CPU Benchmark Performance: Rendering And Encoding

Rendering tests, compared to others, are often a little more simple to digest and automate. All the tests put out some sort of score or time, usually in an obtainable way that makes it fairly easy to extract. These tests are some of the most strenuous in our list, due to the highly threaded nature of rendering and ray-tracing, and can draw a lot of power.

If a system is not properly configured to deal with the thermal requirements of the processor, the rendering benchmarks are where it would show most easily as the frequency drops over a sustained period of time. Most benchmarks in this case are re-run several times, and the key to this is having an appropriate idle/wait time between benchmarks to allow for temperatures to normalize from the last test.

One of the interesting elements of modern processors is encoding performance. This covers two main areas: encryption/decryption for secure data transfer, and video transcoding from one video format to another.

In the encrypt/decrypt scenario, how data is transferred and by what mechanism is pertinent to on-the-fly encryption of sensitive data - a process by which more modern devices are leaning to for software security.

We are using DDR5 memory on the Core i9-13900K, the Core i5-13600K, the Ryzen 9 7950X, and Ryzen 5 7600X, as well as Intel's 12th Gen (Alder Lake) processors at the following settings:

  • DDR5-5600B CL46 - Intel 13th Gen
  • DDR5-5200 CL44 - Ryzen 7000
  • DDR5-4800 (B) CL40 - Intel 12th Gen

All other CPUs such as Ryzen 5000 and 3000 were tested at the relevant JEDEC settings as per the processor's individual memory support with DDR4.

Rendering

(4-1) Blender 3.3 BMW27: Compute

(4-1b) Blender 3.3 Classroom: Compute

(4-1c) Blender 3.3 Fishy Cat: Compute

(4-1d) Blender 3.3 Pabellon Barcelona: Compute

(4-1e) Blender 3.3 Barbershop: Compute

(4-3) POV-Ray 3.7.1

(4-4) V-Ray Renderer

(4-5) C-Ray 1.1: 4K, 16 Rays Per Pixel

(4-6) CineBench R23 Single Thread

(4-6b) CineBench R23 Multi-Thread

Identifying what core comes where in our rendering tests, both the Core i9-13900K and Ryzen 9 7950X sit comfortably at the top of the tree. Depending on the test, it’s a consistent battle for rendering supremacy. Where things aren’t as close are in our POV-Ray and V-Ray tests, where the Core i9-13900K has a distinct advantage; likely down to having eight more logical cores than the 7950X.

Encoding

(5-2) 7-Zip 1900 Compression

(5-2b) 7-Zip 1900 Decompression

(5-2c) 7-Zip 1900 Combined Score

(5-3) WinRAR 5.90 Test, 3477 files, 1.96 GB

(5-4) x264, Bosphorus 1080p

(5-4b) x264, Bosphorus 4K

In our encoding tests, interestingly the Core i9-13900K looks to have the advantage in compressing files with 7-Zip. It’s a little different for AMD as the Ryzen 9 7950X decompresses the data better, with the overall combined advantage going to AMD in this particular test. In our updated x264 benchmark, Intel takes the lead in 4K encoding, while AMD has the lead in 1080p encoding; both are equally viable options, however.

CPU Benchmark Performance: Simulation CPU Benchmark Performance: Legacy Tests
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  • nandnandnand - Monday, October 24, 2022 - link

    I can see a couple of things that make sense:

    1. Buy onto the platform early, upgrade very late. Like 1700X to 5800X3D. Except that didn't work for every motherboard on AM4.
    2. Buy a budget chip, upgrade to an expensive chip 1+ gen later. The Ryzen 5 7600X is currently the cheapest but at $300 it doesn't really qualify.

    Nobody should buy AM5 or Raptor Lake (new system) right now. Wait for 7800X3D/Zen5 and Meteor Lake.
    Reply
  • Kangal - Monday, October 24, 2022 - link

    This.
    Initially the r7-1700 and x370 offered mixed value, and the upgrade path looked great. But AMD wasn't able to properly fulfil their AM4 promise.

    So perhaps AMD realised their issues, and fixed things for AM5. So perhaps but the most expensive motherboard and the best value cpu to upgrade the cpu later. Or maybe nothing has changed, since AMD is so far ahead of Intel when it comes to motherboard relevancy.

    So for new system builders, you can blow the budget and go all-in on a new Intel + Nvidia tower. For the best value builders, customising an older AMD (5800x3D) and RDNA is the way to go. For the risk takers, you can overpay for things that are going to last, and cut-back on things you know yobare going to upgrade (gpu, cpu, more storage).
    Reply
  • GeoffreyA - Tuesday, October 25, 2022 - link

    The promise of upgrading is great, but sometimes doesn't work out as planned. I built a 2200G + B450 Tomahawk in 2019, with the hope to upgrade to a 6-core APU later on. Now, the 5600G is the one to go for, but has considerable issues when joined with the Tomahawk. So, I tend to think I'll just wait for a whole new system, AM6 perhaps, who knows? Reply
  • tvdang7 - Sunday, October 23, 2022 - link

    Is it to much for the reviewer to add the 7900x and 7700x into the graphs just so we know what we are dealing with ? Reply
  • Ryan Smith - Monday, October 24, 2022 - link

    We do not currently have those chips. AMD has only sampled the top and bottom SKUs.

    We'll get them eventually through other means. We just don't have them right now.
    Reply
  • o01326 - Sunday, October 23, 2022 - link

    Just signed up to comment this: why are you benchmarking Civ IV by FPS? Reply
  • TheinsanegamerN - Monday, October 24, 2022 - link

    The same reason they were, up until this review, still using a 2080ti for their CPU gaming benchmarks. Reply
  • coolkwc - Monday, October 24, 2022 - link

    this review is failed, don't even post what's the core temperature under stress? So difficult to get that reading huh? Reply
  • Annnonymmous - Monday, October 24, 2022 - link

    Transient power spikes with an RTX 4090 and 13900K mean you will need at LEAST a 1500w power supply to prevent random computer shutdowns. That's crazy! Of course, this will only happen when you are running a game 4K, Max Settings, with Ray Tracing enabled. Still, getting 1,000-1,200w spikes is crazy! Reply
  • trueonefix - Monday, October 24, 2022 - link

    Awesome Reply

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