I've been an advocate for the fastest single thread performance available as many of Revit tasks do not utilize multi-threads. It does improve with each realease. Rending does utilize multi-threads so depending on how much of that you do will also factor into your decision.

Which-function-in-Revit-will-take-use-of-multiple-processors

This thread (2nd response) shows a good example of rendering vs other Revit tasks. Granted it is 2015 but does show the differences.

All said and done I still lean towards the fastest i7. A good stable overclocking will help too.

Ryan247,
as John says, Revit itself really benefits from the fastest single thread performance you can get. A 4 core i7 being ideal, because it can turbo up when the load is single threaded, but still provide up to 8 virtual cores when the load is multithreaded. In general any more cores than that and your max turbo frequency when single threaded starts to drop.
That said, if your staff requires rendering that doesn't suck, they'll be using GPU based rendering, so you can combine a fast 4 core i7 with a powerful GPU and get the best of both worlds. Revit will hammer the CPU single threaded, and rendering will hammer the GPU multi threaded. If Rendering in Revit is acceptable then that 4 core i7 is still your best bet, with the performance weighted to good Revit performance and only passable rendering performance. But rendering in Revit is really rudimentary anyway. You can get decent results, certainly good enough for design studies, but probably not good enough for glossy marketing materials.

Hi Ryan,

I would first start off by asking your design team if they do CPU or GPU/Video Card based rendering. One of my clients uses CPU based renderings in 3ds max for their high end printed materials because they have the largest library of materials and assets that way.....even though they are aware of the speed benefits of GPU based rendering.

That is a healthy budget though and should allow for something like the i9 7900x 10 core intel processor. Its base clock is 4ghz and when low cores are used boost as high as 4.5ghz. My sample I had on a build had peaks of 4.9ghz though...STOCK. I did not overclock that system since it was a workstation under critical use. The processor comes in at around $1100 and pairing it with a GTX 1080ti should still fly under the $4200 budget. That would give you the best of both worlds. CPU and GPU rendering power. AMD has some intense processors for CPU rendering though as well with Threadripper. The clock speeds are not as good as the Intel 7900x but they are respectable and useable. This is a complicated question when working with budgets BUT dual socket would not be the way I go. If I did it would be dual socket e5 2687w v4 processors so it is not painful to use but that would get you in the area of a $10k build AND revit would not be as responsive as the single socket builds either.

I can provide more details if necessary. I build systems and am happy to point you in the right direction in hardware.

If I had $4200 to spend I would go with an i9...but that is just me...

Thank you all !

Based on their needs, Including Revit , AutoCAD and Adobe CC, and consulting AutoDesk and Adobe support, here is what I ordered :

Processor : Dual Intel Xeon E5-2637 v4 3.5GHz (This will double the PCIe lanes from 40 to 80 which is very important) and also will enable the use of ECC memories

RAM : 32GB 2400MHz ECC Registered

VGA: NVIDIA Quadro P4000

MB: ASUS Z10PE-D8 WS

Storage: Samsung M2 960Pro 512GB

Yowzers. Let that be a lesson to other readers: Dont ask software manufacturers what machine to buy. They are in bed (literally) with the Hardware Manufacturers.

Im sure youll be happy with it any, but i definitely would have gone another way.

Please if it is not too late cancel that order!! I'm at a loss for words that they sold you that. The 8 core system will be performing like a 7 core at best from the efficiency loss of the QPI BUS (how the two CPU talk to each other).

If you need ecc ram there are better single Xeon solutions. If you go without ecc which I can argue only servers need them now a days you will get better performance with a i7/i9 CPU. Even a Ryzen/Threadripper CPU which supports ecc ram would be better.

There are a couple advantages Xeon's have not being mentioned ....but this would be an unholy awesome system as follows:

1) Xeon's can handle just a tick over 1.5Tb of RAM
2) Ability to pair cpu's together.
3) Xeon's also run way, way cooler. (75deg C vs. 95deg C) I've had i7's crap out on me, I've never burned a Xeon. (there are reasons for this)
4) Bus speed is typically higher in the Xeon's. 9.6Gt/s vs. 8Gt/s in i-series
5) Better performance potential. "Potential" meaning if you had unlimited money and you took overclocking out of the equation.

**Even the latest '17 - i9's are limited to non-ECC (although not necessary) and "only" available UP TO 128Gb RAM. Now...that is more RAM than I could see a single user needing. Servers need 128Gb RAM, not you. ha!

1) Some more advantages to the i9's are higher clock speeds for less money. 4.5Ghz turbo speeds are wildly different prices compared to the i-series than Xeons.
2) i9's have an available 44 pcie lanes, compared to 40 for the xeon's.
3) Better value per dollar spent. Hard to argue that.
4) RAM speeds are higher in the i-series DDR4-2666Ghz vs. 2400Ghz

<below>
Comparisons based on PRICE, not cores/speed.

Xeon E5-2637 v4 4C/8T 3.5Ghz (3.7Ghz turbo)


i97900x 10C/20T 3.3Ghz (4.5Ghz turbo)
Intel® Core™ i9-7900X X-series Processor (13.75M Cache, up to 4.30 GHz) Product Specifications


Lastly, regardless of processor you never get full speed with hyperthreading enable. People always forget that. Shutting cores off gives you more speed.

I am very intrigued by the new i9 series that is out but have been a big proponent of Xeon's for quite a long time since I do mostly rendering. Revit has never run slow on me when I have 3.0Ghz or higher clock speeds.