i7 vs Xeon For New Machine?

Started by Robb63, November 04, 2011, 08:02:00 AM

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Robb63

I need to order a new machine. I'm currently using an Alienware Aurora with an i7 920 3.66Ghz.

I'm looking at machines using either: i7-990X processor (3.46GHz, 12MB L2 Cache), or Dual Quad Core Intel

guest84672


Robb63

Thanks, that system is about $500 bucks cheaper too!! ;D

Robb63

OK, now I'm doing some more reading.
How about i7-990X (3.46GHz) or i7-2600K (Overclocked Turbo Boost to 4.1GHz)?
The system is being designed mainly with my Keyshot work in mind, as I know anything I spec this high will run typical ID programs (Rhino, Solidworks, Photoshop, Illustrator) no problem at all.

Thanks in advance for any direction. There seems to be a lot of conflicting benchmarks out there on those two chip options.

Rob

ohashi3d

Hi,

I compared i7-980X and i7-2600K before.
FPS numbers of KeyShot "camera" scene are:
91.8 --- i7-980X@4.2GHz
68.6 --- i7-2600K@4.2GHz

So my approximation are:
75.6(=91.8*3.46/4.2) --- i7-990X@3.46GHz
67.0(=68.6*4.1/4.2) --- i7-2600K@4.1GHz

Thanks,
kyosen

Robb63

Thanks for the info!
So, is the 980 a faster chipset than the 990, or does the overclocking make that big of a difference?

guest84672

Even the clock speed makes a difference - 10% greater clock speed results in 10% faster performance.

ohashi3d

i7-990X has same characteristics as i7-980X...both of them are "Gulftown" (Intel's codename),
so if same clock, both give same scores, I believe.

On the other hand, i7-2600K is "Sandy Bridge"(also Intel's codename),
and one CPU core of "Sandy Bridge" itself is about 14% faster than
one CPU core of "Gulftown" concerning to KeyShot, in my experience.
I attached two images for 'core to core' and 'clock to clock' comparison.
Both are running at 4.2GHz and activated only 2 cores.

BTW, Intel will release "Sandy Bridge-E" on November 15th
as i7-3xxx series...i7-3960X, i7-3930K, i7-3820.
3960X and 3930K have 6 cores, it's rumored.
Originally "Sandy Bridge-E" has 8 cores, so we will see 8 cores Xeon
in Q1 next year, I think.

Thanks,
kyosen

Robb63

Great info, thanks! Well the fact that "Sandy Bridge-E" is set to be released Nov 14-15th might answer why every system I spec at Dell has a ship date of Nov 15th!! Usually it is 4-5 weeks for a high end system form those guys.

Right now I am using an Alienware Aurora (about a year and a half old) and getting around 40-43FPS in the camera benchmark. I'd like to get that number up around 100FPS with a new system to make an upgrade worthwhile.
My current Alienware system is liquid cooled and has a i7-920 in it. Wonder if it makes more sense to swap out the chip for a faster/newer one (if that's possible) since I need this upgrade next week for a new job I've just booked?

Robb63

#9
Sorry to keep flogging a dead horse here, but I need to order a system for an upcoming project. Now I'm like a kid at Blockbuster when you can't pick what video to rent because there are too many choices.

I'm down to these options, both Dell because I've been using them for years and never had any problems (other than delivery dates) and I've got a great credit line at their preferred customer store so once I can decide the purchase is simple.

The first is the XPS-9100 which is i7-990X (3.46GHz, 12MB L2 Cache), 12GB RAM, Radeon HD6870, and 1TB RAID 0 drives
The other option is an Alienware Aurora (liquid cooled), i7-2600K (8MB Cache) OC Turbo-boost to 4.1GHz, 12GB RAM, 3GB Nvidia GTX-590, 2TB RAID 0 drive

BTW, the Alienware comes in $300 less than the XPS (both around $2600 so the price isn't a big driver)

As I said both of these will run all of the software I am using very nicely, so I'd like to choose the system that will run Keyshot the fastest.

Any insight at all would be appreciated as I'd like to order a system today so I can get it here in time for my project. Thanks again for any help, and once again I am sorry to keep harping on about this, it's just a big decision and it's so hard to know if you've made the right choice.

Rob