Best Price-Preformance CPU for Professional Applications

[MrLizard]

Hey! So I have a question for you, what would be the best price/preformance CPU for professional applications such as C4D, and Premier Pro. I'm wanting to upgrade my system, but don't have the money to do it, So I'm pricing everything out.

 

My Current System:

• AMD FX-6100
• 16GB of Corsair Vengence RAM (1600Mhz) (For some reason shows up 722Mhz on Speccy)
• ASUS M5A97 R2.0 Motherboard
• EVGA NVIDIA GTX 770 SC - ACX Cooling
• An array of many different HHDs/External Hard Drives
• Corsair CX750M Power Supply

The FX-6100 has served me well for my 2 years of having it, but it's starting to slow down, stutter a lot (the HDDs are playing a role also,) but with it taking 6+ hours to render out a 4 minute After Effects Audio Visulizer, and taking 4 hours to render out 90 Frames in C4D. It's time for an upgrade. So I come to you for your opinion on what would be best, I don't have a budget yet, but I'm not going to spend anything massive (AKA no new i7-5960X.) My opinion on AMD or Intel is neutral, as long as it get's the job done.

[Pugs501]

Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor

This is what I'm getting.  Uses: SFM, 3D Modeling/Mapping/Texturing, and mild gaming.

The Xeon is great for multitasking

[Juganog]

AMD CPU's will work well for Premier pro and what not but generally i7's and xeons will always win... AMD might be a cheaper option though 

 

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html#cpuvalue

 

http://paulisageek.com/compare/cpu/

[ForsakenLive]

Update the bios and get a FX 8350 or similar, it's quite a good option for the money.

[i_build_nanosuits]

OP if rendering time is your main concern and you don't have much to spend you should defenetly look for an 8 core FX-8320 or FX-8350 along with an aftermarket CPU cooler so that you could overclock it a little bit...that would be cheap and effective, the vishera (piledriver based) FX-83xx are 15% faster clock for clock than your bulldozer FX and you get an extra module (2 ''cores'') so it would render at least 30 to 40% faster overall maybe more if you can get an overclock on it...if you consider that you could sell your FX-6100 for a few bucks online and you can keep your motherboard it would be a very cheap upgrade...

Otherwise if you could afford it i'd suggest like pugs, an H97 motherboard with a Xeon E3-1231 V3 which is the same as a locked i7 (hyper-threading) but cheaper.

[MrLizard]

Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor

This is what I'm getting.  Uses: SFM, 3D Modeling/Mapping/Texturing, and mild gaming.

The Xeon is great for multitasking

That, or like an E5?

[Pugs501]

That, or like an E5?

Well... To answer that, ASK SOME OTHER NERDS I HAVE TO EAT.  GTG!

[MrLizard]

OP if rendering time is your main concern and you don't have much to spend you should defenetly look for an 8 core FX-8320 or FX-8350 along with an aftermarket CPU cooler so that you could overclock it a little bit...that would be cheap and effective, the vishera (piledriver based) FX-83xx are 15% faster clock for clock than your bulldozer FX and you get an extra module (2 ''cores'') so it would render at least 30 to 40% faster overall maybe more if you can get an overclock on it...if you consider that you could sell your FX-6100 for a few bucks online and you can keep your motherboard it would be a very cheap upgrade...

Otherwise if you could afford it i'd suggest like pugs, an H97 motherboard with a Xeon E3-1231 V3 which is the same as a locked i7 (hyper-threading) but cheaper.

how would a FX-9590 step up to a Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3?

[i_build_nanosuits]

how would a FX-9590 step up to a Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3?

it won't compete with it and it runs very hot 5ghz is too much of an overclock for the FX you should get a cheaper FX-8350 and push it yourself to 4.6GHz that way you save a bunch it will not be as fast as an hyperthreaded intel chip but it still is pretty good for rendering.

[MrLizard]

it won't compete with it and it runs very hot 5ghz is too much of an overclock for the FX you should get a cheaper FX-8350 and push it yourself to 4.6GHz that way you save a bunch it will not be as fast as an hyperthreaded intel chip but it still is pretty good for rendering.

Alright, seems like a great option for $250ish after watercooling. Would it be worth $20 to get the 8370? or the 8370E?

[i_build_nanosuits]

Alright, seems like a great option for $250ish after watercooling. Would it be worth $20 to get the 8370? or the 8370E?

you don't need to watercool it a good air cooler would do great you could go to about 1.42volts that should get you in the 4.5 or 4.6ghz area stable...you could go with the FX-8320...the FX-8350 could possibly be more overclockable but there is no guarantee...that is what i would order if you are in the US

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($136.99 @ NCIX US)

CPU Cooler: NZXT HAVIK 140 90.3 CFM CPU Cooler ($66.10 @ Amazon)

Total: $203.09

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-25 20:34 EDT-0400

This if you have more budget, this will have MUCH better single threaded performance and also better rendering performance but most of all will run much cooler and be much more energy efficient, no need for an aftermarket CPU cooler this one cant overclock:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($247.94 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($68.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $316.92

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-25 20:36 EDT-0400

[MrLizard]

If I were to be able to afford a i7-4790k, (Stock Cooling (AKA No Overclocking)) would it be worth getting the i7? or the equivalently priced Xeon?

[i_build_nanosuits]

If I were to be able to afford a i7-4790k, (Stock Cooling (AKA No Overclocking)) would it be worth getting the i7? or the equivalently priced Xeon?

absolutely worth it, if you can afford it then by all means go for it.

Xeon E3 1231 V3 or Core i7-4790 (i7-4790K if you plan overclocking down the road) are the top ''affordable'' dogs.

[Spongy141]

i5 4690k, willing to spend more? i7 4790k

[MrLizard]

absolutely worth it, if you can afford it then by all means go for it.

Xeon E3 1231 V3 or Core i7-4790 (i7-4790K if you plan overclocking down the road) are the top ''affordable'' dogs.

What would preformance be between Intel Xeon E3-1276 v3 @ 3.60GHz and the i7-4790k

 

http://cpubenchmark.net Says:

 

I'm currently not going to overclock it, but once I can afford to spend money on a good liquid cooler (probably this Christmas) I will.

 

Also factoring in best price/preformance for the average mig-grade motherboard for their respected socket.

[i_build_nanosuits]

What would preformance be between Intel Xeon E3-1276 v3 @ 3.60GHz and the i7-4790k

 

http://cpubenchmark.net Says:

 

I'm currently not going to overclock it, but once I can afford to spend money on a good liquid cooler (probably this Christmas) I will.

 

Also factoring in best price/preformance for the average mig-grade motherboard for their respected socket.

They are exactly the same CPU the main difference is that the Xeon chip does not come with an IGP (integrated graphics processor) so you need a dedicated graphics card for this one...the i7-4790K as a base clock of 4ghz and a boost at 4.4ghz while the Xeon has a base of 3.6ghz and a boost of 4.0ghz...it's 11% faster clockspeed for the core i7 that should translate to roughly 10% faster rendering times. MAIN difference is that you can overclock the i7-4790K but not the xeon. Both are hyper-threaded quad core so 4 core but 8 threads processing.

 

Also do not base your CPU choice on the passmark list cause those are flawed, they allow the points in a wierd way that won't represent really how the cpu handle business in real world applications.

[MrLizard]

They are exactly the same CPU the main difference is that the Xeon chip does not come with an IGP (integrated graphics processor) so you need a dedicated graphics card for this one...the i7-4790K as a base clock of 4ghz and a boost at 4.4ghz while the Xeon has a base of 3.6ghz and a boost of 4.0ghz...it's 11% faster clockspeed for the core i7 that should translate to roughly 10% faster rendering times. MAIN difference is that you can overclock the i7-4790K but not the xeon. Both are hyper-threaded quad core so 4 core but 8 threads processing.

 

Also do not base your CPU choice on the passmark list cause those are flawed, they allow the points in a wierd way that won't represent really how the cpu handle business in real world applications.

Alright, one final question. Will the 4790k run alright on the stock cooler (No Overclock), since I can't afford to get a new cooler also.

[i_build_nanosuits]

Alright, one final question. Will the 4790k run alright on the stock cooler (No Overclock), since I can't afford to get a new cooler also.

yes it will...29$ for an hyper 212 from cooler master will go A LONG WAY allowing you to overclock the CPU and most of all be QUIETER and cooler than the stock heatsink...so you should really consider aquiring one...but yes the stock intel heatsink is perfectly fine to use!

[Sintezza]

his cheapest upgrade would be a FX8350.

 

But the Xeon might be his best choice, in terms of price to performance.

If he is not going to overclock, then the Xeon 1231 V3 with a cheaper mobo would be the better choice.

Adobe premiere seems to render a littlebit better on haswell cpu´s, but not by much.

[Faa]

The FX-6100 has served me well for my 2 years of having it, but it's starting to slow down, stutter a lot (the HDDs are playing a role also,) but with it taking 6+ hours to render out a 4 minute After Effects Audio Visulizer, and taking 4 hours to render out 90 Frames in C4D. It's time for an upgrade. So I come to you for your opinion on what would be best, I don't have a budget yet, but I'm not going to spend anything massive (AKA no new i7-5960X.) My opinion on AMD or Intel is neutral, as long as it get's the job done.

Damn 4 hours? Well usually I'd recommend AMD for multithreaded performance/price but honestly a 8320 would make shave a lot of the 4 hours, an overclock another, but you'll still be waiting like 3 hours. An Intel xeon would do it in 2.7 hours. A overclocked 4770K lets say 2.5 hours. You can get Intel 8 cores for a lot less, there are Xeon haswell 8 cores with HT going for 600$ like the Xeon E5-2630L V3. But the prices of the board/DDR4 its still quite expensive. What about getting a used 3930K/4930K? They're going for quite cheap these days and the boards aren't that expensive.

[MrLizard]

Damn 4 hours? Well usually I'd recommend AMD for multithreaded performance/price but honestly a 8320 would make shave a lot of the 4 hours, an overclock another, but you'll still be waiting like 3 hours. An Intel xeon would do it in 2.7 hours. A overclocked 4770K lets say 2.5 hours. You can get Intel 8 cores for a lot less, there are Xeon haswell 8 cores with HT going for 600$ like the Xeon E5-2630L V3. But the prices of the board/DDR4 its still quite expensive. What about getting a used 3930K/4930K? They're going for quite cheap these days and the boards aren't that expensive.

This frame was from C4D, and took 3-4 minutes to render out on my FX-6100

[Faa]

@MrLizard do you have a budget for us?

[MrLizard]

@MrLizard do you have a budget for us?

Not entirely, but a max of $350 or so probably.

[Faa]

Not entirely, but a max of $350 or so probably.

Do you have 2x 8GB sticks or just 4x4GB sticks? Might need to swap the board out if you have 4x4GB sticks or if you want to add more ram in the future.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor  ($256.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($44.38 @ Newegg) 

Total: $301.36

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-28 18:16 EDT-0400

If you're interested in overclocking;

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($338.95 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($85.66 @ Newegg) 

Total: $424.61

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-28 18:18 EDT-0400

You could swap your 6100 with a 8320, thats like a 33-35% gain. A locked xeon is already around 25% faster than a 8350 and still faster than a FX 9590; http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph8316/66034.png

[runit3]

Hey! So I have a question for you, what would be the best price/preformance CPU for professional applications such as C4D, and Premier Pro. I'm wanting to upgrade my system, but don't have the money to do it, So I'm pricing everything out.

 

My Current System:

• AMD FX-6100
• 16GB of Corsair Vengence RAM (1600Mhz) (For some reason shows up 722Mhz on Speccy)
• ASUS M5A97 R2.0 Motherboard
• EVGA NVIDIA GTX 770 SC - ACX Cooling
• An array of many different HHDs/External Hard Drives
• Corsair CX750M Power Supply

The FX-6100 has served me well for my 2 years of having it, but it's starting to slow down, stutter a lot (the HDDs are playing a role also,) but with it taking 6+ hours to render out a 4 minute After Effects Audio Visulizer, and taking 4 hours to render out 90 Frames in C4D. It's time for an upgrade. So I come to you for your opinion on what would be best, I don't have a budget yet, but I'm not going to spend anything massive (AKA no new i7-5960X.) My opinion on AMD or Intel is neutral, as long as it get's the job done.

 

Your 770 should support CUDA acceleration/encoding. Have you considered using a different render platform? Octane, Indigo, and iRay all support CUDA encoding for C4D. Premiere Pro supports CUDA acceleration, but does not for encoding If you're doing batch encoding you could use something like Xilisoft.