[stanfordr]

Which is better?
3.0 GHz x 8 cores = 24
2.0 GHz x 12 cores = 24
3.0 GHz x 4 cores(x2 hyper-threaded)= 24

Does Maxwell utilize hyper-threaded cores?

[rusteberg]

Hey Stanford. I was reading your other thread about the low benchmark scores with the 5960 build. Something very strange about that. I built a workstation with the same processor and ran the benchmark today just to verify and it was around 7 minutes with a whole lot of other crap running in the background.

Your best bet is to build your own system. May sound daunting if you've never done it before, but there's really not a whole lot to it.

By doing this you can buy at a "parts" level and know what it actually costs to put a computer together. In terms of processors, you get what you pay for and Maxwell, like most other rendering engines, prefers high end stuff. Just depends what you can afford within your set budget and what you expect to get out of it. -T

[rusteberg]

There's a few resident experts on the issue around here that should jump in. Including dmeyer who is master of Mo' Co's (More cores - not mocos, like buggers)

[stanfordr]

T- thanks for your overwhelming confidence... building a system is a daunting. I'm still in the process of developing my Revit to Maxwell workflow, which overwhelming in itself. However, I think building a system would be a great exercise. The 5960 build (i7-5960X 3.00GHz 16GB) is definitely being returned. From my research it seems that more cores is the way to go.

Here are the specs for the system to replace the 5960 build (Rendering Node):

Lenovo P900 ThinkStation

Processor Intel Xeon E5-2650 v3 2.3 GHz
Processor Main Features 64 bit 20-Core Processor
Cache Per Processor 25MB L3 Cache
Memory 16 GB DDR4 2133
Storage 256 GB SSD
Optical Drive DVD-Writer
Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet
Power Supply 1300W
Operating System Windows 7 Professional Upgradable to Windows 8.1 Pro
CPU Type XEON
CPU Speed E5-2650 v3 (2.30 GHz)
L3 Cache Per CPU 25MB
CPU Main Features 64 bit 20-Core Processor
Memory Capacity 16 GB DDR4
Memory Speed DDR4 2133
Memory Slot (Total) 16
Maximum Memory Supported
256 GB
Hard Drive SSD 256 GB
Optical Drive DVD±RW
LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
Video Ports 1 Display Port

This system is at the upper end of our budget ($3,250). I honestly don't know if I could build this same system for less... of course I have no idea what the motherboard is.

Is there a certain amount of RAM you should have for each core?

[numerobis]

RAM is not core dependent but today i would buy at least 32 GB, better 64 GB for a render workstation.
You need at least 4 sticks per socket (quad channel), so this means 4 for i7 and single Xeon and 8 for dual Xeons.

The E5-2650 v3 has only a 3.0 GHz single core turbo. I would say this is too low for a workstation.
Looking at the combined (multi core) GHz of 10x2.6= 26 GHz, this is even worse than a 5960X with 8x3.3= 26.4 GHz.
And the 5960x has a single core turbo of 3.5 GHz.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_I ... ocessor.29

[dk2079]

if you want to save money I'd consider the e5-2630 v3
8 x 2,4
it has the best price/ghz factor right now and a turbo of 3.2
I built a machine recently, not in my location right now, but I believe it gave me a maxwell benchmark slightly above 600. single CPU!
the v3s are very fast. I was suprised. the chip costs less than 680$/€

[stanfordr]

I thought the math was 20 cores x 2.4 = 48 but I in reality it's 10 cores hyper-threaded??? I am still trying to find my way through the specs.

Can I use a dual E5-2630 v3? Do you have any resources or advice for compatible motherboards? I can't thank you enough for your expertise... thanks.

[AlexP]

HT gives Maxwell about 25% reduced render time.

[stanfordr]

We found a good deal on the i7-4790, purchased (3) systems for less than $2,600.
The E5-2630 would have been $4,200.

So here is my math:

2.4 GHz Intel Xeon E5-2630 v3 2 CPU x 8 Cores x 3.2 = 51.2 GHz / $4,200 =$82.0/GHz
3.6 GHz Intel Core i7-4790 3 CPU x 4 Cores x 4 = 48 GHz / $2600 = $54.2/GHz

Maybe I over simplified how this works but hopefully my math isn't too far off the reality.

Let me know what you think?

[numerobis]

Can I use a dual E5-2630 v3?

Yes, all E5-2xxx Xeons can be used in dual CPU systems.

Maybe I over simplified how this works but hopefully my math isn't too far off the reality.

Yes, this should work for a rough comparison, at least, when the CPUs are based on the same chip generation (here Haswell and Haswell-EP)
But you have to take the multicore turbo clock for the calculation instead of the single core turbo. You can find the clock rates on the wikipedia page that i linked. To calculate the turbo clocks you have to add the number shown in the "Turbo" column multiplied by 100MHz to the base clock. The first number in the row is the all core turbo and the last one is the single core turbo (and in between the clocks for the all the other core states).
As i wrote above, the 2650v3 has 10x2.6= 26 GHz


I have compiled a list of different configurations to see the Euro/GHz ratio (Haswell-E/-EP). Maybe it helps, even it is using Euro - the relation should be the same.

Configurations:

Workstation 1 CPU 32GB/64GB
ASRock X99 Extreme6/3.1, Noctua NH-D14 SE2011, 1x/2x Kingston HyperX Fury 32GB DDR4-2400 CL15-15-15, Samsung SSD 950 Pro 256GB M.2 x4, Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 WindForce 3X 4GB, Seasonic X-Series X-750 KM3 750W, Lian Li PC-6B

Workstation 2 CPU 32GB/64GB
ASUS Z10PE-D16 WS, 2x Noctua NH-U14S, 1x/2x Crucial 32GB DDR4-2133 CL15-15-15 reg ECC, Samsung SSD 950 Pro 256GB M.2 x4, Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 WindForce 3X 4GB, Seasonic X-Series X-750 KM3 750W, Lian Li PC-A76X

Render Node 1 CPU 32GB/64GB
ASRock X99 Extreme4/3.1, Noctua NH-D14 SE2011, 1x/2x Kingston HyperX Fury 32GB DDR4-2400 CL15-15-15, Samsung SSD 850 Evo 120GB, AMD Radeon HD 5450, Seasonic G-Series G-550 550W ATX 2.3, Cooler Master Elite 370

Render Node 2 CPU 32GB/64GB
ASUS Z10PA-D8, 2x Scythe Ashura, 1x/2x Crucial 32GB DDR4-2133 CL15-15-15 reg ECC, Samsung SSD 850 Evo 120GB, AMD Radeon HD 5450, Seasonic Seasonic G-Series G-650 650W ATX 2.3, Nanoxia Deep Silence 2






PDF: performance_Euro-GHz02.pdf