old hp server and new gfx card for ae renders ??

old hp server and new gfx card for ae renders ??

by nova man

on May 3, 2014 at 11:16:44 pm

hi
im nova
i recenly bought a hp dl380 g6 server for ae renders
and i have 1 question for pros.

i open the server case and i find 1 pcie2 for gfx card, but there is a problem there is no extra power cable for gfx card to use hi end cards so i have two cards in mind.

amd r7 260x gddr5 1gb
amd r9 290x gddr5 4gb --20-25% faster than 260x

my server have 750w psu
?? my question is if i buy 290x can use the card or i waseted the money, >-||

please be advise,
sorry for bad english.

thankyou guys.

Re: old hp server and new gfx card for ae renders ??

by Walter Soyka

on May 5, 2014 at 2:26:12 pm

Ae primarily uses the CPU for rendering. Ae benefits most from many fast CPU cores and lots of RAM.

The GPU is used to accelerate renders only for the ray-tracing renderer introduced in CS6. You must have an appropriate NVIDIA card with CUDA for this acceleration; otherwise it will fall back and render on the CPU.

Some effects may render on the GPU, like Element 3D or Magic Bullet Looks. Most of these use OpenGL, so a single mid-range GPU is usually sufficient.

If you have some very specific render requirements, let's talk about what you're doing.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog - What I'm thinking when my workstation's thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

Re: old hp server and new gfx card for ae renders ??

by nova man

on May 5, 2014 at 3:51:47 pm

thank you for answer walter.
most of my work is video editing , 10-30% ae and 3d home designing.

some time i use element3d just for fun

my plan was buy a server and let the magic work on its own, just do the renders and keep other pc Available for more work.

is it ok to buy a mid range card just for openGL?

Re: old hp server and new gfx card for ae renders ??

by Walter Soyka

on May 6, 2014 at 3:06:22 pm

[nova man] "my plan was buy a server and let the magic work on its own, just do the renders and keep other pc Available for more work."

You probably could have gotten more bang for the buck on a standard desktop computer. What are the specs on the server? Might be better to resell it and buy a desktop.

[nova man] "some time i use element3d just for fun... is it ok to buy a mid range card just for openGL?"

If you use complex scenes (heavy geometry, high-res textures) then Element 3D specifically benefits from GPUs with lots of VRAM.

There's a list of recommended GPUs somewhere at the Video Copilot site.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog - What I'm thinking when my workstation's thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

Re: old hp server and new gfx card for ae renders ??

by nova man

on May 6, 2014 at 4:51:04 pm

hi

it is a hp server dl380 g6
xeon e5620
6gb ram ecc ddr3 1333
2x600gb 10k sas
psu 750w

for now i want to just add mid range amd card
maybe amd r7 250 4gb or r7 260x 2gb

in next 3-6 months add 12gb ram and one more cpu

i have another question
mid range graphics have maximum 100w power use from pcie
if i use a titan with out 6-8 pin power connector is it gonna work?
lets say its gonna work can card use 400w-500w power from pcie?

thankyou walter.

Re: old hp server and new gfx card for ae renders ??

by Walter Soyka

on May 6, 2014 at 5:02:35 pm

[nova man] "it is a hp server dl380 g6
xeon e5620
6gb ram ecc ddr3 1333
2x600gb 10k sas
psu 750w"

I hope it was cheap, because this system is not all that fast. More RAM is vital so you can use multiprocessing with Ae. Adding a second CPU as you propose will help.

[nova man] "if i use a titan with out 6-8 pin power connector is it gonna work?"

No, it will not work at all without auxiliary power. Maybe you can adapt power for the drives?

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog - What I'm thinking when my workstation's thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events