i7 Processors..any good ?

[stevesideas]

Does anyone have any experience with them for rendering ? Are they a lot quicker than the xeon processors ? Just wondering about bang per buck..

Steve

[voxel3d]

Hi. I just put one of these together and they are really freaking fast... I tested it with a scene I brought from the office and overclocked at 3.6GHz (which was so easy it's not even funny), core i7 was 125% faster than a Core 2 Quad 2.4GHz - that's over twice as fast!

Main problem for it is that you need DDR3 ram which is much more expensive than DDR2, but it's coming down really fast (I spent US$600 on 12GB a bit over a month ago and you can now get the same for US$400 - yeah, I'm kicking myself.)

Also, the motherboards are still on the expensive side and that's not gonna change till mid-2009 when they come out with the mainstream parts - just bear in mind they'll use a different socket (so no compatibility between mainstream and high-end CPUs / MBs) and have dual-channel as opposed to triple-channel RAM. I don't know if VRay makes use of all the extra bandwidth triple-channel offers but there's a speedup there probably.

If you ask me if I'd recommend it, definitely yes. It's a very good part. It's not horribly expensive (the i7 920, at least).

Cheers,

Jorge

[RE:FORM_STUDIOS]

So let me get this straight, a i920 clocked from 2.4 to 3.6 is 125% faster than a stock speed q6600 ? Noiiiiiice
I wonder if you got lucky on the OC, is that on air? I have a Q6600 and it doesnt like going over 3ghz... then again I've not played too much with the vcore and other voltage settings.

Damn, that i7 is looking well tasty... wish some of these computer stores were copying the high-street shops with 50-70% discounts!

Still, it looks like a definate purchase before the end of the tax year.

[stevesideas]

This one looks awesome.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...che-8MB-Retail

Bloody expensive though.

Is this the one you are talking about?:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...che-8MB-Retail

Much better value for money... Very tempted to get a couple of these before the end of the tax year

Re:form, just wait a while and there may be another company going into liquidation...not a nice thing to hope for though...

[stevesideas]

This is what Im thinking about getting so far - attachment. (www.scan.co.uk)

Also need to think about: case, gfx card (nothing special - just a render node), hard-drive (probably 1tb western digital)...a few other bits.

What do you think ? Better than a dual xeon system I reckon..especially when comparing bang per buck.

[duke2]

I was going to put something like this together:
Processor INTEL CORE i7 920
Motherboard Gigabyte GA EX58 EXTREME
Memory Corsair TR3X6G1333C9 (6gb kit, would get more of this same make/model to get 8gb)

[stevesideas]

I think I'll stick with the asus mobo. It seems to be getting good reviews here: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...eluxe/comments

Are there any benefits to getting the Gigabyte mobo ?

Do the standard ATX cases support the i7 mobos ?

[voxel3d]

My OC to 3.6GHz is on air and at stock voltages, ie, didn't have to tweak a thing to get there. I'm pretty sure I can get it faster but then I have to start getting into the voltages etc and I just can't be bothered... especially since it's friggin' fast already! The mobo I bought is the Asus Rampage II Extreme, which is I think the most expensive one out right now and should be the best at OC'ing but there's no reason any other board out there shouldn't reach the same OC as I did since it's all stock voltages anyways.

And yeah I'm wondering why I bought it if I'm not pushing it harder... maybe later

edit: The cooler I'm using is the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme 1366 edition or something like that (stupid long names!), I'm not sure if a stock cooler would handle this OC.

edit2: Steve, that hardware config looks nice, I would only mention that you can probably get away with slower RAM (DDR-1333) and save some - maybe a lot of - money in the process... I think I paid less than those 370 pounds for my full 12GBs! Oh and yes, ATX cases work fine for these.

edit3: I've just been reading this : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ck,2112-6.html They overclock an i7 920 to 3.7GHz on the stock intel cooler - it runs a little hot but it's definitely doable!

Cheers,

Jorge

[stevesideas]

Sounds very cool. Yeah, the saving money sounds like a good idea.

[duke2]

Check this out:

http://www.overclockers.com.au/files...2.12_(ENG).pdf

[beestee]

I have been told it would be best to wait for more options on MBs, and by then RAM cost will be down somewhat...but from my knowledge of the hardware market it seems that processor prices usually spike once demand for them increases. Maybe now is a good time to invest in the processor, and get the rest of the components later once the proc becomes more mainstream?

[lukx]

I'm waiting for xeon versions of i7 and then will buy two quad xeons and will be set for at least another 2 years

[stevesideas]

I'm waiting for xeon versions of i7 and then will buy two quad xeons and will be set for at least another 2 years

I was thinking about this, but the performance offered by 2 dual xeons that will most likely be priced at about £800, possibly more, doesnt convince me thats a good idea. Especially when, by the time they come out, the i920 will probably have dropped.

[Morne]

I'm waiting for xeon versions of i7 and then will buy two quad xeons and will be set for at least another 2 years

The problem of waiting for something better is by the time its here, there's already something better to wait for

[beestee]

It seems that the xeon i7 will be based around more mainstream/forward compatible hardware, so your upgrade path could be significantly longer than with the current i7. Perhaps that is one feature worth waiting for, even with something better in the works beyond it.