Gaming Performance of Xeons

[He_162]

I'd like some of you that have single or dual Xeon setups with 4 or more cores (2x 4 core, maybe 2x 6 core, etc) to show me what kind of performance you get in games, here are the titles I would like to see:

Battlefield 1 (single and multiplayer)
GTA 5 (Benchmark)
Arma 3 (50+ person server / No mods)
Just want to show @bomerr What Xeon's can do.

Anyway, I also had a second question:
Which Xeons are most favorable for home servers (gaming servers, like Arma 3, Ark: Survival Evolved, minecraft maybe?) That kind of thing, what is the most favorable Xeon on the market (*used) right now?

[DocSwag]

@NumLock21

[PCGuy_5960]

Tech YES City made a video about dual Xeons and he included gaming benchmarks iirc

[bomerr]

bro I have an overclocked 1080 Ti. The number of CPUs that won't bottleneck my system can be counted on my fingers. 

 

http://www.3dmark.com/spy/2016305

[NumLock21]

The only game i can test is gta v, but it probably won't give you a clear picture as to how good the game really is, due to my ancient video card. 

 

As for which xeon, basically any modern xeon will do the job. For single socket they are no different from the desktop core i7, with the exception of ecc and higher memory count. Dual xeon on the other hand, they run at a much lower clock, where in return has a much lower TDP.  Each game has different requirements so getting different cpus for each gaming server you want to setup won't make any sense. Best cpu for your needs is to get the one with the fastest clock. Now for number of cores, well minimum is 4 cores, can start with that or get 6 cores and up.

Dual xeons, can check out socket 1366 series.

Single socket ones, take a look at socket 2011 ones or the newer socket 2011 v3. Some of the 2011 and 2011 v3 single socket xeons can be overclocked just like their unlocked core i7s.

 

• Socket 2011 are xeon e5 and e5 v2, they run on ddr3
• Socket 2011-3 are xeon e5 v3 and e5 v4, they run on ddr4

 

 

 

[asand1]

Not as good as Bomerr's, but not bad either.

http://www.3dmark.com/spy/1974497

[He_162]

On 04/07/2017 at 10:52 AM, PCGuy_5960 said:

Tech YES City made a video about dual Xeons and he included gaming benchmarks iirc

Not all Xeons are made equal

 

 

On 04/07/2017 at 0:01 PM, bomerr said:

bro I have an overclocked 1080 Ti. The number of CPUs that won't bottleneck my system can be counted on my fingers. 

 

http://www.3dmark.com/spy/2016305

I don't care, we aren't looking at those, we are looking at Xeon's compared to your 5820k.

I know there are people on this forum who use Xeons, and some of them offer great performance in games, as well as multi-tasking, it may as well be an i5 or i7.

Edited July 6, 2017 by wkdpaul
Cleaned up

[bomerr]

On 04/07/2017 at 6:30 PM, He_162 said:

Not all Xeons are made equal
 

 

I don't care, we aren't looking at those, we are looking at Xeon's compared to your 5820k.

I know there are people on this forum who use Xeons, and some of them offer great performance in games, as well as multi-tasking, it may as well be an i5 or i7.

 

I watched Tech YES City's best bang for the buck CPU video and he mentions the Xeon E5-2683 v3. It's 14c/28t and OCs to 3.1GHz. But the gaming is crap because even games optimized for multicores like the Witcher 3 don't support 14c. So it's a 30-40% IPC loss. Not worth it right now. 

 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2017 by wkdpaul
Cleaned up

[H0R53]

12 hours ago, He_162 said:

I'd like some of you that have single or dual Xeon setups with 4 or more cores (2x 4 core, maybe 2x 6 core, etc) to show me what kind of performance you get in games, here are the titles I would like to see:

Battlefield 1 (single and multiplayer)
GTA 5 (Benchmark)
Arma 3 (50+ person server / No mods)
Just want to show @bomerr What Xeon's can do.

Anyway, I also had a second question:
Which Xeons are most favorable for home servers (gaming servers, like Arma 3, Ark: Survival Evolved, minecraft maybe?) That kind of thing, what is the most favorable Xeon on the market (*used) right now?

So here's my two cents, but based on previous replies you won't care.

 

My current main rig's CPU is an E3 1240. My GPU is a GTX 1050ti FTW. My GPU is bottlenecking my CPU. Meaning that even when my GPU is at full load, my CPU is at max 35%.

 

I play games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, and the most intensive game I have installed is The Witcher 3. The highest CPU usage I saw with TW3 was 40%.

 

Not all Xeons are bad for gaming. Typically, Xeons that are built for, optimized for, or designed for single socket use do better than Xeons that are meant to work with more than one physical socket.

 

I've been using my E3 1240 for almost 4 months since I bought it off Amazon for like $50. Which is great since the OG price was like $350.

 

I had a dual socket Dell precision (well, still do) that I never used for gaming, but with 8 cores (dual X5355s) it rendered videos faster than my single E3 1240 did under Windows Movie Maker because WMM uses the CPUs for frame encoding. Gaming on it was pretty bad because most games only use 2-4 cores and the other CPU was just idling, and the X5355 is notorious for its low IPC.

 

The X5460 has a much higher clock speed and higher IPC. I used one on a motherboard that had a hacked BIOS and I ran it with the LGA 771-to-775 mod that's popular these days. It crunches most games thrown at it, and right now it's got 6GB of RAM at 950MHz and a GTX 580, as well as being overclocked to 3.8GHz from 3.16. In a single socket board, it's pretty good, but when put with another X5460, gaming performance is still the same even with a whole 'nother CPU due to how games only use 2-4 cores at most.

 

Games like Shadow of Mordor run at High at a solid 60 on a single X540.

 

All of the computers that I own or have given to my friends use Xeon processors because:

 

1) I like them, what's to not like about a Xeon?

2) They are better at things like video encoding than their QXxxxx/iX XXXX counterparts because they are optimized for multithreaded workloads

3) Typically cheaper than consumer counterparts due to the fact that they are bought in bulk by server manufacturers and sold en masse for lower prices

4) Most people only know about i3/i5/i7 so having a server grade CPU makes them feel special. I know it makes me feel special.

[He_162]

On 04/07/2017 at 7:26 PM, bomerr said:

I watched Tech YES City's best bang for the buck CPU video and he mentions the Xeon E5-2683 v3. It's 14c/28t and OCs to 3.1GHz. But the gaming is crap because even games optimized for multicores like the Witcher 3 don't support 14c. So it's a 30-40% IPC loss. Not worth it right now. 

 

 

 

That's why you get a 4 core, 8 thread overclockable Xeon and try again

 

22 hours ago, H0R53 said:

So here's my two cents, but based on previous replies you won't care.

 

My current main rig's CPU is an E3 1240. My GPU is a GTX 1050ti FTW. My GPU is bottlenecking my CPU. Meaning that even when my GPU is at full load, my CPU is at max 35%.

 

I play games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, and the most intensive game I have installed is The Witcher 3. The highest CPU usage I saw with TW3 was 40%.

 

Not all Xeons are bad for gaming. Typically, Xeons that are built for, optimized for, or designed for single socket use do better than Xeons that are meant to work with more than one physical socket.

 

I've been using my E3 1240 for almost 4 months since I bought it off Amazon for like $50. Which is great since the OG price was like $350.

 

I had a dual socket Dell precision (well, still do) that I never used for gaming, but with 8 cores (dual X5355s) it rendered videos faster than my single E3 1240 did under Windows Movie Maker because WMM uses the CPUs for frame encoding. Gaming on it was pretty bad because most games only use 2-4 cores and the other CPU was just idling, and the X5355 is notorious for its low IPC.

 

The X5460 has a much higher clock speed and higher IPC. I used one on a motherboard that had a hacked BIOS and I ran it with the LGA 771-to-775 mod that's popular these days. It crunches most games thrown at it, and right now it's got 6GB of RAM at 950MHz and a GTX 580, as well as being overclocked to 3.8GHz from 3.16. In a single socket board, it's pretty good, but when put with another X5460, gaming performance is still the same even with a whole 'nother CPU due to how games only use 2-4 cores at most.

 

Games like Shadow of Mordor run at High at a solid 60 on a single X540.

 

All of the computers that I own or have given to my friends use Xeon processors because:

 

1) I like them, what's to not like about a Xeon?

2) They are better at things like video encoding than their QXxxxx/iX XXXX counterparts because they are optimized for multithreaded workloads

3) Typically cheaper than consumer counterparts due to the fact that they are bought in bulk by server manufacturers and sold en masse for lower prices

4) Most people only know about i3/i5/i7 so having a server grade CPU makes them feel special. I know it makes me feel special.

Thanks for the information, we knew this already.

The Xeon's perform just as well (the 6 core, and 4 core variants that are overclockable) as the i7-5820k in games. A friend of mine has shown me this, he has both, and I've tested them against my Ryzen 5 1600, I simply cannot find videos with said Xeon's playing games.

That being said, I'm sure someone will come along and post their videos of Xeon's or simply tell us of how they perform, if they have said Xeon's.

(E5-1630 v3 for example, and E5-1650 v3)
4 core, 6 core.

They clock about as high as some of the i5's in their lineup, and having 4 and 6 cores, perform admirably, especially with 8, and 12 threads.

Most games run at the same, or slightly lower framerates than the i7-5820k, until it is overclocked.

 

My friend got his 1650 for 75$, and his 5820k for 250$.
The E5 came with a motherboard, and ram.

Not all people are able to pick things up for so cheap, I get that, but I think Xeon's are underrated for their gaming performance, especially Haswell and better ones meant for single socket motherboards.

Edited July 6, 2017 by wkdpaul
Cleaned up

[bomerr]

21 hours ago, He_162 said:

That's why you get a 4 core, 8 thread overclockable Xeon and try again

 

Thanks for the information, we knew this already.

The Xeon's perform just as well (the 6 core, and 4 core variants that are overclockable) as the i7-5820k in games. A friend of mine has shown me this, he has both, and I've tested them against my Ryzen 5 1600, I simply cannot find videos with said Xeon's playing games.

That being said, I'm sure someone will come along and post their videos of Xeon's or simply tell us of how they perform, if they have said Xeon's.

(E5-1630 v3 for example, and E5-1650 v3)
4 core, 6 core.

They clock about as high as some of the i5's in their lineup, and having 4 and 6 cores, perform admirably, especially with 8, and 12 threads.

Most games run at the same, or slightly lower framerates than the i7-5820k, until it is overclocked.

 

My friend got his 1650 for 75$, and his 5820k for 250$.
The E5 came with a motherboard, and ram.

Not all people are able to pick things up for so cheap, I get that, but I think Xeon's are underrated for their gaming performance, especially Haswell and better ones meant for single socket motherboards.

 

Go read post #5, the posted shows that his OC'd X5680 is 50% slower than my 5820k. FYI Xeons can't be overclocked by default, they usually require a hack or workaround and not all of them can be hacked. In addition just because a CPU isn't at 100 Usage doesn't mean the CPU isn't holding back the GPU. Look at Ryzen vs 7700k benchmarks, despite not being bottlenecked, Ryzen shows constantly lower FPS. Xeons are good for budget or mid-range builds. Simple. 

Edited July 6, 2017 by wkdpaul
Cleaned up

[asand1]

20 hours ago, bomerr said:

1. FYI Xeons can't be overclocked by default, they usually require a hack or workaround and not all of them can be hacked. In addition just because a CPU 2. Xeons are good for budget or mid-range builds. Simple. 

 

1. MOST Xeons. The LGA 1366 series like mine BCLK overclocks very well on the stock BIOS. 

2. Agreed. I don't claim mine is the best, but 3DMark says its better than 80% of submissions, and that's good enough for me.

Edited July 6, 2017 by wkdpaul
Cleaned up

[H0R53]

 

22 hours ago, He_162 said:

k Xeon's are underrated for their gaming performance,

Not the older ones. I think Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge Xeons have the highest potential because of their age, yet their performance is still insane.

 

22 hours ago, bomerr said:

d for budget or mid-range builds

I disagree. My Xeon can max out even a 1070 and a 1080FE. It was like $50.

Edited July 6, 2017 by wkdpaul
cleaned up

[He_162]

12 hours ago, H0R53 said:

Not the older ones. I think Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge Xeons have the highest potential because of their age, yet their performance is still insane.

 

I disagree. My Xeon can max out even a 1070 and a 1080FE. It was like $50.

Like I said, the ones I linked were = to the i7-5820k, can be gotten for cheap, and perform just as well, and in some cases better in games, and other tasks.

Xeon's are not bad for gaming, it just depends on what you are comparing it to.

 

 

22 hours ago, bomerr said:

Go read post #5, the posted shows that his OC'd X5680 is 50% slower than my 5820k. FYI Xeons can't be overclocked by default, they usually require a hack or workaround and not all of them can be hacked. In addition just because a CPU isn't at 100 Usage doesn't mean the CPU isn't holding back the GPU. Look at Ryzen vs 7700k benchmarks, despite not being bottlenecked, Ryzen shows constantly lower FPS. Xeons are good for budget or mid-range builds. Simple. 

Ryzen performs the exact same in most games as intel. (That have optimized even slightly to account for Ryzen, and are already multi-threaded.)

Like Ryzen, most Xeon's can be used for gaming and get the same or better scores than your 5820k (Haswell or newer, and 6 or more cores, up to around 8 usually.)
 

Edited July 6, 2017 by wkdpaul
cleaned up

[IKnight]

Gaming benchmarks aren't going to be a help from me considering my GPU. I will, however, give you my Cinebench to give you an idea of what a 7-year-old overclocked Xeon performs like. 

[Pasi123]

13 minutes ago, ImadKnight said:

Gaming benchmarks aren't going to be a help from me considering my GPU. I will, however, give you my Cinebench to give you an idea of what a 7-year-old overclocked Xeon performs like. 

My Xeon X5670 @ 4.3GHz

 

3Dmark @ 4.2GHz

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/20585074?

[bimmerman]

Bottlenecked or no, I'm content with my OC'd Xeon's (X5675, 4.5gigglehertz) performance in games. I bought my X58 platform in 2010 and haven't felt a need to buy a new CPU/Mobo since then. I'd say the $60 upgrade to the Xeon was well worth it vs a $500-1000 upgrade to a new platform/ram/cpu/m.2/cooler/etc for performance I honestly won't notice with a 60hz 3440x1440 monitor. I am able to play current games at or above 60fps by adjusting the detail settings (R9 290, so not top tier GPU), and that's plenty fine. If anything I'm just going to continue upgrading GPUs until there's truly a compelling CPU and platform to throw down on. I haven't seen one worth its cost, to me, for what I do and how rarely I game.

 

If all you're doing is gaming, all that really matters is whether it plays well enough for the games you want to play at the detail settings you're comfortable with. FPS is far and away less important than whether you're enjoying the game, and really only matters for forum flamewars.

[IKnight]

2 minutes ago, Pasi123 said:

My Xeon X5670 @ 4.3GHz

 

I'm only running at 3.6ghz. How did raising the voltage work for you (and what did you set it to)? I've hit my maximum multiplier without messing with voltage and stuff. Tried raising it slightly but my computer refused to boot past a BSOD....

[Pasi123]

Just now, ImadKnight said:

I'm only running at 3.6ghz. How did raising the voltage work for you (and what did you set it to)? I've hit my maximum multiplier without messing with voltage and stuff. Tried raising it slightly but my computer refused to boot past a BSOD....

For me 4.2-4.3GHz is stable at 1.3v

[H0R53]

8 minutes ago, Pasi123 said:

My Xeon X5670 @ 4.3GHz

 

Short side question, how can I OC my E3 1240 to 4.2GHz? I have an AsRock H77 mobo.

[bimmerman]

6 minutes ago, ImadKnight said:

I'm only running at 3.6ghz. How did raising the voltage work for you (and what did you set it to)? I've hit my maximum multiplier without messing with voltage and stuff. Tried raising it slightly but my computer refused to boot past a BSOD....

What BCLK are you at?

 

I have the same board as you, and was able to hit a stable 215 at 1.33 (if I'm remembering right). I think my CPU is at 1.37 for 4.5, 4.4 was a much nicer 1.3 or 1.33. I can check voltages when I'm home, I tracked it all in a spreadsheet for tinkering.

 

I'll be honest I haven't noticed much of a difference between 4.2, 4.4, and 4.5 except in voltage. Cinebench scores are about the only (mild) difference.

[Damascus]

13 minutes ago, H0R53 said:

H77

I'm going to assume you need a Z77 mobo.

[IKnight]

11 minutes ago, bimmerman said:

What BCLK are you at?

 

I have the same board as you, and was able to hit a stable 215 at 1.33 (if I'm remembering right). I think my CPU is at 1.37 for 4.5, 4.4 was a much nicer 1.3 or 1.33. I can check voltages when I'm home, I tracked it all in a spreadsheet for tinkering.

 

I'll be honest I haven't noticed much of a difference between 4.2, 4.4, and 4.5 except in voltage. Cinebench scores are about the only (mild) difference.

I have to raise the Qpi/Vtt voltage right?

[asand1]

24 minutes ago, ImadKnight said:

I'm only running at 3.6ghz. How did raising the voltage work for you (and what did you set it to)? I've hit my maximum multiplier without messing with voltage and stuff. Tried raising it slightly but my computer refused to boot past a BSOD....

@bimmerman

 

I am running 172 X 25 @1.3625 for a stable 4.3Ghz, I recently raised the voltage to that point due to BSODs.

 

Try running your 5650 at 182 x 22 and raising the voltage.

 

[IKnight]

4 minutes ago, asand1 said:

@bimmerman

 

I am running 172 X 25 @1.3625 for a stable 4.3Ghz, I recently raised the voltage to that point due to BSODs.

 

Try running your 5650 at 182 x 22 and raising the voltage.

 

As I wrote to/asked bimmerman,I have to raise the Qpi/Vtt voltage right? Still a slight noob at all this.