New Computer for using Twilight!

[Furnituredesigner]

Hi guys,

I'm New to this forum but have used Twilight for a couple of years now.

I am replacing my current laptop with a new desktop PC for my business, which I am buying mainly to reduce my rendering times on twilight (and also run alongside photoshop & Autocad). My current laptop renders the Bauhaus lamp (in another section of this forum) in over 3 mins!

I am looking at a Dell XPS 8700 with the following specs as it's in my budget & just wondered if anyone could tell me if it's suitable for the job & also approximately how fast these specs would render the Bauhaus lamp please? Ideally hitting the 30-40 seconds kind of times.

Dell XPS 8700 (12 GB Version) £779 inc VAT
Intel® Lynx Point Z87
4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4790 processor (8M Cache, up to 4.0 GHz)
Operating System
Windows 8.1 (64Bit)
12GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz - 4 DIMMs
2TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive 6.0 Gb/s
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750Ti 2GB DDR5

Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks guys, this PC is quite a big investment & just want to make sure it does the job!

Many thanks

[Fletch]

First, that looks like a nice machine.

As for the speed prediction, you could compare it to other thread machines with similar RAM and 4Ghz processor speed.
But of course each machine is unique and many factors can apply to change this... but I'm guessing it will be in the 25s-32s range.

Here is one from the bauhaus light thread like this:
Subject: How Fast Are You - Official Twilight Scene - Bauhaus Lamp

i7-4700mq @ 2.4Ghz
8gb ram
Windows 8.1
SU 2014

I find it strange that the AMD 8 core renderings were not faster at rendering.
speed: 25s

However, keep in mind that the Bauhaus light scene was created for all machines to compete, and it is quite old compared to the technology of this year. So, we need to come up with a better scene for testing these faster machines.

Here's a post where I show how to attempt a speed prediction:
Subject: How Fast Are You - Official Twilight Scene - Bauhaus Lamp

...
You need to look at the speeds of each and prices of each. Did they cost the same price? If so, then perhaps your assessment is correct.
But if you want to compare speeds, you must look at the speed, not the RAM... RAM only helps you render larger scenes and lets you work on other things more easily while rendering, it does not make it render faster. However, if using WinXP, it only allows 2Gb to all the programs you are using, even if you have 4Gb, so it doesn't matter how much ram you have over 3Gb (1Gb for operating system+2 for programs)

The speed and number of cores/threads for the CPU are what matter.
The athalon is at 2.91Ghz with 2 cores. (assumed 2 cores/2 threads) 2x2.91 = 5.82Ghz of processing power for the job.
The intel is at 2.0Ghz with 2 cores. 2x2.0 = 4Ghz of processing power for the job.

This athalon should complete the job in 69% of the time taken by the intel. (4Ghz/5.82Ghz=.69)
1m48s v 2m42s... 108 secs vs 162 secs = 108/162 = .66 - pretty close to prediction.

[Furnituredesigner]

Hi Fletch,

Thanks very much for the reply it is appreciated. I saw your post before in the Bauhaus Lamp section which was good. I see what you're saying about speed & RAM. It's 12GB RAM so should be OK for producing larger renders and running other programs in the background. It's mainly for rendering sketchup bespoke furniture & room sets. I think the actual spec of this Dell XPS 8700 is quad core, and 3.6 Ghz (up to 4Ghz) so still pretty decent. I saw some of the computers rendered that lamp in about 12 seconds which is crazy - would love that but would be very happy with 25-35 seconds!

Someone mentioned the Intel® Lynx Point Z87 chipset & whether it was OK for rendering, but I'm not a computer person! The other option is to have a machine built, but this Dell seemed pretty decent for the budget.

What machine to do you use for rendering?

Thanks again,

[Fletch]

4 cores, but renders with hyperthreading technology, so will render as 8 threads = very good!
As a contrast, a Core i5 has 4 cores, but no hyperthreading, so only 4 threads.

read about your processor
http://ark.intel.com/products/80806/Int ... o-4_00-GHz

I use, day-to-day, an i7 laptop with 6Gb RAM, it is not the fastest machine, but pretty good for a bit higher-end "value" laptop. I also do testing on several other machines and setups.
The machine you specified above will be much better than a laptop, but will be difficult to carry to meetings.

If you have unlimited budget, the dual xeon that does the lamp scene in 12 seconds is a great machine.

[mendipsengineman]

Hi everyone. I also need to upgrade as I need to be able to process large city renders in twilight.

How does the below spec look for £1250? sorry i'm not very good with understanding all the jargon!

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790k (4.0GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK S: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 750 Ti - DVI, mHDMI, VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 32 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2013 (1 License & Disc)

I also wish to run Revizto. Their recommended spec is:

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 or higher,
512Mb Graphic RAM
CPU: Multiple core (using for light map calculations)
OS: Windows 7,
RAM: 8 Gb

Any suggestions or improvements much appreciated,
Thanks,

Nick, Bristol, UK