I'm building a system with the primary intent to run 3ds max 2008 - 2010. I'm a little torn price wise and I was wondering if anyone knows if the gains from running a 2x Xeon system would be that noticeable over an i7 system for frame rendering times.
jedimasterben
Distinguished
- Sep 22, 2007
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I'm pretty sure that having more cores will do that program a favor, so I'd say the dual socket solution would be best, although quite a bit more expensive.
MU_Engineer
Splendid
- Feb 18, 2006
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Two CPUs will help you a lot in anything that can take advantage of a lot of cores. I took a glance at Autodesk's website and they didn't say much about multithreading. I did find some users of the software that indicated that it spawns at least four threads (they reported two dual-core Opterons had all cores at 100% for rendering), so I'd say go for the two Xeons over one i7. I would recommend getting the Xeon E5520 or better if at all possible as the slower Xeons are pretty noticeably crippled. The E5502 is a dual-core chip (avoid it) and it and the E5504 and E5506 quads have only 4 MB of L3 cache, a 4.8 GT/sec QPI link, an IMC limited to DDR3-800, and no HyperThreading or Turbo Boost.
lawrencelaw
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- Jul 31, 2009
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Hi,
I posted this same feedback in another forum but thought it will benefit those that wants an actual case how a single i7 vs a dual xeon outcome.
Using the same CFD model (about 1.5milliion cells and Total CPU RAM utilization is less than 5G for both set ups) and with the following configuration:-
1. Dual W5580 at Turbo 3.3Ghz and 12G ram.
2. i7 920 OC 3.8Ghz and 6G ram.
For both the set up the CFD model is divided into number of mesh zones so as to populate all the available CPU cores (8 cores for dual W5580 and 4 cores for i7).
The W5580 takes about 64 hours to complete the CFD run (projected as it is still running)
The i7 920 takes about 106 hours to complete the CFD run.
The dual W5580 is about 65% faster than the i7.
I would think if the W5580 can be OC to 4ghz, it would be about or slightly more than double the i7 performance.
W5580 temperatures is running at about 62 to 72 degC now, avg about 70degC.
Hope this info helps for those who are considering getting a dual W5580.
I guess the next step is that to compare two i7 OC 3.8Ghz linked by lan cable vs a single 2xW5580 performance.
Lawrence
P/s- Initially I was thinking of a 2xQX9775 OC to 4Ghz each. But after looking at the above outcome, I would think getting another i7 will be a more sensible decision. Even if the 2xQX9775 is faster than the i7 but would it justify spending the $ to get this "marginal" improvement? Given the 65% improvement the W5580 can muster, i7 920 is a great buy for its performance!
I posted this same feedback in another forum but thought it will benefit those that wants an actual case how a single i7 vs a dual xeon outcome.
Using the same CFD model (about 1.5milliion cells and Total CPU RAM utilization is less than 5G for both set ups) and with the following configuration:-
1. Dual W5580 at Turbo 3.3Ghz and 12G ram.
2. i7 920 OC 3.8Ghz and 6G ram.
For both the set up the CFD model is divided into number of mesh zones so as to populate all the available CPU cores (8 cores for dual W5580 and 4 cores for i7).
The W5580 takes about 64 hours to complete the CFD run (projected as it is still running)
The i7 920 takes about 106 hours to complete the CFD run.
The dual W5580 is about 65% faster than the i7.
I would think if the W5580 can be OC to 4ghz, it would be about or slightly more than double the i7 performance.
W5580 temperatures is running at about 62 to 72 degC now, avg about 70degC.
Hope this info helps for those who are considering getting a dual W5580.
I guess the next step is that to compare two i7 OC 3.8Ghz linked by lan cable vs a single 2xW5580 performance.
Lawrence
P/s- Initially I was thinking of a 2xQX9775 OC to 4Ghz each. But after looking at the above outcome, I would think getting another i7 will be a more sensible decision. Even if the 2xQX9775 is faster than the i7 but would it justify spending the $ to get this "marginal" improvement? Given the 65% improvement the W5580 can muster, i7 920 is a great buy for its performance!
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