My suspicion is that with X58 especially, the year of the chip and Xeon vs i7 denotes the silicon quality far more severely than the actual SKU. I have a i7-980X (2010 mfg date) that just barely holds 4.4GHz @ 1.4v. But also a couple of Xeon X5675's (sister CPUs mfg in 2012), both of which will do 4.5GHz+ stable (one does
4.5GHz @ 1.375v). Then I have a Xeon W3680 that tops out around the same as the 980X, also mfg 2010. My theory is that with Intel 32nm being so damn new in 2010, there were major silicon quality strides to be made. And as for the unlocked multiplier, it doesn't matter too much, I have two ASUS X58 boards and they both can do 220MHz+ BCLK. So honestly, it may make more sense to buy two X5675's preferably made in late 2011 or 2012 and do some binning
that way you also have one you can throw voltages at and not really care... just my 2c.
That P6T is a very nice board, I was looking at one of those not too long ago. I think that was one of the last motherboards to have an Analog Devices audio codec. And also looks like some nice RAM, wonder what IC's lay beneath!
~
Speaking of RAM, with DDR4 production winding down and my go-to brand going away (Ballistix
), I decided to pick up a couple 16GB kits:
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Spec'd for 3000MHz CL15, happy to get SR 8Gbit rev.E on an A2 PCB (according to Thaiphoon)
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Then of course a kit of BZ's recommended cheap high-bin overclocking Sammy B-die from Patriot, this is spec'd for 4400MHz CL19. I only have Ryzen DDR4 systems but I think I can still find those tight timings
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Now this one isn't DDR4 of course, I found that Patriot still sells brand new DDR3 for about the same as a used equivalent kit in the USA. I was pretty curious so I bit, and what shocked me the most is that these were manufactured 2nd wk/2022, more recently than the other two kits (both early-mid 2021). This one is 1866MHz CL10. Unfortunately no Thaiphoon IC readout, but I think at this point it's gotta be Samsung or Hynix? I reckon current production DDR3 is either total garbage since there isn't a high demand for high-performance kits, or it's great because everything has matured massively. I have no idea which way things have gone, time to try and find out!