[SOLVED] Additional CPU for 3D Render

[m.kolp]

Hello everyone!

I want to upgrade my CPU with the sole purpose to enhance render speed in 3ds Max. Or connect another CPU to it.
Currently the renderings are done by this one: Intel Core i7-7700K 4,20GHz Boxed CPU
Which is pretty slow with rendering pics, but good at calculating simulations since it has high single thread performance. Was eye-ing with AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-Core Processor
to get the job done. As far as i gathered info, it wont fit in my current socket: Asus Z170-A Mainboard Socket 1151 (ATX, Intel Z170, 4x DDR4-Memory, USB 3.1, M.2 )...

So 2 questions: Which MB would you recommend that fits with the rest of my specs?
And how can i "add" the second AMD CPU to my system?

Hope i could made the request clear and didnt talk to much nonsense. Not much experienced with PC Hardware so correct me if im wrong.
Thank you in advance and best regards!

My specs:
Corsair RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

Asus Z170-A Mainboard Socket 1151 (ATX, Intel Z170, 4x DDR4-Memory, USB 3.1, M.2 )

Intel Core i7-7700K 4,20GHz Boxed CPU

Noctua NH-D9L, Premium CPU Cooler mit NF-A9 92mm

Asus Turbo GeForce GTX1070-8G Gaming GPU (Nvidia, PCIe 3.0, 8GB DDR5x Memory, HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort)

Crucial Ballistix Sport LT BLS2K8G4D240FSB Desktop Gaming Memory Kit (2400 MHz, DDR4, DRAM, 16GB (8GB x4), CL16)

Samsung 960 EVO MZ-V6E250BW Intern Solid State Drive (250GB)

Samsung S22D300H 54,61 cm (22 Zoll) PC-Monitor (VGA, HDMI, 5ms, 1920 x 1080 Pixel)

 

[CountMike]

Hello everyone!

I want to upgrade my CPU with the sole purpose to enhance render speed in 3ds Max. Or connect another CPU to it.
Currently the renderings are done by this one: Intel Core i7-7700K 4,20GHz Boxed CPU
Which is pretty slow with rendering pics, but good at calculating simulations since it has high single thread performance. Was eye-ing with AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-Core Processor
to get the job done. As far as i gathered info, it wont fit in my current socket: Asus Z170-A Mainboard Socket 1151 (ATX, Intel Z170, 4x DDR4-Memory, USB 3.1, M.2 )...

So 2 questions: Which MB would you recommend that fits with the rest of my specs?
And how can i "add" the second AMD CPU to my system?

Hope i could made the request clear and didnt talk to much nonsense. Not much experienced with PC Hardware so correct me if im wrong.
Thank you in advance and best regards!

My specs:
Corsair RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

Asus Z170-A Mainboard Socket 1151 (ATX, Intel Z170, 4x DDR4-Memory, USB 3.1, M.2 )

Intel Core i7-7700K 4,20GHz Boxed CPU

Noctua NH-D9L, Premium CPU Cooler mit NF-A9 92mm

Asus Turbo GeForce GTX1070-8G Gaming GPU (Nvidia, PCIe 3.0, 8GB DDR5x Memory, HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort)

Crucial Ballistix Sport LT BLS2K8G4D240FSB Desktop Gaming Memory Kit (2400 MHz, DDR4, DRAM, 16GB (8GB x4), CL16)

Samsung 960 EVO MZ-V6E250BW Intern Solid State Drive (250GB)

Samsung S22D300H 54,61 cm (22 Zoll) PC-Monitor (VGA, HDMI, 5ms, 1920 x 1080 Pixel)

No, 3900x will certainly not fit in your MB, you need a good x570 or x470 MB for it.
You also can't get a dual CPU MB for that class of CPUs, it takes special (and very expensive) CPU + MB + RAM combo.
An alternative to dual multi core CPUs would be something like this https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-threadripper-3990x

 

[m.kolp]

No, 3900x will certainly not fit in your MB, you need a good x570 or x470 MB for it.
You also can't get a dual CPU MB for that class of CPUs, it takes special (and very expensive) CPU + MB + RAM combo.
An alternative to dual multi core CPUs would be something like this https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-threadripper-3990x

Thanks for the reply.
What is the difference between these two MBs and are they compatible with the rest of my system?
If you mean the Intel and AMD CPUs wont fit on a MB, that wasnt my intention. But i thought there is a way to use both for rendering without building a second PC for each CPU. Or is that the only way?

Besides the CPU you linked is out of my league, cant afford that monster😞

 

[CountMike]

Thanks for the reply.
What is the difference between these two MBs and are they compatible with the rest of my system?
If you mean the Intel and AMD CPUs wont fit on a MB, that wasnt my intention. But i thought there is a way to use both for rendering without building a second PC for each CPU. Or is that the only way?

Besides the CPU you linked is out of my league, cant afford that monster😞

I don't see a way to mix those platforms in any way.
As for 3900x, you could use either of chipsets for it but x470 MB may need a BIOS upgrade to use 3rd gen Ryzen while all x570 MBs are already compatible with it.
Main difference is with x570 MBs have PCIe v4 while x 470 have PCIe v3. With PCIe 4 you can also use much faster M.2 NVMe drives.

 

[m.kolp]

I don't see a way to mix those platforms in any way.
As for 3900x, you could use either of chipsets for it but x470 MB may need a BIOS upgrade to use 3rd gen Ryzen while all x570 MBs are already compatible with it.
Main difference is with x570 MBs have PCIe v4 while x 470 have PCIe v3. With PCIe 4 you can also use much faster M.2 NVMe drives.

So x570 it is then 👍
But i dont understand why those 2 CPUs cant be mixed. How do renderfarms accomplish to connect multiple CPUs together?
Or in other words, if i build another system with the AMD CPU, cant i still use both together for rendering?

 

[USAFRet]

You don't just slap in a second CPU, or have a second PC.
There is specialized software that needs to happen as well. $$$
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/supp...er-manager-software-for-3ds-Max-and-Maya.html

 

[m.kolp]

You don't just slap in a second CPU, or have a second PC.
There is specialized software that needs to happen as well. $$$
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/supp...er-manager-software-for-3ds-Max-and-Maya.html

Thanks for the info. I do know about the software requirement though. My question is purely about minimum hardware composition for both CPUs to render animations together.

 

[CountMike]

Thanks for the info. I do know about the software requirement though. My question is purely about minimum hardware composition for both CPUs to render animations together.

Ideally all systems in a render farm should be identical so they don't bottleneck each other.

 

[m.kolp]

Ideally all systems in a render farm should be identical so they don't bottleneck each other.

I just found this article from this site, which state this at the end of the first page:
"A useful tip is to make sure the processors in your render farm are the same as the processors in your workstation, as there may be differences in rendering between processor architectures, which could mean small differences in your final rendered frames. However, these potential compatibility problems are today the exception rather than the rule, but it is still something to be cautious about. For the purposes of this article, assume that we're talking about Intel-based render nodes, although they could just as easily center on AMD CPUs. "

Dunno if its still accurate since its 10 years old.

 

[CountMike]

I just found this article from this site, which state this at the end of the first page:
"A useful tip is to make sure the processors in your render farm are the same as the processors in your workstation, as there may be differences in rendering between processor architectures, which could mean small differences in your final rendered frames. However, these potential compatibility problems are today the exception rather than the rule, but it is still something to be cautious about. For the purposes of this article, assume that we're talking about Intel-based render nodes, although they could just as easily center on AMD CPUs. "

Dunno if its still accurate since its 10 years old.

It is but recent high count of multi core and multi threaded CPUs are surpassing those older farms. What was a "farm" 10 years ago now fits in one chip.

 

[m.kolp]

It is but recent high count of multi core and multi threaded CPUs are surpassing those older farms. What was a "farm" 10 years ago now fits in one chip.

Alright then i´ll stick to identical CPUs. The article describes how to build those render nodes, but is there a more recent one?
Or can you explain to me how to do this?