Older Xeons vs 1800x

[Jamie^]

Looking to build a streaming PC with a budget around 1,500.

I was looking at a full 1800x build as my current is a 4690k and the higher end Intels cost too much for me. Got me thinking, could a Xeon produce better results? I don't mind having to buy 2nd hand chips as most come from company servers.

Any opinions and recommendations? I have 0 knowledge on Xeons.

OBS is the software I would use.

 

[bremen1874]

Most Xeons aren't going to run in a 'standard' motherboard.

If it's a CPU from a server it's generally only going to work in a server or workstation motherboard (with the correct CPU socket(s), chipsets and memory).

Xeons have also been around for a very long time so you'll need be a lot more specific about what you're looking at if you want real answers (and the answer is probably no).

 

[Jamie^]

Most Xeons aren't going to run in a 'standard' motherboard.

If it's a CPU from a server it's generally only going to work in a server or workstation motherboard (with the correct CPU socket(s), chipsets and memory).

Xeons have also been around for a very long time so you'll need be a lot more specific about what you're looking at if you want real answers (and the answer is probably no).

It's going to be a complete build, doesn't matter the mobo as I'll be buying new / 2nd hand. I'm not sure how more specific I can be then it's for a streaming PC. Nothing else, just needs to run as high a quality as possible for a budget equivalent to a full 1800x build unless Ryzen is the better option

 

[bremen1874]

If you're looking at secondhand Xeon as an alternative to an 1800X you must have something in mind.

 

[bimbleuk]

..

 

[Martini1991]

Go Ryzen 1700.

 

[Journey]

I'm busy stripping down an X79 system that has a Xeon E5 in it, ironically it has been replaced with a Ryzen 1700 system.

Your idea is very feasible, and you will be able to do it cheaper than a new 1800X build, but be careful what version of the Xeon CPU's you go for, if you are on X99 then you want to shop around for the v3/v4 version of the CPU you are interested in these are based around Haswell/Broadwell architecture, where as the original ones were V1/V2 were Sandybridge/IvyBridge.

You obviously want to try and find a CPU/Motherboard combo that can be overclocked, as even the high end 8c/16t CPU's (E5-1680 v3) only go to around 3.8Ghz on turbo. Again as mentioned you are going to want DDR4 RAM, running in quad channel to get the best from it.

If you are looking for a challenge, then you've got one ahead of you.

 

[Jamie^]

Go Ryzen 1700.

1800x can't hold a fast preset at 1080p 60fps output

If you're looking at secondhand Xeon as an alternative to an 1800X you must have something in mind.

None at all, just seen a few people use them for video rendering, thought that maybe I could go old school and pick up something old, a two chip mobo as more cores / threads will be beneficial (At a quick look, maybe something like a Dual Intel Xeon E5-2670 build)

I'm busy stripping down an X79 system that has a Xeon E5 in it, ironically it has been replaced with a Ryzen 1700 system.

Your idea is very feasible, and you will be able to do it cheaper than a new 1800X build, but be careful what version of the Xeon CPU's you go for, if you are on X99 then you want to shop around for the v3/v4 version of the CPU you are interested in these are based around Haswell/Broadwell architecture, where as the original ones were V1/V2 were Sandybridge/IvyBridge.

You obviously want to try and find a CPU/Motherboard combo that can be overclocked, as even the high end 8c/16t CPU's (E5-1680 v3) only go to around 3.8Ghz on turbo. Again as mentioned you are going to want DDR4 RAM, running in quad channel to get the best from it.

If you are looking for a challenge, then you've got one ahead of you.

As above - Dual Intel Xeon E5-2670. Tons of cores and threads, DDR3, old school but lots of power, I don't know if speed > cores / threads or not with OBS, don't know at what point speed is not an issue, same with cores / threads.

 

[Journey]

You could just grab an eBay bargain refurbished HP/Dell dual Xeon workstation to save loads of hassle, and see how the performance is for you? About £500 will get you a Dual CPU (2x E5-2650/70's) 32GB RAM, and all the rest of the gubbins, whack in a gaming GPU instead of the Fire Pro/Quadro already fitted and away you go.

 

[Jamie^]

You could just grab an eBay bargain refurbished HP/Dell dual Xeon workstation to save loads of hassle, and see how the performance is for you? About £500 will get you a Dual CPU (2x E5-2650/70's) 32GB RAM, and all the rest of the gubbins, whack in a gaming GPU instead of the Fire Pro/Quadro already fitted and away you go.

Thats the kind of recommendation I was looking for! I didn't think of that to be honest.

 

[ZXSpectrum]

1800x can't hold a fast preset at 1080p 60fps output



None at all, just seen a few people use them for video rendering, thought that maybe I could go old school and pick up something old, a two chip mobo as more cores / threads will be beneficial (At a quick look, maybe something like a Dual Intel Xeon E5-2670 build)



As above - Dual Intel Xeon E5-2670. Tons of cores and threads, DDR3, old school but lots of power, I don't know if speed > cores / threads or not with OBS, don't know at what point speed is not an issue, same with cores / threads.

I bought a E5-2670 for £42 and 16Gb DDR3 ecc Reg for my media server. I had a Intel Server motherboard already for it. It has been built up as my home server and works flawlessly. Great performance for silly cheap.

 

[DragonQ]

1800x can't hold a fast preset at 1080p 60fps output

Sorry, what? I used OBS to stream years ago and was able to get 1080p 60 FPS with an i7-920 using the fast preset, and that was whilst playing a single-threaded game on the same system!

 

[ubersonic]

1800x can't hold a fast preset at 1080p 60fps output

If that were true, what would make you think a slower Xeon with less IPC and the same amount of cores would do better?

 

[Rroff]

If that were true, what would make you think a slower Xeon with less IPC and the same amount of cores would do better?

I have no idea if it is true or not but encoders can be optimised against specific CPU instruction sets, etc. with sometimes huge performance gulfs against otherwise similar CPUs - for instance use of something like AVX.

 

[~>Dg<~]

or why not just wait a little while for x299 ?

 

[ubersonic]

I have no idea if it is true or not

It's not, the 1800X is the best CPU for streaming before you hit the 6900K, I was just trying to avoid being that blunt about it

 

[Orcvader]

1800x can't hold a fast preset at 1080p 60fps output

Huh? Ryzen is more than capable for 1080p @ 60Hz. Got a source for this? Besides, a few streaming software like OBS can take advantage of the media encoder on your GPU so the CPU won't be strained that much anyway.

 

[jigger]

or why not just wait a little while for x299 ?

Why will we see 8 core 16 thread CPU's for £3-400 and £150 motherboards?

 

[humbug]

I have no idea if it is true or not but encoders can be optimised against specific CPU instruction sets, etc. with sometimes huge performance gulfs against otherwise similar CPUs - for instance use of something like AVX.

It's not, the 1800X is the best CPU for streaming before you hit the 6900K, I was just trying to avoid being that blunt about it

Yeah i was about to say the 1800X is a better streaming CPU than the 6900K.

Of course it would be, other benchmarks like Handbreak and 'Intel's favourite' Cinebench, show the 1800X has higher MT IPC....

 

[Disco_P]

I use a 4.3Ghz 5820K and can stream 1080p60 6mbits using software x264 on faster without dropping a frame on http://www.omfgdogs.com/.

Dunno if an extra 2 cores and 4 threads will allow that to be bumped up to fast.