Just found this thread after I had a sudden realization that I can upgrade to a newer Gen Xeon to replace my i7-950!
I have a project in the logs (Project: TJ07 Revived, shameless plug ) and have just bought a 2nd Asus Geforce GTX 980ti Strix OC and wanted to upgrade my CPU to reduce any bottlenecking...I have a fully custom watercooling setup.
Could anyone tell me which of the Xeon's generally overclock and perform the best over a i7-950? Is it worth getting a X5670 for example over a X5650 even with the price difference?
My current spec is in my sig
I think the general consensus is the X5650 (like I have) is good for a solid 4ghz as a baseline, maybe a bit more but I got my 5650 to 4ghz with absolute ease with my existing HSF cooler.
The 5670 etc I think can take you up to 4.5 on liquid cooling. But if you have to replace your cooler you'd have to assess if it's really worth it.