iBuyPower P500X And P900DX Workstations, Reviewed

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Armed with updated workstation benchmarks, we have two systems from iBuyPower in the lab today: a $2,000 quad-core entry-level rig, and an $8,000 sixteen-core behemoth. With $6,000 separating the two, is the performance spread really what you'd expect?

Test Configuration And Benchmark Suite

Test Configuration

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Header Cell - Column 0 iBuyPower P500XiBuyPower P900DX
ProcessorsIntel Xeon E3 1270v2, 3.5 GHz, LGA 1155, 8 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled2 x Intel Xeon E5 2687W, 3.1 GHz, LGA 2011, 20 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled
CoolerAsetek 550LC2x Corsair H60
MotherboardAsus P8B WS, BIOS 2009Asus Z9PE-D8 WS, BIOS 0503
RAM2 x Kingston KVR1333D3E9S/4G, ECC DDR3-1333 CAS98 x Kingston KVR1333D3E9S/4G, ECC DDR3-1333 CAS9
GraphicsPNY Quadro 2000 1 GB625/1300 GPU/Memory clock128-bit GDDR5, 42 GB/s Bandwidth192 CUDA coresPNY Quadro 4000 2 GB475/700 MHz GPU/Memory clock256-bit GDDR5, 90 GB/s Bandwidth256 CUDA cores
Solid State DriveKingston HyperX SH100S3/120G120 GB MLC NAND SSDIntel SSD 520 Series SSDSC2CW240A3240 GB MLC NAND SSD
Hard DriveHGST HDS732020BLA642 2 TB7K3000 7200 RPMHGST HDS732020BLA642 2 TB7K3000 7200 RPM
OpticalLite-On iHAS124-04(C) 24x Dual LayerDVD±RW WriterLite-On iHAS124-04(C) 24x Dual LayerDVD±RW Writer
SoundEcho Digital Audio AudioFire 2(not included in price)Echo Digital Audio AudioFire 2(not included in price)
NetworkIntegrated Intel 82754LIntegrated Intel 82754L
FireWireIntegrated VIA 6308SIntegrated VIA
Power SupplyCorsair TX650 V280 PLUS Bronze 650 WThermaltake Toughpower Grand TPG-850M80 PLUS Gold 850 W
CaseCooler Master Silencio 550iBuyPower Erebus GT
Software
OSWindows 7 Professional x64Windows 7 Professional x64
Graphics DriverQuadro Driver 296.88Quadro Driver 296.88
Audio Driver5.7.65.7.6
Warranty and Price
WarrantyThree Year Labor, One Year PartsThree Year Labor, One Year Parts
Price As Configured$1,999$7,816

Benchmark Suite

We’ve made some revisions to the workstation benchmarks, namely adding the often-requested Autodesk tests: 3ds Max and Maya. Both benchmarks include rendering and OpenGL/DirectX real-time tests, and the 3ds Max tests also includes renders in Chaos Group’s V-Ray 2.3. CPU-based rendering (mental ray and V-Ray) as well as GPU-accelerated rendering (iray and V-RayRT) are represented in these new tests.

Note: Testing was conducted before the new SPECapc for Maya 2013 became available, and SPECviewperf 11 is still the current version.

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Application Benchmarks and Settings
7-ZipVersion 9.28, LZMA2, Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinRARVersion: 4.2 RAR, Syntax "winrar a -r -m3", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinZipVersion 16.5 Pro, Best Method, ZIPX, Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
NewTek LightWave 3D 11Custom workload: High-polygon-count Tom’s Hardware logoModeler test: Scripted cloning of surface details across a segment of the logoRender test: 1920x1080 render of logo with photoreal motion blur, ray-traced shadows, global illuminationOpenGL Test: Generate OpenGL preview of animation for real-time playback on screen
BlenderVersion: 2.62 Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, Resolution: 1920x1080, Anti-Aliasing: 8x, Render: THG.blend frame 1, Cycles renderer and internal tile renderer (9x9)
e-on software Vue 10.5 PLECustom workload: Landscape (generated in Vue 8 full version and imported into PLE)
Autodesk 3ds Max 2013Space Flyby Mentalray, Frame 248, 1440x1080Tom’s Hardware Logo render in V-Ray, 1920x1080, global illumination, photorealistic motion blur, ray-traced shadowsCreate Nitrous preview of logo scene, to Y: RAM driveAutodesk chair scene in iray, 1920x1080, 250 passes, GPU (CUDA) only renderingCar render in V-RayRT, 1920x1080, 256 passes, CUDA only
Autodesk Maya 2013Tom’s Hardware Logo render in mental ray, 1920x1080, global illumination, photorealistic motion blur, ray-traced shadowsCreate Playblast  of logo scene, to Y: ram drive
SolidWorks 2010PhotoView 360 Render 01-Lighter Explode.SLDASM (SolidMuse.com) Image Output Resolution: 1920x1080, Render: Preview Quality “Good”, Final Render Quality “Best”
Maxon Cinebench r11.53D Rendering and OpenGL Benchmarks, built-in benchmarks with default settings
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6Custom Workload: Edit of 59.94 FPS 720p DVCProHD footage, with transitions and some color correction, Render To Work Area.Paladin Workload
Adobe Media Encoder CS6Custom Workload: Take Premiere Pro edit and render to H.264 720p @59.94 FPS for Blu-ray
Adobe Photoshop CS6Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates filters
Adobe After Effects CS6Custom Workload: SD motion graphics sequence with three picture-in-picture frames sourced from 720p HD
Cockos Reaper v 4.25DAWBench Universal 2012: Test number of simultaneous copies of Wave Arts MultiDynamics 5 that the system can effectively runCustom Workload: Render and mix down to .wav custom score project, multiple tracks of audio, VST synthesizers and effects
Visual Studio 2010Compile Chrome project (1/31/2012) with devenv.com /build Release
Encoding Benchmarks and Settings
HandBrake CLIVersion: 0.9.5Video: Big Buck Bunny (720x480, 23.972 frames) 5 Minutes, Audio: Dolby Digital, 48 000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
LAME MP3Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
SPECviewperf 11Default GUI options; Workloads: CATIA, EnSight, LightWave, Maya, Pro/E, SolidWorks, Teamcenter Visualization Mockup, Siemens NX
LuxMark 2.0OpenCL-based rendering benchmark, default settings
CASE Euler3dCFD simulation over NACA 445.6 aeroelastic test wing at Mach 0.5
Thesycon DPC Latency CheckerDPC Latency Checker, run with default settings
SiSoftware SandraCPU Test=CPU Arithmetic/Multimedia, Memory Test=Bandwidth Benchmark, Cryptography
15 Comments Comment from the forums
  • sprucegroose
    The P900DX would be about $6500 for the parts alone. It also comes with warranty, and if you are the type of person using it, the time building it and repairing it might offset the price difference. On the other hand, you could put in better components for the same price.
    Reply
  • Draven35
    Pretty much right on all counts, there
    Reply
  • manitoublack
    We've got the Quadro 4000's at work and they're junk. GTX280 is faster and they were released in 2008. I pulled mine and installed my old GTX295, made a huge difference using the mine modelling software.

    Quadrao 4000 was all stutters, GTX 295 is buttery smooth.
    Reply
  • samuelspark
    Is it the new H60i or the old H60?
    Reply
  • Draven35
    Its the old H60.
    Reply
  • csf60
    manitoublackWe've got the Quadro 4000's at work and they're junk. GTX280 is faster and they were released in 2008. I pulled mine and installed my old GTX295, made a huge difference using the mine modelling software.Quadrao 4000 was all stutters, GTX 295 is buttery smooth. that's because workstation cards are not meant to be fast at rendering frames. They are fast at doing many simple batch calculations like ray tracing, fluid movement or video editing.
    Reply
  • j2j663
    manitoublackWe've got the Quadro 4000's at work and they're junk. GTX280 is faster and they were released in 2008. I pulled mine and installed my old GTX295, made a huge difference using the mine modelling software.Quadrao 4000 was all stutters, GTX 295 is buttery smooth.
    This is like someone complaining that a screwdriver is really bad at pounding in nails. Learn to use the right tools for the job at hand.
    Reply
  • I'm curious about the After Effects performance. What were your memory settings when rendering multiple frames simultaneously?
    Reply
  • Draven35
    they varied, I had to set them between 3gb and the minimum in order to the the maximum number of cores. I have a working theory on the AE problem that i will test next opportunity.
    Reply
  • Wow, odd. Anywhere I could get an update on your progress once you test your hypothesis? I'd love to figure out what is causing that result. It should be destroying that benchmark.
    Reply