davelowe

Thanks again nanosuits. I've ordered the i5-4690K so will post my thoughts when all the bit are bolted together! Dave

Thanks for your replies so far. More data folks - this time from the system performance monitor. ([url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc938600.aspx]https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc938600.aspx[/url]) Of the 22 threads that AutoCAD runs - only one shows activity when panning in 2D. Of the 22 threads that AutoCAD runs - only four show activity when panning in 3D. Two show more activity (80%)consistently than the others (20%). All 2D modelling operations use one thread. This represents 99% of my operations in 3D models. So AutoCAD is predominantly one thread for everything but 3D panning where it uses four threads. Does the OS assign one thread per core? If so clockspeed is the overriding choice factor between the 4690k and the 1230V3. If the threads are not assigned to a specific core - I'm assuming that hyperthreading would make the greater difference. Is that correct? Cheers, Dave

See below.

That post by i_build_nanosuits made me think - and thank you for it too. acad.exe uses 20 threads when idle - 850MB of RAM when it has opened a 44MB 3D model. While it was opening it (~15 seconds) it maxed out one of the two cores in my 2020M CPU at 100% (50% overall). With the model open there are now 12-15 threads to the process - panning the whole 3D model in wireframe maxed out the CPU at 50%. Interestingly - Windows 8.1 shows two logical processors - both with identical usage??? I was expecting 100% for one and a nominal percentage for the rest of the O/S. I regened the model to conceptual (a full shaded image) and orbited it - still both logical cores are the same as one another. Still maxed at 60% overall. I'm assuming that acad accounted for 50% and the balance was the shitty GPU/OS overhead. With a hidden view - same story. Around 15 threads and 50% CPU... This information is quite valuable. The major obstacle to smooth workflow with these size models is a) the time taken to regenerate the views (from wireframe to shaded for example). B) framerate when panning /orbiting around the models. In either of these situations, the 2020M only seems to max out 1 core. Now - my questions based on this are: if the bottleneck is the CPU and the single core issue am I best off going for the CPU with the fastest single thread score (the 4690K)? Possibly with overclocking? Would the iGPU help? if the bottleneck is the lack of hyperthreading, am I better off going with the 1230V3 (as it supports it)? But - no iGPU? It would certainly seem that the passmark scores for multi-threads are irrelevant if the program does not use them (hence the poor scores for the FX AMDs in other reviews for CAD. Do you think this is correct? Much of the bottleneck must be the shitty GPU on this el-cheapo laptop. As I stated earlier I'm shooting for a GTX 760. With all this in mind - 4690K or 1230V3? The i7 is out of budget range... Cheers - Dave

dragoon20005 - thanks. So the question remains... 1230V3 stock with no iGPU or 4690K (possibly overclocked with iGPU). Which would be the quicker?! The 1230V3 and board combo is less expensive than the 4690K and board combo. But not so much to have a large influence over the choice.

Hieb - thanks. I think from what you are saying that I am going to discount the AMDs. I see what you mean with the scaling of the # of cores. As for the other two - the jury is still out - or more likely - still figuring out what difference the integrated graphics might make. I looked up the passmark scores for the i7-2600k (1942) [8568]. This chip is slower in both terms of single and multithread than the 4690 and the 1230. This surprises me as it has integrated graphics (and is double the cost in the UK)... I'm tending towards the 1230 as it is only marginally slower in single thread but proportionally much faster in multi-thread. Another question - are the intel chips overclockable (by a guy with an IT degree but no direct experience)? I'm looking at the ASUS Z97 Pro Board. Dave

Hello folks. Yet another question about CPUs for AutoCAD 3D work... I’m a self employed CAD contractor using mostly Autodesk products and for mostly 3D work (Plant3D/Inventor/AutoCAD). At the moment I’m running an el-cheapo laptop with a 2020M Intel CPU. It cannot cope with the 3D workload. So – I’m going to build myself a workstation and hence my questions... Within my limited budget I’ve narrowed down my choice to one of three CPUs: 1. AMD FX-9590 (1711) [10223] 2. Intel i5 4690k (2247) [7767] 3. Intel E3 1230v3 (2106) [9379] The numbers in (round brackets) are the single thread passmark.com scores. The numbers in [square brackets] are the multi thread passmark.com scores. With AutoCAD being my primary software (3D modelling and 2D), the numbers are complicated. AutoCAD is mostly a single thread application but uses multiple threads for 2D regeneration (panning and zooming while modelling). I do not need to produce still renders (or animations). As you can see from the figures – the i5 has the highest single thread score so would be the best choice for large models and in general. The other two have higher scores for multi-thread regeneration which would make them quicker/better when panning and zooming (I assume) especially with ‘rendered’ models (ie realistic/shaded views. To make things even more complicated, the E3 does not have integrated graphics. I’m pairing the CPU with a GTX 760 graphics card for which I have read good reviews for CAD work - so this is perhaps not so important – but – does anyone know if the integrated GPU will make much of a difference? Would running the integrated and dedicated GPUs in parallel work better? I would be most grateful for all your thoughts and insights. Dave