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Compuer Spec_ CPU & GPU question

sahebfahmi_18ba20182asahebfahmi_18ba20182a Posts: 33
edited December 1969 in Carrara Discussion

Hi all,

I know this might be a repeated question (as I remeber I read something about this subjecta while ago but don't know where).

I am about to build / buy a PC desktop that is the best I can get as a home user and wondered if anyone has an experience with using the AMD FX-8350 (8 core)?

Can anyone please tell if the i7 series like i7 4770 is better (from experience) than the AMD FX series?

I think using 8 core CPU will make rendering faster (as it is like 8 computer rendering farm) instead of 4....I read that the single core performance of the i7 is better than the core of FX-8350.

Also about the GPU, do you think that GTX 660 will be all what I need? I read once that GPU's more than this will have a little better performance that is not recognized.... anyone can help (from experience) please?

Really appreciate your help in advance.

By the way I use carrara 8 renderer and Lux renderer and thinking of using Octane (that is why I am not thinking of AMD GPU's).

Comments

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    edited December 1969

    I built mine using the earlier released FX 8, and the low-end one at that. For comparing specs, Here is the outdated FX8 I bought.
    I got a good power supply, decent, yet not high-end motherboard that accepts enough RAM, and started with 16GB RAM (mb can take up to 32)

    Before this, I had a dual core cpu with 4 GB RAM.

    I am absolutely amazed at the difference this eight core makes. Not just in Carrara, but everything!
    I still have my Core2Duo machine, and rendering with it is so boring. My eight core powerhouse just blows it away!

    Hope that helps.

    I have a brief article about it here:
    ► How to Build Your Own Carrara Workstation
    I am using Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I just read in a post here that 16GB is the max RAM that OS will accept. So you may want to keep that in mind. I must say, however, that I've never noticed (yet) a need for more... or even that much.

    I also have adopted the habit of building my air-cooled computers with filters on all intake fans. First I used Thermaltake cases, which worked amazingly well. Not having enough in my last budget for a higher-end Thermaltake, I bought an Antec Three Hundred - Two case, and I love it.

    I also didn't want to screw around trying to keep a tiny HDD clean all the time. Sure, I like to keep my HDD clean... but at the time, SSD were really expensive for still pretty small data storage. So I went with a 1.5TB SATA 6GB/sec internal... works great and saves me a ton of headaches. Rendering animation files takes a lot of space. Many argue this point... one day I'll try for an SSD solution, perhaps... I've always had good luck with these glass discs though ;)

    Oh... also:
    Philip Staiger of Project Dogwaffle uses an i7 with eight logical cores from a quad, and it looks to be just as fast... so the choice between them is yours. I have realized that benchmarking only goes so far. I like to pick my cpu by user satisfaction, and the motherboard selection available at the time of the build. Heck, I am even using the stock cooler, since many people said that it was a decent fan, and my case is very flow-efficient. I love it! Just over two years now and it's running like new!

  • sahebfahmi_18ba20182asahebfahmi_18ba20182a Posts: 33
    edited December 1969

    Many thanks Dartanbeck, very prompt reply which I appreciate.
    So you are saying that the 8 core AMD is working very good with you (I say this becasue many people crtisized the AMD CPU's).

    Also the benchmarking tests are mostly for games not 3d programs.

    About the graphics card? what do you think? do you have any experience with the GTX 660? is it sufficient or should I go up to GTX 770, these are gaming GPU as I read, but the Quadro they are recommending are very expensive.

    Many thanks again good man.

  • Gusf1Gusf1 Posts: 257
    edited December 1969

    From everything I have read, the only reason to go to a more powerfull graphics card, is if you go for the GPU renderers like Octane or Cycles. Then you should also go for more graphics memory also as that will decide the size of the scene you can render. My 660 has 2 GB and I haven't had any problems with it yet but, I haven't gotten into GPU rendering yet.
    Gus

  • sahebfahmi_18ba20182asahebfahmi_18ba20182a Posts: 33
    edited December 1969

    Gusf1 said:
    From everything I have read, the only reason to go to a more powerfull graphics card, is if you go for the GPU renderers like Octane or Cycles. Then you should also go for more graphics memory also as that will decide the size of the scene you can render. My 660 has 2 GB and I haven't had any problems with it yet but, I haven't gotten into GPU rendering yet.
    Gus

    Many thanks mate,

    SO you have GTX660... good. Did not you even try octane?
    What CPU do you have with it? Ram?

    Can I ask you if you tried Lumion _http://lumion3d.com/_ on your system? it concentrate on real time veiwports.

    Many thanks mate again.

  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    " I am using Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I just read in a post here that 16GB is the max RAM that OS will accept. So you may want to keep that in mind. I must say, however, that I’ve never noticed (yet) a need for more… or even that much. "

    are you sure ?
    I am using windows 7 pro and it will use all the ram you can put in your computer .

    I have a AMD (8 core) works great .

  • FenricFenric Posts: 351
    edited December 1969

    Windows 7 Pro is not the same as Windows 7 Home. The home version is limited.

    I have an i7-970 6-core (12 thread), 24 GB, and an NVidia 580 - runs beautifully. I use Carrara, Maya, Poser, and Visual Studio ;)

    I'm running my core clock at 150 MHz instead of 133, giving 3.6 GHz at the processor and 1666 MHz for the RAM.

    Can't really speak for Intel being "better" than AMD, as like most people I've never had both at the same time. I certainly like the speed that my 12 little boxes work across the screen during a Carrara render - I almost never bother with Carrara rendernodes aymore (but I don't do animation, either).

  • Gusf1Gusf1 Posts: 257
    edited December 1969

    mo-fahmi said:
    Gusf1 said:
    From everything I have read, the only reason to go to a more powerfull graphics card, is if you go for the GPU renderers like Octane or Cycles. Then you should also go for more graphics memory also as that will decide the size of the scene you can render. My 660 has 2 GB and I haven't had any problems with it yet but, I haven't gotten into GPU rendering yet.
    Gus

    Many thanks mate,

    SO you have GTX660... good. Did not you even try octane?
    What CPU do you have with it? Ram?

    Can I ask you if you tried Lumion _http://lumion3d.com/_ on your system? it concentrate on real time veiwports.

    Many thanks mate again.

    I've never tried octane, I hear you have to pay for it and I haven't gotten that heavily into these things yet. I've been following the discussions about Cycles and blender because they are free.
    I have an AMD 1100t 6-core system with 16 GB of ram. I've never heard of Lumion. It looks really nice from the site, but WAYY out of my price range.
    Gus

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,583
    edited December 1969

    Yes, I'm saying that I love the AMD FX8. I also like Philips i7...

    I started off with a very inexpensive GTS 570 that was on sale. I saddened me to have to replace it recently. The fan bearing went and was making too much noise for me to handle. Just one of those things. Well I found a ATI card on sale that is meant to compete with the GTX 770. Dual huge fans, giant copper tubes... heavy-duty dual slot XFX card. I don't notice a difference at all in Carrara, and I don't play games on that machine. If I ever end up switching to something like Octane, I wouldn't include that in the initial build if I had to watch my coins. GPU render solutions, I think, are going to want a really high-end graphics card... so I'd plan to upgrade that separate from the main computer build. But that's just my thinking.

  • sahebfahmi_18ba20182asahebfahmi_18ba20182a Posts: 33
    edited December 1969

    bigh,

    Many thanks mate, so what we hear about the AMD latest CPU issues are not very accurate!!! Good news as I am wanting to buy it for the sake of the 8 core.

    Fenric,

    Man, you have a very good spec for your computer and it must costed you a lot, many thanks.

    Gusf1

    Thanks mate, Lumion is expensive but it also has a free version which lets you work on it bit with watermark and limited contents.

    Dartanbeck,

    So you say that the advanced ATI GPU didn't make that much of a difference in the rendering time, good, this means that a good CPU will do most of the job not the GPU, many thanks.

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