Game over man....Xeon x56xx or i7-9xx series?

[sawdust3d]

Hey all,

Doing a spare parts build for an extra shop PC. Mostly paperwork, some super light engineering and streaming the occasional movie in the background.

Matching with 1070ti, 24GB DDR3 @ 1333 & the MoBo (can't recall the model right this second) is 1366 socket out of an S20 thinkstation on an open bench.

The x3520 in it crawls IIRC, it's been a while.

Anyone have a preference from back in the old days?

[Omega]

Depends on which exact Xeon and i7.

if the i7 is a 6 core chip: I'd prefer the i7 unless you care about power usage and the extra functionality the Xeon offers.


Coincidentally I am going to re-assemble a x58 machine today if the new case arrives for it, I used it as a server for a while and it is going to be used as such again.
MSI X58 Pro 4
i7 980x (Still a respectable CPU)
3x2GB (maybe 6x2GB)
GT 710 (It only needs to display a command line anyway)

Update: the mobo is dying, so ordered a Ryzen 1600 AF + mobo.

[Illusion of Progress]

The Xeon you're using now is the equivalent of a Core i7 920, if that helps you. I think replacing it with anything but a 6 core model is a rather pointless change.

What is a crawling at? A specific software? Does that software benefit from more cores/threads? If not, and it's slow from age (that's a relatively low clock speed/IPC compared to today), getting a slightly faster Xeon may not do much.

Is it instead slow in general use? Maybe it could benefit from an SSD (or does it already have one)?

[sawdust3d]

Well that's a bummer Omega,

Funny though, I changed my mind and grabbed a case yesterday (H510 - nice little cases for the cost), and it turned out I had a bad stick of ram so I won't 't be using that sweet 3 channel.

IIUC, the x56xx are six core, yeah?

Illusion of Progress, I'm pulling components out of storage and don't quite remember. I'll bench it thoroughly one it's in the case & before I upgrade the CPU.

Absolutely going Hex Core or there is little point, I'm totally with you there.

Yes there will be an SSD (1TB 860 evo) that wasn't there before, so that should help.

It looks like it's gonna come down to price and availability. The I7- 990/980 or the x5680/5690 look like they're going to run me a cool $100 either way unless I risk Allied Express or some other shady site. Really, I was surprised by the going cost of these older CPU(s).

Have a great day,


Update: Found it: x5680 for $62 (US).

If my reading is correct, looks like the 980 & the 5680 are actually the same chips as the 990 & 5690, with the latter just having a factory clock boost.

I'll see what I can do to goose it OCing through the BCLK. Since I don't recall this MoBo having any modern OC support.

Please let me know how you like the Ryzen.

[Set-115689]

Are the temperatures ok on your current cpu. 130w tdp. The current cpu should be able to handle it. Internet seems to mainly use the cpu+all cores. Can toss in a junker video card.

The 860 evo should help it has dram. Maybe 1gb? cache 1024 mb. Mechanical hard drives can be painful in certain situations.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/yzfhP6/samsung-860-evo-1tb-25-solid-state-drive-mz-76e1t0bam

There should be cheap xeons on ebay. For $62 you might be able to buy a whole xeon pc. I've seen lenvo s20 go for less than that.

[sawdust3d]

Hey Set-115689,

While I did check the local craigslight, offer-up, etc. I didn't see anything local and didn't mind the premium to have the CPU miracled to my house in 2 days.

I'm only over my self imposed $100 budget because I spring for a new case.

Funny, as this was an S20 and the proprietary 10 pin CPU 12v power connector on the Lenovo MoBo (model 64y7517) turned into my only speed bump so far. Currently looking for an 8 to 10 pin adapter as I don't have the old end to even try making one. I did find one for a Dell 10 pin that looks good (cross fingers on voltages) assuming the picture is accurate.

We shall see,

[sawdust3d]

Well, no real shocker, but I can't power the board.

And the proprietary PSU being under powered for further upgrade was why I'd stripped this platform the first place. Ahhh the memory kicks in.

I don't think it's worth doubling down on a new MoBo unless I see something used, local & cheap.

Might as well sell off the parts and put in something modern. Maybe I'll look at AMD this time.