cpu for rendering

[MR_MU53NDO]

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...

 

[MR_MU53NDO]

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]

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

 

[MR_MU53NDO]

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?

 

[MR_MU53NDO]

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)?

 

[MR_MU53NDO]

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?

 

[MR_MU53NDO]

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?

 

[MR_MU53NDO]

If you're going to overclock then the choice is easy:

Core i5-4670K - £190

and then get the best LGA1150/Z87 chipset motherboard you can afford with whatever is remaining.

The only Xeon's which are good value for money are the 8 threaded ones, that's because the equivalent desktop i7's are usually over £250.

A Haswell i5-4670K overclocked is probably the best value for money chip you can buy.

i see... makes sense. was looking at xeon e3-1225 V2 as well, and the only difference will be the cache (6mb in i5 vs 8mb in xeon). how much difference will that actually make (in terms of render times)?

 

[MR_MU53NDO]

E3-1225 V2 is only 4 threads, it doesn't have Hyperthreading (8 threads).

There's no point in getting a 4 thread Xeon because like I said you might as well just buy an i5 4670K, the difference the 2MB L3 cache makes is negligible and will be easily offset by the difference in clockspeed.

Hyperthreading has the bigger impact on performance but only in certain tasks, it generally gives about 10-15% more performance in things like render times but an i5 4670K overclocked to 4ghz or more will be faster than an un-overclocked Hyperthreaded chip.

It goes like this:
i7 overclocked (8 thread) > i5 overclocked (4 thread) > stock i7/Xeon (8 thread) > stock i5/Xeon (4 thread)

There's also generation just to confuse things further:
Haswell (3rd gen/Xeon V3) > Ivy Bridge (2nd gen/Xeon V2) > Sandy Bridge (1st gen/Xeon V1)

thanks for that! i'll probably go with the i5 4670K then, and overclock it.

out of interest, how's this for a motherboard?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-Mo...44942&sr=1-7&keywords=socket+1150+motherboard

 

[MR_MU53NDO]

It looks awesome if your budget allows but I've no experience with it, you could probably get away with less if money is tight.

You'd be best off having a look around in the Haswell overclocking thread and seeing what other Haswell owners think of their motherboards.

ok, thanks for the advice. much appreciated

 

[MR_MU53NDO]

well finding out that the motherboard i chose before is a little too expensive, i've selected two alternatives:

1. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gryphon-Z87...r1&keywords=Asus+TUF+Series+GRYPHON+Z87+Intel

2. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-571-AS

what's the verdict on these, and which one do you think would be better?

also, as for the asus Gryphon, on amazon it says uATX, but on scan uk it says MicroATX. which one is it, becuase if uATX is correct, my case won't support it.

 

[MR_MU53NDO]

You are best off making a post in the motherboard forum if you want feedback on motherboards.

uATX is microATX:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroATX

oh... now i look stupid