3.46 Xeons / memory speed?

[lewnworxx]

Have a 5.1 MP 2 x 2.4 Quad, will update to 2 x 3.46 Hex.

Current memory is all 1066, and for the 3.06 Xeons the spec is for DDR3-133, as the memory speed is directly tied to the proc clocks from what I understand.

That being the case is there any need / benefit to even faster ram when going beyond the 3.06 Xeons (like the 5690's), and if so what speed to get?

Is there any tangible difference performance wise or is this a point of diminishing returns?

 

[MacVidCards]

1333 is max memory speed. You may find some of yours already is.

 

[Synchro3]

Memory speed

Have a 5.1 MP 2 x 2.4 Quad, will update to 2 x 3.46 Hex.

Current memory is all 1066, and for the 3.06 Xeons the spec is for DDR3-1333, as the memory speed is directly tied to the proc clocks from what I understand.

That being the case is there any need / benefit to even faster ram when going beyond the 3.06 Xeons (like the 5690's), and if so what speed to get?

Is there any tangible difference performance wise or is this a point of diminishing returns?

You will not have a noticeable benefit. When i changed the 1066 MHz with 1333 MHz memory, Geekbench showed maybe 1% more performance, or more probable it was only minimal data fluctuation.

For example, the difference between DDR3 2133 MHz and DDR3-1333 MHz is less than 2%, and there is 4.5% difference from DDR3 2133 MHz to DDR3-1066 MHz.

I quote:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/314892-30-cl11-what-difference

http://www.computerbase.de/2012-05/test-welchen-ram-fuer-intel-ivy-bridge/3/

 

[lewnworxx]

You will not have a noticeable benefit. When i changed the 1066 MHz with 1333 MHz memory, Geekbench showed maybe 1% more performance, or more probable it was only minimal data fluctuation.

For example, the difference between DDR3 2133 MHz and DDR3-1333 MHz is less than 2%, and there is 4.5% difference from DDR3 2133 MHz to DDR3-1066 MHz.

I quote:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/314892-30-cl11-what-difference

http://www.computerbase.de/2012-05/test-welchen-ram-fuer-intel-ivy-bridge/3/

Sorta figured as much, but was looking to verify the hunch. Thanks.

I'm kinda shooting for the low hanging fruit. First the GPU's as this box is a render / Rhino machine. Pair of GTX970's should address that.

Drive speed next, Samsung 1TB 850 EVO addresses that. I'm sort of curious as to why a lot of you folks are running the SSD's on PCIE cards rather than on a bracket in a bay. Is there that much of a performance difference?

I'm not looking to do video editing or anything that needs raid level performance for large storage (although I do have an ESata external Raid 5 for my photo work), just modeling and rendering frames, so I figure the internal bay route is fine, as the two GTX's will eat 4 slots, and I have the ESata card for the raid in the 5th.

Next the procs, a pair of Xeon 5690's should address that.

Box has 12GB, need to update that, but wanted to ensure I went the right route on that end which your answer addressed nicely. Thankee.

It's been a bunch of years since I've had to milk the sweet spot of price / performance out of a Mac box. I had kinda forgot how much 3D work is just as much about wringing performance out of the hardware as it is the business of checking continuity of nurbs curves.

BTW, I'm pretty impressed with the Mac Beta of Rhino.
It's still got a ways to go (help system documentation, some tools still not ported, etc) before it's ready to ship, but for the most part is pretty solid.

I'm using Rhino for the modeling, and Blender for the render engine, mostly because I'm used to cooking materials with shader nodes and it's less of a learning curve and cost than a 3rd party renderer.

The work is modeling, short anims & stills for proof of concept / approval checks, then eventually local 3D Prints for STL export checks prior to sending off to a service bureau for final prints for casting. I knew I had to do something when the first 10 second anim took 3 days to render.

 

[IowaLynn]

If you have an open PCIe slot - I think you might even with what you plan, those XP941 adapters are tiny so they don't block air or need to worry (there is one adapter with heat sink, might be more help in blocking the heat from a GPU).

Long thread NGFF PCIE SSD on the subject. Results show IO in excess of 1000MB/sec writes, no need for RAID but would put final nail on performance side. Makes things more fluid when there is zero delay between wanting a file (or export and writing) and having it there for the processor to work on.

 

[MacVidCards]

sorry if I wasn't clear, it is likely that at least SOME of your RAM is already 1333 as Apple shipped the machines that way, even when outfitted with "lesser" CPUs.

Once you put in 5690s a quick PRAM reset will show. (provided it all is)

 

[flowrider]

When I upgraded my CPUs, a PRAM reset was not necessary in my case. With the new CPUs installed, the 1333MHz RAM was recognized on restart.

Lou