Like the CAD Creator Extreme, the Creator i7 was shipped in an outer package and well secured in the box with polystyrene elements. Unlike Xi Machines’ C1 Animate Ultra, the graphics cards in the two Creator workstations were secured for transport with only one foam element. In one workstation, the 1080 Ti graphics card had apparently loosened slightly during transport – that can happen, and no manufacturer has any influence over the whims of parcel couriers. The problem was fixed in no time by gently wiggling it and tightening the screws. In a telephone conversation, CAD Network told us in this regard that it would move towards shipping the expensive graphics cards separately packaged. It should make little difference to the customer whether they spend five minutes fishing transport restraints out of the case or inserting a graphics card into a PCIe slot and connecting the power supply.
Case
The cases of the two CAD Network Creator workstations, Extreme and i7, are identical. For details about the design and functionality of the cases developed by CAD Network itself, please read the “Case” section in the CAD Network Creator Extreme review. Despite the lower price, the Creator i7 does not dispense with any of the Creator Extreme’s external features. Both workstations are supplied with the same case and the same luxuriously packaged selection of accessories.
Equipment
However, the two workstations differ in the hardware installed in the case. While the Creator Extreme uses i7X, i9X or Xeon E5 CPUs with up to 18 cores, the Creator i7 reaches the end of the line at a maximum of six cores and i7-8xxx processors. With the Intel i7 8700K installed in the Creator i7, it is therefore already relatively close to the upper performance limit for this system. The CPU is cooled by a Bequiet CPU heatsink / fan that quietly supplies the processor with cool air. At 64 Gbytes of RAM, the memory configuration is fully maxed out, although there are not many applications in the Creator i7’s traditional field of use where more than 64 Gbytes of RAM would make sense. As with all the other workstations in the performance range, the Creator i7 also has a 256 Gbyte SSD module installed in the M.2 slot, on which Windows 10 64 Bit Professional is installed as the operating system.
Performance
With 1,415 points in the Cinebench 15 Multi-CPU test, the CAD Network Creator’s i7 8700 is only 4 points behind the same CPU installed in the Xi Machines C1 Animate Ultra and 6 points ahead of the deliberately throttled i7 8086 in the DAX workstation. In the V-Ray CPU rendering test, the Creator i7 computes at 1:30, just as fast as the DAX workstation, although the Xi Machines C1 Animate Ultra is another two seconds faster. These are not particularly large differences, but they are no longer measurement tolerances either.
In graphics performance, the 1080 Ti graphics card almost achieved the top result of 1:06 reached by the 1080 Ti in the Creator Extreme, scoring 1:08 in the V-Ray GPU rendering test, and was in the middle of the field at 147.37 frames per second in the Cinebench OpenGL test. With write rates of up to 1,566 Mbytes and read rates of 1,611 Mbytes per second, the SSD is not among the fastest in the field, although in practice you will hardly notice a difference. In the latency measurement, the Creator i7, at 173, was only 4 microseconds above the Xi Machines Animate Ultra. Since neither computer was configured primarily for audio work, however, the latency value plays a subordinate role here.
As expected, the CAD Creator behaved similarly quietly to the Creator Extreme in the stress test with synthetic load under Aida64. No wonder, since identical graphics cards are installed in identical cases. After a few minutes at full load, as with the Extreme, an audible fan noise can be heard, although it is slightly quieter than that of the 1070 Ti used in the Xi Machines C1 Animate Ultra. In normal editing operation at around 20-30% load, the Creator i7 is barely audible.
Conclusion
As with the Creator Extreme, the case, design, workmanship and equipment of the more moderate Creator i7 are beyond reproach. Compared with the Creator Extreme, which was uncompromisingly equipped with performance components, however, the Creator i7’s hardware configuration lacks a little radiance. Competition in this performance segment is somewhat more numerous than for the more expensive Creator Extreme. With similar performance parameters, despite the stylish case, you do sometimes glance at the price. At just over 3,500 euros, it is almost 300 euros higher than the Xi Machines C1 Animate Ultra, but it also provides three times as much RAM and a considerably more powerful graphics card.
The CAD Network Creator i7 is therefore a well-equipped workstation that performs strongly in all areas and should effortlessly handle every task in 3D, VFX, video and compositing. If the purchase decision between the Creator i7 and another computer is in the balance, take another close look at the case.