X58 Server Board That Can Overclock?

[ComputerEnjoyer762]

So I've REALLY been loving my T7500 w/ dual X5675's. It's definitely a beast of a workstation, and it doesn't do half-bad at gaming either! That being said, there are MANY games that are really CPU dependent that I enjoy playing. One example of a game that hasn't played well for me is Insurgency. I'm usually at about 50%+ CPU usage. GTA 5 for example, is much better, never going below say, 75-80%. I'm using a heavily overclocked HD 7950 because it's what I had on hand at the moment to stick in this rig. Plus, I thought the CPU would at least have some hope of properly utilizing it without losing a greater level of performance on say, an RX480. 

 

So of course, this means I'm obviously looking for at least a decent overclock. Which is great, since these things can overclock like mad even on air it would seem. Problem being, getting an overclockable X58 board makes these things take a serious hit to price/performance, especially when you consider I won't be having a second CPU socket for a dual CPU, which is part of the charm of this system. It does still seem that their price/performance is killer even with a better board, and can contend with the best of 'em. But still. 

 

So... Are there any X58 server/workstation boards that allow you to overclock, either on official BIOS (doubtful), or through a custom bios or something like that? I tried locating one for my T7500, and found what seemed like custom BIOS's for other systems of the generation, but not necessarily this one. I would go so far as getting an entirely new workstation so long as it has access to overclocking. I just happen to not be ecstatic about giving up added workstation capabilities for better single core performance. Really hoping for something here! Thanks so much guys.  

 

Edit: As a random aside, would faster RAM help improve GPU usage? I don't believe it will, but I am using 24GB of 1066mhz ECC RAM. 

[TheDankKoosh]

25 minutes ago, bmichaels556 said:

So I've REALLY been loving my T7500 w/ dual X5675's. It's definitely a beast of a workstation, and it doesn't do half-bad at gaming either! That being said, there are MANY games that are really CPU dependent that I enjoy playing. One example of a game that hasn't played well for me is Insurgency. I'm usually at about 50%+ CPU usage. GTA 5 for example, is much better, never going below say, 75-80%. I'm using a heavily overclocked HD 7950 because it's what I had on hand at the moment to stick in this rig. Plus, I thought the CPU would at least have some hope of properly utilizing it without losing a greater level of performance on say, an RX480. 

 

So of course, this means I'm obviously looking for at least a decent overclock. Which is great, since these things can overclock like mad even on air it would seem. Problem being, getting an overclockable X58 board makes these things take a serious hit to price/performance, especially when you consider I won't be having a second CPU socket for a dual CPU, which is part of the charm of this system. It does still seem that their price/performance is killer even with a better board, and can contend with the best of 'em. But still. 

 

So... Are there any X58 server/workstation boards that allow you to overclock, either on official BIOS (doubtful), or through a custom bios or something like that? I tried locating one for my T7500, and found what seemed like custom BIOS's for other systems of the generation, but not necessarily this one. I would go so far as getting an entirely new workstation so long as it has access to overclocking. I just happen to not be ecstatic about giving up added workstation capabilities for better single core performance. Really hoping for something here! Thanks so much guys.  

 

Edit: As a random aside, would faster RAM help improve GPU usage? I don't believe it will, but I am using 24GB of 1066mhz ECC RAM. 

You might have some luck switching over to w3680's since they have the unlocked multipliers, I've seen others slapping them into single cpu dell machines with some pretty nice results while overclocking. Also some 1600mhz ram probably wouldn't hurt on the performance side

[ComputerEnjoyer762]

48 minutes ago, TheDankKoosh said:

You might have some luck switching over to w3680's since they have the unlocked multipliers, I've seen others slapping them into single cpu dell machines with some pretty nice results while overclocking. Also some 1600mhz ram probably wouldn't hurt on the performance side

Oh wow, didn't know that. Single core performance seems really respectable, too. Would the same apply to the w3670? They're like less than half the price. And would this need to be done through something like XTU in software, or through the BIOS..? Either way, would consider it, but ultimately looking for dual cpu setup if possible. 

[schwellmo92]

1 hour ago, TheDankKoosh said:

You might have some luck switching over to w3680's since they have the unlocked multipliers, I've seen others slapping them into single cpu dell machines with some pretty nice results while overclocking. Also some 1600mhz ram probably wouldn't hurt on the performance side

The X5675 already have unlocked multipliers, it's the default motherboard that he has that cannot overclock.

[schwellmo92]

The EVGA SR-2 lga1366 is 2 socket and supports overclocking, it goes for a pretty penny though.

[ComputerEnjoyer762]

2 minutes ago, schwellmo92 said:

The EVGA SR-2 lga1366 is 2 socket and supports overclocking, it goes for a pretty penny though.

Yeah... See at that point, I'd probably just go for a Ryzen 3000, maybe the "3700/x" (or whatever the designation will be). 

 

And I might do that anyway, pretty excited for them. 

 

But since this machine is pretty much already tricked out, I didn't want to go in for more than another $100 or so unless it was really worth my while. But those things are expensive as hell... 

[schwellmo92]

3 minutes ago, bmichaels556 said:

Yeah... See at that point, I'd probably just go for a Ryzen 3000, maybe the "3700/x" (or whatever the designation will be). 

 

And I might do that anyway, pretty excited for them. 

 

But since this machine is pretty much already tricked out, I didn't want to go in for more than another $100 or so unless it was really worth my while. But those things are expensive as hell... 

As far as I know that's the only 2 socket board that supports overclocking for that chipset. Your other option is to go down to 1 CPU and get a cheaper board and overclock it to hell, you'll gain a lot of performance in games/single-threaded loads and probably would barely be worse off in multi-core loads (2 CPUs does not give you twice the performance of 1 CPU in almost all scenarios).

[NelizMastr]

7 minutes ago, schwellmo92 said:

The EVGA SR-2 lga1366 is 2 socket and supports overclocking, it goes for a pretty penny though.

Not to mention they are very unreliable due to a number of design flaws.

 

1 hour ago, bmichaels556 said:

So... Are there any X58 server/workstation boards that allow you to overclock, either on official BIOS (doubtful), or through a custom bios or something like that? I tried locating one for my T7500, and found what seemed like custom BIOS's for other systems of the generation, but not necessarily this one. I would go so far as getting an entirely new workstation so long as it has access to overclocking.

Once it starts supporting ECC registered memory and SMP (multiple sockets) it's no longer X58 but becomes the i5500 series server chipset. You'd obviously need a new board, new case, new PSU the works. I'd indeed start looking for a different solution down the road as even cheapo Huanan boards from China with 2 sockets set you back about as much as a brand new Ryzen 5 CPU. 

[ComputerEnjoyer762]

15 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

Not to mention they are very unreliable due to a number of design flaws.

 

Once it starts supporting ECC registered memory and SMP (multiple sockets) it's no longer X58 but becomes the i5500 series server chipset. You'd obviously need a new board, new case, new PSU the works. I'd indeed start looking for a different solution down the road as even cheapo Huanan boards from China with 2 sockets set you back about as much as a brand new Ryzen 5 CPU. 

Gotcha. 

 

Yeah, I guess for a "real" gaming rig, I'll probably just go Ryzen 3000 and use this for a multitude of other things I've been planning. 

 

But wait, for the LGA 1366 Xeon W's, is it really as simple as overclocking them in XTU? Or would it still be locked based on the chipset, motherboard, or whatever else? 

[NelizMastr]

3 minutes ago, bmichaels556 said:

But wait, for the LGA 1366 Xeon W's, is it really as simple as overclocking them in XTU? Or would it still be locked based on the chipset, motherboard, or whatever else? 

Xeon W is single socket only, mind you. But some models are unlocked, yes, regardless of the chipset used. Others might be tunable according to their turbo multiplier. I don't have any personal experience, but I've heard it can be done in some cases on the X models as well.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, bmichaels556 said:

Yeah, I guess for a "real" gaming rig, I'll probably just go Ryzen 3000 and use this for a multitude of other things I've been planning. 

Thats sounds wise….. Even if your capable enough and have money to spare its really trowing money down the drain if you plan on maxing those old systems 

[ComputerEnjoyer762]

4 hours ago, NelizMastr said:

Xeon W is single socket only, mind you. But some models are unlocked, yes, regardless of the chipset used. Others might be tunable according to their turbo multiplier. I don't have any personal experience, but I've heard it can be done in some cases on the X models as well.

Shoot. Well actually, I do have another motherboard, I want to say it's from a Dell T3500 that I had put an X5650 in. I bet the Xeon W would work in that, and it wouldn't break the bank. I'm more curious about all of this just to, well, satisfy my own curiosity. I know I'm not going to turn any of these into a fully competent gaming rig. But I guess it's more for fun. 

[ComputerEnjoyer762]

4 hours ago, Christiaan21-03 said:

Thats sounds wise….. Even if your capable enough and have money to spare its really trowing money down the drain if you plan on maxing those old systems 

Yeah, I'm starting to see that.. I guess I'm mostly just at it for fun at this point. And either way, I'm more than satisfied with what this dual X5675 is doing for me at the moment, even if it's not so great in CPU-bound games.  

[Stefan Payne]

6 hours ago, bmichaels556 said:

Problem being, getting an overclockable X58 board makes these things take a serious hit to price/performance, especially when you consider I won't be having a second CPU socket for a dual CPU, which is part of the charm of this system.

There is one option.
But I'd suspect that it is like 300-500€ if you see it...

 

If they still work that is.

And they come with two nForce 200 PCIe switches.

I'd suspect them to be grossly unrealiable as all nVidia shitsets are...

Either they are crap and die for no reason or they just die for no reason..

5 hours ago, NelizMastr said:

China with 2 sockets set you back about as much as a brand new Ryzen 5 CPU. 

Wich isn't too bad as a Ryzen 5 CPU is like 150€ or so.

But then again, those China Boards are the bare minimum implemented.

But I couldn't find dual LGA1366...

Only 2011 - and they are shit as they only allow 4 Dimm sockets, 2 per CPU - wich is bullshit...