Hi!
Please help to be defined with a choice of CPU for work in Houdini. I watched a lot of reviews, benchmarks, read many comments and came to the following options:

1) Intel 12900K (12900KF)

pros - a relatively fresh model, reliability in terms of compatibility with other PC components, the ability to use a newer DDR5

cons - poor rendering results both in the background and in the active mode. According to many reviews, in the background, the processor transfers the rendering process to its 8 E-cores, as a result, the rendering starts to get very slow. As a way out - you need to constantly keep the renderer in the active mode, depriving yourself of the opportunity to deal with other tasks in parallel with rendering. And in the active mode, the results are weaker than Ryzen.
Also, higher power consumption compared to the main competitor Ryzen 5950X

2) Ryzen 5950X

pros - faster rendering performance, lower power consumption, full-fledged cores do not ruin rendering in the background mode

cons - by mid-2022, an already outdated CPU with the old DDR4, worrying background in terms of some instabilities and unreliability


What do you think about this?
Thanks in advance for constructive opinions

p.s.
I do not review Threadripper, as it is beyond the budget

3) dumpster dive for some ewaste-tier xeons
pros - price, stability, memory capacity
cons - slow, low performance per watt

jsmack
3) dumpster dive for some ewaste-tier xeons
pros - price, stability, memory capacity
cons - slow, low performance per watt

Thanks for constructive solution!

And what about 12900 vs 5950 for work in Houdini?

g0rka

jsmack
3) dumpster dive for some ewaste-tier xeons
pros - price, stability, memory capacity
cons - slow, low performance per watt

Thanks for constructive solution!

And what about 12900 vs 5950 for work in Houdini?

I don't own either but I've heard users of 5950's using them without problems. The 12900 is supposed to be fast but I'm not sure how the hybrid design can work with background tasks that are actually more important than foreground tasks (rendering).

Ryzen 7000 and intel 13th gen are coming soon though, how soon do you need a machine?

jsmack
Ryzen 7000 and intel 13th gen are coming soon though, how soon do you need a machine?

I plan to replace the workstation this fall, so it makes sense to wait for the release of the new red and blue models. But according to rumors, the 13th generation will also use E-cores, so it is likely that new Intel CPU will also slow down rendering in the background.

I would go with the AMD, the 7000 would be quite a step up so if you want wait that one will be a step up.
We use the 64 core Threadrippers, which are great because of their cores but a collegue have used the 5950 and we compared them. The 5950 were considerably faster per core than the 64 core, more modern design and higher frequency.
Used AMD for a long time, never disappoints.

Best wishes,
Andreas

AndreasOberg
I would go with the AMD, the 7000 would be quite a step up so if you want wait that one will be a step up.
We use the 64 core Threadrippers, which are great because of their cores but a collegue have used the 5950 and we compared them. The 5950 were considerably faster per core than the 64 core, more modern design and higher frequency.
Used AMD for a long time, never disappoints.

Thank you Andreas for such objective reply!

Good luck with your purchace.
From what I remember the 5950 were 50% faster per core than our 64 core which is very impressive.
Do not forget a good GPU to render with. I almost never render with the CPU any more. You can snatch up 3090 cards for good prices now, but the slower like 3080 or last gen 2080 are great for rendering.

AndreasOberg
Do not forget a good GPU to render with.

I totally agree with you that the GPU is critical in rendering speed. After dozens of reviews I settled on two options - 3090 and A5000. Price and features are about the same. As for the rendering speed, the 3090 is about 10% faster than A5000, but A5000 is much more economical in terms of power consumption. A5000 is more sharpened for solving professional graphics tasks. 3090 is more designed for games. Another plus of A5000 is that it is more compact and more suitable for creating a farm of several cards for rendering.
What do you think about these two options?

ps
A6000 is too expensive for me