How fast is your Inventor PC really?

[Raider_71]

Hi guys,

We have had to do some testing on a bunch of Inventor PC's recently to determine which of the PC's needs to be replaced. Obviously we needed to find out which of the PC's are the worst eprformers as there was only budget to replace 50% of the design PC's. So we thought the Darwin theory will come in handy right... 🙂

Anyways I started searching on the net for toppics on how to benchmark an Inventor PC. Then I thought whats the point of using gaming benchmark tools because Inventor is not a game and there are more aspects than just graphics performance when it comes to percieved performance on an Inventor PC right.

So we decided to create our own Inventor benchmark tool which tests various aspects of an Inventor PC to give us an overview of our PC's performance. This then helped us make a decision as to whcih pc's to replace.

We have made the tool available free of charge to anyone interested in checking how their PC stacks up to their peers or friends. 🙂

Please download it here and post your results here as well if you want. Would be interesting to see what beast workstations are out there.

I would like to say thanks to Kirk #karthur1, for helping in testing the app.

Please feel free to send any suggestions our way. There is an email link in the app.

Download and Install

The application will work with Inventor 2014 to 2016 only.

IMPORTANT: After installation there will be an Inventor Bench icon on your desktop that looks like this: 

My resluts:

HP Elitebook 8560w with an SSD upgrade.

[Neil_Cross]

Yah I wouldn't want a 128GB primary drive, even if you keep the applications to a minimum, Windows (especially Win10) finds a way to bloat it beyond your control.  I'd want a 512GB as a minimum, it's never that much more expensive until you start asking for 1TB+ so it'll be worth the increase cost for a comfortable buffer.

Good points about the open case... I guess its on Lucas to decide if he's prepared to air blast it on the regular! I'd personally only go for an open case for a test bench but whatever floats your boat!

[tom_vierling]

One other thing I'd like to add

That CPU cooler is....... Well, a bit outdated. Its unnecessarily big and will probably interfere with a lot of the motherboard (i've seen photos where it covers some of the PCI slots) I would recommend something like the Thermalright Macho zero (https://www.amazon.com/Macho-Zero-Anodize-no-Fan/dp/B00P6QC5NS) or the Zalamn FX70 (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00IKVVSDY/?tag=pcp0f-20)

Good luck! I'd love to see photos!

[blair]

My last two computers, my work and home machine both use the Solid State type storage but they use the PCIe interface rather than the SATA connections.

[Neil_Cross]

@Raider_71 The download for Inventor Bench doesn't seem to work now from OneDrive.  It downloads, but the zip file contains an unusable EXE file. 

[Raider_71]

Hi @Neil_Cross

I tested and it works fine on my side. Please ensure that the PC you are trying to install it on has an active internet connection. The installer needs that to verify the digital certificate before it can unpack the exe.

Let me know if its still a problem as I can always copy it to DropBox as well.

Cheers

[Neil_Cross]

I just figured it out, it's being picked up as a trojan...!

This is what I was seeing after extraction, like a knackered EXE:

Then I looked at my AV and this happened:

FYI this got blocked on two totally different systems running two totally different AV solutions.  What do you think this could be?

[Raider_71]

Hi Neil,

Not sure why that is as it's the first time it's ever been reported as containing a virus! I mean ist still the same exe as a few months ago. I have not uploaded a new version at all during this time so I am not sure what's going on, to be honest.

Will check it out on my side as well by my AV is fine with it.

[Neil_Cross]

My AV is BitDefender and the other PC uses a program called N-Able Security Manager AV Defender.  The exact same thing happened on both systems, the EXE turned like that and then vanished as it was cleaned away.  I had a backup of the EXE on my external HDD and that got trashed as well! 

[Raider_71]

I think those are false positives mate.

I checked with Mawarebytes and it is fine. Also uploaded the file to VirusTotal and here is the result. Seems like some scanners picks it up as a generic type trojan but it must be because of the digital certification process. I will generate a version of the installer without the certificate and send it to you shortly to see what your AV says about it ok.

.

[Neil_Cross]

Excellent thanks.

I just got my hands on a Precision M7510 Xeon based mobile workstation so I'm needing to use it to bench the laptop against other stuff for a Youtube vid I'm gonna start working on.

Have you ceased development on that now? I know you were thinking about adding in some large assembly based tests, no plans as of now?

[Raider_71]

Ok great. I am busy uploading a version of InventorBench which does not contain the digital certificate. Let me know what you find.

Download it here

I have still got everyone's requests and wishes for new features documented and will start dabbling some more over the holidays. Hopefully will have a new more balanced and feature rich version early in the new year. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Bonjour Neil

I WANT TO BUILD A PC FOR MY WORK THAT WILL BE FANLESS O DB

THE BIGGEST PURCHASES IN THE BOXING DAY AT THE END OF THE YEAR

Here is my little list if you have any proposal I am open, I did some research on the net, open box, cpu passive fan
And here is my list

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/rqXsVY

---

Hello,

I'd like to comment the parts list a little bit.

Since Inventor still is very CPU limited, namely limited by the max single core speed you have, I would definitely go for the K model 6600K or 6700K paired with a Z170 series mobo which will allow you to adjust basically everything, where the B150 is quite limited. With the flexibility of the unlocked K model and the bios options of the Z170 you can achieve a TDP that suits your needs and get much more single core performance than with the locked 6700 non K. Something like 45 43 42 41 on 1, 2 , 3 and 4core should be achievable with stock voltage or even a slight undervolt if you're lucky.

For memory get 2x16GB instead of 4x8GB. Will consume less power with less modules, and you have an upgrade path with 2 free slots.

As for the cooler... well.. in my opinion get something lighter for the S1151 which have had issues with processors bending with huge heavy coolers. The idea of 0DB sounds nice on paper, but as your GPU is actively cooled, you are not being totally fanless anyway, so some quality tower cooler with a quiet 120mm to 140mm fan would most likely not be audible over ambient noise and the GTX1050 dual fan cooler, and would be much more efficient than the fanless one. And also like someone mentioned the suggested cooler is so big it might get in the way of the 1st PCIE 16x slot, memory slots and M.2 slot, potentially making installing these a PITA.

The case.. well surely looks nice but wont affect your inventor performance in any way no matter how much money you throw at it. I would get something more basic with 1-2 big slowly rotating non audible fans. I think you might end up with a quieter system with a closed case with 1-2 silent fans than with this open case with the GPU fans all exposed... Then there's the open case vs dust issue. like someone mentioned. This is of course a matter of taste and only a suggestion based on my humble opinion.

For the price of the GTX 1050Ti you should be able to get the faster 1060 3GB or maybe even 6GB model, or the Radeon RX470 4GB/8GB model. Probably wont affect framerate all that much because of the CPU limitation fact stated above.

For SSD, get a 512GB M.2 NVME (Pcie) drive like the Intel 600p for a budget solution or the new Samsung 960 EVO or PRO for max. performance. Getting a small 128GB M.2 SATA drive wont be faster than the same drive in 2.5" format, like someone here already mentioned. A bigger SSD will also be a bit faster and more durable than a smaller one of the same make, based on tests and whitepapers.

Br. Christoffer

[cfagerst]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Bonjour Neil

I WANT TO BUILD A PC FOR MY WORK THAT WILL BE FANLESS O DB

THE BIGGEST PURCHASES IN THE BOXING DAY AT THE END OF THE YEAR

Here is my little list if you have any proposal I am open, I did some research on the net, open box, cpu passive fan
And here is my list

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/rqXsVY

---

Hello,

I'd like to comment the parts list a little bit.

Since Inventor still is very CPU limited, namely limited by the max single core speed you have, I would definitely go for the K model 6600K or 6700K paired with a Z170 series mobo which will allow you to adjust basically everything, where the B150 is quite limited. With the flexibility of the unlocked K model and the bios options of the Z170 you can achieve a TDP that suits your needs and get much more single core performance than with the locked 6700 non K. Something like 45 43 42 41 on 1, 2 , 3 and 4core should be achievable with stock voltage or even a slight undervolt if you're lucky.

For memory get 2x16GB instead of 4x8GB. Will consume less power with less modules, and you have an upgrade path with 2 free slots.

As for the cooler... well.. in my opinion get something lighter for the S1151 which have had issues with processors bending with huge heavy coolers. The idea of 0DB sounds nice on paper, but as your GPU is actively cooled, you are not being totally fanless anyway, so some quality tower cooler with a quiet 120mm to 140mm fan would most likely not be audible over ambient noise and the GTX1050 dual fan cooler, and would be much more efficient than the fanless one. And also like someone mentioned the suggested cooler is so big it might get in the way of the 1st PCIE 16x slot, memory slots and M.2 slot, potentially making installing these a PITA.

The case.. well surely looks nice but wont affect your inventor performance in any way no matter how much money you throw at it. I would get something more basic with 1-2 big slowly rotating non audible fans. I think you might end up with a quieter system with a closed case with 1-2 silent fans than with this open case with the GPU fans all exposed... Then there's the open case vs dust issue. like someone mentioned. This is of course a matter of taste and only a suggestion based on my humble opinion.

For the price of the GTX 1050Ti you should be able to get the faster 1060 3GB or maybe even 6GB model, or the Radeon RX470 4GB/8GB model. Probably wont affect framerate all that much because of the CPU limitation fact stated above.

For SSD, get a 512GB M.2 NVME (Pcie) drive like the Intel 600p for a budget solution or the new Samsung 960 EVO or PRO for max. performance. Getting a small 128GB M.2 SATA drive wont be faster than the same drive in 2.5" format, like someone here already mentioned. A bigger SSD will also be a bit faster and more durable than a smaller one of the same make, based on tests and whitepapers.

Br. Christoffer

---

Whoops!! Wrong account! (Facepalm smiley goes here) 😄

sry Mr. Kyynäräinen...

Br. "The real Christoffer"

[Neil_Cross]

I would imagine he's on a strict budget given some of the initial chosen parts, so going down the NVMe PCIe route will tip the price into a whole different level of budget.  Huge price difference between a 960 Pro and the 128GB ADATA boot drive he's got in there!

Also, the M.2 slot in that MSI board is mSATA only, so he'd need to change board to use a PCIe M.2 card which will result in more expense again.  Or buy a M.2 to PCIe adaptor card if it'll fit into the config on a gen3 slot.  Where do you stop though, it's all about that budget!

[cfagerst]

---

@Neil_Cross wrote:

I would imagine he's on a strict budget given some of the initial chosen parts, so going down the NVMe PCIe route will tip the price into a whole different level of budget.  Huge price difference between a 960 Pro and the 128GB ADATA boot drive he's got in there!

Also, the M.2 slot in that MSI board is mSATA only, so he'd need to change board to use a PCIe M.2 card which will result in more expense again.  Or buy a M.2 to PCIe adaptor card if it'll fit into the config on a gen3 slot.  Where do you stop though, it's all about that budget!

---

Case, PSU and CPU Cooler don't look like strict budget kind of gadgets to me.. Anywho, made some minor modifications to the list:

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/fRQGhq

...with the result of a 10-20% faster system for inventor, and cheaper total price, when you take in account that the first list didn't include the price of the fanless CPU cooler which will set you back more than 100 ca $. Changes were B150 Mobo -> Z170 Mobo which has a NVME compatible M.2 slot, 6700->6700K, 512GB intel 600p for (the same price as the 3 smaller drives). Fanless Cpu Cooler -> Lighter more efficient basic tower cooler, GTX1050Ti-> Radeon RX470. Kept the somewhat pricey fanless PSU and fancy case, with a basic quality psu and case another 100-150 canada bucks can be saved without compromising Inventor performance in any way though...

Of course if user is unfamiliar with bios settings for multipliers and voltages, he could choose the 6700 non K or let the 6700K run stock, which still is faster than a 6700 non K.

Attached a screenshot of a system running a stock 6700K and RX470 4GB for reference. Please note this is with a QHD monitor and Quality settings in Apps options with all boxes for reflections etc. ticked. Could score a point or 2 higher with less quality and resolution and another point with some OC:ing.

Br, Christoffer

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your comments, I think about it ...
My budget max is 2000 $, but what preoccupies me especially is the silence, I have at this time at my home an old 990X has 4.6Ghz and a quadro 5000 the whole is really not silent I Do not want the best score on inventor (with my 990 i am a 7.7), i want to change (sell) my 990x, for a quiet pc, silent

[tom_vierling]

If silence is most important above all else, then I would go with a case like this.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/svVBD3/fractal-design-case-fdcadefsbk

A case like this will give you the best results; it uses sound dampening foam to reduce noise and is highly rated among PC builders. (There is a window version if you still want to see inside, but it will use up room that was otherwise filled with the foam)

[jpms24]

Is this result good?? How to read this?

Thanks

[Neil_Cross]

There's no reference chart for the results, it's supposed to just be an 'unofficial' & free utility to quickly check how a PC performs against another.  So the only way to see how it is, is to read back through the thread and compare against other peoples posted results.

But yes, that's a very good score.  

[Raider_71]

Hi @jpms24

Ok, so the IPI number is made up of two sections or numbers. The first number before the "-" is the test number. This number indicates the test routine version. This number will for now be 1. In future when a new version of InventorBench is release with more / different test routines, it will change to a 2 indicating that this is a different test altogether. It's done this way so that one don’t compare results from an older version of the bench tool with another version. Comparing apples to apples so to speak…

The second number indicates your PC's score. The higher this number the better. The best we have seen so far was around 13 to 14 and any PC with a score this high is obviously a high-end PC.

A number of 5 to 9 indicates an average PC (in my opinion).

Let me know if you need any further clarification.

Cheers