Skip to content

Main Navigation

Puget Systems Logo
  • Solutions
    • Recommended Systems For:
    • Content Creation
      • Photo Editing
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Adobe Lightroom Classic
        • Adobe Photoshop
      • Video Editing
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Adobe After Effects
        • Adobe Premiere Pro
        • DaVinci Resolve
        • Foundry Nuke
      • 3D Design and Animation
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Autodesk 3ds Max
        • Autodesk Maya
        • Blender
        • Cinema 4D
        • Houdini
        • ZBrush
      • Real-Time Engines
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Game Development
        • Unity
        • Unreal Engine
        • Virtual Production
      • Rendering
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • OctaneRender
        • Redshift
        • V-Ray
      • Digital Audio
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Ableton Live
        • FL Studio
        • Pro Tools
    • Engineering
      • CAD
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Autodesk AutoCAD
        • Autodesk Inventor
        • Autodesk Revit
        • SOLIDWORKS
      • Photogrammetry
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • ArcGIS Pro
        • Agisoft Metashape
        • Pix4D
        • RealityCapture
    • Scientific Computing
      • Recommended Systems For:
      • Data Science
      • Machine Learning / AI
      • Scientific Computing
    • More
      • Recommended Systems For:
      • Compact Size
      • Live Streaming
      • NVIDIA RTX Studio
      • Quiet Operation
      • Virtual Reality
  • Products
    • Intel Core i7 & i9
      Workstations with 13th Gen Intel Core i7 & i9 processors on Z690 and Z790 chipsets
    • AMD Ryzen 7 & 9
      Workstations with AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors on B650 and X670 chipsets
    • AMD Threadripper PRO
      Workstations with AMD Threadripper PRO 5000 WX processors on the WRX80 chipset
    • Intel Xeon W
      Workstations with Intel Xeon W 3300 processors on the C621E chipset
    • Rackmount & Server
      Servers and workstations in rackmount chassis
    • Custom Computers
      Customize a desktop workstation from scratch
    • Custom Servers
      Customize a rackmount server from scratch
    • QNAP Network Attached Storage
      Check out our external storage options as an authorized reseller for QNAP
    • Recommended Third Party Peripherals
      View our list of recommended peripherals to use with your new PC
  • Publications
    • Articles
    • HPC Blog
    • Blog Posts
    • Case Studies
    • Podcasts
    • Press
  • Support
    • Contact Support
    • Support Articles
    • Warranty Details
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Press Kit
    • Testimonials
    • Careers
  • Talk to an Expert
  • My Account
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Hardware Articles
  4. /
  5. Titan V Multi GPU Performance Scaling in OctaneRender

Titan V Multi GPU Performance Scaling in OctaneRender

Posted on June 11, 2018 by William George
Always look at the date when you read an article. Some of the content in this article is most likely out of date, as it was written on June 11, 2018. For newer information, see our more recent articles.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Test Setup
  • Benchmark Results
  • Analysis
  • Conclusion

Introduction

OctaneRender, from OTOY, is a real-time, physically correct 3D rendering engine that uses GPUs instead of CPUs for processing. This is a relatively new approach, as traditional graphics rendering was done on CPUs instead. Graphics processors are ideal for highly parallel tasks like rendering, though, and it is easier to fit multiple video cards in a single computer than multiple CPUs.

How well does performance scale across multiple GPUs, though? Are there diminishing returns as more cards are added? And is scaling affected by GPU generation? We are putting the latest Titan V cards, based on NVIDIA's new Volta architecture, to the test – along with the previous generation GeForce GTX 1080 Ti cards. Those have been extremely popular for rendering workstations because of their price:performance ratio, although they aren't as powerful as the Titans.

Test Setup

To see how increasing the number of video cards in a system affects performance in OctaneRender 3.08, we took the OctaneBench program and modified it slightly. As of this publication, OctaneBench is still using the 3.06.2 version of the rendering engine – which does not support the Titan V. However, you can manually copy over the files from 3.08 into the folder containing OctaneBench and then it will use the newer rendering engine. We cannot redistribute the modified software, but if you download both OctaneBench 3.06.2 and the demo version of OctaneRender 3.08 it is pretty easy to copy over the necessary files.

On the hardware side, we want to use a high clock speed processor so that the video cards can really shine. We also need a platform that will support as many video cards as possible in a large tower workstation. Given that combination of goals, the configuration which makes the most sense is Intel's Xeon W – specifically, the W-2125 processor on a Gigabyte MW51-HP0 motherboard. That provides the right PCI-Express slot layout for up to four GPUs, and the Xeon W-2125 runs at 4GHz base clock and up to 4.5GHz in Turbo Boost.

If you would like full details on the hardware configuration we tested on, just click here to expand a detailed list.

Testing Hardware
Motherboard: Gigabyte MW51-HP0
CPU: Intel Xeon W-2125 4.0GHz (4.5GHz Turbo) 4 Core
RAM: 8x Kingston DDR4-2666 32GB ECC Reg (256GB total)
GPU: 1 – 4 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB
1 – 4 x NVIDIA Titan V 12GB
Hard Drive: Samsung 960 Pro 1TB M.2 PCI-E x4 NVMe SSD
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
PSU: EVGA SuperNova 1600W P2
Software: OctaneBench 3.08 (files from OctaneRender 3.08 Demo copied into OctaneBench 3.06.2)

Benchmark Results

Here are the total scores from OctaneBench for the different numbers of video cards we tested:

OctaneRender Titan V and GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GPU Performance Scaling from 1 to 4 Video Cards

Or another way to look at it, here is how the Titan V's scores increased as a percentage, based on the score of a single card:

OctaneRender Titan V GPU Performance Scaling as Percentage

And the same sort of chart for the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti's scaling percentage, based on a single card's score:

OctaneRender GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GPU Performance Scaling as Percentage

Analysis

As shown above, video card performance in OctaneRender scales almost perfectly as additional cards are added. That is called "linear scaling" and is fairly rare in real-world computer applications. Given that both the Titan V and GeForce GTX 1080 Ti showed the same degree of scaling, it is probably safe to assume that this would apply across the board to all NVIDIA graphics cards in Octane.

Conclusion

Performance in OctaneRender scales almost perfectly across multiple GPUs – but that statement can lead to incorrect conclusions. Doubling the number of video cards in a system doubles performance, but does *not* double the price of the computer. Much of a workstation may stay the same, even as more video cards are added, so the percentage increase in price for an additional card is usually less than the percentage increase in OctaneRender performance you will end up getting. Moreover, a few lower-cost cards can often outpace a single higher-end GPU – meaning that multiple video cards is the way to go for the best value in OctaneRender.

CTA Image
OctaneRender Workstations

Puget Systems offers a range of powerful and reliable systems that are tailor-made for your unique workflow.

Configure a System!
CTA Image
Labs Consultation Service

Our Labs team is available to provide in-depth hardware recommendations based on your workflow.

Find Out More!
Tags: 1080 Ti, Benchmark, Card, GeForce, GPU, Intel, Multi, NVIDIA, Octane, OctaneBench, OTOY, Performance, Render, Rendering, Scaling, Titan, Titan V, Video, Volta, Xeon W

Who is Puget Systems?

Puget Systems builds custom PCs tailored for your workflow

Extensive in-house testing
making you more productive and giving you more performance for your dollar

Reliable workstations
with fewer crashes and blue screens means more time working, less time waiting on your computer

Support that understands
your complex workflows and can get you back up and running ASAP

Proven track record
check out our customer testimonials and Reseller Ratings

Get Started

Browse Our Workstations

Fractal Design Define 7 Chassis with Puget Systems Logo

Select your workflow:

Content Creation
Engineering
Scientific Computing
More

Latest Articles

  • Guide To Removing Instapak Foam
  • Basic Guide to Identify and Remove Malware
  • Should I Upgrade My Gpu
  • Case Study with Lost Boys Interactive
  • Samsung 990 Pro Critical Firmware Update
View All

Post navigation

 Is the Titan V a Good GPU for OctaneRender?Agisoft PhotoScan 1.4.1 – Apple iMac Pro and Mac Pro vs PC Workstations 
Puget Systems Logo
Build Your Own PC Site Map FAQ
facebook instagram linkedin rss twitter youtube

Optimized Solutions

  • Adobe Premiere
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Solidworks
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Machine Learning

Workstations

  • Content Creation
  • Engineering
  • Scientific PCs
  • More

Support

  • Online Guides
  • Request Support
  • Remote Help

Publications

  • All News
  • Puget Blog
  • HPC Blog
  • Hardware Articles
  • Case Studies

Policies

  • Warranty & Return
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Delivery Times
  • Accessibility

About Us

  • Testimonials
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

© Copyright 2023 - Puget Systems, All Rights Reserved.