Xeon for gaming?

[Mizard]

Has anyone used a Xeon for gaming if so which one 

(btw I'm new here)

[ImBleu]

Welcome to LTT!

 

Quite a few members use the Xeons for their gaming computers as they are very close in performance to the Intel Core i7s but are often cheaper (although, without overclockability). I'd recommend looking at the xeons in the same price range as the 6700k / 6600k rather than trying to use a 22core Xeon as a gaming rig.

[mikat]

yes many people have done it, the most popular gaming xeon is the E3-1231 v3, since it offers near i7 performance for an i5 price at the cost of the iGPU (which you don't need when gaming), and overclocking.

[Mandrew]

I am currently using a xeon E3-1231-v3 with a r9 290, and in gaming the CPU does not go over 40% usage at 1440p. If you need the extra cores for rendering/ video editing without the price of the i7, a xeon is the way to go, but if you are just gaming you can use an i5 and do just fine

[Inimigor]

I have a Xeon E5450 on my HTPC, it's about the same as a Q9650, and runs every game I've tried so far, some not maxed due to its age, but still rocks the house! Especially considering it has a 960 and runs mainly Rocket League, Broforce and Gang Beasts hahaha.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Xeon E3 were great gaming chips in Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, and Haswell. Now with Skylake they require expensive server boards, and thus don't make sense. Xeon E5 and E7 usually don't have high enough clockspeeds to be good gaming chips, and core scaling in games falls off a cliff past the consumer level i7 with 4 cores, 8 threads.

[MisterDeadeye]

Depending on what kind of games you're playing, something like the E3-1230v3 or E3-1231v3 would be fine. At their price, they're great options, but if you can afford to get something overclockable, as well as the motherboard required and an aftermarket cooler to accommodate, then you might want to go that route if you're literally just gaming. Something like the i5-6600k would be a better option than the Xeons I mentioned in some games.

 

 

I'm using the 1230v3, but I also use the Adobe Suite and other software that utilize hyperthreading, and I record gameplay and stream and stuff, so if your case is similar, you'd want one of the Xeons. If you hop onto your PC and browse forums and play video games only, then the 6600k would potentially be the better option(potentially meaning it would be better if you get a Z motherboard and overclock the CPU).