Server question for rendering

Support Lighting and Rendering
1

Hello everyone,

I have a Dell PowerEdge 2950 III LFF Server 2x X5450 3.0GHz Quad 32GB 2x1TB PERC 6i 2PS, that I used to use for work, but it is no longer needed.

I was wondering if this server would be any good for rendering? I am really, really new to using a server for rendering.

I’m not looking to buy another server for the job, I am wondering if this can be used and if anyone here has had success using such a box for rendering.

I’m adding the sever specs here for reference. Thank you in advance for your time.

Specifications
Manufacturer Dell
Model: PowerEdge 2950 III
Processor Type Intel Xeon 4-Core X5450
Processor Speed 3.00GHz
Processor(s) Installed 2
Heatsink(s) Included 2
Max. Supported Qty. 2
Installed Ram 32GB (8x 4GB)
Maximum Ram 64GB
Number of Memory Slots 8
Hard Drives 2x 1TB 3.5" SATA 7.2K
Hard Drive Trays 2
Drive Bays 6x 3.5" drive bays
RAID Controller PERC 6/i
Optical Drive DVD
Power Supply 2x 750W redundant hot-plug auto-switching 110/220VAC
Ethernet Dual embedded Broadcom NetXtreme II 5708 Gigabit Ethernet
Video Embedded ATI ES1000 with 16 MB memory
Form Factor 2U rack

Thank you,
Mike

2

Any recent-vintage computer can be used for rendering, but I would suggest that you buy another 32GB of memory for it if you can. (The specs say it will hold 64GB.) I’ve generally found that “the more memory (for anything you want to do with a computer), the merrier.”

Also – run Blender from the command-line, with options to cause it to immediately start rendering instead of launching the GUI.