AMD and Intel have both released small revisions to their latest-gen consumer CPU lines, in the form of the Ryzen XT models and Core i9 10850K. On paper these appear to be identical to current products except for very slight adjustments in clock speed, but how do they stack up in real-world rendering benchmarks?
AMD Threadripper 3990X: Does Windows 10 for Workstations improve rendering performance?
When AMD launched the 64-core Threadripper 3990X, some reviewers reported that performance of this 128-thread beast was hindered by running a normal version of Windows 10 Pro – and that using Windows 10 Pro for Workstations or Windows 10 Enterprise instead gave better results. We have investigated that claim using Cinebench and V-Ray benchmarks to see if the choice of operating system could impact our customers.
What is the Best CPU for Rendering (2019)
For CPU-based rendering engines, the processor is by far the most important hardware choice when building or buying a workstation. What is the best choice among all the new CPUs that were launched in 2019, though? We’ve tested a wide range of chips so that we can provide that answer to you, so read on to find out!
First Look at AMD Ryzen 3rd Gen CPUs for Rendering
AMD launched their third generation of mainstream Ryzen processors today, but we were only provided with the low-end Ryzen 5 3600 ahead of time. We have ordered the Ryzen 7 3800X and Ryzen 9 3900X, and should be testing them soon, but until then we can at least look at how the overall architecture is doing with the example we do have.
CPU Rendering: Intel Core i9 9990XE vs Xeon W-3175X
Intel recently released a pair of rather odd high-end processors: the 14-core Core i9 9990XE and the 28-core Xeon W-3175X. Both have higher clock speeds than other models with similar core count, run much hotter, and have other peculiarities. Because of that, neither of these processors will have a home in our product line at this time – but they are still interesting to test for insight into what current CPU designs are capable of when pushed beyond what is practical.
Testing Dynamic Local Mode on AMD Threadripper 2970WX – Rendering
Dynamic Local Mode is a new feature on AMD’s biggest Threadripper processors. These CPUs have cores grouped internally, some with direct access to system memory and some which have to communicate through those other cores to access data in memory. DLM prioritizes running code on the cores which have a direct line to the memory, helping to improve performance in situations where not all of the cores are in use. How does that translate to real-world workloads, though? Let’s take a look at two CPU-based rendering applications and see how the 24-core 2970WX behaves with this feature on and off.