Intel D verses AMD X2

[arobbert]

I'm in the process of specifying some new render nodes.

I know that the X2's are the hot ticket right now but I'm wondering if anyone has tested any of the Intel D series (D 930, D 940) with hyperthreading. They seem to do pretty well against the x2 4800 and are similar in price for a prebuilt system. See these bench marks:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/...lt/page16.html

I've read that these chips can run four threads. It seems like you would get four buckets per chip with these. Two from the dual core and two more with the hyper threading. I've always had good luck with hyper threading and get 4 buckets with my dual xeons.

It looks like the prices on the intels have come down (I guess I expected they would). I'm also wondering if this will lower the cost of the X2's soon. Has anyone noticed?

Does everyone still feel that AMD is the best bang for the buck considering the current Intel prices?

[cpnichols]

I think when it comes to raytracing the AMDs are still far ahead of the Intels. Everything I have seen seems to point that way. Mainly because the Core on the AMD communicate betwen eachother at the speed of the processor (as opposed to the speed of of the FSB on the Inel), and the memory bandwidth and speed is much faster on the AMDs as well. Generally the Float operations are much faster on the AMDs which also is the key factor for raytracing.

[arobbert]

I think when it comes to raytracing the AMDs are still far ahead of the Intels. Everything I have seen seems to point that way. Mainly because the Core on the AMD communicate betwen eachother at the speed of the processor (as opposed to the speed of of the FSB on the Inel), and the memory bandwidth and speed is much faster on the AMDs as well. Generally the Float operations are much faster on the AMDs which also is the key factor for raytracing.

Thanks. That must be why there is more of a difference in the Vray results compared to standard multi threading tests.

[SteveC]

I agree with cpnichols, I'm running a X2 4800 with 4gig ram and a dual xeon 3.2 with 2gig of ram and i have noticed that the amd absolutely powers through anything raytraced, it's noticably faster than the dual xeon setup in the raytrace department.

see ya
steve

[studioDIM]

I think when it comes to raytracing the AMDs are still far ahead of the Intels. Everything I have seen seems to point that way. Mainly because the Core on the AMD communicate betwen eachother at the speed of the processor (as opposed to the speed of of the FSB on the Inel), and the memory bandwidth and speed is much faster on the AMDs as well. Generally the Float operations are much faster on the AMDs which also is the key factor for raytracing.

Ditto!

By far the best choice.

re,
Lele

[cpnichols]

I agree with cpnichols, I'm running a X2 4800 with 4gig ram and a dual xeon 3.2 with 2gig of ram and i have noticed that the amd absolutely powers through anything raytraced, it's noticably faster than the dual xeon setup in the raytrace department.

see ya
steve

to be fair... the xeon 3.2 is pretty old compared to a Pentium D... nonetheless, based on what I have been reading the X2s are stil much faster then the D's...

But what do I know... I still have a dual AMD 2600+... HAHA... I'm too lazy to buy a new computer.... plus I am trying to buy a house and having a Baby... My wife woudl kill me if I bought a new workstation.

[arobbert]

Thanks everyone for your replies. The Vray benchmarks support your views.

I'm thinking about getting some render nodes. Any feedback would be appreciated. Bare in mind that I'm buying a 3 year warranty on parts and labor for $125 and the price is deliverd to my door ready to run. $1650 USD

Case- Antec Sonata II Piano Black-120 mm tri cool fan w 450 watt
power supply (I wonder if I can get by with less watts)

Mother board- Asus A8N-VM CSM

Case Fan- 120mm - Antec 120mm SmartCool, additional cooling for case (I wonder if I need this?)

Processor- Athlon 64 X2 4800+ with Shin-Etsu G675 Thermal Grease

Cpu cooling- Thermaltake A1770 AMD Opteron/64 Heatsink

Memory- DDR (400) PC 3200 - 2 GB (2 pcs 1GB) OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K

Hardrive- SATA - Western Digital (WD360GD) 36 GB/10 10,000 rpm
(I wonder if I'll notice a difference compared to a 7200 for a render node)

CD rom- cheapy

OS- Win XP pro

[arobbert]

I was hoping I could catch a price drop! I love it when that happens. It appears that AMD lowered their prices a bit see link:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29095

This seems to be reflected in the prices I've been getting today.
$355 down from $400 on the 4200 and $630 on the 4800 down from $787. :P

[RErender]

This is interesting too http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29195

[arobbert]

Yes that is very interesting. But the X2 still seems like the way to go even after the price drop.

This will make for a very interesting year for workstations. I hope AMD really puts the screws to the big monopoly Intel. And We'll all get faster computers for less money

[PixelJockey]

For those of you who can't wait to read another AMD vs. Intel dual core shootout article, here is the latest CNET version.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10442_7....html?tag=lnav

[studioDIM]

For those of you who can't wait to read another AMD vs. Intel dual core shootout article, here is the latest CNET version.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10442_7....html?tag=lnav

what a bash...