i7-6700K 4 core OverClocked 4.4 Ghz vs i7-5960X 8 core OverClocked 4.125 Ghz

[?Mark]

Another pc hardware thread...

 

Clock speed vs number of cores?

Which is better for mastercam? Verify and regen times are critical.

 

 

 

 

TIA :-)

[BenK]

Number of cores is going to help you more than that slight difference in clock speed. 

[?Mark]

Thanks BenK

 

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-6700K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-5960X/3502vs2580

 

For the sake of discussion, MC doesn't really take advantage of multicore and according to the above benchmarks 6700k is 15-30% faster in 1-4 core applications...

 

BenK, I wish CNC Software was more proactive with hardware specs

[BenK]

Not sure where you hear it doesn't take advantage of the cores. I have the 5960X and I will be replacing it because its not enough cores. It largely depends on the work you do and what your workflow is but I will take more cores over a slightly higher clock speed any day.

[Rocketmachinist]

Due to the way that Mastercam utilizes cores, it will only use one core to process one toolpath at a time (converting music files works the same way. one song at a time per core). So if you are usually processing 1 toolpath at a time you wont see any difference between a 4, 6 or even 8 core processor with the same clock speed. You will see a difference if you get something with a faster clock speed.

 

It would be awesome to see Mastercam optimized to handle something with lots of cores, then make it so the gpu can take over the work load. It would go from using a 4 core processor to one using 768. When you see programs capable of doing the processing on gpu's it is incredible.

[jeff]

I would go with the 5960X if price wasn't an issue. Double the cores, and double the threads make it a great workstation cpu.

That being said, the 6700K is a powerhouse and probably what I would buy personally, simply because I never buy the X processors. (I'm too cheap like that lol).

 

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-6700K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-5960X/3502vs2580

 

 

edit: after Rocketmachinist's post, I may be wrong, it's happened once before.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

I just installed on a new 6700K system today; I'll post a benchmark when I get it.

[jeff]

I just installed on a new 6700K system today; I'll post a benchmark when I get it.

Nice!

I wanted the 6700K for here at work, but we were in a pinch and needed a new computer a.s.a.p. The 6700K was on worldwide backorder at the time so I "settled" for the 6700. 

[crazy^millman]

Currently cores are not as utilized now, but don't base a decision off of where things are. Need to think cores will be used and if you can get the cores and the speed I would shoot for both.

[?Mark]

I think I'm fairly happy with how fast MC generates toolpaths (especially HS toolpaths) since it takes minutes but I'm very disapointed with verification speed. That appears to be driven by a single core and that's where the clock speed makes the biggest difference..i think, lol

[crazy^millman]

Due to the way that Mastercam utilizes cores, it will only use one core to process one toolpath at a time (converting music files works the same way. one song at a time per core). So if you are usually processing 1 toolpath at a time you wont see any difference between a 4, 6 or even 8 core processor with the same clock speed. You will see a difference if you get something with a faster clock speed.

 

It would be awesome to see Mastercam optimized to handle something with lots of cores, then make it so the gpu can take over the work load. It would go from using a 4 core processor to one using 768. When you see programs capable of doing the processing on gpu's it is incredible.

 

Hold on to your hats might be surprised what things will happen sooner than you think.

[Zoffen]

So now that there is hardware passthru for virtual machines this is the future of cadcam rigs:

 

MORE CORES CAPTAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tim Johnson]

I could be wrong but I seem to remember statements at the X7 rollout that MC was now (then) using multi-core crunching for single operations.

[?Mark]

If it does, it makes a crappy use of it. Seems that it rarely goes past the 50% utilization. This low utilization points me more toward fewer cores with higher clock speed, but I could be wrong.

I wish cnc software would voice their experience in this regard

[crazy^millman]

If it does, it makes a crappy use of it. Seems that it rarely goes past the 50% utilization. This low utilization points me more toward fewer cores with higher clock speed, but I could be wrong.

I wish cnc software would voice their experience in this regard

 

Pop over in the official forum for that. Still would not hold my breathe as if it is not exactly to the 100% point and off by .00000000001% in what they say then people will still be screaming not good enough.

[BenK]

I have the opposite experience. Mine has been at 100% for much of the last two weeks with the project I'm working on, all 8 cores are being worked even if I only generate 1 toolpath at a time. It all depends on what paths you are using.  

[?Mark]

I have the opposite experience. Mine has been at 100% for much of the last two weeks with the project I'm working on, all 8 cores are being worked even if I only generate 1 toolpath at a time. It all depends on what paths you are using.  

Is yours overclocked also to 4.125 Ghz?

I'm looking at the system from Boxx now. Torn between those two.

[Zoffen]

There is also a number of ways to overclock one of being you can throttle depending on how many cores are used.

 

The way my system is set up if i'm using all 6 cores its 4.4ghz but when i use 3 it 4.5 and when its only one core its 4.6 (i've gotten it to run stableish at 4.8 but i'd rather be slightly slow and not have lots of random crashes)

 

Another big thing is what is your ram speed? you can overclock that too! The system is only as fast as its slowest component!

Hell check out the new SSD's that fit in the M.2 slots, why not raid 0 them for fun so you get a whopping......2500 mb/s read/1500 write!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BenK]

Is yours overclocked also to 4.125 Ghz?

I'm looking at the system from Boxx now. Torn between those two.

 

I'm at 4.4Ghz. 

[jeff]

 

I'm looking at the system from Boxx now. 

Why?

Those computers are SO overpriced it's not even funny.

Warranty schmarranty, build one for 1/2 the price. Or go with a place like Cyberpower for $1,000 less and you get a warranty to make your boss feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

[HYPERTUNE]

I got lucky and run my 5960X stable at 4.875 

[Müřlıń®]

I have a twin Xeon  8 core so that is 16 cores.

 

I have had the task manager and resource manager open.

 

When I regenerate a bunch of tool paths, the multi thread manager will show it crunching 4 at a time. The architecture spreads the CPU ticks fairly  even across all 16 cores.

 

Crunching 4 at the same time will not max the CPUS out at 100%. I have to set the multi thread to 6 before it will get close to 100%

 

So crunching many toolpaths at a slower clock is faster than one at a time at a faster clock...

[gcode]

Why?

Those computers are SO overpriced it's not even funny.

Warranty schmarranty, build one for 1/2 the price. Or go with a place like Cyberpower for $1,000 less and you get a warranty to make your boss feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Yes they are overpriced.... but they work flawlessly, right out of the box.

Plug them in and go to work, end of story ... my current work machine is one year old this month and I have yet to have a crash.

I make my money programming... not playing with computers

I have no doubt you could build one for 60% of Boxx's price... but my time is better spent creating programs

The tax write off is helpful too.

I bought one for my contract work last month when they we having a 10% off sale

I went low ball on the SSD's and added my own from Amazon.

[Müřlıń®]

This is the tower I had built....I told them what components to put in special.

 

It was built in Kali and shipped to Texas for 2,700...

 

I was on a budget so I had to get older stuff but it is pretty good for the price.

 

I liked the 20 MB cache on the CPU's. I am running RAID 1  on the SSD's.

 

I have been using it on 1 gig files with 400 ops and haven't crashed once...

 

DELL T5600 WORKSTATION

DELL PRECISION T5600 RECERTIFIED WORKSTATION

WINDOWS 7 PRO

2 X INTEL XEON 8 CORE E5-2670 2.6GHZ 20MB CACHE PROCESSORS

64GB (8 X 8GB) MEMORY

2 X SAMSUNG 850 PRO 1TB 2.5 INCH SATA SSD HARD DRIVES

PERC H310 6GB/S PCI-E 2.0 X8 RAID CONTROLLER

DVD-ROM DRIVE

INTEGRATED INTEL 82579 GIGABIT ETHERNET CONTROLLER

NVIDIA QUADRO K4000 3GB VIDEO CARD

NO KEYBOARD & MOUSE

635W POWER SUPPLY

5 YEAR IT CREATIONS WARRANTY

[jeff]

Yes they are overpriced.... but they work flawlessly, right out of the box.

Plug them in and go to work, end of story ... my current work machine is one year old this month and I have yet to have a crash.

I make my money programming... not playing with computers

I have no doubt you could build one for 60% of Boxx's price... but my time is better spent creating programs

The tax write off is helpful too.

I bought one for my contract work last month when they we having a 10% off sale

I went low ball on the SSD's and added my own from Amazon.

Weird, I've never had a computer work flawlessly right out of the box.  I know it can and does happen though the chances are in your favor.

To each their own, if you have the budget then go for it, personally I'd never buy one on principal that they are blatantly over charging for every little thing.