Hello everybody, I just finished my latest build with a buddy a few days ago, and let me tell you, in my opinion what is the best kept secret of PC building: the Xeon CPU.
Ok, so Xeons have a great reputation in the datacenter. They have great virtualization performance, and (relatively) low power consumption.
However, I have found with personal experience, that Xeons are AMAZING in a gaming PC.
Lets consider the Xeon E3 series.
the Xeon E3 1230 v2 easily outperforms many much more expensive i5 or i7 chips:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...V2+%40+3.30GHz
Now lets compare the E3 1230 v2 vs the i7 2600k
The Xeon performs slightly better than the i7, but is 60$ cheaper at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819117286
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115070
Yet, if you look at it, the Xeon consumes 69 watts, vs the i7's 95 watts. The performance per watt difference is HUGE!
So take my word for it, next time you build a PC, consider the Xeons, they are worth your money.
Some tips:
Don't bother with the Xeon E5 series. The Xeon E3 series is the best choice for gaming PCs.
Make sure your motherboard supports a Xeon E3, most do, but some models don't really.