May 2010 Workstations
It's been an interesting month for CPUs. Thanks to AMD, 6-core is going mainstream ahead of Intel's schedule. So quickly, in fact, that I'm including 6-core chips as low as the Budget level! Meanwhile, predictably, Intel has expanded its six-core Xeon line. Last month, my decision to put a single six-core i7 in the High End system - which, I assure you, made perfect sense as an upgrade from two slower 4-core chips - caused a bit of controversy in the CGArchitect forum. At the time, the only 6-core Xeons you could find were the high end chips listed at $2400 and I just couldn't recommend $4800 worth of CPU with a straight face.
As I write this, there are seven six-core CPUs listed on Newegg:
AMD 2.8GHz: $200
AMD 3.2GHz: $300
i7 3.33GHz: $1050
Xeon 2.26GHz: $1050
Xeon 2.66GHz: $1030
Xeon 2.80GHz: $1270
Xeon 2.93GHz: $1460
Xeon 3.33GHz: $1750
Now I have no idea why the slowest Xeon isn't the cheapest, but there are some real values in that list, especially the 2.8GHz AMD and the 2.66GHz Xeon.
In the next few months, AMD is going to push things forward another step or two: a sixteen-core Opteron, that can be used on a four-socket motherboard for a 64-core system! How efficiently would that render? I have no idea.
The video card market also marches forward, but it's more like a stroll than the CPU market's sprint. The new Geforce GTX 470 and 480 are available, and like an ill wind, they blow no minds. Those gamer site Direct3D benchmarks are mixed - sometimes the new cards are faster than the old ones in their price classes, sometimes not.
And at what cost those 5 FPS of frag power? According to Tom's Hardware Guide, a fully loaded GTX 470 uses 88 watts more than a fully loaded Radeon 5850, and the GTX 480 uses 170 watts more than the 5850. 170 watts! Let's put that in context: the 6-core Intel Core i7-980X CPU uses 130 watts. Those new Geforce cards do have some interesting features, but none of the software we're interested in uses them and this site is about computers not space heaters, so my recommendation is to wait for the next version.
Well, enough of that, on to the systems.
For an explanation of the methodology behind these configurations, please refer to the Workstations Introduction page. For an overview of a workstation’s parts, please refer to the Workstation Parts page.
For the readers' convenience, I am providing links to the parts lists I made on Newegg in the course of planning this article. If the Newegg lists differ from the tables shown here, it's because I noticed that a part was out of stock or discontinued, and made a change. You'd be amazed at how quickly computer parts turn over.
The Intern
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg
This month’s Intern system moves to AMD, which is now edging out Intel at this price point. The CPU is a 3GHz dual-core (remember when a 3GHz dual-core was really, really fast?) that, like last month's, will provide enough power for your architectural interns’ AutoCAD and Microsoft Office needs at an entry-level price, and for slightly less money than Intel's low end. Will that 0.4GHz improvement make them more productive? Don't be silly. There is no way to make an architectural intern productive.
You can get cheaper than this, but I wouldn't recommend it. I also wouldn't recommend this system if your interns do 3D work. For that you should buy them...
The Budget
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg
Now with more render power!
This Budget system is a bit spendier than last month's, but comfortably under the $1000 point. Using the math from my CPUs article (almost finished, really!) I estimate this box is about 35% faster than last month's Core i5 based system for multithreaded rendering. If you're using one of the modern renderers (mental ray, Vray, Fry, Maxwell, recent versions of C4D, etc.) this is a substantial boost. Expect this system to render as quickly as last month's Midrange.
On the other hand, if you value single-threaded performance over multi-threaded - you spend most of your time in Revit or Photoshop, for example - that i5-750 is actually faster, getting a 400MHz kick from its Turbo Boost and an edge from Intel's more efficient microarchitecture. Go back to last month's article and choose that motherboard and CPU.
This month's video card is also a bit of an improvement. The Radeon 4670 is showing its age and its replacement in the market is the 5570. At $75 this is an excellent value option and powerful enough for BIM and 3D use - more powerful than the popular Geforce 9800GT.
I chose the motherboard for its feature set and 6-core compatibility, only later realizing that it has an onboard video card. You could leave this on if you want to run a secondary monitor, but otherwise turn it off to save power. It's not good enough to run 3D apps.
The Midrange
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg
Since Intel launched the Core 2, they've led AMD in every market segment except the very low (chips so cheap you wouldn't give them to your intern) and the very high (4- and 8-CPU motherboards). Now here I am recommending AMD for three systems in a row. I'm sure that by the end of the year the Yankees will have lost the division and Intel will have a $300 CPU that beats AMD's, but for now these low-cost AMD 6-core chips own this market segment. With AMD's version of Turbo Boost, the 1090T can hit 3.6GHz in single-threaded apps. In multithreaded rendering, expect about a 10% improvement over the similarly priced i7-930.
I've been accused of overspending on cases, but I'll ust say this: the only part of my own PC that I've had longer than the Lian-Li case is the 3.5" floppy drive. My case has outlasted 4 CPUs and 4 motherbards. It's light, easy to assemble, extremely well made and provides excellent cooling. I'm also including a very good keyboard and mouse, because I think that such a powerful PC should have comparably good peripherals, but these are a matter of personal preference.
Alternative configuration: If you are looking for maximum single-thread performance - you do most of your work in Photoshop, Revit or some other CPU-intensive but not many-threaded app - the fastest option in this class is the Inte Core i7-860, which has higher one- and two-thread Turbo Boosts than thei7-9xx series. Pair that with the ASRock P55 Pro motherboard from last month's configuration and use the rest of the current Midrange parts list, and you have a great Revit or Photoshop system.
The High-End
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg
This system has not changed much from last month. Why mess with a good thing? A few prices have come down and it's getting a video card upgrade. The cost comes in at $3,100, and this is as much 3D workstation power as you can get in that price class. Intel still has the edge over AMD in CPU architecture, and it shows in rendering performance - one of the few applications that can take advantage of the 12 threads the i7-980X provides with Hyperthreading. This system will run renders 50-55% faster than the Midrange system's AMD 1090T CPU, which is the second fastest desktop class chip.
I know some of you guys are overclockers, and this month's Budget, Midrange and High End are all overclockable - but if you're going to try, please make sure you know what you're doing.
The Maxer
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg
Some CGArchitect readers were actually disappointed that I brought down the cost of the high end system last month. It seems I've been underestimating the market for $8,000 workstations. I'm introducing this new category this month for that class of high-end, one might say "Texas-size," user. This is why there's more than one reason it's called The Maxer.
No, it's not the most expensive thing you can buy - I'm not trying to get you to throw your money away on needlessly expensive parts like SLI'ed Quadro cards. At the high end of the price/performance curve you double the price to add 1% to the performance; this system falls that 1% short of the top.
Coming in just shy of the $8,000 target, this beast features dual 3.33GHz six-core CPUs, allowing it to render twice as quickly as the High End system. The chassis and motherboard are designed to go together, and for use with X5600 series CPUs. The Quadro FX 4800 will power through... well, anything, really... and the 24GB of RAM in twelve slots will ensure that you're not held back by lack of memory. For an added bonus, put the SSD's in a RAID.
If this box can't handle your scene, you're doing something wrong. Estimated Cinebench rendering score: 17.
Alternative configuration: If you want 12 cores but can't stomach that price tag, you can knock $3,000 off the price by using Xeon X5650 CPUs, 18GB of RAM instead of 24, one SSD instead of two and the Radeon 5870 from the High End config instead of the Quadro. It would still be a very powerful workstation, but it wouldn't be a Maxer.
As I write this, there are seven six-core CPUs listed on Newegg:
AMD 2.8GHz: $200
AMD 3.2GHz: $300
i7 3.33GHz: $1050
Xeon 2.26GHz: $1050
Xeon 2.66GHz: $1030
Xeon 2.80GHz: $1270
Xeon 2.93GHz: $1460
Xeon 3.33GHz: $1750
Now I have no idea why the slowest Xeon isn't the cheapest, but there are some real values in that list, especially the 2.8GHz AMD and the 2.66GHz Xeon.
In the next few months, AMD is going to push things forward another step or two: a sixteen-core Opteron, that can be used on a four-socket motherboard for a 64-core system! How efficiently would that render? I have no idea.
The video card market also marches forward, but it's more like a stroll than the CPU market's sprint. The new Geforce GTX 470 and 480 are available, and like an ill wind, they blow no minds. Those gamer site Direct3D benchmarks are mixed - sometimes the new cards are faster than the old ones in their price classes, sometimes not.
And at what cost those 5 FPS of frag power? According to Tom's Hardware Guide, a fully loaded GTX 470 uses 88 watts more than a fully loaded Radeon 5850, and the GTX 480 uses 170 watts more than the 5850. 170 watts! Let's put that in context: the 6-core Intel Core i7-980X CPU uses 130 watts. Those new Geforce cards do have some interesting features, but none of the software we're interested in uses them and this site is about computers not space heaters, so my recommendation is to wait for the next version.
Well, enough of that, on to the systems.
For an explanation of the methodology behind these configurations, please refer to the Workstations Introduction page. For an overview of a workstation’s parts, please refer to the Workstation Parts page.
For the readers' convenience, I am providing links to the parts lists I made on Newegg in the course of planning this article. If the Newegg lists differ from the tables shown here, it's because I noticed that a part was out of stock or discontinued, and made a change. You'd be amazed at how quickly computer parts turn over.
The Intern
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg
This month’s Intern system moves to AMD, which is now edging out Intel at this price point. The CPU is a 3GHz dual-core (remember when a 3GHz dual-core was really, really fast?) that, like last month's, will provide enough power for your architectural interns’ AutoCAD and Microsoft Office needs at an entry-level price, and for slightly less money than Intel's low end. Will that 0.4GHz improvement make them more productive? Don't be silly. There is no way to make an architectural intern productive.
You can get cheaper than this, but I wouldn't recommend it. I also wouldn't recommend this system if your interns do 3D work. For that you should buy them...
The Budget
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg
Now with more render power!
This Budget system is a bit spendier than last month's, but comfortably under the $1000 point. Using the math from my CPUs article (almost finished, really!) I estimate this box is about 35% faster than last month's Core i5 based system for multithreaded rendering. If you're using one of the modern renderers (mental ray, Vray, Fry, Maxwell, recent versions of C4D, etc.) this is a substantial boost. Expect this system to render as quickly as last month's Midrange.
On the other hand, if you value single-threaded performance over multi-threaded - you spend most of your time in Revit or Photoshop, for example - that i5-750 is actually faster, getting a 400MHz kick from its Turbo Boost and an edge from Intel's more efficient microarchitecture. Go back to last month's article and choose that motherboard and CPU.
This month's video card is also a bit of an improvement. The Radeon 4670 is showing its age and its replacement in the market is the 5570. At $75 this is an excellent value option and powerful enough for BIM and 3D use - more powerful than the popular Geforce 9800GT.
I chose the motherboard for its feature set and 6-core compatibility, only later realizing that it has an onboard video card. You could leave this on if you want to run a secondary monitor, but otherwise turn it off to save power. It's not good enough to run 3D apps.
The Midrange
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg
Since Intel launched the Core 2, they've led AMD in every market segment except the very low (chips so cheap you wouldn't give them to your intern) and the very high (4- and 8-CPU motherboards). Now here I am recommending AMD for three systems in a row. I'm sure that by the end of the year the Yankees will have lost the division and Intel will have a $300 CPU that beats AMD's, but for now these low-cost AMD 6-core chips own this market segment. With AMD's version of Turbo Boost, the 1090T can hit 3.6GHz in single-threaded apps. In multithreaded rendering, expect about a 10% improvement over the similarly priced i7-930.
I've been accused of overspending on cases, but I'll ust say this: the only part of my own PC that I've had longer than the Lian-Li case is the 3.5" floppy drive. My case has outlasted 4 CPUs and 4 motherbards. It's light, easy to assemble, extremely well made and provides excellent cooling. I'm also including a very good keyboard and mouse, because I think that such a powerful PC should have comparably good peripherals, but these are a matter of personal preference.
Alternative configuration: If you are looking for maximum single-thread performance - you do most of your work in Photoshop, Revit or some other CPU-intensive but not many-threaded app - the fastest option in this class is the Inte Core i7-860, which has higher one- and two-thread Turbo Boosts than thei7-9xx series. Pair that with the ASRock P55 Pro motherboard from last month's configuration and use the rest of the current Midrange parts list, and you have a great Revit or Photoshop system.
The High-End
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg
This system has not changed much from last month. Why mess with a good thing? A few prices have come down and it's getting a video card upgrade. The cost comes in at $3,100, and this is as much 3D workstation power as you can get in that price class. Intel still has the edge over AMD in CPU architecture, and it shows in rendering performance - one of the few applications that can take advantage of the 12 threads the i7-980X provides with Hyperthreading. This system will run renders 50-55% faster than the Midrange system's AMD 1090T CPU, which is the second fastest desktop class chip.
I know some of you guys are overclockers, and this month's Budget, Midrange and High End are all overclockable - but if you're going to try, please make sure you know what you're doing.
The Maxer
click here to view/purchase the parts list on Newegg
Some CGArchitect readers were actually disappointed that I brought down the cost of the high end system last month. It seems I've been underestimating the market for $8,000 workstations. I'm introducing this new category this month for that class of high-end, one might say "Texas-size," user. This is why there's more than one reason it's called The Maxer.
No, it's not the most expensive thing you can buy - I'm not trying to get you to throw your money away on needlessly expensive parts like SLI'ed Quadro cards. At the high end of the price/performance curve you double the price to add 1% to the performance; this system falls that 1% short of the top.
Coming in just shy of the $8,000 target, this beast features dual 3.33GHz six-core CPUs, allowing it to render twice as quickly as the High End system. The chassis and motherboard are designed to go together, and for use with X5600 series CPUs. The Quadro FX 4800 will power through... well, anything, really... and the 24GB of RAM in twelve slots will ensure that you're not held back by lack of memory. For an added bonus, put the SSD's in a RAID.
If this box can't handle your scene, you're doing something wrong. Estimated Cinebench rendering score: 17.
Alternative configuration: If you want 12 cores but can't stomach that price tag, you can knock $3,000 off the price by using Xeon X5650 CPUs, 18GB of RAM instead of 24, one SSD instead of two and the Radeon 5870 from the High End config instead of the Quadro. It would still be a very powerful workstation, but it wouldn't be a Maxer.
posted by Andy Lynn at 1:40 PM
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