Threadripper & Ryzen builds

[Nejc Kilar]

@Designerman77

Yeah I agree with you but I do sometimes think people just are a) afraid b) don't educate themselves enough c) just caught believing the hype. We are all guilty of it sometimes, no exceptions imho.

I do know some people who were diehard into the Mac plaftorm, totally not technical peeps. Then, with the Threadripper and its performance versus cost, they switched and never looked back. Was hard to make the first step but after that, seems like smooth sailing.

Likewise, I'm sure there are designers out there who are rocking that Mac plaftorm.

Another example would perhaps be people who are stuck on legacy renderers. I've had talks with people running LC LC in V-Ray in the 21st century - Totally cool if it makes sense but sometimes people just don't get out of their comfort zone. In this particular case, once they've tried going BF LC their production times went down by a ton and it was less technical overall - once they figured it out.

I mean I suppose thats why we all talk to each other and have these debates :) Ultimately, if people feel comfortable with their set up and don't need "more" for what they are doing... Then to me they are definitely making a good choice. I wouldn't recommend a 2D designer to invest into 4 GPUs / Uber CPUs just because he'll occasionally render a clay box. On the other hand, I'd probably challenge somebody to think about investing into exactly that if their workflow seems slow, they are falling behind schedule because of it and are just generally unaware of the tech world and how it progresses (Threadripper is a good example, still catches some rendering peeps by surprise).

I think we are talking about the same thing anyway, I just had some extra time for a wall of text, lol. Qapla!

[Designerman77]

Nkilar,

cool, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Very soon I will need 3x more render speed. And then it´s clear which way to go... not stuck to California products at all.
But I guess both OS will work in parallel, to get the best of both worlds.

[danio1011]

We recently had to decide between building a 2990wx machine and investing in GPUs to test alternate workflows.  We decided to go the GPU route.  We tried FStorm (awesome in many ways but lacking in others...denoiser being the biggest along with procedural map support like tiles) and VRay Next (I want to ‘believe’ but it hasn’t clicked yet).  Currently waiting for Redshift 3.0 to come out but also sort of wishing we’d spent that hardware budget on yet another threadripper so we could have augmented our Corona workflow.  Anyway, sort of on-topic sort of off-topic, but I certainly resonate with the idea of always reevaluating workflows and investment choices.

Cheers,
Daniel

[Juraj]

Heh, Windows vs MacOSX as software platform, and sticking to known workflow vs updating tools on every corner are two discussions I wouldn't even begin :- ). Those can just be debated endlessly and they kind of lack the simple arguments that hardware can give and I am really just a hardware guy (PCs, cars, bicycles...).


I can actually well emphatise with people who stick to Mac platform because of the software. I once chose WindowsPhone and when it died (the platform, never the phones) I was really unhappy to make the Android switch, for me the cohesion and simplicity was the same reason why Apple people stick to Apple products. In the end I bought the one spying brand with best camera...and still didn't make peace with the software side. So I am fully onboard here ;- ).


But purely hardware talking, that was always very utilitarian thing to me and I would always suggest saving any possible cost (but I understand well the argument that time is money) when it is reasonable. For freelancers and small companies, building custom workstations with off-the-shelf hardware (Threadripper, Engineering sample Xeons,etc..) was one thing that made the whole investment in CGI career a bit less painful. Because unlike photographers with "Gear acquisition syndrome", spending 10k+ a year on hardware I 'need', not 'want' never really made me that happy, I see it strictly as necessity. Fancy cases, clean cabels, huge performance...all nice and of course it makes our work faster and easier but ultimately it's just sacrifice that must be done and the less of an financial sacrifice it is, the better.

[Designerman77]

Let´s get back to Threadripper... :)))) says the Mac guy.

Yesterday I had a look at Titan Computers (sorry for naming... no advert !!! ).

Those guys sell the 32 core with similar specs as described by Juraj for min. 5000,- USD.
Crazy.

I guess I will order the machine at Juraj... :))))

[Njen]

For what it's worth, here is what I paid for my components:
Threadripper 2 (from eBay) - US$1100
Meg Creation MB (from Amazon) - US$500
64GB RAM (from Newegg) - US$400
Case - US$150
Cooler (from Amazon) - US$90
PSU (from Newegg) - US$250
HDD (from local computer shop) - CDN$80

I am using an existing old graphics card (box will only be used for rendering). All up that's a little over US$2500, an amazing price for a system like this. I guess if you factor in a couple of hours of research and build time, then depending on how much you value your time, add on another few hundred dollars. That's still $2000 cheaper than many computer shops.

[steyin]

Has there been any news on the new Threadripper options coming out later this year? I'm hoping there are 48/64 core options available. Will finally be able to get a new computer by then, and no doubt in my mind I'd go that route.

[Vuk]

I am pretty sure there won’t be a 48/64 core TR this year. No point for AMD to go all out if Intel is falling behind. My guess is that they will just do the same thing they did when transitioning from ryzen 1000 series to ryzen 2000. Improve the ipc and clocks of the existing 24/32 core products. The other option is that Intel pulls out something and rushes AMD, but can’t really see it happening when they are playing with the 9900k, ks thing right now :).

[Nejc Kilar]

I'm guessing here but I'm thinking that the server chips will get priority over TR. So I suspect nothing will get released before Q4 although AMD did go out of their way to say the TR platform will receive new Zen 2 based CPUs. They just didn't say when :)

[Juraj]

Hard to say but I wouldn't say either way for sure. They haven't shown or even mentioned anything, but then then on mic, Lisa Su mentioned Threadripper going forward just as planned.

The next Ryzen makes every single Threadripper outside of 2990WX obsolete. And imho if you can overclock the rumored 16c Ryzen that well on water loop (4200 +/- CB15 points), even 2990WX is debatable since 99perc. people people don't overclock it.
48/64C Threadripper  would massively canibalize Epyc in certain segments.

But even 2990WX updated to Zen2 cores would be just amazing. It even has better AVX which we all know is the most useless shit but since even Corona has it inadvertly injected it matters.
The IPC is the only reason why my 18c i9 is almost the same good in Corona as 2990WX Veronika has, with Zen2, that would be no more. And Intel really has absolutely nothing the follow that 28core total failure.

Let's cautiously wait = ).

[JoeVallard]

The next Ryzen makes every single Threadripper outside of 2990WX obsolete.

Nooo my 1920x that I just bought! I did purchase the cpu/mobo for less than what the 3900x will cost alone though. Just a guess but it would look like the threadripper xx20x model number would be dropped like they did with 1900x for 2nd gen. Which would leave just a 3950x, 3970x, & 3990x (3950x maybe not if the 16c Ryzen is a thing). Was really planning on upgrading to a 3000 series towards the end of the year, hopefully they are still in line with the other TR releases, as this makes a great workstation.

Now if only we could look up builds for workstation and never see the word "Gaming" in reviews and comments.

[Juraj]

(Sorry guys I really tried to restrain myself, but I just can't, I had to post this here as well)

In meantime you can buy this amazing piece of kit with starting price of 6000 dollars for following configuration: 8-core, 16GB ram, 256GB SSD, 580 Radeon :- D

https://gizmodo.com/the-mac-pro-cheese-grater-is-back-and-it-looks-powerfu-1828986191

But don't worry as the people in comment sections explain it's well worth it, it's actually for true professionals who make millions per day so this is cheap, Windows machine would cost twice for such specs and this uses higher quality special magic rated parts.
But of course you can't understand it, you probably aren't true professional.

[jamesdowling]

wow I'm not a fan of that case and why would anyone need 1.5tb of ram??

"eight-core Xeon CPU, 32GB of memory, a 256GB SSD and the Radeon Pro 580X graphics card and will start at $5,999" My 2990wx, 1080ti, 64gb ram build cost less than that, its crazy what people will pay just for a brand and OS.

I do love going through the comments section though ;) so much passion from both sides lol.

[Jpjapers]

wow I'm not a fan of that case and why would anyone need 1.5tb of ram??

"eight-core Xeon CPU, 32GB of memory, a 256GB SSD and the Radeon Pro 580X graphics card and will start at $5,999" My 2990wx, 1080ti, 64gb ram build cost less than that, its crazy what people will pay just for a brand and OS.

I do love going through the comments section though ;) so much passion from both sides lol.

The case looks like some cheap tech from the early 2000s.
Also since this thread seems to get alot of interest is there a chance someone could recommend like a 'budget' 2990wx build and a top tier one? Ill add it into the first post.

[Designerman77]

(Sorry guys I really tried to restrain myself, but I just can't, I had to post this here as well)

In meantime you can buy this amazing piece of kit with starting price of 6000 dollars for following configuration: 8-core, 16GB ram, 256GB SSD, 580 Radeon :- D

https://gizmodo.com/the-mac-pro-cheese-grater-is-back-and-it-looks-powerfu-1828986191

But don't worry as the people in comment sections explain it's well worth it, it's actually for true professionals who make millions per day so this is cheap, Windows machine would cost twice for such specs and this uses higher quality special magic rated parts.
But of course you can't understand it, you probably aren't true professional.

Juraj, we all know & appreciate you as a real pro in 3D and a guy who stays factual, not in need to ridicule anyone.

So why to ridicule your colleagues who work on Macs, explaining them that they are idiots and morons? Where is the benefit for anyone?

As mentioned in previous posts, as you laugh about the "ridiculously bad performance of Macs" and their "high" price, many Mac users who ALSO work on Win systems !!! could endlessly laugh their asses off
about typical problems of Win-PCs with drivers not working and crashes out of nowhere, literally crippling a computer with high-end specs to the performance of a PC from 1997.

Like we all know, not only final render speed decides how many hours or days you will spend on a project.
Things like: how fluently will a heavy scene move in the viewport can cost you days of work and your last nerve.
Or things like: will I work on the project, or will I have to fix driver problems, searching the internet for proper updates, etc. etc.

Despite the great performance of zillion-core-processors, at the end of the day, the mentioned factors and many more will add.

And I promise you, in 5 years you will also laugh at the "bad" performance of a 2990WX...    :)))



P.S. As an industrial designer I say: good Lord, what an ugly case that new MacPo has! Horrible proportions and those feet... ridiculous.
The whole thing looks like some machine from the meat processing industry.
A nightmare!