putrdude posted at 2:14PM Tue, 15 August 2017 - #4312229

Thanks. I will search for these, but what is wrong with 48gb? I assume you are talking memory and that seems like quite a bit to me

I've exceeded 48GB when rendering. But then, I'm notorious for making massive scenes. As long as ~your~ usage will not exceed 48GB, you'll be fine. Just want you to be aware of the expansion limitations of the smaller midtowers (T5500, z600) as compared to their larger full tower sisters (T7500, z800).

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putrdude posted at 2:14PM Tue, 15 August 2017 - #4312229

And why would I care if it has 1 or two video card slots? Isn't the point of buying these to use the multiple cores in the xeon chips?

Like you, CPU (processor) rendering would be ~my~ priority, but others may also want the option of GPU rendering, and that requires available PCIe x16 slots, and 6/8 pin power supply plugs.

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Wouldn't any single slot video card be fine as these boxes would be used for rendering in a queue?

Yes. If you intend to use the "new" machines only as render slaves, I'd go for the 2x X5650 C1100 blades w 72GB RAM for $351
C1100

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