Which system should i keep for gaming? (older i9 or newer xeon)

[masterdeejay]

I have two half rigs now but i only want to keep/build one.

The i9:
Asrock Taichi XE x299 (atx, modded bios for ddr4 ecc reg, and ES cpu support)
Intel I9-7940X (not in the rig yet, skylake 14 core 3,8ghz all core)
Thermalright Ultra Extreme + 2x P12 Artic fans (was almost free, not the best option i know)

The Xeon:
Supermicro X11SPM-F (matx, modded bios to rebar and ES xeon support)
Xeon Silver 4215R (newer cpu 8 core, 3,6ghz all core), i also have a spare Xeon Gold 6138 ES but that is bad for gaming (20 core but 3,2ghz all core)
Noctua NH-U14S (top end cooler for this socket)

Other components:
Superflower 750w platinum PSU
6x8gb 2666 ECC REG for the Xeon build (6ch@2400 but cant oc), 7x8gb 2666 ECC REG for the i9 build (oc to 4ch@2933 if needed)
Intel Arc A770 LE 16gb (both rig supports rebar)
1x nvme ssd (1tb Samsung pm9a1 (980 pro) + heatsink)
2x sata ssd (500gb Samsung 860 evo and 480gb Kingston Hyperx Savage)
Dell H310 Raid card and 6tb HGST Sas drive.
Genius Cavimanus headset (so i dont need onboard audio)
Old ATX Chieftek Case

The Xeon rig is cooler, newer but the mobo lacks ports, and i must use pcie riser for the raid card because of the motherboard layout, and i need usb hub.
The i9 is runs hotter i think but i can upgrade it with an AIO for future overclock if needed. Much better motherboard.

I cant sell both beacuse i need the money for something else. So there is no sell all and buy a ryzen option.
The i9 rig works with ecc reg memory but just with the 7xxx cpu-s and not with the newer 9xxx or 10xxx cpu-s. Currently i have an ES cpu (10 core but 3,2ghz) in the Asrock board, but i will get a 7940x soon (~2 weeks).
So older but higher clock skylake vs newer but lower clock cascade lake refresh?

 

[Dr. Dro]

X299 platform without a doubt. Can even flip the 7940X and get yourself a cheap 7980XE

 

[P4-630]

I would sell one of your systems and get a i7 13700K Z790 (or even a i7 12700K Z690) system for gaming..

Intel Core i9-7980XE Benchmark

Intel Core i7-13700K Benchmark

 

[bug]

All-core frequency is not that important, for gaming what can be sustained on 2-4 cores is what matters.

 

[masterdeejay]

I would sell one of your systems and get a i7 13700K Z790 (or even a i7 12700K Z690) system for gaming..

Intel Core i9-7980XE Benchmark

Intel Core i7-13700K Benchmark

The new i7 and the z mobo plus ram cost twice the price of one of the older systems. I dont want to spend money.

X299 platform without a doubt. Can even flip the 7940X and get yourself a cheap 7980XE

But i think i cant cool it down.
I have this cooler (with 1366 bracket but that is the same as 2011 and 2066)
And there is none of the games (i know) that use 18 core.

All-core frequency is not that important, for gaming what can be sustained on 2-4 cores is what matters.

The i9 is little better. +300mhz for 2-4 core. From 5-8 +400mhz.
But the xeon has better ipc.
Or maybe i can overclock just 1-4 core to let say 4,5-4,8ghz?

 

[P4-630]

The Xeon may have better ipc but it's quite slow as "gaming" CPU..

I'd say, test both with your GPU.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
7940x just needs a delid if not already and temperatures will drop.
It's also win-11 compatible
It's not my go to gaming rig but it could be.

 

[masterdeejay]

I ordered an i9 7980xe because there was not much difference. Delided and repasted.
I dont need that much core count, but i think i can disable HT and a few cores and overclock with fewer cores for gaming.

 

[bug]

I ordered an i9 7980xe because there was not much difference. Delided and repasted.
I dont need that much core count, but i think i can disable HT and a few cores and overclock with fewer cores for gaming.

I thought you had two systems and wanted to decide which one to keep.

 

[masterdeejay]

I thought you had two systems and wanted to decide which one to keep.

Yes i have two but i decided to keep the LGA2066 i9 system and i didnt buy the 7940x but the7980xe.
The LGA3647 system is still on sale.
So i think that the older 18 core skylake X is faster than a newer cascade lake 8 core.

 

[bug]

Yes i have two but i decided to keep the LGA2066 i9 system and i didnt buy the 7940x but the7980xe.
The LGA3647 system is still on sale.
So i think that the older 18 core skylake X is faster than a newer cascade lake 8 core.

Glad you sorted it out, enjoy!

 

[repsol23]

Yes i have two but i decided to keep the LGA2066 i9 system and i didnt buy the 7940x but the7980xe.
The LGA3647 system is still on sale.
So i think that the older 18 core skylake X is faster than a newer cascade lake 8 core.

I don’t think you will be disappointed in the least. I have an aging x299 system that for the first 4 years of use was only using a 7740x, 16gb of ram, and a gtx1080. Just last November I got a 10900x, 32gb of bdie g.skill ddr4 4000, and a 3080ti. All I can say is that it is smooth as butter for gaming now!!!
And when I say aging… I think I bought my mobo from Earthdog nearly 5 years ago as a review sample.

 

[dgianstefani]

You should be able to easily do a 4.6 GHz all core OC on the 7980XE if you can cool it.

Delid and you'll be able to do 4.8.

5.0 all core isn't unrealistic if you put it under a custom loop.

With air cooling I would delid, set 4.5 on all cores and leave it.

 

[masterdeejay]

You should be able to easily do a 4.6 GHz all core OC on the 7980XE if you can cool it.

Delid and you'll be able to do 4.8.

5.0 all core isn't unrealistic if you put it under a custom loop.

With air cooling I would delid, set 4.5 on all cores and leave it.

It is delided repasted.
Currently i only have air cooling. An old Thermalright Ultra Extreme + 2x P12 Artic fans

 

[dgianstefani]

It is delided repasted.
Currently i only have air cooling. An old Thermalright Ultra Extreme + 2x P12 Artic fans

Memory tuning is also important with X299.

People have gotten 3800/14 or higher and seen upwards of 100 GB/S bandwidth with good latency.

 

[ThrashZone]

I ordered an i9 7980xe because there was not much difference. Delided and repasted.
I dont need that much core count, but i think i can disable HT and a few cores and overclock with fewer cores for gaming.

Hi,
All you did was add more heat to the mix which gaming does not need.
If you wanted a jump you might of looked into 10980xe which has some improvements in clock speed and solder instead of more pigeon poop inside.

 

[dgianstefani]

Hi,
All you did was add more heat to the mix which gaming does not need.
If you wanted a jump you might of looked into 10980xe which has some improvements in clock speed and solder instead of more pigeon poop inside.

Delidded so it literally doesn't matter.

 

[ThrashZone]

Delidded so it literally doesn't matter.

Hi,
Indeed same as in a delidded 7940x
Op only added 4 more heaters to cool.

 

[bug]

Hi,
Indeed same as in a delidded 7940x
Op only added 4 more heaters to cool.

Let's stay positive: it's newer silicon so it probably has more years left in it

 

[ThrashZone]

Let's stay positive: it's newer silicon so it probably has more years left in it

Hi,
lol yeah same born on date hehe maybe 7980xe hasn't been used and abused yet seen some on ebay for a couple hundred

Must of really screwed his 7940x to think up this 7980xe purchase choice :/

I would sell one of your systems and get a i7 13700K Z790 (or even a i7 12700K Z690) system for gaming..

Intel Core i9-7980XE Benchmark

Intel Core i7-13700K Benchmark

Since the flip on the op question this makes more sense than current direction !

 

[masterdeejay]

Hi,
Indeed same as in a delidded 7940x
Op only added 4 more heaters to cool.

Not just 4 more cores but extra cache. So it is a little faster. But i can disable the not needed cores but keeping the extra cache.
So i can use the cpu like 8-10 cores at 4,5ghz+ and lowerering or disabling the rest of the cores and still having the full cache.
So if i disable 4 cores of the 7980xe it is still faster than a 7940x on the same freq because of the cache (few %?). Or disabled 8 cores vs 7900x..etc

 

[ThrashZone]

Not just 4 more cores but extra cache. So it is a little faster. But i can disable the not needed cores but keeping the extra cache.
So i can use the cpu like 8-10 cores at 4,5ghz+ and lowerering or disabling the rest of the cores and still having the full cache.
So if i disable 4 cores of the 7980xe it is still faster than a 7940x on the same freq because of the cache (few %?). Or disabled 8 cores vs 7900x..etc

Hi,
Waste of money to me frankly replacing something that still worked.
Off loading other hardware could of been toward a new build that games shitloads better than x299 can only dream of.
But good luck with it.

 

[Fouquin]

The i9 is little better. +300mhz for 2-4 core. From 5-8 +400mhz.
But the xeon has better ipc.

Cascade Lake (the Xeon) and Skylake (the i9) are the same IPC. intel did not make any architectural changes between Skylake, Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake, or Cascade Lake that improved IPC, all direct changes were adding instruction revisions and security updates. The cores themselves are identical, and thus the CPU with the highest clocks will perform better.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Cascade Lake (the Xeon) and Skylake (the i9) are the same IPC. intel did not make any architectural changes between Skylake, Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake, or Cascade Lake that improved IPC, all direct changes were adding instruction revisions and security updates. The cores themselves are identical, and thus the CPU with the highest clocks will perform better.

True, but cache hierarchy can affect what is usually described as IPC.

 

[Fouquin]

True, but cache hierarchy can affect what is usually described as IPC.

Cache/memory hierarchy on Cascade Lake is the same as on Skylake, too. They are the same architecture.

Cascade Lake - Microarchitectures - Intel - WikiChip

Cascade Lake (CSL/CLX) is Intel's successor to Skylake, a 14 nm microarchitecture for enthusiasts and servers. Cascade Lake is the 'Optimization' phase as part of Intel's PAO model.

en.wikichip.org