CPU and GPU for Blender Cycles Render?

[David Wiita]

I currently have a... very crappy build to say the least. Well, at least when it comes to Blender. Here's my current build:

CPU: i3-3240
MoBo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
RAM: 4GB 1600 CL9
GPU: Zotac GTX 750 Ti OC

Yes, I know. Not great at all. Anyhow, I've been looking around the interwebs but haven't really found any real answer to my question... I mean, I've found several things about which GPU I need for Cycles Rendering, but I've yet to find any in-depth review/discussion about which CPU would be best for plain old Rendering.

I'm currently trying to pick between the FX 8350 and the i7-3770k. I've seen the 8350 overclocked to insane clock speeds, but will that help with rendering? The only real downside I see to the 8350 is that I'll have to change my motherboard, but an 8350 + a decent AM3+ motherboard is about the same price as an i7-3770k.

The 3770k cost considerably more, but I wouldn't have to change my motherboard if I chose it... Argh, decisions... Anyways, these are the two builds I'm trying to decide over:

Intel+NVIDIA:
CPU - i7-3770k
MoBo - ASRock Z77 Extreme4
RAM - 16GB 1866MHz CL9
GPU - Palit Jetstream GTX 760 4GB SLI

AMD + ...AMD:
CPU - FX 8350
MoBo - Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P
RAM - 32GB 1600MHz CL9
GPU - Sapphire R9 270X Dual-X OC 4GB CrossFire

Which build do you think would run faster and better? And why?

Thanks!

 

[lfkfkfkffs]

I think if you wait a while longer, but not much longer you can get the haswell k refresh. The reason why I say this vs using your current motherboard is normally you can get a really good bundle deal, so you get about $100-150 off when you buy both. To me the new refresh seems like it will be better than the current haswell. I also think you would really benefit from those extra cores and power. Also around that time I would guess the gtx 780 or even 780 ti should drop another $50-100 when newegg, amazon, etc... are trying to get rid of their old stock of cards. So I think deal wise I would wait to get the best deal. Unless you really need that performance right now. You will also have a lot larger budget I would assume if you save up your money for that much time for a faster build

 

[gferrin2012]

I currently have a... very crappy build to say the least. Well, at least when it comes to Blender. Here's my current build:

CPU: i3-3240
MoBo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
RAM: 4GB 1600 CL9
GPU: Zotac GTX 750 Ti OC

Yes, I know. Not great at all. Anyhow, I've been looking around the interwebs but haven't really found any real answer to my question... I mean, I've found several things about which GPU I need for Cycles Rendering, but I've yet to find any in-depth review/discussion about which CPU would be best for plain old Rendering.

I'm currently trying to pick between the FX 8350 and the i7-3770k. I've seen the 8350 overclocked to insane clock speeds, but will that help with rendering? The only real downside I see to the 8350 is that I'll have to change my motherboard, but an 8350 + a decent AM3+ motherboard is about the same price as an i7-3770k.

The 3770k cost considerably more, but I wouldn't have to change my motherboard if I chose it... Argh, decisions... Anyways, these are the two builds I'm trying to decide over:

Intel+NVIDIA:
CPU - i7-3770k
MoBo - ASRock Z77 Extreme4
RAM - 16GB 1866MHz CL9
GPU - Palit Jetstream GTX 760 4GB SLI

AMD + ...AMD:
CPU - FX 8350
MoBo - Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P
RAM - 32GB 1600MHz CL9
GPU - Sapphire R9 270X Dual-X OC 4GB CrossFire

Which build do you think would run faster and better? And why?

Thanks!

Hello David.
I posted similar questions before I built my current rig. I am an avid blender user, in fact it was what I built my system for. Please keep in mind that there are people on this forum with much more knowledge then I and I simply offer my opinion only.
I went with the i7-3770k instead of the newer 4770k simply because at that time heating issues was a talked about problem in the beginning. I do nor regret my decision for one second. I went with an asrock extreme6 mobo because it offered a lot for the money. I actually asked on threads for thoughts and it was pointed out that it received a toms hardware award and seemed to be a very good modest board. again, I do not regret the decision as I am very happy with the features and product. Now, at the time I built (last july period) the 760 cards were just coming out and I bought an evga 760 4GB ftw. I am to assume you are aware of the cycles engine in blender utilizing cuda. Once again, a very knowledgeable person from tom's directed me to a page of render times showing many different gpu's. At a year later I am still very happy with this single card. I mean only to be respectful, as there are probably many better cards but this was what I could afford. I currently use 16GB crucial ballistix sport 1600 for ram and have found this to be plenty. Here is the part I might brag a little, I have built some very nice scenes in blender without a hiccup. I powered up this system with a xfx 750w pro xxx cpu (a moderator, SR-71 recommended) in case I wanted to sli. I use blender 3d, maya. cs6 (including adobe pr for video editing) this build still amazes me, in fact my compared benchmark render times are still very good (again, in blender forum)
hope this helps, and thanks to people in the forum that helped me out as well

 

[Kikeguy]

I had same issue with GPU... bought a AMD R9 290 and only after i try to use it i foud that blender isn't compatible with OPEN CL rendering so its wortless to buy any amd GPU so I will recommend you to buy anything from NVIDIA that has cuda.... (if it is to render if you want it to play games go with amd; it kicks ass at that and its cheapper