Specs for a rendering rig...

[rayman2k2]

I need a rendering rig for mainly Maya 4.5, when not rendering, it would be used as a normal computer. Regardless, it needs to have SSE2, and at least 512MB of Ram. Along with one HDD, I have another one to put in as well. CD-RW is not important, as I have one already. But I need a case w/ PS, I was thinking the Antec Lanboys, or even a Shuttle.

Also, do any of AMD's XP line have SSE2? Newegg only says that they have SSE.

Here is what I have spec'd out:
2.0ghz Celeron (cheap and has SSE2)
512MB of Ram
40GB HDD
Either Shuttle or some Intel board and a Lanboy

I'm kinda sketchy on the Celeron, its all fine and everything, but I hear it has lack of power.

SSE2 is quite necessary as it cuts rendering times down substantially. Also, this rig needs to be rock stable, as I would be giving it to my grandfather when not being used...

 

[Stinger836]

The celeron will drag...a lot. Id look into the P4 "C" series.

 

[mobiux]

Would the celeron have any significant perfoarmance penalty compared to a P4 since it has the neutered cache.

 

[Sojuuk]

dear god yes.

 

[joblo37pam]

Just at quick glance I can't find any of the performance numbers on this, but if I remember right, for encoding at least the celerons did just fine when compared to p4's, as the cache isn't really stressed too much. I'm not sure how that would effect rendering, but you may be alright. If I run across any numbers, I'll let you know.

 

[retardedchicken]

do yourself a favor and dont get a celery


a P4 C like stinger said would be your best bet

 

[Shyne151]

I do some rendering at school every now and then... but for some reason a celeron just seems puss to me for rendering...

 

[rayman2k2]

sry, forgot to mention that I am on a budget, of say, 400-500...but the cheaper the better...

 

[mobiux]

I would think that you would be better off getting an integrated video solution and some budget ram and getting a faster processor.

I am looking at making a after effects rendering box and am looking at putting the majority into the processor and getting a basic solution for everything else.

 

[Lord_Balance]

Grab a shuttle AN35N Ultra and a barton 2500 ($83.00 compared to $63 for the celly)

U can OC it to 3200+ (2.2Ghz) NO PROBLEM



*cuddles my 1700+ @2.1Ghz on AIR with an old OCZ DURON heatsink*

-/LB/-

 

[rayman2k2]

Hows this:
Shuttle SN41G2
Liteon 52x32x52x CD-RW
MPF920 Floppy Drive
WD400JB
512MB Crucial Ram PC2100
XP 1800+
WinXP Home

Total comes to 575.99, and yes I need the floppy and XP

Or this one:
Antec SLK3700AMB
Zalman CNPS7000Al Cu
Asus A7N8X-X
Liteon 52x32x52x CD-RW
MPF920 Floppy Drive
WD400JB
512MB Crucial Ram PC2100
XP 1800+
WinXP Home

Total comes to 500.97

I am leaning towards the latter, as it is cheaper, but how is it in terms of stability?

 

[rayman2k2]

Originally posted by Lord_Balance
Grab a shuttle AN35N Ultra and a barton 2500 ($83.00 compared to $63 for the celly)

U can OC it to 3200+ (2.2Ghz) NO PROBLEM



*cuddles my 1700+ @2.1Ghz on AIR with an old OCZ DURON heatsink*

-/LB/-

hmm, how stable is that mobo?

 

[Lord_Balance]

Just dropped two into boxes. Ram at 200 FSB at 200 CPU @2.3Ghz..... I was lucky to play with an UNLOCKED Barton 2500+

Stable as a sedated buddhist

Now if I can just get the guy to ditch his CRAP GF3Ti200

*Cuddles ATI FireGL X1 128MB in mah box*

-/LB/-

 

[TheMostWantedPolishTwin]

Originally posted by rayman2k2
Hows this:
Shuttle SN41G2
Liteon 52x32x52x CD-RW
MPF920 Floppy Drive
WD400JB
512MB Crucial Ram PC2100
XP 1800+
WinXP Home

Total comes to 575.99, and yes I need the floppy and XP

Or this one:
Antec SLK3700AMB
Zalman CNPS7000Al Cu
Asus A7N8X-X
Liteon 52x32x52x CD-RW
MPF920 Floppy Drive
WD400JB
512MB Crucial Ram PC2100
XP 1800+
WinXP Home

Total comes to 500.97

I am leaning towards the latter, as it is cheaper, but how is it in terms of stability?

if properly assembled, configured and cooled it sould be rock solid...

 

[Carnival Forces]

maybe save money on lower speed CD-RW and get 786MB RAM?

EDIT: ooooh, anyone know prices/specs for an OPTERON SOLUTION!

 

[RS3RS]

Getting a celeron will only hurt performance for non-encoding type tasks. I saw some benchmarks comparing a Celeron and a Pentium of the same speed, and the Celeron sucked at everything EXCEPT encoding, which they were at the same place to the second...

I'll post the link if I can find it, not having much luck at the moment, though.

But yeah, if this is a budget encoding/web browsing rig, celeron is not a bad way to go (unless it's also going to be a gaming rig or something).

 

[rayman2k2]

Originally posted by RS3RS
Getting a celeron will only hurt performance for non-encoding type tasks. I saw some benchmarks comparing a Celeron and a Pentium of the same speed, and the Celeron sucked at everything EXCEPT encoding, which they were at the same place to the second...

I'll post the link if I can find it, not having much luck at the moment, though.

But yeah, if this is a budget encoding/web browsing rig, celeron is not a bad way to go (unless it's also going to be a gaming rig or something).

the only gaming would be Backyard soccer, and games for my lil' bro and lil' cousins...


did you find that link? I actually read Anand Tech's clash of the 'rons, and the Celeron wasnt performing too well...

 

[Jason711]

why not try for an a64? that has sse2..

 

[Carnival Forces]

Originally posted by Jason711
why not try for an a64? that has sse2..

did you read his budget of $500.00? the cheapest A64 (3000+) will cost him a staggering 2/5 of his budget.

EDIT: wait, maybe he could make it work, forget it.

 

[rayman2k2]

Originally posted by Carnival Forces
did you read his budget of $500.00? the cheapest A64 (3000+) will cost him a staggering 2/5 of his budget.

EDIT: wait, maybe he could make it work, forget it.

it actually IS possible, but this rig will go to my grandfather when not in use...

 

[joblo37pam]

Originally posted by rayman2k2
the only gaming would be Backyard soccer, and games for my lil' bro and lil' cousins...


did you find that link? I actually read Anand Tech's clash of the 'rons, and the Celeron wasnt performing too well...

Yeah, you're right, I just checked out that article too. I'm not sure where I read it, but they had a celeron overclocked that was encoding divx just as fast as a similarly clocked p4. I'll look around a little more when I get a chance.

 

[Jason711]

yeah, i suppose the a64 is a bit out of the question.

and from the looks of it, so is a decent intel solution...

 

[BlindedByScience]

...in this price range, follow the AMD guys' advice. I'm an Intel guy all the way, but the low end Celerys are....only good to keep the socket clean until you can get a real P4. Sad but true.....

Rendering? Pretty demanding task; hope your expectations are reasonable for what you can get in your price range.......

Good Luck - B.B.S.

 

[Jason711]

... that i wouldnt even mind owning..

Pro Source Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "F1-BK-RF" -OEM - $51

puts 35amps on the 5v line.. and i think 17 on the 12. not bad for what you get. imho.

Lite-On Black 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive, Model LTR-52327S, OEM - $37

Vantec AeroFlow VA4-C7040 For AMD Socket A/462 And Intel 370/FC-PGA/FC-PGA2,Retail - $25

PANASONIC JU-256A-198P Black 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, OEM Drive only - $10

Western Digital 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD400BB, OEM Drive only - $57

Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, Low Latency 184 Pin 256MB DDR PC-2700 with Platinum-Silver Heat Spreader - OEM - $124 total.. its rated for 2-2-2-5.. possibly bh-5? at any rate, im sure it will OC well.

DFI nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "NFII ULTRA INFINITY" -RETAIL - $93

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - OEM - $85

after shipping it comes out to $500.98. this thing would be a BLAST to put together. get this and worry about an offical version of XP later!
btw, this is all from newegg.