Intel Quad Cores - Core 2 Extreme QX6700

[sv]

http://www.nordichardware.com/Review...lse=491&page=6

I think they are a bit new to have had any Vray Benchmark tests, so generally speaking, would people rate these?

There are actually 4 physical processors, but i think they are in pairs of two which share a FSB? (might be wrong here...)

We are not sure whether to get 3 QX6700's, or 4 of the E6600's...
There are pro's and con's for each...

[jujubee]

They're socket 775 - so fortunately there's a lot of RAM available. However, there aren't any Dual boards in socket 775. If you want that dual-quad option there are some server Xeon 5000 series (I forget the exact number.) You need specific ECC RAM for those.

As to waiting, supposedly this month AMD will launch their 4x4 socket AM2 motherboards which can run AM2 X2s. This provides a quad solution running on separate buses. They'll be under $1,000 (perhaps with motherboard) versus $1,200-1400 for the Intel QX6700s. AMD promises that you will be able to upgrade that board to their Quads in 2007. However, it appears on the 4x4 that you will be limited to 4 gigs memory max. Tihs remains to be seen.

Personally, I'd wait a couple more weeks for the benchmarks and see what AMD has up their sleeve.

[sv]

The Intel D975XBX2 Mainboard can house them. Not too sure what socket 775 is - please excuse my ignorance, but we've been quoted using PC6400 DDR-2 800MHz RAM.....? (Really doesn't make much scense to me apart from someone is telling me we can buy them)

We've got all intel machines here - there is a mix between Xeons and P4's, but we've steared clear of buying AMD because many years ago there was a reported problem with Intel and AMD machines rendering frames slightly darker than each other. I remember reading a lot about it, and as we had more Intel's we've kept the farm to be Intel only to avoid this problem.

Not sure if this is still a problem today with having mixed Intel and AMD in a farm? I know that Vray 1.5 RC3 is compiled with a newer version of the Intel C++ compiler - maybe there is someone who could give an update?

Personnally, i have actually used mixed AMD and Intel before and it was fine, but we do a lot of animation work and i don't need problems like that if i can avoid them, so for now, it's only Intel.........even though i'd like to be using Dual Opterons....

[jujubee]

LGA775 is the socket that the QX6700 uses. And that Axe motherboard is a socket LGA775. But it is no dual processor motherboard - will run 1 quad yes:

http://www.intel.com/products/mother...XBX2/index.htm

And no I dont have a problem with a mixed farm. But if you can't wait and want to spend that cash on something bleeding-edge that will drop possibly within two weeks - well, nothing is stopping you.

[sv]

noted.

[mike.edel]

you may want to look at
http://www.chaosgroup.com/forum/phpB...378&highlight=
scroll down for some cinebench scores of different core duos (those should give a hint on how vray would scale)

i just read that the quad-core amds are supposed to hit market in mid-2007 - a bit long i think

[SteveC]

Hi all,

The dual quads are the 5300 series, Boxx have got a range of dual quad
core systems in their 8300 series, tasty and pricey

[MegaPixel]

I still can't beleive Intel has pledged 80 core processors within 5 years. That would mean several core revelations between now and then. I'm guessing by mid next year, Intel will be announcing the doubling of it's cores again. AMD has got to get their market delivery under control or they're doomed. Personally I've never been a huge fan of the Xeon product line. They've never impressed me much as a single core processor or even doubled up.

[Morbid Angel]

I heard that the current plan is to double the cores every 6 month. In my opinion while its a good thing strategicly and financially, I think they can make 100 core cpu now. But most likely no system would support it.