CPU and Memory usage

[Phreegamehendge]

I have an i7-2600k @ 3.40GHz. I saw on Intel site this only supports 32GB of ram. I could only find a chip that supports up to 64GB. Does "support" mean my system would not be able to use the 192GB I want to put in? Windows 7 Pro x64 (which I have) supports up to 192GB. Is there a chip that will support this? I'm looking to upgrade my motherboard, get more ram, and upgrade CPU if need be. I'm over my very long render times in 3ds max and am willing to throw money at the problem. I'm constantly maxing out my 32gb when rendering scanline. And maxing my CPU when rendering Mentalray. Depending on how detailed the scene is I can have render times 10-15 min per frame. In mental I've had render times up to 4 hours per frame. I do animation so this is not going to work. I'm also about to start learning Maya and renderman and want my box overly prepared. Thank you for your input!

Windows 7 Pr0 x64
32GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro 4000
Motherboard Gigabyte Z68X9-UD3
3ds Max 2012

 

[k1114]

Mobos that support the 2600k only have 4 ram slots. It only supports non ecc and right now the highest density is only 8gb sticks so 8x4=32gb. Lga2011 cpus can have 8 slots on the mobo for 64gb. To go higher you will need to go with xeon as ecc ram are available at higher densities, up to 64gb sticks right now. Although you'd probably be wanting to go with a dual cpu mobo with 16 slots. I just need to know a budget to suggest anything more specific.

Btw, have you ever looked at using a gpu renderer? Max comes with iray and quicksliver. It's typically 10x faster than using a cpu renderer.

 

[rehed21]

If you want 192 gb of ram you will need to purchase a server motherboard and the appropriate CPU(s) and memory.

 

[Phreegamehendge]

Mobos that support the 2600k only have 4 ram slots. It only supports non ecc and right now the highest density is only 8gb sticks so 8x4=32gb. Lga2011 cpus can have 8 slots on the mobo for 64gb. To go higher you will need to go with xeon as ecc ram are available at higher densities, up to 64gb sticks right now. Although you'd probably be wanting to go with a dual cpu mobo with 16 slots. I just need to know a budget to suggest anything more specific.

Btw, have you ever looked at using a gpu renderer? Max comes with iray and quicksliver. It's typically 10x faster than using a cpu renderer.

Thanks for your lightning fast response. That makes more sense to me now. I'm still pretty green. I'm more of an artist that a tech guy, but am trying to learn more so I can be both. My budget is 10k and below. I'm ready to throw the cash down so I can have a super fast box that will last me many years. I have used iray which seems to take longer, but have not tried quicksilver. If you would yes please do list specifics. Thanks again you rock!

 

[Phreegamehendge]

If you want 192 gb of ram you will need to purchase a server motherboard and the appropriate CPU(s) and memory.

Thank you for your fast response. I will def look into it. I know very little about servers.

 

[k1114]

That's quite a high budget for a single workstation. Have you considered a renderfarm or using a renderfarm service?

 

[Phreegamehendge]

That's quite a high budget for a single workstation. Have you considered a renderfarm or using a renderfarm service?

Renderfarm sounds great. Don't know anything about them other than the name and that it will spread the workload. I'd rather have my own than use a service since what I get paid for my work atm is less than using a service such as renderman online. I just assume buy it to have it so I can spend a crazy amount of time learning. Paying my dues I am open to any solution that makes my 3d animation life quicker. I also deal with insanely slow navigation times in 3ds max if I have a few thousand particles or objects. From what I understand that has more to do with my graphics card. I hate the slowness, but have found some solutions to speed that up. It's really my rendering that kills me. Took me 6 months to make a 4:30 long music video. Only half of that was spent building the world and animating. The rest was rendering. I only made $1,500 on that project. So I pretty much made less than 10 cents per hour. I see spending my savings on a fast comp as an investment. Besides that's really what I save money for anyways. Gear!!!

UPDATED: Read http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/render-farm-node,2340.html article. Seems like renderfarm IS the way to go. Time for some more research. Again I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your input. God bless the internet and the souls that selflessly help others.