Modeling Workstation Advice

Ivan Ivanov,

On Passmark CPU Benchmarks >

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

Xeon E3 -1245 V3 > CPU score = 9628 Rating =50
AMD FX-9590 > CPU score = 10434 Rating =29 > ( About $300 in the US)

> so in the Passmark tests at least, the AMD is a better performer. If nothing else, the clock speed of 4.7GHz is the highest of any standard CPU that I know.

The Xeon E3 is called a four-core and the FX-9590 is called an eight-core, but because the Xeon E3 is hyperthreading, in reality the two CPU's present a similar kind of performance- it's only the different name for the way in which the eight threads are achieved.

One aspect that I worry about is that the AMD is rated as using 220W. This is the highest rating I've ever seen and must produce tremendously high heat. A Xeon E5-2687W eight core / sixteen thread (and $2,200 in the U.S.) uses 150W and I believe is one of the few CPU's for which Intel specifies liquid cooling.

You might consider in a similar price range >

Intel Xeon E3-1270 v3 @ 3.5 / 3.9GHz score =10118 rating= 33 > about $350.

http://ark.intel.com/products/75056/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1270-v3-8M-Cache-3_50-GHz

> and which uses only 80W for performance that is not a million miles off the FX-9590. Just on the basis of the very good performance but with far less power and heat, you might consider the E3-1270 V3.

As for the GPU, a recent Tom's Hardware comparison of tests of workstation GPU's produced these surprising results for Maya>

Best > > > Not As Best

K5000, W9000, W8000, W7000, W5000, V7900, 6000, V5900, 5000, K4000, 4000, 2000, V4900, 7990. 7970, 6970, Titan (!), GTX 680, 690, 580.

Quite extraordinary that a $175 Firepro V4900 is faster than a $1,000 Titan, but there we are. The AMD cards seem to perform in Maya really well and would be a better value.

I think you have a good grasp of hardware and performance. My only suggestion before committing is to consider the possibility of an LGA2011 system. This is because LGA2011 Xeon E5's have double the bandwidth of E3, support 40 lanes of PCIe instead of 16, and an E5/ C602 motherboard can support up to 768GB of RAM as compared to 32GB for an E3. Importantly, LGA2011 CPU's can be 4, 6, 8, 10, and soon 12 cores (= 8,12, 16, 20, and 24 threads), so as your work increases in complexity and file size, you can change the CPU, add a lot or RAM, bigger hard drives, and use the system a two or three years longer. This is less expensive and time-consuming in the long term/ Researching, ordering, assembling, configuring, and testing a system is very disruptive to work and costs more because everything is replaced. I've only played around a bit with Maya, but I can see that it quickly makes huge files and takes fantastic CPU power.

Just as an option to consider, here is a revision (different GPU) of an earlier idea I had for a system. Instead I bought an HP z420 using somewhat similar parts (CPU, C602 chipset, ECC1600, SSD / mechanical drive combination) >

BambiBoom PixelDozer Cadarendergrapharific Blazomatic iWorkarama TurboScream 9000 ™$#©™

1. CPU > Intel Xeon Quad-Core Processor E5-1620 v2 3.7GHz 0GT/s 10MB LGA 2011 CPU, OEM> $295 (Superbiiz) (Passmark CPU score= 9199, rank = No. 38)

2. CPU Cooler > CORSAIR Hydro Series H50 Quiet Edition Water / Liquid CPU Cooler. 120mm > $60

3. Motherboard > ASUS P9X79 WS LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 SSI CEB Intel Motherboard > $380

3A. OPT'L > ASRock X79 Extreme3 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $199.99

4. RAM > 16GB (2X 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 ECC Unbuffered Server Memory >about $150. (Check motherboard compatibility list)

5. AMD 100-505635(100-505842) FirePro W5000 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFire Supported Workstation Video Card > $440

6. HD 1 > SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA 6Gb/s MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) > $160

7. HD 2> Western Digital Black WD2003FZEX 2TB 7200RPM SATA3/SATA 6.0 GB/s 64MB Hard Drive (3.5 inch) ) > $156

8. PSU> SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply $120.

9. Case > LIAN LI PC-7HX Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $100.

10. Optical Dr > ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM $17.

11. OS > Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (Full Version) - OEM $140

TOTAL = $2,020
TOTAL = $1,840 with ASRock MB

Of course, these are US prices, and may not be realistic for your budget, but may make sense over the long term for Maya.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 (2013) > Xeon E5-1620 quad core @ 3.6 / 3.8GHz > 24GB ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 4000 (2GB)> Samsung 840 SSD 250GB /Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > AE3000 USB WiFi // HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 // Windows 7 Ultimate 64 > Autodesk Building Design Suite, Inventor Pro, Solidworks, Adobe CS MC, Corel Technical Design Sketchup Pro, WordP Office, MS Office Pro [Passmark system rating = 3815, 2D= 767 / 3D=2044]

Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB ECC 667> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card > Linksys 600N WiFi > Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit [Passmark system rating = 1859, 2D= 512 / 3D=1097]

Note the difference in scores /ratings between the new single 4-core HP and the much more expensive dual 4-core Dell of five year earlier. When new, the two Xeon x5460's cost $3,200 and the Quadro FX 4800 cost $1,200.