Depends. I'm not sure what Cinema 4D likes, but if it prefers more cores, you might be better off with two 2.8GHz W3530 Xeon chips and a motherboard to match (perhaps the EVGA SR-2 for overclocking). That could all be found for about the same price as the 980x, combined. You'd have eight cores that could maybe overclock to the same point, which depending on the workload might be faster.
If you have the money get what you want , the 980x is one fast chip right from the box. Dont skimp on the rest of the parts. I have the asus rampage II extreme which is a rog board and I really like it, It screams quality. My system fly's and Pete J's fly's faster. If you really want to go Nvidia there's not many choices now and with the rig you are building you should go for the best you can.
I have just contacted the makers of Cinema 4D to find out how many cores are supported - i thought it would be better to be safe than sorry, especially for this amount of money! I suppose there will always be better hardware around the corner, so i need to make my mind up and stick with it. I think i will be more than happy with the 980x from what i have been reading.
The problem is that with most extreme edition chips, you're paying massively over the odds for what you get in terms of actual performance. This result is the newest version of Cinebench, which uses the same engine as Cinema 4D. Whereas this is a similar result from a 920 overclocked: As you see, the 920 gains about 80% of the performance for about 22% of the price. Now, of course the 980x overclocks nicely also, better in fact than the 920, but there's still a really big value difference. If you can afford the 980x, it'll do you nicely. Otherwise, a 920 would be fine. As an alternative to the 980x, I'd still recommend (when it's released) the EVGA SR-2 motherboard and a couple of 32nm quad core Xeons to overclock, which will almost certainly outpace the 980x for a somewhat lower price.
Bakes, thank you for posting the results and i hear what you are saying. The thing is i dont see myself overclocking for a while, which was one of the main resaons of looking at the 980x. In a non overclocked comparisson what do you think the 920 vs 980x will be like? I have been keeping my eye on the EVGA SR-2 motherboard forums. But to be honest i have been put off a bit as quite a few people seem unhappy with the board. Not to mention the problem of finding a case for it. I might have another look when the UK gets the price for the EVGA.
They don't seem too unhappy from what I've been looking - remember, that forum is like bit-tech, but they all have the same motherboard, and most of the problems are silly, like plugging the wrong parts of the PSU in etc.
Dude, the SR2 will be hugely expensive. Based on absolutely nothing, I wouldn't be surprised to see a price of at least £750, maybe even £1000. The board will also only take Xeon processors IIRC, which significantly add to the cost. However, Xeons do kick ass at the more serious applications like rendering and the SR2 allows overclocking. One thing to bear in mind is that some Xeon processors can be used in 'standard' motherboards. To be honest, I can't really decide which would be the best route for you at the moment. Could you tell us exactly what are you going to do with your system, e.g. 1) Is it just for rendering or will you use it to game as well? 2) What is your maximum budget? 3) Will you need multiple GPUs for any reason?
It's $699 in America. Expect a price of about £586-£600. Having said that, the processors are much cheaper, Xeon LGA1366s (not to be confused with i7 1366s, the Xeons are 32nm and are MP capable). Expect to pay about £1100 for a motherboard + 2 2.8GHz 32nm quad processors, whereas you'd be paying £1000 for a motherboard and 980x. So, it's not such bad value for the extra cores.
Xeon should stick to servers You also need registered memory if you xeon. 980 will beat the 920 at default by a long way In programs that use the cores Be a few frames better in games as well this is ignoring overclocking
Ah, you're correct! I'm surprised it's that cheap (and I really mean that). A common misconception. Xeons have support for ECC RAM whereas 'normal' CPUs don't - Xeons can still use standard memory. That brings up a point actually: To the OP: how long do you think your rendering will take? If you're looking at weeks rather than days then I'd recommend ECC RAM with a Xeon processor (or two ).
In the past this was the case - Core 2 Xeons required FB-Dimms - hot and slow. Nowadays it's all optional. Even registered memory itself is neither slow or expensive, you can buy 4GB 1333MHz server ram for £120, and that's 7-7-7 latencies. Not really - in almost every game, there's no CPU limitation past i7 4GHz. No game supports 6 CPU threads, so there's effectively no bonus in games with an i7-980x.
Wow, loads of replies since this morning, thank you all! Ok, here is what i am looking to do: Mostly rendering and of course the modelling - as soon as i add lights to my work its slows my current PC to a snail pace. I am trying to learn better rendering , but when it slows down like this it is more hassle than it's worth. So, with a new build i hope to rectify all this. As for the render time i hope it wont be weeks or days and rather a few hours maximum as i am learning. But obviously be able to increase the speed with gained experience. The usuall other everyday things like the interenet, music, letters and possible a game. Although i havent played a game in years on my pc because of console use. Single GPU with a good amount of memory for no screen lag whith large textured models. Not Qaudro as there is no benefit - preferably Nvidia as i have believe Radeon can cause problems with Cinema 4D. Budget £1600 - £1800 I am not so sure about the dual Xeon set up and SR2, will the spec bakes stated be better than a 980x. Its a lot of cash and want to be 99% happy!
Mate just got a gigabyte ga-x58a-ud3r version 2.0 for mine and I'm very happy. A duel xeon(quad) setup will not best a 980x. With the 980 you are getting a xeon w3680 for less.If you do want duel it'll be the 5680 at crazy price.
I am pretty much sold on this chip, it seems to be the best for what i want - i just need to choose the other parts carefully now! brave758, are you doing any 3D and how does this CPU perform? What cooling are you using (the one included with the 980x), i was thinking about using a Titan fenrir? Seeing as its is my first build, would it be wise to get somebody else to fit the CPU and cooling - it would be a disaster for me to damage it!
3Dbuild i'm water cooling mine but this doesn't seem to be a crazy hot chip been keeping a eye on it with core temp. The cooler that came with it does look the business though and i'm sure you will have no problems with it. I also used the TIM that came with the CPU. As for getting someone else to fit this chip haha yep i know where your comming from its very easy but dam did i have a sweat on, checking ...... checking again..... haha.
