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1366 X58 Xeon 5650

Hi dudes, I have been wanting to build a new system but I've been holding off. This xeon option sounds promising.
So I wanted to know if you think it'd be a good move to buy a Xeon X5660 for ~£85 and then buy a top end graphics card. I was thinking a 980 or 980Ti. I'd be looking to play the witcher 3 (and some other new games) on max settings 1080p 144hz.

I currently have:
i7 [email protected]
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R (1366)
Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
BenQ XL2411T 24" TRUE 144Hz 3D Vision 2.0 Widescreen LED Monitor
 
do some research on the mobo, I have a GA-EX58-UD4P and tried an x5660 and I coulndt get it to overclock, would only work at stock speeds. you might find your pc can handle a 980 as it stands.. I have a 970 at 1080p only 60hz though

might worth adding some more ram, see if you can replace all with 3x4gb... probably have to waste a chip though as they mostly only come in 2s and 4s, though your probably not using the 6gb up now anyway
 
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Kurgen said:
do some research on the mobo, I have a GA-EX58-UD4P and tried an x5660 and I coulndt get it to overclock, would only work at stock speeds. you might find your pc can handle a 980 as it stands.. I have a 970 at 1080p only 60hz though

might worth adding some more ram, see if you can replace all with 3x4gb... probably have to waste a chip though as they mostly only come in 2s and 4s, though your probably not using the 6gb up now anyway
Click to expand...

You might have had the same issue I had where I couldn't overclock mine. I fixed it by setting the memory timings manually.
 
kylew_is_back said:
A x5650 at 4GHz consumes less watts than a i7 920 at 4GHz, keep in mind that it is 32nm vs 45nm.

...and also run way cooler, infact a x5650 at 4.4GHz runs cooler than a i7 920 at 4GHz(at least what happened in my case)
Click to expand...

True.
In my case:
i7 920 system power was 137W
x5650 system power is 115W. Also runs cooler.

Typical idle readings at 4GHz.
 
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just got hold a i7 920 and a gigabyte GA-x58A-UD3R rev 1.0.
Is there anything to look for them buy a xeon, ie stepping or is just luck of the draw getting a good one?
 
easyrider said:
I did it an was underwhelmed tbh....

So much I sold the x99 rig...bought a X58 and xeon for my music computer and a i7 4790k combo

2 pc's for the price of one X99
Click to expand...

That would be my concern, spending near £500 and not noticing a difference... I have an itch to upgrade as it feels like 3.7GHz is a bit of a let down.
 
After being forced to go from my Xeon 5650 at 4.2ghz to a sandybridge i5 at 4.5ghz I instantly noticed it was not as fast. I would have gone for another Xeon if it wasn't for the price of the motherboards.
 
Initially I would argue that the sandy is faster clock for clock so should be faster in 99% of things but I just find something about the hex Xeon, with its 12 threads it just effortlessly wafts through anything even if it may not always be as fast.
 
My 5670 is absolutely flying with SLI 970s. Not sure how long it will last at 4.5ghz on air but I've had five plus years out of the setup so who cares :D
 
Read the last half of this thread with interest, impressive really. Im currently using an old dual core pentium and seriously need to upgrade, cant justify\afford new where the gains overall dont go with the price, performance pounds, for me x5650 is the way to go.

Which of these would be preferable for a decent stable Oc or is it much of a muchness?
ASUS P6TD Deluxe
Gigabyte GA-X58-UD5

What\where is MM, keep seeing mention and cheap prices coinciding with said mention :)

Also anyone have a combo they would like to sell cheapish, cpu\mobo\ram?
 
Me here said:
Read the last half of this thread with interest, impressive really. Im currently using an old dual core pentium and seriously need to upgrade, cant justify\afford new where the gains overall dont go with the price, performance pounds, for me x5650 is the way to go.

Which of these would be preferable for a decent stable Oc or is it much of a muchness?
ASUS P6TD Deluxe
Gigabyte GA-X58-UD5

What\where is MM, keep seeing mention and cheap prices coinciding with said mention :)

Also anyone have a combo they would like to sell cheapish, cpu\mobo\ram?
Click to expand...

Welcome!

The MM (Member's Market) is only available to members with a certain amount of posts (500 or 1000 I think?) Even then, it's very rare for an x58 motherboard to appear.

Next best place is the bay, which is where I got my x58m from 2/3 years ago (Was £90 back then, expensive for a basic matx board). You're looking at over £100 for the board alone, they very rarely go for less. Then on that you're potentially limited to sata2, outdated features and no warranty. It may be cheaper, but it also might not be because the board is costing you so much.

Look at it this way, if you buy new you're going to spend most of your money on a decent CPU and a lower end board and memory. With an X58 setup, that large chunk of expense goes onto the board.

Is the Xeon a good choice? Yes, but only if you can get an x58 board cheap or have one already. If you're looking to go from new, it's often hard to justify when you need to spend near £150 or over on just the board.

You can easily buy new on a budget and still get a decent setup. AMD offer some budget friendly options.
 
Cheers, i had looked at budget systems but doing comparisons with the an x58 + xeon performance always looked way off, i don't need all the bells n whistles just max performance for lowest price, ive seen a couple of x58 boards on eBay with 12+gb ram and i7 9`s from £150-200 im thinking buy one of them, sell the i7 and put in a x56 and still be less than £200.
I have a decentish psu and good GPU, overkill for my current cpu/mobo, R9 280X Matrix, as i said in my previous post performance cost was the motivator for me going this route.
Think i take one of the buy it now options on ebay.

Thanks
 
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