Quiet rendering computer

[svenbengan]

Hello!

I have a feeling this subject has been touched elsewhere before, but I haven´t been able to find a good answer to it.

We have a person who does a lot of 3d-rendering, using Rhinoceros and V-Ray(CPU rendering). We recently moved to a open office landscape and the sound has become an issue and I have no possibility to put the computer in another room or anything like that.

I have looked at sound-proofing boxes which actually seems to work, well over my expectation.

But I was thinking is it not just better to upgrade his computer, (as it's quite old already), and extend the budget with what the soundproofing box would cost (~$900).

So, I'm wondering if its possible to build a computer that is capable of rendering without too much noise and without giving up the renderspeed completely?
Is it at all possible to build a machine that does rendering quietly?

My knowledge is not too great when it comes to hardware, nor rendering, so that's why I'm turning to you. My budget is not huge, but its not too limited, probably looking at ~$2-2.5k

He's currently using a Dell T3500, with upgraded ram, Intel Xeon processor.

 

[mdocod]

Absolutely yes. Large format heatpipe based CPU coolers with large low RPM noise optimized fans can run high power CPU's well below thermal margins at peak saturation workloads continuously near silently, especially when configured in a sound damped case with low rpm case fans.

With that sort of budget you're looking at a massive upgrade.


E5-2699 V3 CPU's (X 2) ~$8200 (36 haswell cores)
Noctua NH-U14S CPU coolers (X2) ~$150
Supermicro X10DAI motherboard. ~$400
8x8GB ECC DDR4 RDIMM's. ~$800
FirePro W8100 ~$1000 (optimal openGL viewport modeling performance)
SSD: Intel 730 series or Similar semi-enterprise type drive from Samsung/Toshiba/Sandisk/Crucial. 512GB ~$300
Storage: WD SE series ~$90+ as needed.
PSU: Antec HCP-1000 ~$200
Nanoxia NXDS6 case ~$250

That comes in at ~$11,500 for parts.

 

[svenbengan]

Absolutely yes. Large format heatpipe based CPU coolers with large low RPM noise optimized fans can run high power CPU's well below thermal margins at peak saturation workloads continuously near silently, especially when configured in a sound damped case with low rpm case fans.

With that sort of budget you're looking at a massive upgrade.


E5-2699 V3 CPU's (X 2) ~$8200 (36 haswell cores)
Noctua NH-U14S CPU coolers (X2) ~$150
Supermicro X10DAI motherboard. ~$400
8x8GB ECC DDR4 RDIMM's. ~$800
FirePro W8100 ~$1000 (optimal openGL viewport modeling performance)
SSD: Intel 730 series or Similar semi-enterprise type drive from Samsung/Toshiba/Sandisk/Crucial. 512GB ~$300
Storage: WD SE series ~$90+ as needed.
PSU: Antec HCP-1000 ~$200
Nanoxia NXDS6 case ~$250

That comes in at ~$11,500 for parts.

Just noticed I typed in my budget a bit wrong, guess monday and converting currency doesnt go well together...

My actual budget should $2-2.5k

But thanks for the answer!

Do you think massively upgrading the cooling-system could be sufficient?

At the moment theres just a heatsink on the CPU and fans in the case. Is one of those CPU-coolers enough to keep the temps and noise down?

 

[mdocod]

Haha

Hey $2000-2500 can still do this just fine, just scale back to something like this....

CPU: E5-1660V3 ~$1000
HSF: Noctua NH-U14S ~$75
Motherboard: Supermicro X10SRA ~$270
RAM: 4x8GB ECC DDR4 RDIMM's ~$400
GPU: FirePro W5100 ~$350
SSD: 256GB Intel/Samsung/Toshiba/Sandisk/Crucial ~$100-150
Storage: Salvage from previous workstation
PSU: Seasonic SS-460FL2 ~$120
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 ~$110

~$2500

To help cut down on noise, run the 2 included case fans with the included fan controller on the low or medium speed setting, and add an additional pair of low RPM 140mm PWM fans and run them from the PWM fan controllers on the motherboard with BIOS fan controls set to quiet mode.