i7 4770T vs 4770 for rendering?

#1

I’m looking to add some systems to create a render farm of sorts (using V-ray as the rendering engine) and have decided to go for either the i7 4770T or the i7 4770 as I can obtain them for approximately the same price.

I’m leaning towards the 4770T as it provides incredible energy savings compared to the 4770 without sacrificing too much in performance. All benchmarks I have seen online (none pertaining to rendering) seem to indicate relatively similar performance for both processors.

So my question is, am I missing something? Will the 4770T perform as well at rendering as the 4770? Small differences in performance don’t bother me, but if the difference is great, I may have to rethink my investment.

Thanks in advance for your help guys :thumbsup:

#2

The T is practically identical to the non T except it has a small clock reduction, and the throttling can take it way further down than the normal 4770, so it can drop to 2.5 Ghz and run things light weight apps with less power.

The lower power draw is largely based on that, at peak they will consume pretty much the same, and the 4770 will be slightly faster.

If you plan to have the box running flat out rendering, and when it isn’t you just power cycle it or sleep it, then there is no point in a T CPU, they only save power on light use AFAIK.
For 30 bucks more you can buy the K and overclock it by the way, and it’s a multiplier OC so at idle it doesn’t really affect power draw much.

All in all for a renderfarm node you don’t sit in front I really wouldn’t bother with a T, they are meant for other uses.

#3

Thanks for the reply.

I’m getting used processors, so I’m getting even the K for pretty much the same price. I only considered the T because I was looking at long term energy costs. Since thats a null point based on your suggestion, I guess I’ll go for the K. Thanks again :thumbsup:

#4

N amount of transistors of the same gen, type, size and layout, running at the same clock and voltage, with the same control unit, inevitably burn a certain amount of power. When you see TDP it’s often an average or an estimate, make sure you read reviews where they measure the actual draw under full load to find what the actual savings would be under stress.

The T and K are identical to the same CPU without those letters AFAIK, just different batches and internal “software” changes to tweak things like unlocking/locking features or changing the clock to a different sweet spot.

A different CPU with a different clock however could be a completely different deal.
There are better cycle per watt options than the 4770, but you do eventually pay a price for those as most are Xeons or more recent and DDR4, or both.

If those are easy to pick up for you and you don’t need a lot, usually saving 20 or 30W on the draw won’t be worth the headache. The 4770K second hand is actually pretty good value for money and for a single digit number of units with no headaches probably worth the added power expenditure.