Dual Opteron Machine

HibernatusHibernatus
edited January 2007 in Hardware
I want to upgrade from my Athlon XP3000+ to Dual Opteron Dual-Core (AMD Opteron 1212 Santa Ana 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor) for 3D work in Maya. I got a couple questions:

1. What kind of speed increase can I expect come rendering time compared to my current machine?

2. What would be a good dual socket mobo to use in this case that would let me overclock the cpus easily?

3. Should I spend extra money for good RAM or anything at CAS2 is good enough?

Thanks!

Comments

  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Go for a Core 2 Duo machine. It will be much better and will simply run over any Opteron system right now. I hate to say that as I have always been an AMD guy but the facts are the facts!

    Asus makes real good boards right now.

    Just go for good quality and high speed. 2x 1GB will be the way to go!
  • HibernatusHibernatus
    edited December 2006
    Isn't Opteron better suited for multiple cpus?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    I think he's talking about <i>two</i> opterons, which will knock the piss out of the Core 2 Duos for rendering, simply because there are two cores. If that's the case, you'll need different CPUs, Hibernatus.. You'll need CPUs from the Opteron 2xxx series, which are quite a bit more expensive, as are the motherboards and memory to support them.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited December 2006
    Tyan makes some good AMD server boards with multiple (2 or 4) CPU sockets.
  • HibernatusHibernatus
    edited December 2006
    So that Opteron 1212 would only work in a single cpu setup? Well "Opteron 2212 Santa Rosa 2.0GHz Socket F Dual Core Processor" is only $50 more ($250). But how about 2(two) dual-core Xeons? I found Xeon 5030 Dempsey 2.67GHz for only $160 which seems suspiciously cheap. Are they any good?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    No, the dempseys are actually much slower than the Santa Rosa chips. The only contenders to the Santa Rosas are the <i>Woodcrest</i> Xeons, and you'll find those are <i>very</i> expensive but more powerful than you could possibly imagine (Sort of like the Force).
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Which version of Maya?
  • HibernatusHibernatus
    edited December 2006
    Gotcha! So then back to my original question. If I get two Opterons 2212 Santa Rosa 2.0GHz, how much speed increase can I expect during rendering/real-time playback compared to my current ole' XP3000+? Will Maya 7 be able to use all the resources?
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Which Operating system & video card will you be using?
  • HibernatusHibernatus
    edited December 2006
    Vista and a FireGL V5200
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Honestly I think this dual processor rig would be overkill. I just don't know enough about the whole situation. I mean personally I think the money would be better spent on mtgoats first suggestion and high end graphics cards.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    If he's a big time renderer, he could find himself in a position where an SMP render box is <i>one hundred percent</i> faster than a single C2D.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Thrax wrote:
    If he's a big time renderer, he could find himself in a position where an SMP render box is <i>one hundred percent</i> faster than a single C2D.
    But that's the problem ..."if".
    "If" he's a big time renderer then why not build a 64bit system with ultra-high end quadro's? Only the nForce chipsets will deliver good overclocking on the dual socket platform as far as I know. So I'd highly recommend Sli compatible video processing at this point.

    Too many variables. When do we upgrade again? What's the next cutting edge hardware that will all work together and how much will I lose when/if I upgrade?

    So my real question is ...is this a "bang for the buck" hardcore renderer/gamer or is this a "balls to the wall" renderbox.

    Mainly ...what's my budget?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    The video card is only moderately important in the scheme of things. Desktop video cards will suffice, but they'll be a bit sluggish in high-poly scenes when you're doing the real-time manipulation. The real work, the rendering, is done entirely by the CPUs.

    Basically, yes, it comes down to a budget/true need, but I'm not ready to call shenanigans on the SMP business.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    precisely.
    And I would surely include an upgrade to Maya 8.0 in that budget when going the SMP route to take full advantage of very much fast memory.
  • HibernatusHibernatus
    edited December 2006
    I have about 1500 to spend and I mostly care about fast batch rendering and real-time interaction within Maya animation (but no high-poly stuff). Nothing else. Seems like the two 2.0ghz Opterons would fit into that budget nicely (I plan to overclock them to 2.6 if possible). The question is will it make that much difference compared to my current system to justify the cost (I don't want to have to upgrade for at least 2 years)? And is there some other system I could get that would render just as fast for less? I don't think I will be wasting money since I can always use this Dual Opteron in a render farm come upgrade. I plan on upgrading to Maya 8 eventually.

    Edit:
    I ended up doing some calculations and a 2.0ghz Dual Opteron system will end up costing about $2100 with tax and all. A 1.86ghz C2D will cost $1100.
    If I use my current PC parts, I can save about $600 on each. Still not sure which way to go...

    Edit2:
    Actually, I just got the Opteron system down to $1300 with mobo, 2cpus, RAM, case, tax, and shipping.
  • HibernatusHibernatus
    edited December 2006
    An interesting public benchmark at http://www.eofw.org/bench/?PHPSESSID=6603ddb86741bb635d8f1e68cffabb51
    shows Dual Opteron 2210 (#4 on the list) outperforming a faster Dual Opteron 2218 (#10). What is to blame here, the motherboard or the OS?
  • tommie-jtommie-j im here...i'd like to be there(see web site)
    edited January 2007
    im in the middle of building a dual FX-51 system and i went with the Asus K8N-DL (this is where my new egg link was,im not allowed yet.anyway the board cost $219)
    I am going to go with a Quadro series card(not sure which one as i dont want to spend a fortune) so the point is i recommend the ASUS K8N-DL:clap:

    tommie j
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited January 2007
    tommie j wrote:
    im in the middle of building a dual FX-51 system and i went with the Asus K8N-DL (this is where my new egg link was,im not allowed yet.anyway the board cost $219)
    I am going to go with a Quadro series card(not sure which one as i dont want to spend a fortune) so the point is i recommend the ASUS K8N-DL:clap:

    tommie j
    quadro's are nice for the right application(s).
  • HibernatusHibernatus
    edited January 2007
    I wouldn't waste money on Quadro or FireGL. Get a decent Geforce or Radeon and softmod it. You get same features minus the cost.

    What do you mean by "dual FX-51 system?"
  • DonutDonut Maine New
    edited January 2007
    tommie j wrote:
    im in the middle of building a dual FX-51 system and i went with the Asus K8N-DL (this is where my new egg link was,im not allowed yet.anyway the board cost $219)
    I am going to go with a Quadro series card(not sure which one as i dont want to spend a fortune) so the point is i recommend the ASUS K8N-DL:clap:

    tommie j

    IMO, While I like the K8N-DL, I wouldn't recommend it for a new build, unless you can get a GOOD deal on Procs and Ram. It still uses socket 940 procs and ddr ecc ram at a time when things are starting to migrate toward DDR2 and new sockets.

    tommie j- what procs are you using for your new build?
  • tommie-jtommie-j im here...i'd like to be there(see web site)
    edited January 2007
    I have 2- FX-51's sitting around and one opty 2.8ghz all 940 pin. so i thought id throw the 2- 51's in there. i know the 2.2 ghz 51's are no speed demons but at least the multiplier is unlocked:smiles: i woulld love to throw the fastest dual core opty's that would fit( not alot),but i just purchased a house in puerto rico and im tight on funds (i know....boo hoo) ..any way ,thats why im useing the 51's.-thanks- tommie j p.s i know this is a late post but i had surgery and was ....indesposed(medicated), i guess you'd say.-thanks- tommie j
  • tommie-jtommie-j im here...i'd like to be there(see web site)
    edited January 2007
    ........and i almost forgot,i have somewhere in the neigborhood(wow i think i spelled that right,lol) of 8 gigs of registered memory laying around.i have boxes and boxes of pc parts sitting around loseing value quickly,i should get off my ass and ebay em.- tommie j
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