X2 4200s or dual Opteron

[arobbert]

I’m going to buy some nodes for my farm and considering two options. I can buy 5 X2 4200s now or I can wait until mid February and take advantage of the AMD price drop on Opterons. At that time I will be able to buy 3 dual (dual core) 275 machines for about the same price.

My gut tells me that I will get more bang for the buck with 5 X2s but I’m not sure. I do mostly distributed render still images and 5 more nodes will max out 10 connections. Plus it seems there would be a loss of efficiency because each X2 will have to have it’s own network connection (more files to transfer more network activity). The Opteron will use one connection for two processors. Plus there are issues of electrical use and heat generation. I’m also a little worried that my file server will bog down.

I guess if I was sure I would get significantly more render power I would go with the X2 4200s. Does anyone have any suggestions or opinions on this? Thanks!

[arobbert]

I posted this same question on the Autodesk hardware forum and got some interesting information.

"Tough call. I like the X2 systems a lot, based on a couple of reasons.

To get an idea of the performance metrics of each CPU, we can base this
using the 3ds max 7.0 scores as reported by GamePC:
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_cont...d=a64x2&page=7
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_cont...eron275&page=7

Benchmark scores:
1 x X2 4200: 161
2 x Opteron 275: 144
(lower times are better)

Given this, we can see that a dual Opteron 275 system kinda spanks the single X2 in rendering tasks, being around 10% faster. No surprise, as you are pitting 4
CPUs of computing horsepower against 2, and 3ds max/VIZ is one of the few apps that can actually use these extra CPUs. But is that 10% enough to make your rendering farm better? Especially since there seems to be a point of diminshing returns after 2 CPUs in max.

At the hardware level, the Opterons give you 3 boxes to deal with instead of 5. That means a savings by not having to pay for 2 extra systems, not to mention lower shipping costs. This savings is somewhat offset by the added cost of each dual Opteron system, however. We can probably call the price a draw. Network connections are essentially free and not part of the cost issue.

In terms of power consumption, GamePC's benchmarks show the Opteron systems consume 282 Watts under full load, while the X2 only consumes 181 Watts. A 3-system Opteron farm is 846 Watts, while the 5-system X2 farm is 905 Watts. Thus, the Opteron farm will cost about 7% less to operate, which is also about a wash.

But to make a final determination we must compare IF the additional 2 X2
systems make your distributed rendering system more efficient and make up for the slower rendering times against fewer Opterons.

Let's assume a single X2 will render a scene in 10 hours. Given the benchmarks above, one dual-CPU Opteron system will render the same scene based on the equation

[(10 / 161) = (x / 144)]

Solving for X = 8.94 hours for the Opteron system.

Assuming the additional systems in the rendering farm divide a task equally, 5 X2 systems would render the scene in only 2 hours. However, 3 Opteron system would render the scene in 8.94 / 3 = 2.98 hours. 4 Opteron systems would finish
in 2.23 hours. It would take 5 Opteron systems to see any time savings!

Conclusions:

The marginally faster rendering times provided by the Opteron do not scale against using more but slower X2 systems in this scenario. At this level it takes the same number of Opterons to beat the same number of X2 systems.

Go with the 5 X2 systems.

Matt
mstachoni@comcast.net
mstachoni@bhhtait.com"

You can read the whole thread at:

http://discussion.autodesk.com/threa...69212&#5069212

[serge]

it would be interesting that you use the bench test we have in this forum
for your calcul

http://www.chaosgroup.com/forum/phpB...asc&highlight=

what i've seen is

athlon x2 4200 360s
athlon x2 4200 322s oc
athlon x2 4400 347s
opteron 275 200s
opteron 275 139s oc

[arobbert]

Yeah, I've been looking at those too. The thing is that the Opteron figures are for dual processors, so if you had two X2 4200 for $198 less (if comparing the 275 price) your ender time would be in the range of 1.5 min for less cost.

X2 4200 2 gig ram $1148 x2= 2296
Dual Opteron 275 4 gig ram= 2494

198 dollars less for two x2 4200. That savings would add up to a free node after buying six units.

[serge]

i'm here looking for new nodes for my renderfarm
my personal advice is ''wait and see'' if opteron price are going down like i saw in mid feb i personaly wait for this

[arobbert]

Yeah I know, but the above prices already reflect the forcasted price drop. $363 on the 275 down to $700. The X2s have already been reduced. From what I've read AMD will have a new line of chips out this spring. I don't want to wait that long but when those chips are released the Opterons will really drop. I bet that won't be until mid spring though, but who knows?

[jujubee]

AMD is supposed to be releasing 4 core chips next year... Guess it depends on how long you want to wait...

[arobbert]

AMD is supposed to be releasing 4 core chips next year... Guess it depends on how long you want to wait...

Wow drool!

[Da_elf]

sheesh. dropping those in the 8 chip system here in T5OT we would have a 8/16/32 system