 3.0

    and increased the air flow inside with 4 extra KINGWIN CF-012LB 120mm Case cooler

    In this image, notice the little black grid thingy on the floor of the case. That's a slide-out filter for under-side air intake. The whole face is a big washable filter, with individual plastic seals we can use when adding components - seals of the edges of the filter.

    It came with a 140mm exhaust (outgoing flow) fan in the ceiling and the 120mm exhaust fan in the back. I added two 120mm low-rpm intake fans to the front face, one (with a thermaltake filter from an older case) intake in the side door, and the other 120mm as an exhaust fan behind the motherboard.

    This is the first case I've ever owned that actually has a tool-free door behind the motherboard! And the 120mm fan mount on that door is just crazy-awesome!

    The Power Supply has a 140mm double ball-bearing fan, the Ripjaw RAM has nice heat sinks, and the case, having that removeable motherboard panel makes it super simple to consolidate all of the wires into a nice, clean harness which remains completely out of the air flow.

    The filters keep this machine nice and clean inside, and I keep it on "Top" of my desk with a low-rpm fan attempting to flow dust away from it - and it seems to work well - hardly ever have to clean my filters.

    I have a feeling that all of this attention to detail I've spent in designing my machine to thwart heat plays a big part in the success of this wonderful machine... I just love it!

    The funny thing is, I bought all of these components plus a GeForce GT520 Graphics Card, 1.5TB SATA HDD, DVD drive, mouse, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit and SONY Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum Suite 11 all for less than a $Grand!!! Brand Spanking New!!!

  • JonstarkJonstark Posts: 2,738

    The z600 heatsinks are better than I would have expected, much larger than the typical rinky-dink standard Intel heatsink you usually see.  They aren't as big as, for example, a Gammax 400 (which is what I installed in my desktop) but I didn't feel it was urgent to replace them with a different heatsink either (though it does seem like there is enough room in the case to upgrade to a bigger heatsink if it was wanted).  The Lenovo D20 has smaller heatsinks, and is not as impressive, but again I think it's probably 'adequate'.  All have run very 'cool' for me so far, but I also make a point of going into the Windows power options and changing the advanced power settings for the processor to set it so it never runs above 99% (I figure it's worth it to lose that tiny percentage point in rendering power to trade off and get a much longer cpu life).

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    But none of this changes the fact that I'm drooling over these HP Z-series workstations!!!

    Mine works SO well, that I can't even imagine the power behind these dual quad or Hex or Octa core with hyperthreading, logicaly doubling the number of cores.

    I've never actually been able to compare (with my own eyes) the hyperthreaded quads against my cpu with eight physical cores. These eight cores each are 3.1GHz and are unlocked for OverClocking, which I don't do anymore, even though my motherboard makes it incredibly easy. I just don't need the extra tid-bits compared to the added heat.

    But if I had the less than $400 needed to Buy Now the above Z600 right now... I'd be clicking that button! A dual Quad (16 logical cores) would be an amazingly awesome Carrara render box all by itself!

  • I was getting quite excited about all this but sadly real life had other ideas and I have to shell out $2700 for a hot water heater, cold showers so I can create a render beast was never going to be an option!!!!!

    However what I cannot stop are the endless dreams I keep having where I am going in circles trying to boot up a workstation, server, android refridgerator whatever with Windows or Linux and I can blame messing around on my laptop for that!!!!

    My brain seems to latch on to things I have had to retry a few times and replay them in my sleep in new ridiculous  scenarios.

    I just keep telling myself, new better systems will come along, things will get cheaper not dearer etc and we will find new ways to get stuff to work.

    Knittingmommy and others using Linux give me hope that life can continue after Windows 11 alienates the entire human race and OS Tabbycat whatever breaks every nonApple program.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    Bummer.

    Well get the hot water working. Computers will still be available next year ;)

    Yeah, I've been enjoying the pleasure of having Windows 7 on my Carrara machine, except that it won't seem to run a new plugin I'm trying to use, where Win 10 runs it but my Win 10 craptop just sits there trying to calculate... that's never going to be an option, unfortunately. But there's no way that I'm putting WinTen on my Carrara box! No Way!!!

    I've always been on the low-scale, buying yesterday's great for better deals - and it works well in the 3d world - at least without having to try and compete with Hollywood studios it does ;)

    Jay's Blog article has that link for getting Windows 7 Pro for cheap. That's what I'm going for when I get my Z-series... I'm sure of it. Windows 10 might be nice for some things, some folk's lifestyles... but not for me. If my phone was big and powerful enough to run Carrara really, realy well... I'd still probably only want to use it as a phone.

    But when I got my first Windows 8 laptop - MS trying to turn my laptop into a phone was a nightmare. I don't know how well MS "Apps" work on higher-end machines, but on these little laptops they just sit there... thinking. Luckily they came with the older Windows Photo and image viewer and MediaPlayer. Those worked nice and fast - I wondered why they replaced them.

    Win 10 seems like they backed off a little bit... but I still like 7 better. There are a lot of things I like better about 10, but it seems so invasive - constantly using the internet for who knows what? Updating when it wants... not being able to disable Cortana... I don't want or need that behavior on my Carrara machine.

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675

    need speed for realistic sky animated renders.  mach 5 +  vroom-vroom

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675

    loll  bought a windows installer flashdrive on amazon,  it shipped all the way from Australia!
     

    ON USB-WINDOWS 7 x64 ~All Versions 64 bit -Re-install Windows Factory Fresh! Repair, fix, recover or Restore. USB Flash drive

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    MistyMist said:

    loll  bought a windows installer flashdrive on amazon,  it shipped all the way from Australia!
     

    ON USB-WINDOWS 7 x64 ~All Versions 64 bit -Re-install Windows Factory Fresh! Repair, fix, recover or Restore. USB Flash drive

    Nice! Thanks for that. Nice to know soething like this is an option! yes

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675

    does 3d mousies work with carrara?

    dunno if it worth getting one of these?

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675

    the xeon processors don't go up to 4.0ghz?

    i'm confused on the motherboard socket types, between i7hexacore, Xeons and cores.

    i'm scared of buying the wrong thing.  
     

    With the price of oem windows7pro s/w, be worth it to buy an ebay special just to get the activation key.

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675

    does this look worth it?  HP Z800 Workstation 2x Xeon X5675 3.06GHz 24GB 2x 300GB 15K SAS FX4800 W7Pro

    it 3.ghz at least.  but seriously needs more hdd bytes >.<

  • chickenmanchickenman Posts: 1,202

    Doesn't look bad and if you need to later you can always upgrade the video card.

    Nice amount of ram and good processors it comes with 2 hard drives so you have a bit of space and can always add more externally if required.

    Over all they are nice machines.

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675
    edited December 2016

    Doesn't look bad and if you need to later you can always upgrade the video card.

    Nice amount of ram and good processors it comes with 2 hard drives so you have a bit of space and can always add more externally if required.

    Over all they are nice machines.

     

    eek i made a bid on it.  oh the excitement.

     

    here another z800  2x 1TB Quadro FX3800, cheaper.  can only bid 1 at a time, imagine winning 2 bids!

     HP Z820 2x 8-Core E5-2670 2.6GHz 16GB RAM 1TB HDD Quadro FX 4000 W7, but 2.6ghz, 

     

    Post edited by Mistara on
  • chickenmanchickenman Posts: 1,202

    Z820's are nice machines and it looks fine to me.

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    They are absolutely worth it if they work! Big time!

    That one you linked to when asking if it was worth it has two six core processors and a nVidia Quadro FX 4800 workstation (CAD) graphics card.

     

    MistyMist said:

    does 3d mousies work with carrara?

    dunno if it worth getting one of these?

    From what I've heard - No... they don't work for Carrara.

     

    MistyMist said:

    the xeon processors don't go up to 4.0ghz?

    i'm confused on the motherboard socket types, between i7hexacore, Xeons and cores.

    i'm scared of buying the wrong thing.  
     

    With the price of oem windows7pro s/w, be worth it to buy an ebay special just to get the activation key.

    Might find it to be good to Google some of that stuff and read up. Kind of a vague list to just start trying to answer. 

    Just a hint: 

    Processors (CPU) have their socket type listed

    Motherboards list what socket(s) they include

    Sockets cannot be changed on a motherboard and there are no adapters. We have to match the CPU with the correct motherboard

    Xeon processors are "Server-class", designed and built to run work stations and servers. They don't need quite as high of clock cycle as standard gaming PC cpu - or so I've heard, and I might not have worded that correctly. I'm certainly no genius at this stuff!

    You know those colored squares that happen when we render? Those show how many "cores" are working on the render. So the machine you bid on will have 24 of those - I think. It says six cores and I think it means six cores each - and it has two xeons. I don't think there are three-core xeons that work in Z800.

    The nVidia Quadro graphics cards are specifically made to give workstation machine high-end performance for OpenGL rendering. I've always been curious as to how that would help our Assemble Room performance. Gamers don't want that sort of card - at least buying a new one would be a waste compared to getting something with Cuda cores. But for what we do, the Quadro might just be a real performer (?)

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106

    Wow! That Z802 has two 8-core xeons! 16 logical cores each gives a whopping 32 core render powerhouse!

    Still the Z800 has 24, which is also blazing fast! 3.xx GHz is fine. 

     

    MistyMist said:

    i'm scared of buying the wrong thing.  
     

    That's where you'll benefit from buying something that's already put together and guaranteed to work when it arrives.

    But in the case of something like these Z600, Z800, etc., machines, if they say that they 'boot' but don't include Windows, buying Win 7 Pro 64 bit is a small price. Just remember to do your homework before buying something for those machines - like graphics cards and such. Some components just might not fit. Going to HP's site might help you out. If not, try asking Jay or Jonstark. I usually just Google my question which almost always directs me to a computer forum full of answers.

  • mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,693

     

    MistyMist said:

    the xeon processors don't go up to 4.0ghz?

    i'm confused on the motherboard socket types, between i7hexacore, Xeons and cores.

    i'm scared of buying the wrong thing.  

    I've had good luck going to a DIY-ish place like newegg, pulling up one of their DIY packages that's close to my intended specs, then using that for part numbers that I'm pretty certain will work together...

    I usually end up buying most of the stuff from newegg, but that's not a given (e.g. I might go to crucial for memory, etc.)

    --ms

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,106
    mindsong said:

     

    MistyMist said:

    the xeon processors don't go up to 4.0ghz?

    i'm confused on the motherboard socket types, between i7hexacore, Xeons and cores.

    i'm scared of buying the wrong thing.  

    I've had good luck going to a DIY-ish place like newegg, pulling up one of their DIY packages that's close to my intended specs, then using that for part numbers that I'm pretty certain will work together...

    I usually end up buying most of the stuff from newegg, but that's not a given (e.g. I might go to crucial for memory, etc.)

    --ms

    I've been Very satisfied with Newegg over the years. I used them for all of my home-builds. I liked how I could order everything from the same spot, and every time I price shopped for new stuff they've always been most competitive. Great selection and the coolest wish list system ever! :)

    After getting into this HP Z600 craze, I even checked there for those and, low-and-behold! They have Z600s and Z800s too! ;)

    And as usual, they're very competitive!

  • chickenmanchickenman Posts: 1,202

    As it is slow at work these days I have been rebuilding 3 Z820's that have been replaced as they are end of life and not supported any more.

    When I am done I will have 3 x 32 threads for a total of 96 threads without using my current computer.

    Each of these Z820's comes with a Quattro K2000 video card and the each have 24 GB of ram.

    One thing I have found is an issue with windows 7 and the SAS driver not finding the SAS controller when installing windows. Even when I install the driver it still has a hissy fit and wont load. If you can live with only 2 hard drives instead of 4 and not have a DVD drive then you can put 2 HDD's on the SATA0 and SATA1 connectors and install your OS from Memory stick.

    After scowering the net I found out that around 2014/2015 there was an update to Windows 7 that the drivers even though patched still dont find the SAS 2308 controller.

    If you have no issue buying a copy of Server 2012 it installed no problem and runnse fine just install the windows 7 drivers. But is may be a cost beyond someones budget.

    But the company you linked to is doing these all the time so I suspect that the reason that they ar eonly commng with 2 HDD's is as above and using the SATA connectors.

     

    I hope to bring them home for christmas and get a chance to play on them.

    Technically I have them to research issues at home that are affecting us at work but once it is here it is easy to add Render node to it.

     

     

  • mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,693

    We get 4 render-nodes with a normal Carrara 8.5 Purchase, right? If you own more than one Carrara license, can you somehow enable those remote render-nodes too, or do you have to buy the 'grid' product?

    Given we had a shot at getting another license for $1.13 last week, that might be a good way to expand your cluster!

    I guess the question is - does the main Carrara node check/count the remote render nodes?

    cheers,

    --ms

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675

    both my offers were decloned crying   was best offer too.  they closed the listing early and relisted it went.

    tried 200.  bid 300.00  lol

  • MistyMist said:

    both my offers were decloned crying   was best offer too.  they closed the listing early and relisted it went.

    tried 200.  bid 300.00  lol

    I found that with auctions too, they prob have a fake sale price and put it up again later

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675
    MistyMist said:

    both my offers were decloned crying   was best offer too.  they closed the listing early and relisted it went.

    tried 200.  bid 300.00  lol

    I found that with auctions too, they prob have a fake sale price and put it up again later

     

    i thought auction meant they sold to highest bidder, had a brief surge of excitement when ebay message said i made best offer 

    many of the sellers no mentions if it comes with valid windows activation key coa

  • chickenmanchickenman Posts: 1,202
    mindsong said:

    We get 4 render-nodes with a normal Carrara 8.5 Purchase, right? If you own more than one Carrara license, can you somehow enable those remote render-nodes too, or do you have to buy the 'grid' product?

    Given we had a shot at getting another license for $1.13 last week, that might be a good way to expand your cluster!

    I guess the question is - does the main Carrara node check/count the remote render nodes?

    cheers,

    --ms

    With the Carrara pro you have 25 Cores (threads) so you could use a Z800 or Z820 no problem.

    With grid you get upto 100 Cores. I got it while it was on sale and got close to 70% off by the time the staking was done.

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