Is 3Delight optimized to utilize Intel Xeon processors?
mwasielewski1990
Posts: 343
As the topic states:
Where can I find information about how manu cpu cores / threads does 3Delight use? Is buying a used Xeon workstation a good idea if I only work with 3DL?
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I have a Threadripper; I don't use 3Delight as a rule, but it did seem to use all 16 cores 32 threads when I tried it.
There are people using old dual socket Mobo Xeon servers to render with 3Delight. An old workstation should work fine.
my current setup is a Dual LGA Workstation with 2x 8-core Xeons with Hyperthreading.
I mainly use 3delight as my render engine. I can confirm that the system uses all 16 cores and all 32 threads.
Thanks for all the answers guys.
Which model of Xeons do you exaclty have? Can you reccomend any particular model?
Right now I am running dual LGA e5-2680 Socket 2011 Xeons. I was using dual LGA X5675 Socket 1366 Xeons before that setup. The e5-2680 configuration is about 35-40% faster ( identical scenes needed 35-40% less time to finish ).
You should look für the older Socket2011 Workstations like the HP z620. Since enterprise hardware gets outdated very fast, those workstations usually have significant price drops shortly afer a new generation is introduced.
Generally when it comes to the price/performance ratio, I would recommend a dual e5-2670 or ( 2680, 2690 ) first generation ( non-v2, v3, v4 ). Just make sure that you choose a model that has a turbo boost of at least 3,3Ghz or higher, since the turbo boost clock speed drops quite a bit when all cores are used. My 2680's have a turbo boost of 3.5ghz but while rendering, it drops to 3,1Ghz.
Wouldn't you want more cores over higher clock? 3Delight isn't my thing but I work with Xeons in my work life quite a lot and those low core Xeon's are considered pretty worthless for most uses.
when it comes to 3delight, the performance increases are higher when it comes to additional cores. My experience is, that an aditional core/Thread is better than a few hundred Mhz. That said, a higher clock-speed is obviously also faster than a lower clock-speed, but based on my experience I would always go for more cores in the first place. But I was also focussing on the prices, you have to pay for a setup like that. You can easily go for 10 oder 12-cores even on the S2011 plattform ( like the e5-2697v2 with 12C/24T ) But you are probably going to spend four or five times as much USD for them as you would have to for the first e5 generation.
What are you paying for those 8 core chips? I'm find the 12 core ones for around $300 on Ebay.
I got two 2680s together as a pair for around 160 USD. Last time i checked, they went for ca 70 to 75 USD per chip. The 12-core 2697v2 are definately on my wishlist and i`ll pull the trigger as soon as the prices drop to 350 - 400 USD for a pair.