Is there better option than i7-6950X ?

[lukx]

I'm wondering if there is better price wise and performance wis3 option than intel i7-6950X. Im lost in all xeon models so im not sure if for that price i could put together 2x xeons and still beat this new 10 core i7 ?

[Morne]

How about 2 X 6700
or 2 X 6800?

Price VS performance, I don't see why I have to pay so much more for a 6950

[lukx]

I need solution for strong workstation so no 2 x pc option.

I'm thinking: 2x Xeon E5-2630 v4 same price as one 6950 but I will have double the cores.

[werticus]

you really need to factor in overclocking.

[1=2]

Hi,
We are in similar position and after reading a lot, came up with decision to buy 2X E5-2683 v4 or maybe E5-2687W v4( for daily tasks). Cost for a such machine is around twice the price of such with i7 6950X, at least here in Bulgaria. Workstation with 2X E5 - 2630 v4 is on par in terms of costs with i7 6950X and theoretically around 10-15 % faster in rendering speed.
Long time i7 user here

[Sbrusse]

I'd push for a dual 2696 v4 from ebay

[Paul Oblomov]

Don't buy remarked chips And beware of cpu stepping. For now no problem mb - msi for single. And supermicro or latest revisions of asus d16 (tho, they can fail under some conditions)

[Sbrusse]

We are thinking of getting a few 2680 V4 ES, they are dirt cheap, what do you think?

[JezUK]

My anecdotal experience, having a OC'd 5960x at home versus a Dual E5-2696v3 at work is that whilst the Dual Xeon is twice as fast rendering wise, my i7 feels and is so much more responsive and snappier feeling. (I built both machines). Given that small amount of experience, I'd be more reluctant to get another Xeon.

But, yes, the price of the new 6950x is eye-watering.

[benb32]

My anecdotal experience, having a OC'd 5960x at home versus a Dual E5-2696v3 at work is that whilst the Dual Xeon is twice as fast rendering wise, my i7 feels and is so much more responsive and snappier feeling. (I built both machines). Given that small amount of experience, I'd be more reluctant to get another Xeon.

But, yes, the price of the new 6950x is eye-watering.

I have to agree with the feeling and responsiveness between i7 and Xeons. Other than pure rendering and simulation throughput - the higher single core clock speed of an i7 does help a lot when most of the things in max run on a single thread. Most of the advantages of having an i7 are reduced with the 6950x as it's single core speed is lower than an i7 with fewer cores. For me personally, 6 cores seems to be the sweet spot. If you are going for the top of the range i7, then going for a dual CPU xeon should be considered as another option.

[werticus]

If it is a workstation that does some rendering you want an i7 for the single higher clock speeds, and if it is a render node you might want xeons.

I've not done the maths in the last two years, but every other time i did the math it was always better to just get more i7 boxes vs multi cpu boxes.

[lukx]

ok thanks everybody, in this case it will be i7-6950X oc'ed to 4 Ghz

[mitviz]

i have also the 5960, better you get some xeons

[lukx]

still can't decide

Wish there were some 3d rendering tests to really see the difference in speed.

Basically what I narrowed all this to is:
1x Xeon E5-2680 v4 3.30 14cores
2 x Xeon E5-2640 v4 3.40 10cores
2 x Xeon E5-2630 v4 3.10 10cores
i7-6950X 3.50
i7-6900K 3.70

I'm really looking for to see best price to speed ratio.

Again it's for workstation so I'm looking for thing that will give me quick render scene preview and simulations (fluid, particles).

[chriserskine]

arnt there problems doing sims on dual cpu systems?

where you lose a lot of speed when the transfer data between each other?

I don't have any dual xeons to test this theory and I've only had phoenix for a week.

but just now testing it on a 6700k @ 4.5 vs a 6900k @ 4

and the 6900k is better.

if you can get a 6950k to 4ghz.

then that's probably a good option