i7 929 vs quad core q9550

[MonoAoV]

Hey, I have recently been pricing and reading up on the same build. I originally was going with the q9450 but for some reason the q9550 became the cheaper option and after a little more looking around i found that the i7 920 OEM was even cheaper than both. Yes the motherboard and RAM (DDR3 only) will be higher in price but if you can manage it I've heard its well worth the cost. The i7 core, having an on-chip memory control unit, as well as the faster memory, will greatly increase the render speed and, I'm assuming, the workability while dealing with high-poly models (although this also depends on your video card). The fact that the i7 works cleaner with less of a bottleneck also means that the clock speeds are more valuable. In other words an i7 920 at stock 2.66GHz will perform better than a stock q9550 at 2.83GHz. Feel free to read up pn the facts, because for all I know, it could be all lies... I've yet to get my hands on either.

On the other hand, if you are an AMD fan you'll be happy to hear that come Jan 8th-11th the CES Show will be held (in Las Vegas I think) where AMD will show off their Phenom II which is showing a great amount of promise at a very nice price point. They will be available the same day due to the fact the the venders have already recieved their shipments and some even jumped the gun and were caught selling chips before the show! AMD wasn't happy and put an end to that kinda quickly.

There will be 2 families of the Phenom II though, one on the AM2+ socket (using current, cheaper, DDR2 memory) and another set for a new AM3 socket, which means new motherboards are being made which will take full advantage or DDR3. I'm not sure when that will happen. I can't wait to read the reviews of the i7 vs the Phenom II AM3, if nothing else it will drive the prices lower all around, so it might be advetagious to hold off for a month or so. Personally I'm dying to buy my i7 920 but can't seem to be able to round up all the parts at once (I'm trying to buy through ewiz as they're a bit cheaper than newegg) but so far my build looks like this -

Antec 300 Case
i7 920 2.66GHz CPU
Seagate 500GB SATA2 32MB HDD
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 Motherboard
Super Talent 3x2GB 1333 CL8 Memory
Super Talent Atomic Juice 700W PSU
LG 22x DVD+/-RW SATA
And I'm still debaiting on what video card to use at the moment. If anyone has any suggestions hit me with em!

So far the price is about $920 before shipping and thats also without a LCD so ajust as nessisary. I would have gone with a cheaper Motherboard (That one goes for about $290 right now) but they were out of stock on the other Gigabytes. I also probablly would have went with an Antec 900 case for more cooling but they were out of those today too. It seams to be different everyday with them. Anyway, hope this helps you out. I've been reading up on building and overclocking options since early December and I still haven't bought a thing lol... some say I do a little too much thinking, little do they know I stayed withthe same price point and upgraded 3 or 4 times before even buying.

p.s. I really didnt expect to write that much... but well, that's reseach for ya!

[tfortier]

i7 give a good bump speed for After Effects but there is not much difference between the cheapest and the more expensive. The 920 would be the more clever choice.

(mine is coming soon)

here a benchmark
http://www.intel.com/performance/desktop/consumer.htm
click on "Create cutting edge video content and visual effects"

[BattlemasterXP]

Here is a good benchmark, although not with the new AMD Phenom II, but with every i7 model:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/11/03/intel-core-i7-920-945-965-review/10

[RobotClayton]

Here is a head-to-head chart of the i7 920 vs. the q9550 from Tom's hardware. The i7 is an amazing processor. I am in the process of piecing together my own i7 system. Anyway, if you get the 1366 socket motherboard, you will have future-proofed yourself for a couple of years anyway.

Good luck.


http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-q3-2008/compare,836.html?prod[2271]=on&prod[2181]=on

[TylerAZambori]

Looks to me like the q9650 regular, not extreme, is not much slower
than the core i7 (based on that Tom's Hardware chart). Since I already
have a q6600 system system set up, I don't have to upgrade the mobo,
or the memory to ddr3.

I don't usually buy the top of the line newest thing anyway.

[BOXXlabs]

for 3D rendering the i7 will be a little faster. for 2D compositing in apps like AE the i7 will be MUCH MUCH faster.

This is based on our internal testing of both platforms

[NR43]

for 2D compositing in apps like AE the i7 will be MUCH MUCH faster


What about using 2D software like Painter?
Any difference in performance noticable there that would be worth buying the i7 instead?
Or are apps like Painter and PS more bottlenecked by the amount of RAM?

I use Painter IX.5 currently and I'm waiting to upgrade my system a few months after Painter XI comes out...

[biliousfrog]

What about using 2D software like Painter?
Any difference in performance noticable there that would be worth buying the i7 instead?
Or are apps like Painter and PS more bottlenecked by the amount of RAM?

I use Painter IX.5 currently and I'm waiting to upgrade my system a few months after Painter XI comes out...

Off topic but shouldn't that be Painter IX.V? ;)

[BOXXlabs]

i7 would be faster for single-threaded operations in both 2D and 3D applications. The i7 would provide better interactive performance than the dual Xeon for apps such as Painter.

[NR43]

biliousfrog Nope, It's Painter IX.5 allright... and I like it like that :p

BOXXlabs Thanks!
Let's hope Corel brings out the new gear soon!

[laverdir]

for 3D rendering the i7 will be a little faster. for 2D compositing in apps like AE the i7 will be MUCH MUCH faster.

This is based on our internal testing of both platforms

i7 would be faster for single-threaded operations in both 2D and 3D applications. The i7 would provide better interactive performance than the dual Xeon for apps such as Painter.

was wondering how would 2 socket 'shanghai' amd opteron come to this equation (eg. model 2389)?? or new 6-core 'istanbul'??

most important, how are new i7 based xeons??

planning long overdue move to new system, should i wait a bit longer??

for the same price i can get 2 x 2376 opteron or unisocket i7 920 system with
same specs.. 500 EUR more expensive 2 x E5410 xeon system (with potential for
2.8 mhz bsel mod) looks good on paper..


@BOXXlabs, what would You recommend for 3D modeling and animation & HD video and film editing, compositing and finishing??

[laverdir]

deleted, double..

[BOXXlabs]

@BOXXlabs, what would You recommend for 3D modeling and animation & HD video and film editing, compositing and finishing??

i7. There is currently no better value for the workflows you describe than the i7 single socket approach.

If you had said that you need to do a ton of 3D rendering and don't have access to a renderfarm, then I would have to suggest that you wait a couple of weeks and go with a new dual Xeon 5500 based system.

Cheers,

Adam

[laverdir]

i7. There is currently no better value for the workflows you describe than the i7 single socket approach.

thanks!

...wait a couple of weeks and go with a new dual Xeon 5500 based system.

i bet you have played with them already, any impressions you can share without violating nda??