dual processor systems

[jpremodeler]

as with most of us, raytracing is the bottleneck in my work flow. I want to improve on my images, but I need to generate 40-60 raytraced images a week.

Does anyone have a dual processor set up? I was considering dual zeons, 6 cores each. These processors/motherboards are generally reserved for servers, but I figured the additional cores would greatly speed up my current raytrace times.

Thanks in advance for any input!

[Architex]

I just started using dual Xenon 4 cores. Can someone post a plan so I can test how fast the setup is? I do not have a lot of complex stuff drawn in CA and I am curious what the speed can be. Of course it is a million times faster than what I used to have but that was an old Duo core CPU. Maybe we can have multiple people run the same CA file and compare times based on different CPU's. And see which setups are good for raytracing. I know CA says more cores the better for raytracing but I am curious about everyone's experience.

[Doug Park]

For ray tracing assuming each core is the same speed the ray trace speed will scale nearly proportional to the number of cores. So if you had a single Xeon processor and added a second your ray trace will take a hair over half as long. This assumes that other factors such as memory or disk access don't get swamped, which is unlikely for a ray trace.

If you are going from a lower end processor to Xeon there is also likely a decent bump in addition to more cores.

[johnnyprc]

VERY good to know Doug!!! Thanks.

[designersink]

I recently upgraded from an Intel i7 4 core processor to an Intel i7 Extreme 6 core processor, and I can tell you the raytracing speeds were significantly improved. The attached raytracing took just a few seconds under 20 minutes for 40 passes with an image size of 1841 X 989, using ambient occlusion, environmental lights, photon mapping and computing caustics. With my old processor it took a little over a minute per pass (about 40 minutes total). The combination of more cores and a faster processor will pay for itself over time with these types of speed improvements since I do a lot of raytracing.

[jpremodeler]

Doug, I have an i7 4 cores overclocked to 4.7 (I lowered it to make it a bit more stable). If I rebuild, I was looking at dual xeons, 8 cores @3.0 (I don't think I can overclock). If hyperthreading doubles your cores, I will be going from 8 to 32. I wouldn't expect it to be 4x as fast, but if I am going to spend $5000 on a build, I want to make sure it is worth my time and money.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Doug Park]

I don't have or actually know what your exact hardware is so I would be totally guessing at how the systems would compare.

You can however look at CPU benchmarks yourself and compare the exact processors that you have to get a better idea. This is one site that you can reference.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Also be aware that memory speed plays into this as well. The more cores you have the more demand on memory access you will have.

Even with good overall cpu benchmarks the actual performance of Chief can really only be determined by building the system and running it to see.

[jpremodeler]

I was planning to build with:

xeon e5-2650's (dual)
32 gb ddr3 1333 ram (8x4)
sata III SSD
dual gtx 760's superclocked
liquid cooled
win7 64

compared to current:
i7 2600k (overclocked to 4.7)
16gb 1666 ram (4x4)
dual gtx 580's
liquid cooled
win7 64

[somearchitect]

I was just about to pull the trigger on a Velocity Micro system with an i7 4770k Haswell quad-core processor, but I just caught this thread and am now wondering about going to a six-core Xeon processor. While I'm reconfiguring the system, I should ask y'all how important the video card is these days. It used to be a big deal, but now that I'm raytracing everything I send out to clients, I'm wondering if I can dedicate some of the cash I was going to spend on a 2GB GTX 760 card to buying more processor cores.

Thanks!

[jpremodeler]

I was just about to pull the trigger on a Velocity Micro system with an i7 4770k Haswell quad-core processor, but I just caught this thread and am now wondering about going to a six-core Xeon processor. While I'm reconfiguring the system, I should ask y'all how important the video card is these days. It used to be a big deal, but now that I'm raytracing everything I send out to clients, I'm wondering if I can dedicate some of the cash I was going to spend on a 2GB GTX 760 card to buying more processor cores.

Thanks!

From what I gather, you would only go Xeon, if you plan to use a dual cpu set up. Otherwise, look at the six core i7 processors. I am going to go for the dual set up, but I have to allowcate the 4k to build it. I am hoping it smokes!

if you are going single processor...look at this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116939

[somearchitect]

Thanks, Jason!

I don't think I want to spend $4k right now, but I'll check to see what the six-core i7 adds to the cost.

Does anyone know if hyperthreading helps with X5 or the upcoming X6?

If I'm raytracing every rendering, rather than using CA to generate final views with shadows, does my graphics card have to be that good?

Thanks for your help, folks!

Chris

[HumbleChief]

From what I gather, you would only go Xeon, if you plan to use a dual cpu set up. Otherwise, look at the six core i7 processors. I am going to go for the dual set up, but I have to allowcate the 4k to build it. I am hoping it smokes!

if you are going single processor...look at this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116939

That's the i7 I was considering as well. Seems like a fair price for 6 cores. Can't comment on the performance.

[jpremodeler]

Thanks, Jason!

I don't think I want to spend $4k right now, but I'll check to see what the six-core i7 adds to the cost.

Does anyone know if hyperthreading helps with X5 or the upcoming X6?

If I'm raytracing every rendering, rather than using CA to generate final views with shadows, does my graphics card have to be that good?

Thanks for your help, folks!

Chris

take the six core can be overclocked to match the speed I have mine set at, but the additional cores will make it faster. I believe it does use hyperthreading. Check out my website for some of the more recent projects. Those raytraces are in the 5-15 minute range (longer for mirror and glass door rooms). They are set size-wise to print on 8.5"x11" paper.

[Joe Carrick]

Thanks, Jason!
I don't think I want to spend $4k right now, but I'll check to see what the six-core i7 adds to the cost.
Does anyone know if hyperthreading helps with X5 or the upcoming X6?
If I'm raytracing every rendering, rather than using CA to generate final views with shadows, does my graphics card have to be that good?
Thanks for your help, folks!
Chris

Chris, The graphics card is not used for Ray Traces. RT's are strictly CPU so the faster the better.

[somearchitect]

Thanks! Back when we relied on the internal software to render and cast shadows, graphics cards were carrying a lot of the load. I'm wondering if there's much payback to having a high quality graphics card today. What is the role of the graphics card in day-to-day use of CA X5 and beyond if one is relying entirely on Raytracing? I'm wondering if I can get away with a GTX 650 or similar without sacrificing performance in CA.

Here's a link to the Velocity Micro system I'm considering now, with a six-core i7 processor.

http://www.velocitymicro.com/wizard....5472,5477,5478

I've built my last few systems by hand, and they've been great (my current i7 920 system is running great from 2009), but I'm looking forward to the luxury of having someone else do the legwork/guesswork for me this time, even though it's a bit more expensive. The quad-core system I was about to buy this morning was $2190, this one is now $2834 with the six-core processor.

Thanks for you help, folks!