archinano

Did anybody of you ever use the Renderbox from ARTVPS? is it worth getting one?

Thanks

Mike.

i can only give an opinion about the price...since i never tested them.
very expensive for what it is. i don't know why they charge so much. their boxes must be superoptimized or they have a fantastic customer support, or both, i don't know, but it's very expensive
if i remember the start price is about 5500-6000 $ for one node containing two quad cores (8cores)
i built myself a 64 cores (8 bi-quad nodes) renderfarm whith similar material, for 15000 euros (23000$)...make the count...it would have cost 48000$
but a i said, pehaps they are reaaaaly fast... i dunno.

martincg

i think raybox is different technology - own software and own hardware raytracing processors, my opinion: definitelly uselles for archviz if you compare that for these days prices of quadcore desktop hardwares

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Mike.

Sorry i was talking of renderboxx....boxxtech... my bad

AJLynn

That's completely different. Renderboxx is nothing more than a high end PC in a rackmount case. Consider how much render node power you want, how much you're willing to spend and how much it matters to you that you can put it in a smaller space, versus the price and the price difference for competing technologies (such as a bunch of normal PCs, or other manufacturers rackmounts because a Renderboxx rackmount PC is no better suited to rendering than any other rackmount PC with similar specs.

Also remember that these things generate a lot of heat - a few hundred watts per node. So the room you put it in needs its own cooling. If you put a rackmount in a small back room without adequate cooling, your hardware will overheat and fail.

Mike.

no,i'm not the OP. in fact I thought the OP was talking of renderboxx, and then i compared renderboxx prices to normal rackmoount prices, to say it was realy an expensive choice. but in fact the op was talking about artvps.
sorry if i'm not clear enough. i thought my english was understadable...

johnvid

I used the Pure card from same company, though this isnt as power full as their render box, but I did many comparisons, and at the end of the day its probably better to stick with Mental Ray or VRAY or Brazil, you'll get more features and with banks of quad cores then you wouldnt need to worry about speed so much. Basically its a lot of money for a box that as yet doesnt do much else....where as more quad cores is way more fun.

shaneis

Sorry guys, the OP was referring to this... http://www.artvps.com/page/109/raybox.htm not the Boxxtech gear.

Have a read, it's some interesting hardware and software.

Archinano, I looked into the ARTVPS gear about a year ago, at the time their products weren't available in Australia so I stopped my research. I did get to speak to a few people who had used the equipment though and heard good reviews from each of them - I suppose you'd have to do some quick accounting to see if it's viable for you.

The only downside I could see at the time is that you can't do any hardware upgrades yourself. The major upside is how easy it is to install and use.

S.

shaneis

28 cores, raytrace optimised for $4000, £2000, 2500 seems reasonable. I guess it depends on your local hardware prices though.

AJLynn

Hell, that's right, this actually is about ArtVPS. Well, FWIW, I'm reasonably impressed by the feature set they have now and the gallery images show they've made a lot of progress in some key areas - glossy raytrace, GI, HDR, etc. Though I'm not sure there are many people here using it...

You should know that it only runs ArtVPS's renderer. It does not run mental ray, Vray, Fry, etc., so if what you're looking for is a way to make those faster the only route is more CPU power. (Or more scene optimization.)