Worth upgrading my i7 930 to an X5680?

[27MaD]

Don't buy xeon cpu for gaming , don't make the number of cores and threads and the low price fool you , xeons aren't for gaming at all.
i know a guy who used to game on a 10 core xeon! and he said the performance was rubbish and then he bought a 6 core i7 and the performance was much much better. if you want a good upgrade for your cpu buy the i5 2550k , great overclocker, you can reach it to 5.0 Ghz and it costs only 61 dollars.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/lnt...0ec8-413a-b0c2-1352f3d695a2&priceBeautifyAB=0

 

[Vario]

Don't buy xeon cpu for gaming , don't make the number of cores and threads and the low price fool you , xeons aren't for gaming at all.
i know a guy who used to game on a 10 core xeon! and he said the performance was rubbish and then he bought a 6 core i7 and the performance was much much better.

It depends on the xeon, in this case these are very similar to the venerable i7 970, i7 980X and 990X. 32nm Gulftown/Westmere-EP

 

[Vya Domus]

Don't buy xeon cpu for gaming , don't make the number of cores and threads and the low price fool you , xeons aren't for gaming at all.
i know a guy who used to game on a 10 core xeon! and he said the performance was rubbish and then he bought a 6 core i7 and the performance was much much better.

You fail to put things into perspective. First of all there are different versions of the same chip , there could be a 10 core low power version with a sub 2.0 Ghz base clock or one that can boost as high as 3.5 and would be decent enough for 60 fps. Secondly , price. I was just looking at an 8 core Xeon that is comparable to something like a R7 1700 but costs just 130$ , coupled with one of those cheap Chinese boards and you get an amazing deal.

 

[dorsetknob]

i know a guy who used to game on a 10 core xeon! and he said the performance was rubbish

If it was the least Expensive of course it was (2 Ghz ).
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/processors/xeon/e7-processors/e7-4820-v4.html

xeons aren't for gaming at all.

There are many here that will dispute your statement

and then he bought a 6 core i7 and the performance was much much better.

Of Course it was Clocks were much higher and of course he bought it so he Could continue using his Expensive DDR4 Ram
and Board
.
Op is looking for a PERFORMANCE BOOST with current System and not a Platform Upgrade and as such Advice has Been Appropriately given.
Thank You

 

[sepheronx]

Don't buy xeon cpu for gaming , don't make the number of cores and threads and the low price fool you , xeons aren't for gaming at all.
i know a guy who used to game on a 10 core xeon! and he said the performance was rubbish and then he bought a 6 core i7 and the performance was much much better. if you want a good upgrade for your cpu buy the i5 2550k , great overclocker, you can reach it to 5.0 Ghz and it costs only 61 dollars.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/lnt...0ec8-413a-b0c2-1352f3d695a2&priceBeautifyAB=0

Werent you the guy that was complaining you couldn't play GTA SA on a boiled Potato?

Anyway, Xeon's in most cases are similar to the desktop models but specific batches that gone through the stress test process for what server grade is needed. There are usually also some steppings too that are only available on Xeons. But for the most part, many really good and even cheap Xeons that are lets say the 6 core 12 threads and what not, of similar speeds as a high end core i7, is really just the server variant of that exact processor, and will have very similar performance to that processor. In this individuals case, he can get a 930 but with more cores and cheaper used.

Decent motherboards can allow you to overclock. If boost is just enough, you can survive with some cheap Chinese no name board too.

 

[27MaD]

Werent you the guy that was complaining you couldn't play GTA SA on a boiled Potato?

Anyway, Xeon's in most cases are similar to the desktop models but specific batches that gone through the stress test process for what server grade is needed. There are usually also some steppings too that are only available on Xeons. But for the most part, many really good and even cheap Xeons that are lets say the 6 core 12 threads and what not, of similar speeds as a high end core i7, is really just the server variant of that exact processor, and will have very similar performance to that processor. In this individuals case, he can get a 930 but with more cores and cheaper used.

Decent motherboards can allow you to overclock. If boost is just enough, you can survive with some cheap Chinese no name board too.

LOL , my potato will be paired with a 750 ti soon..

 

[unclewebb]

The Xeon X58 W series love to overclock. Great bang for the buck. If gaming, invest your extra money in a GPU.

Not bad for just over $40 on EBay. If your board is not comfortable at 200 MHz BCLK, buy a W3680 instead. Give it some voltage and the unlocked multiplier will allow you to go way over 4 GHz without any problems.

 

[Vario]

I just ordered a W3680 for $65 shipped on eBay, I will let you know about the improvement from the present i7 930 at 3.8GHz. I figured $25 more over a x5670/w3670 was worth it for the unlocked multiplier. HWBot claims the average for the W3680 and W3690 is 4.5 on air, maybe it will improve my odds. This one is a workstation pull.

 

[sepheronx]

What motherboard you guys sporting for it? I can get some chinese brand mobo but they don't seem to overclock from what I hear. I was hoping to find some cheap mobo, cpu, ram combo with these as these xeons are rather rocking in performance.

 

[dorsetknob]

What motherboard you guys sporting for it? I can get some chinese brand mobo but they don't seem to overclock from what I hear. I was hoping to find some cheap mobo, cpu, ram combo with these as these xeons are rather rocking in performance.

Generaly to get the good overclocks one needs to use the well known Brands eg Asus /MSI/ Gigabyte and then the Higher end Models ( for the Time)
These Chinese Unmention Brands tend not to have Overclockable Bios and often only duel Channel Ram ie 4 ram slots

 

[sepheronx]

true, but issue is though, all those named brand ones if trying to buy off of ebay and what not, are a fortune (for whatever stupid reason).

 

[dorsetknob]

are a fortune (for whatever stupid reason).

Stupid Reason Explained
Because you Can Overclock the Snot out of an Xeon and people are clued up on what these boards are worth

 

[sepheronx]

i imagine that is exactly it.

If you find one in CAD for a cheap price, I will forever be your friend if you let me know

 

[droopyRO]

More on this subject

 

[hat]

I'm not sure you're going to notice much of a difference, especially in gaming, outside of a few games that actually make use of >4 cores (keep in mind you already have 8 threads, thank to HT). Maybe if you were looking to get a little more grunt for workstation type tasks (video encoding is a popular example).

These are still good machines, but they're quite old, slow, and inefficient compared to today's tech. I wouldn't spend any money on it unless you really think you can use the cores. If you want to upgrade your CPU just for better performance in gaming, I think you need to look at current generation hardware (or perhaps the next releases). Intel hasn't done much from one generation to the next, but like me, you're several generations behind now, and all those little 5% increments between generations is starting to add up.

 

[Ruru]

More on this subject

He does pretty much tests and videos with old hardware, more on that in Finnish hardware site io-tech's forums.

https://bbs.io-tech.fi/threads/kuinka-ser-jaete-prossuilla-paerjaeae-nykyaeaen.72881/

Use google translate if you can't understand Finnish.

 

[Vario]

What motherboard you guys sporting for it? I can get some chinese brand mobo but they don't seem to overclock from what I hear. I was hoping to find some cheap mobo, cpu, ram combo with these as these xeons are rather rocking in performance.

Asus P6X58D-E

 

[Vario]

Here is the W3680, it looks mint.

 

[Deleted member 178884]

How well do high end 280mm/360mm cool 1366 xeons? I'm looking at the 280mm h115i's atm

 

[Vario]

How well do high end 280mm/360mm cool 1366 xeons? I'm looking at the 280mm h115i's atm

It should be fine, similar to how it cools a socket 2011 chip. I don't like the all in one coolers after having one leak and one have a pump fail. It should perform well though.

My Xeon will probably be under a Coolermaster V8 because that is what I have available, really hate this heatsink's mounting system, but it does cool alright for an aircooler. I bet I would get better overclocks with either a larger aircooler or a watercooler but this is what I have. The V8 was what was used on the i7 930 when the system was built by my father in 2010.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Don't buy xeon cpu for gaming , don't make the number of cores and threads and the low price fool you , xeons aren't for gaming at all.

Total nonsense statement.

There are many here that will dispute your statement

Including me. Went from an i7-5820k to an X5680(for giggles) and barely noticed a difference in even the most demanding games. Games are much more GPU dependent. Then I sold my 5820k and am on the Xeon full time. No regrets.

@Black Panther, an X5680 is a great CPU. An X5690 would also be great, but only if the price difference isn't huge.

 

[Deleted member 178884]

For those denying that xeons aren't for gaming, my x5650 clocked at 4.4ghz get's around 130cb single thread - in cpu z it outperforms the ryzen 5 1600's single thread score too and is 200ish points off in multi thread - this is perfectly fine for gaming unless your a 144hz addict.

 

[Vario]

The Xeon booted up and seems to work fine, going to run it stock for a few days before I overclock.

I noticed the memory dividers are pretty awkward unless I run a base clock closer to 100 MHz, will probably run that 100 and use the CPU multiplier to overclock. The W3680 does have a fully unlocked CPU multiplier, just like the 980X

The ram is the Samsung 30nm Green 3x4GB and the motherboard is of course the Asus P6X58D-E. The CPU that came out was an i7 930.

 

[droopyRO]

It is the same on my Rampage II, i'm currently at 182 BCLK with i think 1778 Mhz RAM speed.

 

[unclewebb]

The ram is the Samsung 30nm Green 3x4GB

KitGuru tested some similar Samsung Green DDR3 8GB 1600 MHz 30nm memory. The 2x4GB modules they tested might be very similar to your 3x4GB modules. Have a look for K4B2G08460 on the individual chips.

https://www.kitguru.net/components/...-green-ddr3-8gb-1600mhz-30nm-memory-review/4/

These seemed to be extremely flexible depending on how much voltage they fed them. With the unlocked CPU multiplier, adjustable BCLK and adjustable CPU and memory voltage; you should be able to run these modules at any reasonable speed. You can spend days / weeks doing some bench testing.

...unless I run a base clock closer to 100 MHz

Personally, I would be aiming for a BCLK closer to 200 MHz.

Looking forward to your results.