To OverClock or not to OverClock ???? For Rendering.

[julius1982]

Dudes,and Dudets.....I'm new to the forum so HI.

 

I resently baught a 6-core i7 990x 3.47ghz Pc with 24GB of ram.

 

Now im battling myself with the question - Overclock or not to Overclock???

I'm using the pc to render scenes i create with 3ds max and v-ray, so the cpu usage is almost always on 100%

 

what do you think???

 

ps chack it out - The new beast next to the older quad core.

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[vizfx]

I wouldn't.

You gain a bit of speed and you loose stability and let`s mention overheating.

Be extremely careful

If you want more speed think about GPU rendering.

[julius1982]

o.k I'm thinking about gpu rendering, but what rendering software today usas gpu for its production quality renderings??? i mean i know v-ray has v-ray rt , but it's only for preview renderings.

and mental ray has quicksilver , but again - only for preview purpuses......

 

so is there a renderer that utilizes GPU (and i have a very strong GPU - the quadro 6000) for it's Production renderings and not for preview renderings??????

[postite]

Hi,

I overclocked my I7 920 to 3,8Ghz (+ 1,2Ghz). I just replace the original CPU fan with a Noctua NH-u12p (60$).

Really fast. Better than a I7 975 for 300$ !! Never had any stability issue.

 

But it's not that simple, need a bit of goggling to find the best way to overclock.

[Macer]

I overclocked my dual cpu, quad core system from 2.5 to 3.0 using the cooler mentioned above. It has been stable and rendering fine for over two years!

 

Just limit your overclock, don't go extreme. Keep a close eye on your temps when setting it up.

[AJLynn]

For a GPU render for production graphics, people seem to be happiest with Arion these days. I will attach my usual caveat here: http://www.3datstech.com/2010/11/gpu-rendering-again.html

 

And I'll say that I hope you didn't have to pay for all that yourself

 

Whether you can or should overclock is going to depend on the rest of the hardware in your system - MB, power supply and cooling mostly, and also RAM speed (the MHz, not the CL numbers). This isn't really the best place to ask about this. Try to find a forum for your motherboard (many of the better manufacturers have web forums) - there you will find geeks who own the same board and have time on their hands to write about overclocking it.

[Slinger]

julius, can you post the full specs of your system, like Andrew stated?

Also, you are already sitting at 3.46ghz. Even if you did a mild overclock to 4.2ghz let's say, I wonder what the decrease in render time would be offset by the increased power consumption of the processor, and if you can keep it all stable.

[julius1982]

O.k so first off ,thanks for all the replies..

And To AJlynn, yea I did have to pay for all of it. But it's an investment for my 3d visualization firm so I'm hoping to get it back in new projects(because time is money).

 

And now For Andrew and slinger , specs:

 

I7 extreme 6-core 3.47ghz 990x CPU.

24gb 1600hz Kingston memory.

Nvidia Quadro 6000 video card.

SSD Raid 128GB HardDrive

1TB HardDrive

ASUS P6X58D-E X58 motherboard

1000W CORSAIR powersupplier

THERMALTAKE VH6000BWS TOWER

 

Hope I covered it all.

[AJLynn]

Okay, so what you have there is an overclockable system - the MB, CPU, RAM, case and power supply are all sufficient. The one area I'd look into more is the CPU cooler - overclocking heats up the CPU and you need to compensate with a powerful heatsink and fan combination. These are large constructions of heat pipes and copper radiating fins, the more metal involved the better, and you want something with a 120mm fan.

 

I don't own those parts myself so I'm not going to tell you how to do it, or whether it's a good idea, or really offer any opinion at all on this. Personally I don't like doing it, because it does increase power consumption and heat and can lead to instability and in some cases damage hardware, but there are people who swear by it and do manage to make their computers faster. Since these are some valuable parts we're talking about, if you were to try anything you should definitely familiarize yourself with information from sources like this and this, don't try to go over 4GHz until you get very comfortable with the procedures.

[julius1982]

O.k guys, I made up my mind.

No overclocking for me.....

I came to the conclusion that the overheating threat, the power needs and the instability isn't worth the little boost in performance.

I mean it's great for gamers that don't use 100% CPU All the time, not so much for a 3G artist and rendering node.

So thanks to all you guys for the help.

[Superkames]

Uhm , the Intel Core i7-970 3.2GHz LGA 1366 Processor would be the better choice . i7-970 , i7-980X , i7-990X usually safe with 4.2 ghz after overclock , and i7-970 is the cheapest , for the extra 300$ ,you could spent on cooling system or better mainboard ....ect . Just use default --> stick with i7-990X .