CPU Render Benchmark

[bentothemax]

Just tested 4 at once.

 

Only a marginal loss in performance

 

AMD 1090t phenom II x 6 3.2ghz stock

4gb ddr3 1600 mhz corsair gaming ram

ASUS M4A89GTD mobo

radeon 5870 1gb ddr5

[robcat2075]

I've found you can get a slight increase if you "affinity" each instance to just one CPU and you can avoid the appearance of lockup when running N instances on an N core CPU by making one instance's priority "below normal".

[fae_alba]

Thought I'd put my laptop to the test.

 

Render Time 6 minutes 2 seconds

 

A:M 16.0RC 64 bit

Dell Inspiron 7010

Intel Core i3CPU M370 2.40 ghz

6 gb ram

64 bit Windows 7 Home Premium

 

[NancyGormezano]

Thought I'd put my laptop to the test.

 

Render Time 6 minutes 2 seconds

 

A:M 16.0RC 64 bit

Dell Inspiron 7010

Intel Core i3CPU M370 2.40 ghz

6 gb ram

64 bit Windows 7 Home Premium

 

That's exciting! That tells me that your laptop (with ver 16, 64 bitOS) is faster than my desktop dell core2duo 3.2ghz (winxp pro). I'm thrilled! More ammo in my noodle for blowing the bucks!

[Fuchur]

Nancy, I recommend a x6 1090T to you. It is not expensive and quite fast, especially for the money and multithreaded applications.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[NancyGormezano]

Nancy, I recommend a x6 1090T to you. It is not expensive and quite fast, especially for the money and multithreaded applications.

 

I would be going for a desktop, and prebuilt. Up till now, and thru the years, I've only had Dell systems (3 so far), always with intel cpus, nvidia graphics cards, and no reliability problems (each system has lasted forever - husband is still using a Dell win 98 sys!). It seems like Dell is getting some bad rap lately, for service, reliability, so I would be willing to consider switching - but...but...I want only that which runs A:M well, with least problems graphic cards. I'm not sure who has prebuilt AMD systems? HP? Gateway? How are they reliability, service wise?

 

I can use all the help, but am not quite ready to jump yet, as it takes awhile to pry the moola out of my sweaty palms, and I usually like to go for a 3x speed increase. So I will come running to this forum for help when I am. However, given the situation with Japan (supply chains), and combined with normal consumers opting now for netbooky, ipady type devices, I suspect prices will be going up for all types of computers, and it might be prudent to buy now while there is still inventory, supply.

 

I know nothing about what's currently new, good. I typically buy not the top of line, nor newest, but usually buy 1 step later, lower. Seems biggest, safest, bang for buck.

[Fuchur]

You know how expensive prebuilt can be VS selfbuilt once, right?

Dell has 1090T-systems like: Dell Studio XPS 7100

HP offers 1090T-systems like: HP-Pavilion-Elite-HPE-570f-Black

GateWay offers 1035T-systems like: Gateway DX4320-45 (small brother of the 1090T, still a 6-core, but less speed per core)

 

Other than that you will get more pre-built once, if you can live with smaller brandnames.

 

Example:

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Gamer_Mage_550

http://www.titaniumgamer.com/Default.aspx?tabid=599

 

Sorry, I can't say anything about Service of HP, Gateway or Dell... I am never buying computers from them. It is just quite expensive. I like to get all the pieces I like and than let the shop where I buy them prebuilt them for me (have built a few by myself too, but it is just not worth the 20 Euros I have to pay for the prebuilding of the setup.

 

I hope I could help.

 

Best wishes

*Fuchur*

[Phil]

Nancy,

I keep finding Dell as the bigest bang for my buck. They have always stood behind their product

Hope that helps

[NancyGormezano]

Nancy,

I keep finding Dell as the bigest bang for my buck. They have always stood behind their product

Hope that helps

 

Thanks Phil, that's what I have experienced as well. Dell knows I am looking, because periodically I go to their site, browse around, configure different systems, and then chicken out on "buy". Coincidently, within a couple of days, a new Dell catalogue shows up in my mail. Coincidence or my own personal conspiracy theory?

 

Thanks Fuchur for the links. I am still in the "I really want a new computer, but not yet ready to jump" stage. I mostly dread having to re-install everything, and finding out what won't work anymore.

[Fuchur]

Yoru welcome Nancy... I am sure there are more offerings out there... I just have a hard time finding them, because all the bigger websites identify me as German and give me German results.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[jason1025]

V 16 rc01 64

3:57 seconds

AMD 1090t phenom x 6 black ed. 3.2ghz (stock)

4gb ddr3 corsair 1600 mhz ram

windows 7 64

 

VS

 

v15J

8:32

same specs

 

Amazingly faster on v16!

 

 

Is this the fastest time we have on record?

[Fuchur]

Don't know... there was an i7 980x or something like that... that one should be faster. BUT it is so much more expensive...

I think the 1090T has the best ratio between performance and costs for A:M so.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[NancyGormezano]

V 16 rc01 64

3:57 seconds

AMD 1090t phenom x 6 black ed. 3.2ghz (stock)

4gb ddr3 corsair 1600 mhz ram

windows 7 64

 

VS

 

v15J

8:32

same specs

 

Hmmmm...this tells me that I would be better off just upgrading to win7 64 bit, and not have to get a new computer (other than for more cores). The biggest decrease in render time is from going from 15j 32bit to RC 64 bit, not from going to 1090T.

 

There is not that much difference between my xp pro core2duo 3.2ghz times for 15j (9:34) and bentomax's 1090T win 7 (8:32). Ratio is 1.12.

 

My 16beta3 32 bit was 7:19 (ratio only 1.3 to my 15j), his 64 bit ver16rc01 was 3:57 (ratio 2.1 to his 15j). Therefore I should expect to see with 64 bit OS, rc01 - a render time around 4:46.

 

Assuming I haven't miscalculated. (big assumption)

[Fuchur]

It is mostly about cores, Win7 64 but a little although from the CPU, of course more RAM and so on.

The question is: Will Win 7 64bit run fast enough on your old machine?

 

Without core-improvements, you won't get 300 % of speedincrease... would be hard even with Intels most expensive i7s.

You could wait for bulldozer for that... but it will at first be more expensive.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[NancyGormezano]

It is mostly about cores, Win7 64 but a little although from the CPU, of course more RAM and so on.

The question is: Will Win 7 64bit run fast enough on your old machine?

 

If I extrapolated correctly from bentomax's and my data - then I could see possibly a change in render time on my system of from 7:19 (currently what I get in ver 16 32 bit) to 4:46 (ver 16 64 bit).

 

Sounds good to me. Except for the part of reinstalling everything and finding out what other things won't work anymore.

[jason1025]

Interesting differences between 15j and 16r02 64bit

 

First off the 15j renders the bench test in 10min for me.

16r02 64bit renders the bench test at an impressive 4:50min

 

I decided to look and see if there where any luminance differences between the 2 frames. Remember in this apples to apples comparison the only difference is th eversion of AM.

 

See attached.

[bobbesch]

version of A:M: 16.0b

render time 2:44

CPU Brand and model: Intel Core i7-2600

Actual CPU speed in GHz: 3.4

how many cores A:M is using: couldn't find that

RAM: 8Gb

OS: Windows 7

 

Norbert

[NancyGormezano]

version of A:M: 16.0b

render time 2:44

CPU Brand and model: Intel Core i7-2600

Actual CPU speed in GHz: 3.4

how many cores A:M is using: couldn't find that

RAM: 8Gb

OS: Windows 7

 

Norbert

 

Ok, that could convince me to get a new computer. I usually jump when I see an almost 3 fold increase in frame rendering time (my last testing was 7:19, and was done with 16beta3, 32bit).

 

I would love to see more specs on your system? eg manufacturer?, graphics card, etc

 

I am guessing that only 1 core was in use, but since I don't have 64bit OS, and haven't tried 16b yet (32 bit), I can't confirm.

[bobbesch]

Hi Nancy,

 

it's an Acer Predator G3610 (who come's up with names like this?) with 8GB RAM.

Graphic card is an AMD Radeon HD 6850.

It came with Windows 7 home premium.

It has two USB 3 slots, but my USB gadgets are still version 2.0.

 

What I really like about this machine is the second, smaller solid state hd drive with Windows on it. This boots really fast.

 

Norbert

[robcat2075]

wow! 2:44

 

That's gotta be the record now.

 

 

Yes, A:M's renderer is "single" thread although Windows seems to not use the same core continuously.

 

A:M multi-threads internal non-rendering things like "finding patches" and simulating particles. Enable OpenMP in your options for that.

 

 

Welcome back to A:M bobbesch!

[jason1025]

That is very very fast. But not surprising from a 3.4GHZ Intel I7.

[NancyGormezano]

Dell 3GHz Intel Core2Duo E6850

1 core 50%?

3GB Ram

XP pro sp3

 

with ver 14c

8:18

 

ver 15e CD

8:31

 

with ver 15g CD

9:33

 

ver 15j+

9:34

 

ver 16beta3 32 bit

7:19

 

Just tried with ver 16b 32 bit

6:01

 

NICE improvement Steffen!

 

(Wanted to see what bobbesch render times would cost, so I just now configured a Dell xps 8300 with i7-2600, win7 Pro, 16GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333Mhz, 1TB HD, Nvidia geforceGT530, soundblaster - $1419.00...thinking...thinking...beads of sweat forming....)

[Vertexspline]

Ha ha Nancy------"beads of sweat forming" --- hey --time is such a valuable commodity so anything that saves time is well worth it. If the purchase price makes sense for you ---I cannot see how you will be disappointed except in like three years down the road when computer speed processing envy might return.

[NancyGormezano]

--I cannot see how you will be disappointed except in like three years down the road when computer speed processing envy might return.

 

Seems about right as my current system is about 4 years old, tho I really think processor speeds have stagnated, and will continue to, unless some new technology comes about.

 

The personal dilemma at this stage of life is: do I really feel like finding out what old software of mine won't work on win7, or would I rather plan some more vacations and short trips?

 

Maybe I do both. After all, in the unlikely event that there is any moola left, when I finally "check-out", I'm taking it with me. I suspect I might need some extra pocket money for bribes.

[jason1025]

I recommend this. I own one. no problems with it. 24x7 tech support for life. only $799.00

 

Its a six core 2.8GHZ with 8gigs of ram , free shipping, ATI Radeon™ HD4350 Silent Graphics Card w/ 512MB DDR2 VRAM

 

http://www.buy.com/prod/zt-affinity-7377ma.../220293610.html

[Fuchur]

I recommend this. I own one. no problems with it. 24x7 tech support for life. only $799.00

 

Its a six core 2.8GHZ with 8gigs of ram , free shipping, ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD4350 Silent Graphics Card w/ 512MB DDR2 VRAM

 

http://www.buy.com/prod/zt-affinity-7377ma.../220293610.html

 

Not a bad system, especially for the price that is a quite good offer. You can even overclock without too much work and go to 3 - 3.2 GHz or something like that with the boxed cooler.

 

I just had a try with my ibuypower-link above and they are already offering AMD Bulldozer 8-core-systems. With SSD + Harddrive, 16 GB of fast RAM and a few other thing I still got under the price of the simple i7-system.

But it is of course only suitable if you use it for rendering, etc. with A:M Netrenderer. Otherwise the i7 will be a little bit faster.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[jason1025]

Better deal

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883229257

[NancyGormezano]

I recommend this. I own one. no problems with it. 24x7 tech support for life. only $799.00

 

Its a six core 2.8GHZ with 8gigs of ram , free shipping, ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD4350 Silent Graphics Card w/ 512MB DDR2 VRAM

 

http://www.buy.com/prod/zt-affinity-7377ma.../220293610.html

 

Thanks for the links, suggestions Jason, Fuchur.

 

The base system being offered on Dell is $850. - that includes:

 

Base - $849.99

i7-2600(3.4GHz)

Win 7 Home premium *

8GB SDRAM ddr3 at 1333Mhz, 4 dimms *

1TB 7200 HD

nvidia geforce GT530 (1GB)

NO speakers *, NO monitor

thx truStudio PC *

(16X CD/DVD burner, wireless N, usb 2.0, ethernet, MS Ofice starter, keyboard, mouse, Mcafee 1 yr, 2 yr Limited HDWARE warranty, inhome service, etc)

 

I modified base system, increased price to $1419, now includes:

win 7 pro- (added $130.)

16 GB SDRAM dual channel ddr3 at 1333Mhz, 4 dimms (added $360)

cheap speakers ($20.)

Soundblaster xfi extreme ($60)

 

Not sure I need the win7 Pro ? Only upgraded because I wanted to be able to run some programs in xp mode if necessary (I have old PS, Illustrator, etc software)

Definitely want 16GB (maybe this is too expensive?), need speakers.

Upgraded sound from integrated sound, to dedicated sound. My current system has integrated, and it is impossible to record voice cleanly

 

Not sure if I care if only has usb 2.0?

[robcat2075]

Not sure I need the win7 Pro ? Only upgraded because I wanted to be able to run some programs in xp mode if necessary (I have old PS, Illustrator, etc software)

 

I have Photoshop 6.0 and it works fine on Win 7 Home Premium

 

 

Their RAM sounds overpriced.

[Fuchur]

Thanks for the links, suggestions Jason, Fuchur.

 

The base system being offered on Dell is $850. - that includes:

 

Base - $849.99

i7-2600(3.4GHz)

Win 7 Home premium *

8GB SDRAM ddr3 at 1333Mhz, 4 dimms *

1TB 7200 HD

nvidia geforce GT530 (1GB)

NO speakers *, NO monitor

thx truStudio PC *

(16X CD/DVD burner, wireless N, usb 2.0, ethernet, MS Ofice starter, keyboard, mouse, Mcafee 1 yr, 2 yr Limited HDWARE warranty, inhome service, etc)

 

I modified base system, increased price to $1419, now includes:

win 7 pro- (added $130.)

16 GB SDRAM dual channel ddr3 at 1333Mhz, 4 dimms (added $360)

cheap speakers ($20.)

Soundblaster xfi extreme ($60)

 

Not sure I need the win7 Pro ? Only upgraded because I wanted to be able to run some programs in xp mode if necessary (I have old PS, Illustrator, etc software)

Definitely want 16GB (maybe this is too expensive?), need speakers.

Upgraded sound from integrated sound, to dedicated sound. My current system has integrated, and it is impossible to record voice cleanly

 

Not sure if I care if only has usb 2.0?

 

Hi Nancy...

 

In general I don't suggest top-level-systems... I think that the money you have to pay for them compared to the processing-power you get is not worth it... any mid-range computer in 2 years will be faster than todays high-end-model and will cost half of the money... but I think you want to do it once and get rid of buying anything for the next view years... that is more expensive, but less troublesome, so it is your decision.

 

But okay, lets see what you got there:

 

About Win7 pro / home: Do you need RemoteControl? I although think that Win 7 Pro has XP-Mode but Home doesnt... so I have to look at that. You dont need Ultimate so... just not worth the money for private persons.

 

16 GB RAM for 360 Dollars more? That is really epensive... Currently RAM is very cheap... I can get 16 GB DDR3 at 1333 MHz (Kingston, 9-9-9-24, 4 x 4 GB-parts) for about 80 Euros at my reseller...

But since you want it and you want the warranty you may consider by yourself if you think it is worth the extra-money... anyway that is really expensive... You may want to go with the 8GB and buy the other 8GB somewhere else afterwards. (or if you see that you need it even more GB ).

 

However I would never buy speakers or a monitor from Dell... that is something you can really easily buy anywhere else for less money (and/or better quality).

 

USB 3.0 is something, that isnt very important today but may become important in future... My mother-boards support it already, so I never used anything with it till now...

It shouldnt be your primary sorrow so... if you need it in future, you can always buy a PCI-extension-card and put it into your computer (not very hard to do: clip it in a slot (it will only be suited for one sort of slot) and it should work). Today such an card costs about 25-35 dollars...

 

Other than that, the system looks powerful... a little pricy, but quite powerful.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[NancyGormezano]

I have Photoshop 6.0 and it works fine on Win 7 Home Premium

Their RAM sounds overpriced.

 

Thanks - that's good to know about the OS.

 

Not sure what else my Ram options would be, or if dual channel DDR3, 1333 is anything special. Sounds fast to me, but I am a know nuthin about what's out there currently.

[Fuchur]

I have Photoshop 6.0 and it works fine on Win 7 Home Premium

Their RAM sounds overpriced.

 

Thanks - that's good to know about the OS.

 

Not sure what else my Ram options would be, or if dual channel DDR3, 1333 is anything special. Sounds fast to me, but I am a know nuthin about what's out there currently.

 

DualChannel means, that two RAM-chips CAN run in "ganged-mode". That is better than single-channel (there is no ganged-mode here) but not as good as tripple-channel (which is available for some intel-cpus / motherboards). DualChannel is the most common RAM-type today and should be supported by any RAM you buy.

 

In general it is not that much faster so... you gain a little performance for some RAM-related operations. More specific: When the computer wants to write data from one part of the RAM to another part of the RAM. It is better, but it is not worth anything like 360 Dollars. You may gain about 2-5% for THOSE situations where the computer wants to write from one part of the RAM to another part, which is not the most common situation AND it is only for accessing the new data, not the real writing-part of the process... in short: If you are not a really dedicated gamer who notices micro-lags and such things and needs at least 90 fps to be happy, you will never notice the performance-gain.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[NancyGormezano]

16 GB RAM for 360 Dollars more? That is really epensive... Currently RAM is very cheap... I can get 16 GB DDR3 at 1333 MHz (Kingston, 9-9-9-24, 4 x 4 GB-parts) for about 80 Euros at my reseller...

But since you want it and you want the warranty you may consider by yourself if you think it is worth the extra-money... anyway that is really expensive... You may want to go with the 8GB and buy the other 8GB somewhere else afterwards. (or if you see that you need it even more GB ).

 

Thanks Gerald for your input, yes the dell ram sounded expensive.

 

I looked up 16GB DDR3 1333 at Frys - $89.99!

 

I'm assuming this would work on the Dell system. Does one have to be careful with respect to manufacturers? or any other form factors to consider for compatibility? I noticed that there is now 1600mhz available, but I assume that wouldn't work with the dell system?

 

EDIT: My husband just told me he doesn't like Fry's (they don't guarantee their RAM, costs extra for them to guarantee it!), nor does he like patriot mfg, so he just told me about Crucial.com, says they are more reliable.

Edited October 16, 2011 by NancyGormezano

[robcat2075]

One thing I dont' like about premade systems is they might sell you 8GB on a board that can take 16GB, but they'll do the 8 with four 2GB sticks and fill up all the RAM slots, so you can't just buy another 8GB to get up to 16 you have to buy 16GB and toss all the old RAM.

[Fuchur]

16 GB RAM for 360 Dollars more? That is really epensive... Currently RAM is very cheap... I can get 16 GB DDR3 at 1333 MHz (Kingston, 9-9-9-24, 4 x 4 GB-parts) for about 80 Euros at my reseller...

But since you want it and you want the warranty you may consider by yourself if you think it is worth the extra-money... anyway that is really expensive... You may want to go with the 8GB and buy the other 8GB somewhere else afterwards. (or if you see that you need it even more GB ).

 

Thanks Gerald for your input, yes the dell ram sounded expensive.

 

I looked up 16GB DDR3 1333 at Frys - $89.99!

 

I'm assuming this would work on the Dell system. Does one have to be careful with respect to manufacturers? or any other form factors to consider for compatibility? I noticed that there is now 1600mhz available, but I assume that wouldn't work with the dell system?

 

EDIT: My husband just told me he doesn't like Fry's (they don't guarantee their RAM, costs extra for them to guarantee it!), nor does he like patriot mfg, so he just told me about Crucial.com, says they are more reliable.

 

Anyway that is a price that is totally acceptable and even the 54 Dollars at Crucial for 8 GB sound much better for me.

As Robert said: Dell is using 4 slots for their RAM even with 8GB installed, so you need to buy 2 x 8GB kits. But 108 to 360 Dollars still sounds like a great deal to me.

 

I don't see what should not work with that RAM-chip there, especially since they are claiming that they are working with the Dell system.

I'd say, buy it there. Now it is a good deal for the pc .

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[NancyGormezano]

Thanks again Gerald, Robert. Yes I would just get the 8GB now. And there is a good possibility, given my stellar track record for inertia, might never feel the urgency to go to 16GB.

[jason1025]

I recommend this. I own one. no problems with it. 24x7 tech support for life. only $799.00

 

Its a six core 2.8GHZ with 8gigs of ram , free shipping, ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD4350 Silent Graphics Card w/ 512MB DDR2 VRAM

 

http://www.buy.com/prod/zt-affinity-7377ma.../220293610.html

 

Thanks for the links, suggestions Jason, Fuchur.

 

The base system being offered on Dell is $850. - that includes:

 

Base - $849.99

i7-2600(3.4GHz)

Win 7 Home premium *

8GB SDRAM ddr3 at 1333Mhz, 4 dimms *

1TB 7200 HD

nvidia geforce GT530 (1GB)

NO speakers *, NO monitor

thx truStudio PC *

(16X CD/DVD burner, wireless N, usb 2.0, ethernet, MS Ofice starter, keyboard, mouse, Mcafee 1 yr, 2 yr Limited HDWARE warranty, inhome service, etc)

 

I modified base system, increased price to $1419, now includes:

win 7 pro- (added $130.)

16 GB SDRAM dual channel ddr3 at 1333Mhz, 4 dimms (added $360)

cheap speakers ($20.)

Soundblaster xfi extreme ($60)

 

Not sure I need the win7 Pro ? Only upgraded because I wanted to be able to run some programs in xp mode if necessary (I have old PS, Illustrator, etc software)

Definitely want 16GB (maybe this is too expensive?), need speakers.

Upgraded sound from integrated sound, to dedicated sound. My current system has integrated, and it is impossible to record voice cleanly

 

Not sure if I care if only has usb 2.0?

 

Isnt that Dell only a 4core? I highly recommend you go to a site like ibuypower and customize. I feel that dell is over priced.

[jason1025]

Not sure I need the win7 Pro ? Only upgraded because I wanted to be able to run some programs in xp mode if necessary (I have old PS, Illustrator, etc software)

 

I have Photoshop 6.0 and it works fine on Win 7 Home Premium

 

 

Their RAM sounds overpriced.

 

 

Unless you are using more than 16GB of ram in your system you do not need anything more than Win 7 home premium.

[robcat2075]

I have Photoshop 6.0 and it works fine on Win 7 Home Premium

 

I have more trouble with After Effects 5. Some "compatibility settings" got it to work, with QuickTime 7 even, for small projects but large/long ones fail out at render time and I have to go back to Win XP to get things done.

 

I haven't bought a major app other than A:M since about the year 2000 so in most cases I'm working with software that MAY have been aware of Win 2000 at the most.

[NancyGormezano]

Isnt that Dell only a 4core? I highly recommend you go to a site like ibuypower and customize. I feel that dell is over priced.

 

Unless you are using more than 16GB of ram in your system you do not need anything more than Win 7 home premium.

 

Ack. Now I'm confused as to what really makes sense to buy. Only reason I thought I might want win7 pro is for compatibility with some very old programs I have (in particular Family tree maker ver 7.5 for one). But I will probably go with home premium anyway. And only 8GB ram

 

And, according to dell it appears that i7 2600 (3.4) is 4 cores with possibility of 4-8 way multi-tasking (is that the same as threads? Hyper threading?), i5 -2500 (2.8) is 4 cores (but only 4 way multi-task). Neither of those can be overclocked but the i7 2600k, and i5 2500k can be. Don't care as I am not an overclocker. I do not like to tempt fate.

 

I was misunderstanding i7, I thought that meant 7 cores (or 8 really with 1 for OS), WELL....a big big duh on me!

 

I don't know what programs I have that can make use of multiple threads? Maybe cs4 After effects?

 

I'm not a gamer, and I only wanted extra cores for extra rendering nodes. But from what I understand now about A:M, the standard is 4 render nodes max with 1 subscription?.

 

I went to ibuypower site - did not see that ibuypower (for same components as the dell) would be cheaper. However, they were offering the ddr3 1600 (instead of 1333), and they were talking about free liquid cooling? There was much to choose, so perhaps I missed it.

 

I'm now wondering about noise levels and heat disipation...And I will probably not be able to use my old old Wacom tablet. (bought 10+ years ago)

 

Yup, me brains are experiencing a major melt down.

[jason1025]

Definitely a lot to think about.

 

As for more render nodes just email Jason and ask him how much they would charge for some more nodes. Tell him how much you will need. The price is not significant. I am sure he can give a discount for Nancy who was a huge contributor on TWO and SO.

 

In my opinion the bang for your buck is with a 6 core AMD desktop. Those extra render nodes will come in handy for AM animations. You will need at least 12gigs of ram to make efficient use of the nodes spread across 6 cores.

[robcat2075]

yeah, the i7 and i5 and i3 stuff ... that doesn't refer to cores.

 

Steffen is going to an Intel compiler so that may give an edge to Intel CPUs but I don't know how much. There are always too many variables.

 

 

You can always wait.... things will only get cheaper.

[NancyGormezano]

You can always wait.... things will only get cheaper.

 

whew...that's a relief...given that I last thought about this in april, one might conclude I'm into the waiting it out thang ...

[jason1025]

You can always wait.... things will only get cheaper.

 

whew...that's a relief...given that I last thought about this in april, one might conclude I'm into the waiting it out thang ...

 

 

I would purchase on black friday. New egg, ibuypower, and another good computer company

 

cyberpower will also be giving deals.

 

I would expect as much as a 20% savings from todays prices.

[bobbesch]

Time is money I realized that my old computer was from 2007. It ran Vista, which sucked. The new one is not only much faster, but also much less noisy.

1400 bucks in four years: 30 bucks per month, that's not that bad. A new machine will save you a lot of time, Nancy. More RAM is more noticeable than a slightly faster processor.

 

Norbert

[Fuchur]

yeah, the i7 and i5 and i3 stuff ... that doesn't refer to cores.

 

Steffen is going to an Intel compiler so that may give an edge to Intel CPUs but I don't know how much. There are always too many variables.

 

 

You can always wait.... things will only get cheaper.

 

I made tests with Steffen concerning that compiler... Intels compiler is just better than the one from Microsoft...

both platforms gain from that, while Intel-CPUs gain a little more it is not really mentionable (9% to 8% or something like that).

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[Ilidrake]

System built myself...

 

Render Time 4 minutes 30 seconds

 

A:M 16.0 RC02 64 bit - Running one core

Motherboard - Gigabyte 770T

AMD Anthlon II X2 250 Pro 3.00 Ghz (Dual Core)

8 gb ram

64 bit Windows 7 Ultimate

[Shelton]

Alienware Aurora

version of A:M 16b

2:32

I-7 960

3.2 GHz

1 core

12 gb RAM

Win 7 Pro 64

 

Steve

[jason1025]

Alienware Aurora

version of A:M 16b

2:32

I-7 960

3.2 GHz

1 core

12 gb RAM

Win 7 Pro 64

 

Steve

 

 

 

We have a new winner!!!!!!

[jason1025]

a few years from now the time may be down to seconds not minutes. Even now 2:32 is a far cry from the old 10-18 minute times we had.