cpu for rendering

MR_MU53NDO · 20 Jul 2013 at 11:15

i have a £280 ish budget, and i need a cpu for rendering. the question is, should i go for Haswell i7, 3rd Gen i7 or a used Xeon processor?

I render 3D models, as well as using Adobe Premiere Pro

Currently, i have core 2 quad Q6600, which doesn't really do the job that well any more...

Mynight · 20 Jul 2013 at 11:19

Dont think you'd get a 3rd gen i7 or second hand xeon for that

Is this 280 including mobo and cpu?

mmj_uk · 20 Jul 2013 at 11:39

Something like a Xeon E3-1230 V2 would be your best bet if not overclocking, it's basically an i7 with the GPU disabled for about £100 less (presumably you have dedicated GPU anyway). Most Asus boards support Xeon AFAIK but you should do a bit of research into that before buying just to be sure.

Martini1991 · 20 Jul 2013 at 11:42

Haswell Xeon and any board that takes it really.

Nuclear Fusion · 20 Jul 2013 at 13:13

Just to throw another idea into the mix, you could get the Z68AP-D3 OCUK is selling for £46 and get a used 2600k/2700k. It would allow you to overclock (though don't expect the biggest overclocks on that board) and would offer a very nice boost over your current setup for not a huge amount of money. I just bought that motherboard and a used 2500k on the MM to build my brother a gaming PC, very good performance for the price I'd say.

MR_MU53NDO · 20 Jul 2013 at 14:59

Mynight said:
Dont think you'd get a 3rd gen i7 or second hand xeon for that

Is this 280 including mobo and cpu?

£280 is for the cpu only, so not including mobo.

MR_MU53NDO · 20 Jul 2013 at 15:10

just out of interest, how good are Xeon processors with gaming?

Mynight · 20 Jul 2013 at 15:14

Argh ok sweet

I'd say Xeon then

I'm pretty sure they're adaquet gaming CPUs obviously they suffer a bit being lower clock speeds but the majority of gaming is gpu based. With next gen consols being multi cored we most likly see some games that could take advantage of all the cpu cores so the lower clock speed wouldn't really be an issue.

MR_MU53NDO · 20 Jul 2013 at 15:20

well, i researched some boards, and on the Asus website, next to where it says the motherboard supports Xeon, it says:

"Intel Xeon Processor Family is designed for servers. Some features may not support when installed on Z77 chipsets."

what effect will this have on the system, and is it minimal?

mmj_uk · 20 Jul 2013 at 15:40

ECC memory is about all I can think of, Xeon's are the same chip as desktop i7 just different features are enabled/disabled on them.

Comparison here:
http://ark.intel.com/compare/65523,65732

mmj_uk · 20 Jul 2013 at 15:47

In fact the E3-1245V2 can be had for £220 and that even has a GPU if needed, Haswell models look to be a bit more expensive.

http://ark.intel.com/products/65729/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1245-v2-8M-Cache-3_40-GHz

MR_MU53NDO · 20 Jul 2013 at 17:51

hmm... about the chipset, on OCUK website, on Xeon e3-1220V2 description, it says that the processor works best with chipset c206, but i've only seen one motherboard with that chipset, and the reviews are terrible. will xeon processors work well with other chipsets (like X79 for example)?

Martini1991 · 20 Jul 2013 at 18:04

Get the Xeon that's just a 4770 but it costs sub 200 quid.
Or get the 4770K.

Mynight · 20 Jul 2013 at 18:10

It's only the Xeon e5 that works with x-79 none of them are cheap

Martini1991 · 20 Jul 2013 at 18:15

Why X79?
There's very good price/performance Xeons on 1150/1155.

mmj_uk · 20 Jul 2013 at 18:24

MR_MU53NDO said:
hmm... about the chipset, on OCUK website, on Xeon e3-1220V2 description, it says that the processor works best with chipset c206, but i've only seen one motherboard with that chipset, and the reviews are terrible. will xeon processors work well with other chipsets (like X79 for example)?

X79 is the wrong socket.

Don't get the E3 1220V2 it's poor value, you might as well just get an i5.

If you're going to overclock just get an i5 K series and equivalent Z series motherboard, that will probably give you best performance overall.

If you're not going to overclock then look at the following:

Xeon E3-1230 V2 (without GPU) - £187
Xeon E3-1245 V2 (with GPU) - £222

both of those are 8 threaded chips (i7 equivalents).

Then just get a B75/H77 chipset motherboard that works with Xeon.

edit: if you want to go Haswell Xeon then you're looking at:

Xeon E3-1230 v3 (without GPU) - £220

...and a B85/H87 motherboard.

but again if you are going to overclock an i5 K series is probably the best option.

Martini1991 said:
Get the Xeon that's just a 4770 but it costs sub 200 quid.

Which model is that? the sub £200 Haswell Xeon's I can see are 4 thread chips.

Martini1991 · 20 Jul 2013 at 18:27

Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3

Although just checking the price, it's jumped 20 quid.

MR_MU53NDO · 20 Jul 2013 at 18:56

okay, so i looked on scan uk at xeon processors, and there are several soon-to-be-released haswell xeons, as well as the currently available ones.

can someone help choose the most suitable for the tasks i need to complete.

am i correctly assuming that ALL E3 Xeons cannot use any chipset above H77?

mmj_uk · 20 Jul 2013 at 19:02

If it's based on Sandy/Ivy Bridge you need LGA1155 B75/H77.
If it's based on Haswell you need LGA1150 B85/H87.

You still haven't said if you are planning on overclocking because if you are then an i5 K series at 4ghz or so will be better than any Xeon. Infact even at stock an i5 4670K probably won't be far off, it just lacks Hyperthreading which can help in certain situations.

MR_MU53NDO · 20 Jul 2013 at 19:05

mmj_uk said:
If it's based on Sandy/Ivy Bridge you need LGA1155 B75/H77.
If it's based on Haswell you need LGA1150 B85/H87.

You still haven't said if you are planning on overclocking because if you are then an i5 K series at 4ghz or so will be better than any Xeon.

see, here's the thing. i wwouldn't mind overclockng if it were possible (current CPU is overclocked), but i'm not too bothered if it isn't possible.

What are the prices like for i5 K compared to Xeon, on the basis of value for money?