The best kept secret of the desktop PC: A Xeon E3

[the_tyrant]

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?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E3-1230+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/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117286

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

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.

[Arclight]

Along with a more expensive motherboard and RAM, it's not exactly a cost-effective solution.

It might run in a desktop motherboard, but none explicitely support Xeons. None that I know of at any rate. And if you grab a server board, I think you need buffered RAM, which is both more expensive and slower.

[the_tyrant]

Along with a more expensive motherboard and RAM, it's not exactly a cost-effective solution.

It might run in a desktop motherboard, but none explicitely support Xeons. None that I know of at any rate. And if you grab a server board, I think you need buffered RAM, which is both more expensive and slower.

Quite a few boards support Xeon E3s actually, as for RAM, unbuffered non-ecc is fully sufficient if you want to use it as a desktop.


I actually got this idea by looking at workstations, how most lower end workstations actually just uses a standard desktop chipset and unbuffered RAM. HP charges an arm and a leg for them, so I built one for a buddy.

[Arclight]

Fair enough. But you bloody well do your homework before going down this route though. :hmmm:

One thing to note though is that an i7 for gaming is rather pointless. And even the highest tier i5 isn't that expensive. 2500K should go for about $200,-.

[kiwi_2005]

My PC CPU is an Intel Xeon, maybe that's why the pc runs so dam well :D

[adams79]

I think it's kinda bull crap to say that a Xeon would be better than a Core i7/Core i5 for gaming. The chips both have the same architecture, the Xeon chips are just optimized for lower temps etc. Plus they have the ECC memory controller. They're made for servers, they're not any more powerful, just more reliable/cooler. So if you're not running a 80%+ capacity all the time, you'll just be throwing your money away. I'd take a Core i7-3770K (http://www.outletpc.com/cu5223.html) any day!

[the_tyrant]

I think it's kinda bull crap to say that a Xeon would be better than a Core i7/Core i5 for gaming. The chips both have the same architecture, the Xeon chips are just optimized for lower temps etc. Plus they have the ECC memory controller. They're made for servers, they're not any more powerful, just more reliable/cooler. So if you're not running a 80%+ capacity all the time, you'll just be throwing your money away. I'd take a Core i7-3770K (http://www.outletpc.com/cu5223.html) any day!

An E3 Xeon is usually cheaper than a Core i7. Its usually priced around the price of an i5.

Running a Xeon requires you to do a LOT of homework, but when done right, it performs amazing. I run my computer in my bedroom, and because I run a Xeon, I can leave it on all night with the fan turned off. If I turn off the graphics card and case fan too my computer can run at 0dB.

That is simply impossible with an i7.

But I do agree, doing a good Xeon build takes a LOT of effort, and you need to do your homework THROUGHLY. But if you do succeed, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

[Cybermat47]

I've gotta get one!