Would it be possible to software render games at a playable framrate using 4 Xeon CPUs?

[Sol33t303]

Even though software rendering can't typically compete with GPUs, if we used 4 Xeon E7-8890 v4s (for a total of 192 threads or 96 cores), could it be possible to get acceptable performance in rendering? The gtx 1050 has 640 CUDA cores however it's clocked a fair bit lower and the programmers could likely use extra features that CPUs have (and GPU cores don't) to optimize the process. So would it be possible?

 

[COLGeek]

Theoretically, sure. But what would be the point since we have cheap, dedicated GPUs with multiple cores that are optimized for these purposes?

Why do you ask? Is this just a matter of curiosity, or something else?

 

[Sol33t303]

Theoretically, sure. But what would be the point since we have cheap, dedicated GPUs with multiple cores that are optimized for these purposes?

Why do you ask? Is this just a matter of curiosity, or something else?

Nah just curiosity.
I understand that the GPUs would definitely be cheaper (The 4 CPUs will end up likely costing thousands of dollars whereas a GTX 1050 will probably cost around 150 dollars). I was wondering if there was going to be any particular reason something like this would be impossible (like possibly the time it would take for signals to travel across to the other CPUs).

 

[COLGeek]

CPU rendering has been around for many years, often used for video production.

I think you are leaning towards "gaming" applications and using the CPUs to provide a video output. While technically possible, it isn't feasible from a cost/performance perspective. This would be a very inefficient way to drive a display.