Intel Xeon X5650 Processors and Dual CPU Motherboard Advantages

[r1ley_h]

Hello LTT community! This is my first post on the forums. I recently watched a video on the Xeon X5650 processors and was intrigued by its price tag and the overclocking ability. Since this is a server chip technically, it supports dual CPU motherboards. I am thinking about building a computer for my own use for AutoCAD, Mastercam, and some light to medium gaming and image editing. Would the dual CPUs work for this or should I abandon this idea? Feel free to critique my approach to this situation. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

A single i7 would be faster if you can afford it. 

 

There big advanges are more cpu, more system bandwidth, more ram.

 

Disadvanges are the latency, the numa nodes, the cost, the power, you need pro windows or linux, and bad program support

[r1ley_h]

i7s are pretty pricey though. Dual Cpu mobos are not very easy to use is what you are saying. I get that now. I am trying to find a budget option that I can afford all the parts for but can perform just about the same for about 500 to 600 USD. I am not sure if this is possible, but I am going to give it a darn good try.

[Hunter259]

30 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

A single i7 would be faster if you can afford it. 

 

There big advanges are more cpu, more system bandwidth, more ram.

 

Disadvanges are the latency, the numa nodes, the cost, the power, you need pro windows or linux, and bad program support

The fuck are you on about? A Xeon of that age would be overclockable so it's not slower (They also tend to overclock farther). Latency is no different than any other desktop chip of its age, its cheaper than an i7 of its age on eBay, it can use less or more power mattering on configuration. Pro windows? What? It's just an x86 chip. It'll run any os you want and the program support would be the same as well. 

That was more stupid than I expect from this forum.

[r1ley_h]

2 minutes ago, Hunter259 said:

The fuck are you on about? An i7 of that age would be overclockable so it's not slower (They also tend to overclock farther). Latency is no different than any other desktop chip of its age, its cheaper than an i7 of its age on eBay, it can use less or more power mattering on configuration. Pro windows? What? It's just an x86 chip. It'll run any os you want and the program support would be the same as well. 

That was more stupid than I expect from this forum.

 

So what you are saying is that it could work?

[Hunter259]

6 minutes ago, r1ley_h said:

i7s are pretty pricey though. Dual Cpu mobos are not very easy to use is what you are saying. I get that now. I am trying to find a budget option that I can afford all the parts for but can perform just about the same for about 500 to 600 USD. I am not sure if this is possible, but I am going to give it a darn good try.

They just work as long as you have the drivers installed. EVGA had the SR-2 mobo from back then that was dual socket and could overclock two 6 core xeons to 4Ghz plus. Kinda pricey and hard to find however.

[r1ley_h]

Do you know of any other mobos that could take the place of the EVGA? I have seen a few others on Amazon but wasn't pleased with the selection. Are there any really respectable parts sites that would help?

[Hunter259]

Just now, r1ley_h said:

Do you know of any other mobos that could take the place of the EVGA? I have seen a few others on Amazon but wasn't pleased with the selection. Are there any really respectable parts sites that would help?

Without overclocking you could probably find a supermicro board of somekind. 

[r1ley_h]

Overclocking ones are harder to find then correct? I found this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/HP-Workstation-Motherboard-LGA-1366/dp/B00LSWKZC2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483584416&sr=8-2&keywords=lga+1366 It seems to be a little pricey, but it is close to what I want. I am not entirely sure if it will overclock, but it an option I believe.

[Electronics Wizardy]

31 minutes ago, Hunter259 said:

The fuck are you on about? A Xeon of that age would be overclockable so it's not slower (They also tend to overclock farther). Latency is no different than any other desktop chip of its age, its cheaper than an i7 of its age on eBay, it can use less or more power mattering on configuration. Pro windows? What? It's just an x86 chip. It'll run any os you want and the program support would be the same as well. 

That was more stupid than I expect from this forum.

A 7700k would be faster for most uses. 

 

Latency is much higher if you have to use the memory in the second Numa node or the other cpus l3. 

 

Power is much higher. A modern i7 uses about 100w while the dual cross start at around 160w. 

 

Windows 10 home only supports one socket and won't let you use the second cpu. You need the pro edition to use the second cpu. 

 

[Hunter259]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

A 7700k would be faster for most uses. 

 

Latency is much higher if you have to use the memory in the second Numa node or the other cpus l3. 

 

Power is much higher. A modern i7 uses about 100w while the dual cross start at around 160w. 

 

Windows 10 home only supports one socket and won't let you use the second cpu. You need the pro edition to use the second cpu. 

 

Well of course a 7700k would be faster for MOST uses. If you need 24 fast threads it absolutely would not.

I would like some proof on that latency.

Well duh.

Actually did not know that. If you are willing spend this much money they 100 for windows pro wouldn't be much of a big deal.

[arnavvr]

45 minutes ago, Hunter259 said:

The fuck are you on about? A Xeon of that age would be overclockable so it's not slower (They also tend to overclock farther). Latency is no different than any other desktop chip of its age, its cheaper than an i7 of its age on eBay, it can use less or more power mattering on configuration. Pro windows? What? It's just an x86 chip. It'll run any os you want and the program support would be the same as well. 

That was more stupid than I expect from this forum.

But the board wouldn't be able to overclock, the only dual CPU overclock able 1366 board is the SR-2 (which I own) is pretty expensive.

[r1ley_h]

4 minutes ago, arnavvr said:

But the board wouldn't be able to overclock, the only dual CPU overclock able 1366 board is the SR-2 (which I own) is pretty expensive.

 

So no overclocking. Darn it. It won't affect it too much if there are two right? I am really new to this stuff. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

 

4 minutes ago, r1ley_h said:

So no overclocking. Darn it. It won't affect it too much if there are two right? I am really new to this stuff. 

If you can afford a 6700k I'd get one instead. Oced it's about the same speed multithreaded and much faster single threaded. 

[r1ley_h]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

 

If you can afford a 6700k I'd get one instead. Oced it's about the same speed multithreaded and much faster single threaded. 

 

That is way above my price bracket. I am going for closer to a budget PC that can beat my Gateway laptop.

[arnavvr]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

 

If you can afford a 6700k I'd get one instead. Oced it's about the same speed multithreaded and much faster single threaded. 

A 5820K would be the same speed multithreaded, not the 6700K/7700K.

[Hunter259]

14 minutes ago, arnavvr said:

But the board wouldn't be able to overclock, the only dual CPU overclock able 1366 board is the SR-2 (which I own) is pretty expensive.

I pointed that out in another quote.

[Hunter259]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

 

If you can afford a 6700k I'd get one instead. Oced it's about the same speed multithreaded and much faster single threaded. 

What? Dude no it's not. A 5Ghz 6700k would not beat Two 6 cores at 3Ghz if you need the threads. Stop spreading bad information. The 6700k would only be better where you need 8 or less threads.

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, Hunter259 said:

What? Dude no it's not. A 5Ghz 6700k would not beat Two 6 cores at 3Ghz if you need the threads. Stop spreading bad information. The 6700k would only be better where you need 8 or less threads.

 

4 minutes ago, arnavvr said:

A 5820K would be the same speed multithreaded, not the 6700K/7700K.

Dual x5650s are 1300 points in cinebench  where a 6700k is about 1000. So it's faster, but that's best case. For video editing games, 3d modeling, and most uses its slower. 

[arnavvr]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

 

Dual x5650s are 1300 points in cinebench  where a 6700k is about 1000. So it's faster, but that's best case. For video editing games, 3d modeling, and most uses its slower. 

And a 5820K is about 1300, so it's about the same.

[asand1]

If you found an SR-2 and picked up to X5680's you would have a beast. IDK how many threads you need, but I could see multitasking requiring more than a single i7 could support. 12 threads at 3.33Ghz would be pretty decent.

[r1ley_h]

11 hours ago, asand1 said:

If you found an SR-2 and picked up to X5680's you would have a beast. IDK how many threads you need, but I could see multitasking requiring more than a single i7 could support. 12 threads at 3.33Ghz would be pretty decent.

 

Finding the SR-2 is the hard part. The X5680s are pretty tempting. Thanks for the suggestion!

[r1ley_h]

Any suggestions on a PSU for the SR2?

[asand1]

Looks like it needs 8+6 for each CPU. This build will be anything but cheap.

[asand1]

Here is an exert from Here

If you intend to OC, I would think 800-1000w would be prudent.

Spoiler

2x X5680 - Dual 717w PSU

Off - Varying 14.6-14.8 watts with power just being supplied. iDRAC enterprise card running.

Idle - Varying 98-116 watts with stresslinux LiveCD at idle

One socket - Solid 242 watts with stress -c 6 running (One socket's physical cores in use)

Both sockets - Solid 358 watts with stress -c 12 running (All physical cores in use)

All logical cores - Solid 400 watts with stress -c 24 running (All logical cores in use)

Peak witnessed at 406 watts with stress -c 12 -m 16 running (All physical cores in use, memory option used with stress.)