Old 6 core Xeons still good value in a world of used Ryzen's?

[humbug]

Once not so long a go a cheap alternative to Intel's over-priced Core series CPU's were Xeons, used and sometimes even new.

I looked at doing this myself once but just couldn't find an X58 motherboard to go with a used £60 X5860.
Sure the CPU was cheap and a good CPU at the time but trying to find a board much less than £150 was impossible, bearing in mind these were boards approaching 10 years old, that's just insane.

Steve from HUB addressing some channels still singing the virtues of old Sandy and IvyBridge Xeon processors, YesTechCity built a reputation on reviewing and recommending old Xeons and he has stuck to that format to this day, tho oddly he no longer compares the CPU's he recommends to any alternatives.
Other channel's have taken to saying these old Xeons are faster than the Ryzen 5 CPU's, apparently.

And i always found it odd that apparently reputable tech journalists like YesTechCity always failed to mention the cost and difficulty of getting boards for those cheap Xeons.

So Steve had a look, he bought himself a NEW Ryzen 1400 and a used B350 Motherboard, on the Xeon side a brand new but cheap Chinese compatible board and a 6 core IvyBridge. (he couldn't find a used one)

In total the Ryzen 1400 system came in at about 60 AU $ more expensive, about £32.

The results don't look good for the Xeon, they are not "faster than Ryzen 5" it's not even funny how the 6 core Xeon is often way down on the 4 core 1400.

As Steve said, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[koooowweeee]

Oh well. Who cares about old tech?

 

[Journey]

Once not so long a go a cheap alternative to Intel's over-priced Core series CPU's were Exons, used and sometimes even new.

Steve from HUB addressing some channels still singing the virtues of old Sandy and IvyBridge Exon processors, YesTechCity built a reputation on reviewing and recommending old Xeons and he has stuck to that format to this day, tho oddly he no longer compares the CPU's he recommends to any alternatives.

What is an Exon?

 

[humbug]

Oh Shaaadup ^^^^ i'll edit the post, thank's for spotting that.

Oh well. Who cares about old tech?

If nothing else its fun to do a little work and be rewarded with good performance by not moving with the herd, but it seems Xeons are now mainstream thinking among budget dopamine fix hunters herded there by mainstream channel's still using the "alternative" argument because its become a cashcow for them, i'm looking at you YesTechCity.

 

[Journey]

I think taken with the context of getting them as a 'bargain' then it is a fine alternative, and as people will rightly point out it depends where you live how much things cost.

I have a standing watchlist for X58 boards on that auction site, proper ones, not the Chinese knock offs. I'vr won a few for <£30, buy 12GB RAM for ~£15, and a CPU for £7-15. If you've spent ~£55-60 then I don't see how you can get a better value if you are a on tight budget, or just want something to tinker with until you can afford a better system. If you only play games yes then they are not ideal, and due to the cost of DDR4 dropping massively then that helps the argument of buying a new system.

I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone who isn't skint, or doesn't like building and sorting out issues themselves, I'd usually tell them to grab an old Dell Optiplex or Precision box for ~£100-150, and go from there. Once AMD drop the 6c/12 below the magic $99, and the entry level Ryzen CPU is more like $40, then spending another £50-60 on a cheap B450 board, and £50 on 16GB RAM becomes a much more sensible option for the long term (if you have the budget).

Also, I've not watched the video but I'd call the title of the video click bait of the highest order, and shows exactly what is wrong with the mentality "if it isn't new for the fastest then it is trash." No wonder there is so much waste, better title would have been "Old Xeon, worth it?"

 

[DragonQ]

These old chips are only good if you have the motherboard and RAM already. Never buy an entire system with them unless you need it for a very special purpose.

 

[jigger]

These old chips are only good if you have the motherboard and RAM already. Never buy an entire system with them unless you need it for a very special purpose.

If you already have a quality X58 board and can upgrade to a high end 6 core Xeon. The problem is the boards are very old so probably not that reliable and many limit you to 3x4Gb DIMM’s.

 

[~>Dg<~]

thats very true. tbh the only budget buyin on new id look at the moment is the 2600 amd ryzen cpus going for cheap.they going for £100 new and you get two games you can sell for £30-40. so £70 6 core modern cpu.this makes most older cpus irrelevant.

 

[jigger]

P

thats very true. tbh the only budget buyin on new id look at the moment is the 2600 amd ryzen cpus going for cheap.they going for £100 new and you get two games you can sell for £30-40. so £70 6 core modern cpu.this makes most older cpus irrelevant.

More like £135 retail. At that price you have to question how relevant every CPU is.

 

[Kelt]

Still happy with my X5650 and 6x4Gb ram.

There isn't one modern, optimized game that utilizes multicores that stresses my system with a 1070.

They're all GPU bound at 1440P UW.

I daresay it might get CPU bound with a superior GPU.

Whenever (if) I get one and that happens, will be the time I get a new system.

 

[JTrickle]

That youtube vid is as bad as the ones you are criticising. Hes not reviewing the 3.3 - 3.6Ghz X5860 you mention (less than £30 showing on completed listings, £41 buy it now). Hes reviewing 2.2 - 2.7 Ghz Xeons on a mobo that cant overclock.

If he'd have spent £20 more on the X5860 he wouldn't have anything to moan about.

Also its not a £32 difference. He quickly glossed over the fact the xeon pricing included 16gb, but only 8Gb memory for the Ryzen pricing.

 

[jigger]

That youtube vid is as bad as the ones you are criticising. Hes not reviewing the 3.3 - 3.6Ghz X5860 you mention (less than £30 showing on completed listings, £41 buy it now). Hes reviewing 2.2 - 2.7 Ghz Xeons on a mobo that cant overclock.

If he'd have spent £20 more on the X5860 he wouldn't have anything to moan about.

Also its not a £32 difference. He quickly glossed over the fact the xeon pricing included 16gb, but only 8Gb memory for the Ryzen pricing.

The point is you need a solid X58 before the Xeon is even worth considering, and even then you have the option of a much newer and much better used AM4 board for not a lot more money.

 

[233]

just picked up a 6 core westmere macpro as my daily rig,


honestly cant fault it granted a bit more expensive than a cheap xeon pc based rig but perfect for a bit of light gaming and 6 cores 12 threads is still enough for most

 

[Journey]

The results don't look good for the Xeon, they are not "faster than Ryzen 5" it's not even funny how the 6 core Exon is often way down on the 4 core 1400.

You missed one.

I'd have to say I find it all a bit odd, it seems like he really tried to not get the product as cheap as possible, which is the entire point of buying this 'trash'. You can buy the CPU from the for $27.50AU shipped, and that horrid board actually works out at $77AU shipped, which is $104.50 AUD, and $144.50 AUD with the RAM which is $100 USD or £78 here. Here's where the comparison fails miserably, he shows the Ryzen 1400 at $117.02 and doesn't include the $4.50 AU shipping, then the motherboard cost is $57.60, and again he conveniently misses the $8 AU shipping, total with the $52 AU RAM is $239.12, but he claims he spent $226 AU.

It might only be $100 AUD saved, but you can get an RX 570 for $140 AU on ebay.au which I am pretty sure is a realist card to be pairing with the ultra low budget build, if you are gaming anyhow. So you've spent a total of $284.50 AUD on the 'trash' system or £154 including an RX 570 4GB, that to me sounds like a pretty darn good value for money deal. Also why the hell is he putting a 2080TI in s super low end budget system, we all know the CPU will be bottle-necked, heck even the 2600X causes that to happen with the 2080 Ti.

The video he seems to be slagging off, if I found the correct one, seem to even indicate that the Ryzen system is much better than the Xeon, and even has the words (Budget GPU) in the blooming title. Neither of these productions are perfect, far from it in fact, but it looks like he just has some beef with the other guys opinion and doesn't like him for whatever reason.

I don't disagree with the fact these are not 'nice' systems, but I just get a feeling it is about personal grudges rather than presenting a true budget comparison.

 

[Destination]

If like me, you happen to own a x58 board, and had a i7 920, then the 20 quid for a xeon was a bloody good idea, to tide me over to ryzen 3.
It has done the job, now I'll move along at some stage.

The problem is, the old tech hasn't usb 3, hasn't got faster ram, hasn't really got any of the nice things yu want.
xfer times to external drives are not quick, no little fast ssd building to the mobo etc.
and the bios are all old tech, my bios taken half a minute to bot, then windows takes about 8 seconds, when i upgrade it'll be uefi, and can do the whole thing in ten seconds.

 

[JTrickle]

The point is you need a solid X58 before the Xeon is even worth considering...

Not really. The correct CPU would have been faster and much cheaper.

The point is that the youtuber was trying to manufacture a point. As usual then.

 

[koooowweeee]

I just get a feeling it is about personal grudges rather than presenting a true budget comparison.

If there's a dodgy YouTube video like this then humbug will find it

 

[jigger]

Not really. The correct CPU would have been faster and much cheaper.

The point is that the youtuber was trying to manufacture a point. As usual then.

What is the correct chip? The e5 2660 would be 2.2-3Ghz and still hamstrung with that board.

 

[loonyk]

will be selling my X58 Guerilla G1, x5670 and 24gb 1600Mhz Kingston Genesis to get new Ryzen. can't be bothered to feed Intel anymore.
Trusty old system, still plenty of punch, but too much mess with drivers on Win 10.

 

[davida76]

Yeah I watched that video earlier and to be honest it comes across as purely trolling other channels that recommend old tech. He picked literally the worst combo possible and compared it to systems that were blatantly going to thrash it. No one in their right mind would buy a 1356 socket board from china with such a low clocked xeon when the china lga 2011 boards with quad channel are far superior for similar price. For around £100 you can get a xeon e5 1620 v2, a knock off x79 and 16gb ecc, then you've got yourself a budget competitor for a fraction of the r5 1400 build he touts. Yes it's old hardware and you have nowhere to go but the point is they are competitive and for a damn sight less right now. Drop a £45 e5 1650 or e5 2680 in there and it's a different proposition again. Now i'm not advocating to rush out and buy these things, unless budget is tight, but the video is pure clickbait.