3 x 3930K (or 4930K) vs. dual Xeon E5 2680

[bennyboy]

my 4930k is currently running 4.5 stable for about 6 months and temps never get over 65c

I'm curious what you all consider safe temps...I've heard everything from 60-90c from various threads and sources...seems hard to pin down.

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

70-average save- 80 bad save- 85 - u all will die.

[duke2]

If you're having temp problems, might I suggest this:

http://www.cplonline.com.au/hydro-se...pu-cooler.html

It's a self contained water cooling unit. I was skeptical and stayed away from water cooling, but my old i920 @ 4.2ghz was just getting far too hot and overheating in the summer, so I bit the bullet. Incredibly happy with it! ~15C cooler and quiet as a mouse.

[snivlem]

Are Xeons faster than i7s at raytracing?

Would've thought the E5 2680 would've been a winner here vs the i7s

[bennyboy]

That's a very unspecific question that really doesn't have an answer....it's like asking if living organisms walk, if I say yes, then you might get the idea that all living organisms walk.
Basically, at the top end Xeon's out perform the i7's core for core. Dollar for dollar, upper end i7's can't be beat by Xeon's with an equal processor/core config. Xeon's are typically more stable because you can't OC them, but that's why u pay a lot for clock speeds that equal i7's.
But stability and reliability is really what you're paying for with Xeon's, core for core. Also, dual processors, 48 core config, etc can't be bought with i7's
If you're looking at an i7 vs a Xeon, go with i7... cause I can sorta tell by the question that you're looking for a dollar for dollar value, vs the power-by-order-of-magnitude when your buying nodes with dual processors, legions of cores, and 24/7 reliability, which is really what Xeon's are all a about. i7 will out perform a Xeon bought with the same money, especially if you push them.

at least, that's how I see it.

[bennyboy]

Thanks Duke, I've got one.
BTW, I've got an i7...a few unexplained crashes the last month or so...had Xeon's before, never remember a single blue screen, at least not until my fans burned. Happened yesterday on a tight deadline...kinda sucks having say, "sorry for the delay, but we're having technical difficulties". Point is, there REALLY is something to be said for reliability over power - to a certain point, of course.

[JezUK]

Actually I have already bought 4 machines wiht 3930K. Working really nicely.

Hi baastyan,

Can you give me the specs for your 4 machines please ?

I'm pricing up my first homebased rendernodes and would like ideas for what I'm letting myself in for in terms of price, hardware and software as well.

(I build my own machines, currently using a 4930k oc'd to 4.25ghz, but this is a new branch out for me).

Thanks.

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

Hyea

Just an idea but on Ebay you can get entire quad /6 core servers for around 300-400£ second handed. For the price of 4 i7 3930k you can get like 10+ servers with the same power non OC rigs. Its way better buy than i7 tbh...

[Morbid Angel]

Hyea

Just an idea but on Ebay you can get entire quad /6 core servers for around 300-400£ second handed. For the price of 4 i7 3930k you can get like 10+ servers with the same power non OC rigs. Its way better buy than i7 tbh...

very much agreed.

[JezUK]

Hyea

Just an idea but on Ebay you can get entire quad /6 core servers for around 300-400£ second handed. For the price of 4 i7 3930k you can get like 10+ servers with the same power non OC rigs. Its way better buy than i7 tbh...

Sorry, I misunderstand your point (sorry, I'm learning things here) - you're saying for the same price, I can have 10 machines instead of 4 ?

If anything I'd prefer these to take less space, so 4 would actually be better to me than 10, but also, for dynamic rendering, I'm guessing the i7's would be quicker ?

In any case what quad/6 core servers are you referring to (model) ?

Many thanks.

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

Sorry, I misunderstand your point (sorry, I'm learning things here) - you're saying for the same price, I can have 10 machines instead of 4 ?

If anything I'd prefer these to take less space, so 4 would actually be better to me than 10, but also, for dynamic rendering, I'm guessing the i7's would be quicker ?

In any case what quad/6 core servers are you referring to (model) ?

Many thanks.

I mean you could haver gotten this :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-C7000-B...item19d5e4e8a5

Which will take less space than your 4 computers

And that will give you 300 ghz of power :- )

Then again this is a 5 second find with and old cpus. I bought from them a server that had 8 x new 6 core CPUS which are totally awesome

They have different offers every month so its all about bargain scouting

[AlexP]

I mean you could haver gotten this :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-C7000-B...item19d5e4e8a5

Which will take less space than your 4 computers

And that will give you 300 ghz of power :- )

Then again this is a 5 second find with and old cpus. I bought from them a server that had 8 x new 6 core CPUS which are totally awesome

They have different offers every month so its all about bargain scouting

These things are a bitch to power and cool though.

[JezUK]

I mean you could haver gotten this :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-C7000-B...item19d5e4e8a5

Which will take less space than your 4 computers

And that will give you 300 ghz of power :- )

Then again this is a 5 second find with and old cpus. I bought from them a server that had 8 x new 6 core CPUS which are totally awesome

They have different offers every month so its all about bargain scouting

Yeah, this is what I want !

Thanks man

But....... I know very little about this sort of hardware - in fact, I'm struggling to even understand exactly how many nodes/cores etc are in the ebay config you attached.

And.... is that weight correct (on that ebay item) ?? 200+ kgs ?? Surely not

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

Yea it might be 200kg.,.. Its very heavy as its metal and hard stuff... !

Its 16 nodes. Each node has 2x 4core CPU and 16 gb ram. They are OLD cpus ! If you dig more you can find newer ones for simmilar price Also you need an separate room for it...

They are just like normal pcs. Just very tightly packed...

[JezUK]

Yea it might be 200kg.,.. Its very heavy as its metal and hard stuff... !

Its 16 nodes. Each node has 2x 4core CPU and 16 gb ram. They are OLD cpus ! If you dig more you can find newer ones for simmilar price Also you need an separate room for it...

They are just like normal pcs. Just very tightly packed...

Yeah, I don't think I can go down that road - nice and convenient as it seems, that weight plus noise/heat would be too much for my current working arrangements

I'm really keen to learn more about how to have 4 x 4930 and connect them all up - many many years ago I did have my own 3 machine network and used a Belkin KVM switchbox - but that was a long time ago, how do people do this stuff nowadays ? (be nice if baastyan got back on here )