CPU recommendation for architecture student

khachira · Aug 15, 2016

Hello!

As stated above, i currently using i5-6500 coupled with GTX 750 ti. fairs well against most video game titles but for 3D rendering purpose, i could definitely use a lot faster rendering time. have read somewhere that CPU is used mainly for VRay rendering so it appears my 6500 isnt powerful enough, so i might need to upgrade it in near future.

open to suggestion, cheers!

Mr Kagouris · Aug 15, 2016

Without changing motherboard, an i7 6700 is your only upgrade path. A Quadro/Firepro graphics card would also help.

khachira · Aug 15, 2016

Mr Kagouris :

clock speed aside, the only difference is 8 threads compared to 4 in 6500. is it really good? dont i need a far greater number of cores/threads?

Samer1970 · Aug 15, 2016

khachira :

3d rendering is an open space ... the more cores you add the faster it is , it all depends on your budget ..

you need more cores , more RAM as well ...

khachira · Aug 15, 2016

Samer1970 :

which means at the end of the day we're still looking at the Xeon lineups innit? or at least X series from i7?

any suggestion from the AMD team? dont know much about em

Mr Kagouris · Aug 15, 2016

AMD's best CPU is the FX 9590 which doesn't make much financial sense to buy as for the cost you can actually get a much better Intel system (this is because aside from the 9590 itself being expensive, only the top end AM3+ boards support it, and you'd need a fairly high end cooling system).

What you should get depends on your budget, more cores are better but an X99 board with a Xeon would be expensive. Also factor in a workstation GPU (quadro or firepro), as workstation GPUs help a lot with 3D rendering.

Samer1970 · Aug 15, 2016

khachira :

Samer1970 :

which means at the end of the day we're still looking at the Xeon lineups innit? or at least X series from i7?

any suggestion from the AMD team? dont know much about em

not really , i7 : 6,8,10 cores exist ... with X99 motherboard , no need to go expensive Xeons.

khachira · Aug 15, 2016

Mr Kagouris :

Samer1970 :

Mr Kagouris :

Samer1970 :

right! will probably get a top dog i7 soon enough, and consider professional GPU afterwards, though i might pick up 1070 in the near future as m,y budget dictates.

anyhow, cheers!

RedJaron · Aug 16, 2016

First, what are the specs on rest of your system? Mboard? CPU cooling? RAM? HDD? SSD? PSU? We need to know those so we don't recommend a component that won't work with the rest of your stuff.

Next, check your rendering software. See if it supports any hardware acceleration like CUDA, OpenCL, or HSA. Some of those can be substantially increased with a simple GPU upgrade so it's not a given you need a whole new platform. Your 750 Ti already has CUDA on it, so if your software supports it, make sure it's enabled.

If you want to take the big dive into possibly changing your mboard and CPU, consider an i7-6700K first ( if you have a decent Z170 mboard ). Overclocking the CPU can do wonders for rendering speed. If you don't need ECC RAM, and if you're a student they may not require that, this may be the best bang for your buck. But again, first check your rendering software and see if it can be accelerated in other ways.

khachira · Aug 16, 2016

RedJaron :

i5 6500 (stock cooler)
h110m-s2pv
1x8gb 2133mhz value ram
gtx 750 ti 2gb
2 intake + 1 exhaust fan
wd 1tb blue
450w (80+ rated)

very basic, i know. thats why im still considering everything to upgrade the parts bit by bit and that includes gpu/cpu.

also, apparently the software has hardware acceleration but that would change the usual settings i have so might take some time to fully understand this thing :/

Mr Kagouris · Aug 16, 2016

The *kind* of hardware acceleration available is important to know. If it's CUDA or OpenCL acceleration a consumer grade Nvidia or AMD card (Nvidia for CUDA, AMD for OpenCL) would be much better than a workstation card.

RedJaron · Aug 16, 2016

Ok, that definitely limits recommendations, at least those that don't involve replacing the CPU and mboard together. Do you perhaps know the exact model number of your PSU? Whether it has a 6- or 8-pin PCIe lead to power a bigger GPU?

That H110 board means no overclocking. Not only that, I've had problems in the past of running an i7 at full clocks ( not overclocked, just full stock clocks ) on low-end H81 boards since the VRMs couldn't keep it properly fed with power. I can't say that would definitely be the case here, but it wouldn't surprise me.

And Kag is right, figure out exactly how the acceleration works so you can get your GPU helping, if possible. Then, if you want, you can upgrade it to get a bigger benefit. But that depends on whether your PSU can support it.

khachira · Aug 16, 2016

Mr Kagouris :

.....what do you mean by "kind"? changed the graphics settings tho idk what it does :/ https://s3.postimg.org/4vs4zyfmr/Capture.png

khachira · Aug 16, 2016

RedJaron :

FSP Hexa+ 450w (4th tier lol). it does have 6+2 pin though which means i can just pick up an adapter no?

well as it stands, i do intend to upgrade everything else, just not all at once. the sequencewas: to pick up gtx 1070, then a bigger and better psu, then mobo, adding another 8gb ram (maybe replace with faster one), and finally the cpu (was thinking of 6800k)

RedJaron · Aug 16, 2016

OpenGL is an API for real-time rendering, meaning 3ds uses it when you're just viewing it on the screen. Things like CUDA and OpenCL ( CL, not GL ) are used in acceleration when doing final export rendering.

If you're using 3ds Max, it supports CUDA, meaning your current NVidia card will help you. If you go to the 3ds help site and search for CUDA, you'll see some pages that might help make sure you've got it enabled in your rendering.

I would recommend you upgrade your RAM first. 3ds will benefit from the extra 8GB, and you can transfer that to your new mboard. Just make sure to get a matching pair ( a second stick of the same model you have now should work well enough ). See how your rendering goes with more RAM and CUDA enabled first. If it's still not good enough, I don't know how much a 1070 will accelerate it over the 750 Ti.

khachira · Aug 16, 2016

RedJaron :

oh, different thing, sorry.
extra ram huh. 2133 vs 2400 which is better? noticeable performance or nah?

btw, found a way to enable rendering using gpu but then this happen when i clicked set devices

https://s4.postimg.org/6v7iyydjx/Capture.png

Mr Kagouris · Aug 16, 2016

2133 doesn't have a huge difference with 2400. If you were to go 3000MHz then yeah there'd be a difference. Also keep in mind you shouldn't mix RAM speeds just as you shouldn't mix RAM models.

OpenCL is AMD, are you sure you can't find instructions on enabling CUDA acceleration?

khachira · Aug 16, 2016

Mr Kagouris :

yeah, got that.

think this is it https://docs.chaosgroup.com/display/VRAY3MAX/Set+Up+V-Ray+RT+GPU but for some reason it turns out to be this https://s4.postimg.io/6v7iyydjx/Capture.png

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