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Gen8 Microserver - Xeon 1265l to Xeon 1280v2

KungFuSpaghetti

KungFuSpaghetti

KungFuSpaghetti

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As per the thread title, thought I would ask on here as while the Gen8 community have some experts, they are more geared towards using the server in it's proper form! I like to do a bit of everything with mine, so while it's a HTPC, file server and general storage horse, I do like to game on it while I wait for the house extension to enable me to have room for a gaming rig!

So, my current spec is:
Xeon E3 1265l @ 2.5ghz
16GB (2x8GB) 1600mhz DDR3
Gigabyte GTX 1050ti LP
x2 8TB Seagate Ironwolf NAS drives
x2 6TB WD Red NAS drives

I've seen some Xeon E3 1280v2 CPU's for reasonable money and these are clocked significantly higher at 3.6ghz (turbo to 4.0ghz). For the games I play (Civ 6, GTA 5, BF4) will I actually see any marked improvement in frame rates, or put another way, is the 2.5ghz Xeon I currently have going to bottleneck my GPU?

Just for reference, I had an Intel Core i3 3240 (@3.4ghz standard clock) previously, but the CPU cores both maxed out at 100% playing GTA and caused pretty bad frame stutter, the 1265l was a vast improvement using all 4 cores at around 60-70%.
 
Sorry jigger, I should have been clearer lol. I mean to say I have the 1050ti already, but wondering if it is being bottlenecked by the relatively low clock speed on my 1265l CPU and if it's worth the small outlay to upgrade to the 1280v2
 
One of my family has one of them and the main consideration will be cooling - so you will need to make sure there is sufficient cooling as the TDP for the Xeon E3 1280 V2 is 69W instead of 45W for the L series chip. I have a Xeon E3 1230 V2 in my current system,and even with a lower end AIO water cooler it can get a bit warm in my mini-ITX system.
 
Cooling I'm not too concerned about, even though my Microserver is in a TV shelf unit cupboard there's plenty of ventilation and I'll just use some sheet plastic to duct the air over the stock passive CPU cooler which seems to work a treat even on the 1290v2. Worst case I'll get the 65w rated one from Lambda-tek if this CPU would offer a decent.

The board definitely supports the CPU, all of the following are tested and confirmed working:
1230v2
1240v2
1260 and 1265l
1265l v2
1270v2
1280v2
1290v2 (87w TDP though)

With regards power draw I've measured it at 138w, so should be okay on the 200w PSU.
 
KungFuSpaghetti said:
Cooling I'm not too concerned about, even though my Microserver is in a TV shelf unit cupboard there's plenty of ventilation and I'll just use some sheet plastic to duct the air over the stock passive CPU cooler which seems to work a treat even on the 1290v2. Worst case I'll get the 65w rated one from Lambda-tek if this CPU would offer a decent.

The board definitely supports the CPU, all of the following are tested and confirmed working:
1230v2
1240v2
1260 and 1265l
1265l v2
1270v2
1280v2
1290v2 (87w TDP though)

With regards power draw I've measured it at 138w, so should be okay on the 200w PSU.
Click to expand...

Because its IB and has thermal past instead of soldier which you have in your SB Xeon E3 1265l. It runs hot - I have a AIO water cooler on mine and its not that cool running TBH,even with the side off.

The main issue is the heatsink is not very good on the Microserver. This the standard one which is anemic and is passively cooled:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2rwB8PDrBRI/maxresdefault.jpg

This is the one for the higher TDP CPUs:

http://andysworld.org.uk/tag/i3-3240/

Its the one rated for 65W TDP CPUs. So unless you have the upgrade heatsink,I would probably try and add a fan and TBH,since its not designed for sustained load,even with the upgrade heatsink,I would try and add a fan.
 
jigger said:
What are you waiting for then. Suck it and see.
Click to expand...

lol, I was simply after some advice as to whether or not it would be a worthwhile performance upgrade... heating, power draw etc I'm not really concerned about, just gaming performance.

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
Because its IB and has thermal past instead of soldier which you have in your SB Xeon E3 1265l. It runs hot - I have a AIO water cooler on mine and its not that cool running TBH,even with the side off.

The main issue is the heatsink is not very good on the Microserver. This the standard one which is anemic and is passively cooled:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2rwB8PDrBRI/maxresdefault.jpg

This is the one for the higher TDP CPUs:

http://andysworld.org.uk/tag/i3-3240/

Its the one rated for 65W TDP CPUs. So unless you have the upgrade heatsink,I would probably try and add a fan and TBH,since its not designed for sustained load,even with the upgrade heatsink,I would try and add a fan.
Click to expand...

I'd be doing something similar to this first, as this guy is running the 1290v2 and under Prime95 has no issues with all cores maxed out.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=c1ZpVTc4Z3JqanQ4eGtpekpTUFJkNlMwRng3X05n
 
KungFuSpaghetti said:
lol, I was simply after some advice as to whether or not it would be a worthwhile performance upgrade... heating, power draw etc I'm not really concerned about, just gaming performance.



I'd be doing something similar to this first, as this guy is running the 1290v2 and under Prime95 has no issues with all cores maxed out.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=c1ZpVTc4Z3JqanQ4eGtpekpTUFJkNlMwRng3X05n
Click to expand...

The problem is dude is that you are gaming and your GPU choice is dumping heat into the case too which raises the ambient case temperature. I have been on mini-ITX and SFX rigs since 2005 so had to work around stuff like that. Another consideration is that you need to make sure that some of the VRM heatsinks also get some airflow(yes I know Haswell has part of it onboard the CPU too).

I would consider ghetto modding some fans onto the heatsink. Perhaps two in a push-pull configuration if its the aluminium one.
 
Last edited:
CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
The problem is dude is that you are gaming and your GPU choice is dumping heat into the case too which raises the ambient case temperature. I have been on mini-ITX and SFX rigs since 2005 so had to work around stuff like that. Another consideration is that you need to make sure that some of the VRM heatsinks also get some airflow(yes I know Haswell has part of it onboard the CPU too).

I would consider ghetto modding some fans onto the heatsink. Perhaps two in a push-pull configuration if its the aluminium one.
Click to expand...

I think if push comes to shove I'd just get the 65w cooler, that should be more than up to the job.

jigger said:
Pretty sure a 2.5Ghz quad could push a 1050 pretty well. Performance would depend on the game more than anything else.
Click to expand...

It does run well, I can play Civ 6 and GTA 5 both in 1080p with everything maxed out no problem, but BF4 I have to run in medium settings, as high details it runs around 30-40fps which to me is pretty unplayable.
 
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