3D artists rejoice at Core i7 performance!

[krazynutz]

I'm a 3D artist and I just upgraded my OC'd Q6600 system to an OC'd i7 920 system.

And all I have to say is WOW.

Old system
Q6600 @ 3.2Ghz (1.35v) 24-hr Prime stable
Asus P5B Deluxe
4GB DDR2 800
Win XP 32-bit

New system
Core i7 920 @ 3.8Ghz (1.275v) 24-hr Prime stable
Asus P6T
6GB DDR3 1600
Win Vista 64-bit

I set up a 3ds max 2009 benchmark scene.

Old system @ 3.2Ghz - 61 secs
New system @ 3.2Ghz - 39 secs
New system @ 3.8Ghz - 33 secs

That's almost twice as fast.

Just thought I'd share for any other 3D artists out there. Totally worth the upgrade - especially if you sell off your old parts.

(DISCLAIMER) My old system could go to 3.6Ghz but @ 1.525v and temps in the high 60's = not worth it. My new system hits 4Ghz stable but @ 1.325v and temps in the low 80's. Again, too much v & t increase for too little payoff. So my "almost twice as fast" statement is based on max safe/reasonable overclocks, not max capable. I prefer longevity because I sell my old parts.

 

[krazynutz]

And, dude, the return of Hyperthreading is awesome. Makes a 30% difference in render time! I turned it off and my 33 sec render jumped up to 42!

It's back on now

HT4LIFE!

 

[pizap]

I am having trouble with my i7 OC, if you would not mind sharing your settings i would appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[krazynutz]

I don't know my exact settings offhand, but here's the review I used to get my voltages and settings:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2008/11/06/overclocking-intel-core-i7-920/3

Only difference is my voltages are a bit lower because I stopped at 3.8Ghz.

 

[Raviolissimo]

Old system
Q6600 @ 3.2Ghz (1.35v) 24-hr Prime stable
Asus P5B Deluxe
4GB DDR2 800
Win XP 32-bit

New system
Core i7 920 @ 3.8Ghz (1.275v) 24-hr Prime stable
Asus P6T
6GB DDR3 1600
Win Vista 64-bit

I set up a 3ds max 2009 benchmark scene.

Old system @ 3.2Ghz - 61 secs
New system @ 3.2Ghz - 39 secs
New system @ 3.8Ghz - 33 secs

That's almost twice as fast.

sounds good. i started with 3D in 1988, what a change. for my first system, RAM was $500 - per megabyte; we got 10 MB.

right now i got a Q9550, purchased in October 2008. it's a bit of hassle to transfer licenses etc. so i don't do it too often.

a doubling of speed pretty much makes it worth the while, though !

how is it working with particles ? i have Max 7 on a 3.6 GHz P4, those tutorials are great - better than Max 9. but it's too slow to have particles enabled.

can you scrub the playhead and the particles will do their motion, without bogging down the machine ?

 

[krazynutz]

Ravio, Sorry for the delay. I haven't messed with particles on my machine yet but I can guarantee it'll be a hell of a lot better than a 3.6Ghz P4 - especially with 4GB+ RAM. Not sure how it'll compare to your Q9550 rig. Are you close to a Micro Center? They sell the i7 920 for $229. I got mine during a one-day sale. Got it for $199! Crazy. I'll PM you with my email. You can send me a particle scene and I can tell you how my rig handles it. And transferring a license in 3ds max should be pretty simple. I can go from my desktop to my laptop in seconds. Just a matter of saving out the license file on a USB stick and carrying it over I think.