i9 7900X or AMD 1950X - CAD, Simulation, Rendering, Basic Machine Learning

[SoRobby]

Hello,

 

I do a variety of different work, across several different platforms. I am having an extremely difficult time selecting a CPU for a workstation. I am considering the following CPU's: i9 7900X, i9 7920X, and AMD 1950X. 

 

i9 7900X ($900 USD)

• 10 core / 20 thread
• Base Clock: 3.3 GHz
• Turbo Clock: 4.3 - 4.5 GHz

i9 7920X ($1100 USD)

• 12 core / 24 thread
• Base Clock: 2.9 GHz
• Turbo Clock: 4.3 - 4.5 GHz

AMD 1950X ($800 USD)

• 16 core / 32 thread
• Base Clock: 3.4 GHz
• Turbo Clock: 4.0 GHz

 

I do intend on overclocking the CPU's slightly to allow for better and more responsive performance. 

 

Daily Software

• SolidWorks 
• Siemens NX
• Ansys
• COMSOL Multiphysics
• MATLAB (Usually used for in-depth theoretical simulations) 
• 3ds Max (VRay, Arnold, and Octane) 
• Photoshop
• AGI SystemsToolKit (AGI STK)
• Revit (Occasionally but not too often)
• Machine Learning Applications (Occasionally but not too often)

 

My Issue:

Most CAD programs are single core and benefit very little from additional cores. Thus in terms of CAD usability and performance a higher single core click speed is preferred. However, for simulation and analysis (thermal, fluid, and stress) often benefits from multiple cores, as does rendering. I am having trouble deciding which CPU I should select since i9 7900X offers great CAD performance while Threadripper 1950X has excellent simulation and rendering performance. 

Some rendering can be offloaded or used in conjunction with a GPU reducing render times.

 

The Build

• CPU: Unknown (i9 or Threadripper)
• GPU: GTX 1080 Ti or XP
• RAM: 64 GB @ 3000 MHz
• SSD (for applications) HDD (for storage)

 

Which CPU should I get? I think most of my time is spent doing CAD related work and simulations while they can take on the order of 1-2 days can possible be reduced to under 24h with the increased core count over my current system. 

 

Thanks for any advice!

[Davidwr80]

I would take the 7920x then. It seems to be a good compromise between the 7900X and the 1950X

[SoRobby]

Quote

I would take the 7920x then. It seems to be a good compromise between the 7900X and the 1950X

That was what I was originally planning, however, it as absolutely terrible base clock, worse that I was expected.

[Davidwr80]

Just now, SoRobby said:

That was what I was originally planning, however, it as absolutely terrible base clock, worse that I was expected.

Yeah, but if you want to overclock anyways (even lightly) you can easily make up for that. 

[Phentos]

2 minutes ago, SoRobby said:

That was what I was originally planning, however, it as absolutely terrible base clock, worse that I was expected.

Overclocking makes the base clock irrelevant, so long as you achieve a stable overclock.

[SoRobby]

Quote

Yeah, but if you want to overclock anyways (even lightly) you can easily make up for that.

Really? Hmmm, I guess I have not been putting much weight into the power of overclocking. 

[IsaacThePooper]

I'd go with the 1950x bro.

[DildorTheDecent]

Just now, SoRobby said:

That was what I was originally planning, however, it as absolutely terrible base clock, worse that I was expected.

So? that's not a problem with an unlocked multiplier.

 

That's exactly the same argument people tried to make for the 7980XE (and Skylake-X in general). Nobody in their right mind would run these processors at stock considering the amount of OC options that are available for X299.

[Davidwr80]

Just now, SoRobby said:

Really? Hmmm, I guess I have not been putting much weight into the power of overclocking. 

With good cooling and a high wattage power supply, you can probably go to anywhere between 4.5-5.0 GHz. 

[3 Lions]

3 minutes ago, SoRobby said:

That was what I was originally planning, however, it as absolutely terrible base clock, worse that I was expected.

You can overclock it, Jay I think got a stable 4.5GHz with a 7980XE with decent temps on a custom water cooling loop.  

[SoRobby]

Quote

With good cooling and a high wattage power supply, you can probably go to anywhere between 4.5-5.0 GHz. 

For the i9 1920X? Threadripper can't seem to overlcock above 4.0 - 4.1 GHz which greatly limits CAD performance. 

[Davidwr80]

Just now, SoRobby said:

For the i9 1920X? Threadripper can't seem to overlcock above 4.0 - 4.1 GHz which greatly limits CAD performance. 

Yes. That's why I would go with the 7920x.

[IsaacThePooper]

1 minute ago, SoRobby said:

For the i9 1920X? Threadripper can't seem to overlcock above 4.0 - 4.1 GHz which greatly limits CAD performance. 

Really? Huh, I'm looking at x299 motherboard right now and theres one for $200 on amazon rn.

[SoRobby]

Quote

Yes. That's why I would go with the 7920x.

If thats the case, I might even jump upto the i9 7940X, with decent overclock I could get amazing simulation speeds, and still have good CAD performance! 

[Davidwr80]

Just now, SoRobby said:

If thats the case, I might even jump upto the i9 7940X, with decent overclock I could get amazing simulation speeds, and still have good CAD performance! 

Whatever you can afford man all X299 CPUs overclock pretty much the same.  

[bigjohnthescot]

dude why cheap out on the mobo your dropping 2 grand an a cpu you might as well get the deluxe and the asus vroc card that way you can have 6 evos sitting in ther!!!!

[SoRobby]

Quote

Whatever you can afford man  all X299 CPUs overclock pretty much the same.  

That is great to know! I had assumed with increase core count the overclocking capabilities would decrease logarithmically due to thermal the increase thermal load. I suppose if you have decent cooling thermals shouldn't be a major issue.

 

I really everyone's appreciate your advice! 

[bigjohnthescot]

the r/w speeds can get insane! with all those m.2s in there and save the space for some beefy storage platters

[bigjohnthescot]

I mean if your goin hog go whole hog! your looking at a good 7-9 grand tho

[SoRobby]

Quote

the r/w speeds can get insane! with all those m.2s in there and save the space for some beefy storage platters

Thanks for the suggestion mate, however, my work wouldn't really benefit too much from such a huge increase in storage speed. I'd rather save the money and put it towards an additional GPU. 

[DildorTheDecent]

7 minutes ago, IsaacThePooper said:

Really? Huh, I'm looking at x299 motherboard right now and theres one for $200 on amazon rn.

Assuming that it's the X299 Raider, you need to be soft in the head to use that board with anything more than 8-10 cores. It'll struggle, probably explode because it's MSI.

6 minutes ago, SoRobby said:

If thats the case, I might even jump upto the i9 7940X, with decent overclock I could get amazing simulation speeds, and still have good CAD performance! 

Average clocks for the 7920X and 7940X look to be 4.6GHz - 4.8GHz. That'll do wonders for both single and multi core perf. X299 is perfect platform for strong single and multicore perf imo.

[bigjohnthescot]

I hear ya but yuo can always write it off to R&D heh heh

[Damascus]

I feel like I do this a lot but @done12many2 actually owns both a 1950x and a 7900x and has done a battery of benchmarks on both o them.  My vote goes to x299 with a good mobo

[SoRobby]

2 minutes ago, Damascus said:

I feel like I do this a lot but @done12many2 actually owns both a 1950x and a 7900x and has done a battery of benchmarks on both o them.  My vote goes to x299 with a good mobo

So @done12many2's prefers a i9 7900X over an 7920X or 7940X? 

I'm defiantly going the Intel route, appears to be much better performance capabilities with overclock. 

Thanks for providing some insight!

[done12many2]

1 minute ago, Damascus said:

I feel like I do this a lot but @done12many2 actually owns both a 1950x and a 7900x and has done a battery of benchmarks on both o them.  My vote goes to x299 with a good mobo

 

Scaling is pretty much why I stopped at 10c with the 7900x.  The 1950x was cheap enough that it didn't matter if it scaled poorly as I was still getting my money's worth so to speak.

 

If I only had a choice between one or the other, I'd do the 7900x in a heartbeat.

 

With that said, there are higher core count options in the Skylake-X lineup, but they come at a cost in more ways than money.  Overclocked, their clock speed will be lower.  Just the way it works.  I daily my 7900x at 4.9 GHz with 4 cores boosting to 5 GHz.  That ain't happening with a higher core count chip.

 

Also understand that you're going to have the deal with the thermals on ANY of these chips and pushing high clocks / power on a 12 - 18c CPU is no joke when it comes to cooling requirements.  

 

@SoRobby if single-threaded performance remains a big concern, absolutely forget about the 1950x.  Pure garbage in that area.  My 7900x keeps up or beats my 1950x in all areas except for the perfectly threaded workloads/applications.