Building a rendering server / seedbox / your own tracker

[zbeast]

I know I would be better served posting this to a 3d animation website but
I came across this website and this person has done what i've been wanting to do for a while.
Make a low cost 3d rendering system.

This setup is about 25% less than a 1u cpu hardware with the same number of cpus.

http://helmer.sfe.se/

[Fartingbob]

6 Quad cores and mobo's arent exactly cheap. Although its impressive how low the power requirements are. But then with modern systems 2/3rds of the power goes to the GPU. Nice find on the IKEA rack which made a near perfect fit for the mobos!

[Curmudgeon]

The most amazing is that this machine just cost as a better standard PC

Huh???
How did he manage that? Unless PC's are outrageously expensive there or those parts fell off a truck.

Seems 1 power supply would do.
Wonder if you could find a multi CPU server board for those CPU's?

Interesting though.

[Fartingbob]

The most amazing is that this machine just cost as a better standard PC

Huh???
How did he manage that? Unless PC's are outrageously expensive there or those parts fell off a truck.

Seems 1 power supply would do.
Wonder if you could find a multi CPU server board for those CPU's?

Interesting though.

1 PSU would have the wattage needed, but not the connections or amperage(?) to power 6 mobos and CPU's. You can get specially designed PSU's to power 2 boards, but they are rare and expensive, the whole point of this one was it used all off the shelf componants, which is why he didnt use a multi socket board, since a 2 socket mobo costs more than two 1 socket boards.

[Curmudgeon]

I assumed he was handy with tools and could open a power supply,run some larger gauge wires and tap off of those to power every thing. That is cheap and easy to do. Wattage and Amperage are the same thing expressed differently.
Off the top of my head, a single 1kw supply would work.

I wasn't sure on the multi socket board but since he managed to find all these parts for the price of a single PC...who knows.