General Intel HEDT Xeon/i7 Discussion

[Pasi123]

1 hour ago, WhisperingKnickers said:

No not a troll  but it is one of the most replied to topics in the CPUs Motherboards and Memory section of the forum

Only 15 replies behind the most replied non-pinned topic in this section

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, Pasi123 said:

Only 15 replies behind the most replied non-pinned topic in this section

QUICK! EVERYONE REPLY 15 MORE TIMES!! 

 

Jk, but it is pretty cool. IIRC, it was actually @Ground's idea. 

[Pasi123]

Some weeks ago I changed my CPU cooler fans. That blue fan is currently disconnected because it was way too loud.

And CPU is currently clocked to 4.32GHz because 4.44GHz crashed and I can't add more voltage because of 20C difference between coolest and hottest core...

[NoxiousOdor]

1 minute ago, Pasi123 said:

Some weeks ago I changed my CPU cooler fans. That blue fan is currently disconnected because it was way too loud.

And CPU is currently clocked to 4.32GHz because 4.44GHz crashed and I can't add more voltage because of 20C difference between coolest and hottest core...

That is a really neat looking cooler

[Ground]

4th one is a charm? 

 

4th of my e5640s overclocked much better than the first 3. First one did 4.5 GHz at 1.7V (the max my cooler can handle while booting), second one did manage 4.9 at 1.65V, but it couldn't run cinebench beyond 4.6 GHz. Third one was a complete dud; it wouldn't even boot into windows at 4GHz with 1.4V Vcore. Fourth one - much better than the first ones. Booted my default 240MHz BCLK settings (everything off basically, PCIe 112, RAM on lowest multi, qpi in slow mode, 1.45V Vcore (out of specifications, but much more reasonable than what the others needed for being slower), 1.4 QPI (a bit too much for these xeons, but they were cheap enough for it to be ok), 1.65 DRAM, 1.88 PLL (barely within reason), 1.4 Northbridge (a bit under the limit), 1.5 IO (default on this board)) and tweaked the RAM timings, very solid at 4.8 GHz, and only minimal extra voltage required for HT to be active. I think I could probably push this one a bit further with better cooling, air cooling is close to the limit at these voltages. 

For the end of the session I went ahead and dialed in a BCLK of 248 - 4.96 GHz, which booted, but was uncomfortably hot. 
http://valid.x86.fr/0t3v7b

(and no, I couldn't run cinebench at those speeds)

[panther420]

On 11/14/2017 at 5:27 PM, Xa3phod said:

Where did you find it for so cheap??

I would not look on ebay unless you  manage to get some to score a nice bid, but those can be frustrating especially if you don't know what you're doing. This is especially true for higher end X58 boards like the rampage III or sr-2. Prices have calmed down since Coffee Lake for x58 motherboards, but only low end ones have really been affected on ebay. High-end boards still remain absurdly high, almost as much as a new Z370 or X299 board for a used board. Definitely not worth it.

 

Instead, I would look at local listings and shops in your area. Even a site like craiglist, that I find has an association with people trying to overcharge for their used garbage, has some good deals for x58 motherboards. I do live in a big city (Chicago), but I saw an ad for an evga sli-3 for $60. I forget whether it came with the CPU and RAM or not, but still a good deal. The problem with ebay and other online sites is that those sellers are likely more knowledgeable than your average joe running a computer shop down the street who got a PC with an X58 motherboard. They know that you can simply pop in a $20 Xeon and have great performance, so they'll raise the price. Ebay sellers are also hindered by the awful seller tax, where the seller ends up making a lot less money on their final sale in contrast to other sites, so they will raise the price to compensate.

 

I think one of the best places to look for used components is, as I've said time and time again, FreeGeek. They have a variety of locations around the US (and one soon-to-be-opened in Oslo, Norway) and their main goal is to recycle old computers and refurbish newer ones and sell them. Each freegeek has a somewhat different style, but that  main goal is pretty much what all of them have. Well, there is a freegeek in chicago, and when I discovered this, I was instantly stunned at the selection they had at their shop. They have racks upon racks of comptuers to buy for fairly cheap. But what really caught my attention was their individual parts case. They had some really good motherboard combos: 1366, 775, AM3, 1155, you name it, all at really good prices. Unfortunately, I did not have money at the time, but I soon found out about their volunteer program, where you can work to refurbish computers and recycle them. My local freegeek has this really cool thing where once you work for 24 hours total in the volunteer program, you get $75 worth of credit to spend at their shop. So I decided to volunteer. The process is really enjoyable and I met a lot of really cool hardware enthusiasts just like you and I or anyone in this forum there. I have included a picture of one of the things I was working on over there last weekend. See if you can guess what it is

 

Anyway, I finally reached my 24 hours last weekend, meaning that this weekend, I will be able to buy the thing that I have been eyeballing in their case for weeks which, ironically, no one has taken yet. It's a Gigabyte EX58-UD5, an i7-950, an intel stock cooler, and 6gb of ocz gold. All for $95. But when you take my $75 worth of freegeek credit into account, that equates to $20. Absolutely godly and I'd like to assign everybody here the challenge of securing a deal for an X58 board like that or better.

 

Also, shameless promotion. Seriously tho, check them out if you have one near you.

 

edit: clarification for the challenge: I don't mean find a deal for a board better than the ud5 necessarily, because obviously there are better boards, but I mean finding an x58 board or board combo with a value that's either that good or better. meaning price is taken into account. whoever wins.. uh.. gets brownie points, I guess. or maybe they get to put something in their signature claiming them the winner of the X58 dealhunting competition. we should really make that a thing now

[asand1]

On 9/1/2017 at 3:49 PM, asand1 said:

We need to start an Official X58 Xeon club thread.

 

6 hours ago, Zando Bob said:

QUICK! EVERYONE REPLY 15 MORE TIMES!! 

 

Jk, but it is pretty cool. IIRC, it was actually @Ground's idea. 

You probably didn't see it, but I suggested this thread a while back. There were a lot of questions and misinformation then.

[Zando_]

1 hour ago, asand1 said:

 

You probably didn't see it, but I suggested this thread a while back. There were a lot of questions and misinformation then.

Ah. The secret movers and shakers, aye?

[NoxiousOdor]

2 hours ago, panther420 said:

claiming them the winner of the X58 dealhunting competition

I am going to claim that. I have been super lucky

[panther420]

9 hours ago, WhisperingKnickers said:

I am going to claim that. I have been super lucky

Yes, but how lucky? Have you gotten an x58 board combo with a cpu, ram and cooler for $20? I'd be surprised if you did. Did you actually read my post?

[Ground]

Well, I got 10 e5640s for 17.50€ if that counts, 0.22€/thread

[panther420]

1 hour ago, Ground said:

Well, I got 10 e5640s for 17.50€ if that counts, 0.22€/thread

That sounds like a pretty good deal, but I was mainly referring to motherboards. X58 motherboards are the tough ones to find for cheap.

 

Also, I'm building my X99 alternate rig today. I think I might rip this thread off and make a General X99 Xeon discussion thread, if that's ok with any of you. Also, would any of you like to join me? I don't expect that you guys would have X99 stuff, but you can still hang out if you want.

[Ground]

1 minute ago, panther420 said:

That sounds like a pretty good deal, but I was mainly referring to motherboards. X58 motherboards are the tough ones to find for cheap.

 

Also, I'm building my X99 alternate rig today. I think I might rip this thread off and make a General X99 Xeon discussion thread, if that's ok with any of you. Also, would any of you like to join me? I don't expect that you guys would have X99 stuff, but you can still hang out if you want.

 

I know, I'm still glad I got my board with 6x4GB DDR3 for 135€, a decent deal. Doesn't like the x56** xeons, the best ones I can use are either the W36** or E56**. Currently benching an e5640 that does 5 GHz. http://valid.x86.fr/5q1gw5

 

[panther420]

1 minute ago, Ground said:

I know, I'm still glad I got my board with 6x4GB DDR3 for 135€, a decent deal. Doesn't like the x56** xeons, the best ones I can use are either the W36** or E56**. Currently benching an e5640 that does 5 GHz. http://valid.x86.fr/5q1gw5

 

Yea, that sounds like a good deal. 

[NoxiousOdor]

3 hours ago, panther420 said:

Yes, but how lucky? Have you gotten an x58 board combo with a cpu, ram and cooler for $20? I'd be surprised if you did. Did you actually read my post?

I got the rampage 3 formula for $100 with a cpu but I don't remember which one, I got a $200 supermicro board for $40 and I got an SR2 for $300 with two xeons included and two heatsinks. Less exciting things are a generic single socket supermicro board with a W3550 for $35 and 112 GB of ddr3 server mem for $180 (8x8gb) and (12x4gb)

 

I forgot to mention the board I am currently using. I got it for $90

[NoxiousOdor]

3 hours ago, panther420 said:

Did you actually read my post

And yes I did sorry I was at work at the time and you reminded me about the deals I got and I got excited but didnt have time to write about the rest of the post. I'm actually at work right now too.. 

 

I might look into where the closest free geek is but I am pretty sure there arent any in my area unfortunately 

[panther420]

9 hours ago, WhisperingKnickers said:

And yes I did sorry I was at work at the time and you reminded me about the deals I got and I got excited but didnt have time to write about the rest of the post. I'm actually at work right now too.. 

 

I might look into where the closest free geek is but I am pretty sure there arent any in my area unfortunately 

 

9 hours ago, WhisperingKnickers said:

I got the rampage 3 formula for $100 with a cpu but I don't remember which one, I got a $200 supermicro board for $40 and I got an SR2 for $300 with two xeons included and two heatsinks. Less exciting things are a generic single socket supermicro board with a W3550 for $35 and 112 GB of ddr3 server mem for $180 (8x8gb) and (12x4gb)

 

I forgot to mention the board I am currently using. I got it for $90

Wow, that's good. But I'd probably still say $20 for the combo's better, or at least tied.

EDIT: I read what you said again. On second thought, that's REALLY good. You win

[NoxiousOdor]

14 hours ago, panther420 said:

 

Wow, that's good. But I'd probably still say $20 for the combo's better, or at least tied.

EDIT: I read what you said again. On second thought, that's REALLY good. You win

The ram was really nice to get, ddr3 is cheap but it can be hard to find a lot of matching sticks

[Zando_]

Just now, WhisperingKnickers said:

The ram was really nice to get, ddr3 is cheap but it can be hard to find a lot of matching sticks

I needs more RAM... Either Adata XPG 1.0, or (preferably) red HyperX Savage. 

[panther420]

11 hours ago, Zando Bob said:

I needs more RAM... Either Adata XPG 1.0, or (preferably) red HyperX Savage. 

That HyperX triple channel kit back in the day for X58 was awesome in a really tacky and gimmicky way, I love it, even though ram cooling of any significant degree was and still is pointless (except for fb-dimms maybe).

also, YOU CHANGED YOUR ICON! No offense, but I really didn't  like the whole ms paint drawing you had going before. I really like your new icon.

[Zando_]

3 hours ago, panther420 said:

That HyperX triple channel kit back in the day for X58 was awesome in a really tacky and gimmicky way, I love it, even though ram cooling of any significant degree was and still is pointless (except for fb-dimms maybe).

also, YOU CHANGED YOUR ICON! No offense, but I really didn't  like the whole ms paint drawing you had going before. I really like your new icon.

Lol. Yeah, my new icon is the color scheme for my Mando costume I am extremely slowly getting done. 

[Guest]

@Zando Bob, how good do you think is the Xeon X3450. I found one for $40 AUD on ebay with a $70 Asus P55 motherboard.

[Zando_]

22 minutes ago, TheBeastPC said:

@Zando Bob, how good do you think is the Xeon X3450. I found one for $40 AUD on ebay with a $70 Asus P55 motherboard.

IDK, it’s a totally different platform. The max boost is 3.20GHz, but the base is only 2.66 and IDK if/how well it can OC. 

[Ground]

Its a 45nm chip, so you can probably expect a max reasonable overclock of somewhere around 4.0 GHz (+/-0.2). It is gonna run hotter than the X58 Xeon, but should still be quite good. I‘ve also considered putting an P55 system together, but didn‘t have the money to spare. 

[panther420]

11 hours ago, Zando Bob said:

Lol. Yeah, my new icon is the color scheme for my Mando costume I am extremely slowly getting done. 

Cool.

 

Also, I wanted to ask you - would you be ok if I made a general x99 xeon/i7 discussion inspired by this thread? I just want to make sure I'm not ripping you off/you're cool with it. I just want to have it as a resource for anyone with x99 systems, especially with xeons, like I have.