old cheap 2010 xeon? or new expensive i5/i7?

[Zypr]

I'm looking to make a new gaming computer with some used parts, I know that xeons are not ideal for gaming but a x5650 is going on ebay right now for around $70, it has 6 cores, 12threads, and its overclockable to 4ghz+ with a good motherboard and cooler. What i'm not sure about is if an i7/i5 is really worth the extra couple hundread dollars, i'd think considering the x5650 has hyper threading, but not all of it's cores are going to be used in gaming its still a bang for the buck? Also in a few years will the x5650's 32nm tech will seem ancient and become obsolete in games? I don't know let me know what you guys think, thanks

[Infernal Burrito]

With Xeons, you have to deal with:

Expensive motherboards

Expensive RAM

Compatibility of parts (You've got to get CPU, mobo, RAM that all work together and that selection is really small for server parts)

Non-standard sizes for motherboards, CPU coolers

Lack of mainstream optimization for high core count CPUs

 

With the newer CPUs, you'll most likely have better performance, warranty coverage, and a wide range of compatible parts.

[Electronics Wizardy]

A new i7/i5 will be faster, much lower power(will probably pay for its self). 

[Zypr]

6 minutes ago, Infernal Burrito said:

With Xeons, you have to deal with:

Expensive motherboards

Expensive RAM

Compatibility of parts (You've got to get CPU, mobo, RAM that all work together and that selection is really small for server parts)

Non-standard sizes for motherboards, CPU coolers

Lack of mainstream optimization for high core count CPUs

 

With the newer CPUs, you'll most likely have better performance, warranty coverage, and a wide range of compatible parts.

lga 1366 mobos are relatively cheap around $100+

it supports ddr3 non ecc so also relatively cheap

and it's lga 1366 so alot of cooler support with things like hyper 212 evo

but i'm still worried that if i buy the xeon that in a few years i will have to upgrade again

but yeah warranty coverage is also a big risk, i might just go with skylake/kabylake/zen

[Infernal Burrito]

1 minute ago, Zypr said:

lga 1366 mobos are relatively cheap around $100+

it supports ddr3 non ecc so also relatively cheap

and it's lga 1366 so alot of cooler support with things like hyper 212 evo

but i'm still worried that if i buy the xeon that in a few years i will have to upgrade again

but yeah warranty coverage is also a big risk, i might just go with skylake/kabylake/xen

Not all LGA1366 boards support it, just like not all LGA2011 boards support newer Xeons. You need a board with a compatible BIOS and chipset. They could be really cheap or expensive depending on which one you want and how much you want to risk.

 

http://ark.intel.com/products/47922/Intel-Xeon-Processor-X5650-12M-Cache-2_66-GHz-6_40-GTs-Intel-QPI#@compatibility

[Zypr]

1 minute ago, Infernal Burrito said:

Not all LGA1366 boards support it, just like not all LGA2011 boards support newer Xeons. You need a board with a compatible BIOS and chipset. They could be really cheap or expensive depending on which one you want and how much you want to risk.

 

http://ark.intel.com/products/47922/Intel-Xeon-Processor-X5650-12M-Cache-2_66-GHz-6_40-GTs-Intel-QPI#@compatibility

that makes sense, thanks for your help, i guess ill just look up benchmarks and any problems with the xeon, thanks again

[Infernal Burrito]

1 minute ago, Zypr said:

that makes sense, thanks for your help, i guess ill just look up benchmarks and any problems with the xeon, thanks again

Also, watch out for case compatibility. Server boards, especially older ones, have a tendency of using non-standard sizes that are often too big to fit into any consumer case.