EDIT: I have SCS Benchmark Project results below after my initial test!
EDIT #2: Here are my current best results as shown lower in the thread:
Preliminary tests are in. TLDR: lightly overclocked i7 5960x @ 3.978GHz (64GB RAM @ 2400MHz on ASUS Rapage V Extreme MOBO) had significant improvements in render times over moderately overclocked i7 3930k @ 4.4GHz (32GB RAM @ 1600 MHz on ASUS Rampage IV Extreme MOBO).
Originally I was able to get the 5960x to run at 4.5GHz for most of the day. EVERYTHING worked wonderfully on the PC. The only issue I had was when I did a longer render in Vegas Pro 12 and Vegas crashed 20-40 minutes into each render. I tried at 4.5GHz, 4.4GHz, 4.3GHz, and 4.1GHz with the same result. The rest of the PC seemed very stable, so I am unsure what was going on there. Once I went back to the Bios and used a dummy "EZ" tuner, I was able to complete an 8+ hour render overnight with no issue.
Eventually I would love to get the 5960x where most seem to get it running, but for now with the current settings, I am happy with the improvement. If I can figure it out I will do another test!
First, I used TeamViewer to control both PCs on the 5960x PC. This made it pretty easy to compare side by side what was going on, as well as take simultaneous screenshots of the 2 PCs. To be the most fair of tests, I used the exact same project, exact same 15 second section of the project to render. Both PCs had the project files on identical SSD C: drives (Samsung Evo 850 500GB), and I rendered directly to the Desktop on the C: Drives. Usually I would render off of and on to separate drives, but as of today I did not have that luxury on the 3930k PC.
Here are the effects applied to the clip. Some basic CC effects and NeatVid to give it some beef:
I rendered them both to Sony XAVC S MP4 files. Here are my render settings:
This is a screen shot of both PCs when the 5960x hit 50%, the 3930k was at 40%
This is a screen shot when the 5960x hit 100%, while the 3930k PC was still at 78%:
This is a screen shot when the 3930k PC hit 100% and you can compare both render times:
i7 5960x = 3:45 render time. i7 3930k = 4:51 render time.
Lastly, I have a screenshot of HWiNFO 64 running on Both PCs to show the settings.
The i7 3930k has a 4 year old Corsair H60 liquid CPU cooler on it with a single 7 year old case fan pulling air IN to the case from the back side. I was originally not so sure how this cooler would perform, but it is seems to do just fine at these settings (4.4GHz). RAM was running at 1600MHz all manually overclocked.
The i7 5960x has a brand new Corsair H100i dual 120mm fan radiator at the top of the case pulling air IN to the case. I do not have fans for a push pull setup as they are just shy of actually fitting inside the case as the ATX 8 pin power connector gets in the way. CPU was running at 3.978GHz as set by the "EZ" tuner in the bios. RAM running at 2400MHz as set by the “EZ” tuner in the bios.
For temperatures, The 3930k had 1 core top out at 69C, the rest were 66C and cooler. The 5960x had 2 cores top out at 62C, but most of the cores topped out under 60C.
Both of these PCs were running in the same 12'x13' office with a closed door, so if I left the door open it may have even been a bit cooler as it did heat the room up in a hurry.
Both of these tests were started within a half of a second of each other - as fast as I could move between the 2 monitors.
What I did notice is the 5960x PC seems to have a slight delay to start the render (about 2 seconds longer than the 3930k) so in the first few seconds it appeared as though the 3930k might be ahead, but that quickly changed as the render went on.
That’s all I have for now! If I can get this PC overclocked any further successfully, I would gladly share the results again.
EDIT #2: Here are my current best results as shown lower in the thread:
Preliminary tests are in. TLDR: lightly overclocked i7 5960x @ 3.978GHz (64GB RAM @ 2400MHz on ASUS Rapage V Extreme MOBO) had significant improvements in render times over moderately overclocked i7 3930k @ 4.4GHz (32GB RAM @ 1600 MHz on ASUS Rampage IV Extreme MOBO).
Originally I was able to get the 5960x to run at 4.5GHz for most of the day. EVERYTHING worked wonderfully on the PC. The only issue I had was when I did a longer render in Vegas Pro 12 and Vegas crashed 20-40 minutes into each render. I tried at 4.5GHz, 4.4GHz, 4.3GHz, and 4.1GHz with the same result. The rest of the PC seemed very stable, so I am unsure what was going on there. Once I went back to the Bios and used a dummy "EZ" tuner, I was able to complete an 8+ hour render overnight with no issue.
Eventually I would love to get the 5960x where most seem to get it running, but for now with the current settings, I am happy with the improvement. If I can figure it out I will do another test!
First, I used TeamViewer to control both PCs on the 5960x PC. This made it pretty easy to compare side by side what was going on, as well as take simultaneous screenshots of the 2 PCs. To be the most fair of tests, I used the exact same project, exact same 15 second section of the project to render. Both PCs had the project files on identical SSD C: drives (Samsung Evo 850 500GB), and I rendered directly to the Desktop on the C: Drives. Usually I would render off of and on to separate drives, but as of today I did not have that luxury on the 3930k PC.
Here are the effects applied to the clip. Some basic CC effects and NeatVid to give it some beef:
I rendered them both to Sony XAVC S MP4 files. Here are my render settings:
This is a screen shot of both PCs when the 5960x hit 50%, the 3930k was at 40%
This is a screen shot when the 5960x hit 100%, while the 3930k PC was still at 78%:
This is a screen shot when the 3930k PC hit 100% and you can compare both render times:
i7 5960x = 3:45 render time. i7 3930k = 4:51 render time.
Lastly, I have a screenshot of HWiNFO 64 running on Both PCs to show the settings.
The i7 3930k has a 4 year old Corsair H60 liquid CPU cooler on it with a single 7 year old case fan pulling air IN to the case from the back side. I was originally not so sure how this cooler would perform, but it is seems to do just fine at these settings (4.4GHz). RAM was running at 1600MHz all manually overclocked.
The i7 5960x has a brand new Corsair H100i dual 120mm fan radiator at the top of the case pulling air IN to the case. I do not have fans for a push pull setup as they are just shy of actually fitting inside the case as the ATX 8 pin power connector gets in the way. CPU was running at 3.978GHz as set by the "EZ" tuner in the bios. RAM running at 2400MHz as set by the “EZ” tuner in the bios.
For temperatures, The 3930k had 1 core top out at 69C, the rest were 66C and cooler. The 5960x had 2 cores top out at 62C, but most of the cores topped out under 60C.
Both of these PCs were running in the same 12'x13' office with a closed door, so if I left the door open it may have even been a bit cooler as it did heat the room up in a hurry.
Both of these tests were started within a half of a second of each other - as fast as I could move between the 2 monitors.
What I did notice is the 5960x PC seems to have a slight delay to start the render (about 2 seconds longer than the 3930k) so in the first few seconds it appeared as though the 3930k might be ahead, but that quickly changed as the render went on.
That’s all I have for now! If I can get this PC overclocked any further successfully, I would gladly share the results again.