Report from the Field #46
From a CPU-based render farm to a GPU-based render farm

Just before the dismantling of our second rendering farm, we have the opportunity to address the following points:

• the reasons and methods for designing and building our first CPU-based render farm;
• the experience we gained from it;
• the reasons for converting it into a second GPU-based render farm; and again
• the experience we gained from that.

What and how

A four-handed presentation by Michal Cohen and Reto Kromer, followed by an informal Q&A session and light refreshments. Participants should be familiar with the basics of how a computer works.

When and where

In-person at the Park Innovaare in Villigen with webcast on Friday 5 June 2026, starting at 11 o’clock here in Switzerland (that’s 09:00 UTC). We will use a Jitsi-based platform and the link will be provided in proper time.

As usual, the admission to our Reports from the Field is free, but a registration is required, as the seats are limited to a dozen or so, in order to enable in-depth technical discussions and the exchange of information.

Notes

• We previously planned to hold this on 17 July, the 33^rd anniversary of Slackware, the Linux flavour we use for the render farms, but there is a clash of dates with Yiddish Summer Weimar.
• We are very unhappy that our generosity is often betrayed, as many of our materials are distributed without naming their origin. Increasingly, others are even shamelessly claiming authorship of our work, which is just disgusting behaviour. And that’s the very reason why some resources are no longer freely available, but have been moved to password-protected parts of our website.

2026-06-05