Phantom X58 Xeon Scrap Build Challenge

[wildgg]

Hello LTT, welcome to the Phantom X58 build log!

Intro:

 

Inspired by the Scrapyard Wars series i wanted to see if i could build a respectable Gaming PC for around 200€, after getting parts from different places it became clear that 200€ was going to be hard, so the budget was going to be 350€.

After a few months i got every part i needed to start the build, most parts are bought of ebay but some of the parts i bought new like the PSU and HDD, i couldn't find a decent PSU on ebay and the HDD i bought about a year ago brand new for my Gaming PC but ended up not using it.

 

After completing my main Gaming rig (check my profile for specs) and not needing upgrades i wanted to build something that was a challenge but could also be a learning experience, this is why i went for the X58 platform.

Overclocking on a older platform was way harder then i was used to, with newer platforms like z97/z370 where you only really need voltage and multiplier settings to get a decent overclock.

It's been a really fun experience doing this and i actually learned some things from this older platform and this build in general.

 

Below will be a listing of all the Parts and for the people asking why the GPU was only 20€ you can check THIS link out for the topic where everything is explained.

When i extended the budget to 350€ i ended up on a total of 305€ which i pretty good for what i got. ( i think  )

NOTE: the motherboard/ram/cpu cooler i got as a combo. 

 

Specs:

- Xeon X5660 6C/12T 45€

- Gigabyte x58a-ud3r rev 1.6 75€

- OCZ 6GB (3x2) (combo with motherboard)

- Noctua NH-D14 NF-F12 (combo with motherboard)

- Sapphire vapor-x r9 280x 3G 20€

- Corsair CX650 Bronze 60€

- NZXT Phantom 30€

- Seagate 1TB 45€

- Fans (mixed ones) 30,-

 

Total: 305€

 

Mods:

Not allot of mods and definitely not done professionally

i did not have to many tools to work with so that didn't help.

 

Alright, i wanted extra intake fans for when ever i needed the extra cooling so i thought the best place to put them was behind the front door, this way i can open the door for extra intake or have it closed for the nice looks.

Another little thing i had laying around was a start button for a race car and it matched the color so why not add it.

Side panel window, i wanted to make a cutout in the original side panel and put Plexiglass behind it for the window but again limited by tools i decided to get a piece big enough that fit the whole side of the case and i like how it turned out, it is super easy and no cutting needed, i drilled one little hole that fits a tiny screw to hold the panel in place.

 

(pictures of these mods will be below)

 

 

Pictures:

 

Just some picture i took while building it nothing to special.

Thank you for checking it out and let me know what you think!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NelizMastr]

Once you OC that Xeon this thing would even be half decent at the current AAA titles, and with just 2GB more of RAM which is like a fiver lol. Nice deals!

[wildgg]

3 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

Once you OC that Xeon this thing would even be half decent at the current AAA titles, and with just 2GB more of RAM which is like a fiver lol. Nice deals!

Thank you! and yes i really wanted to get 8GB and i will keep looking for a good deal on that.

Working on the OC

[RollinLower]

what a beauty!

[wojtepanik]

i've got e5645 and it works like a champ, really cool and well performing are those xeons

[AskTJ]

You got it to 4.6GHz???

[wildgg]

1 hour ago, RollinLower said:

what a beauty!

Thank you!

1 hour ago, wojtepanik said:

i've got e5645 and it works like a champ, really cool and well performing are those xeons

yeah i love these xeons, if people are getting older xeons i would get at least the 6c/12t or higher if you can i'm not sure if the 4c/8t are worth it if you're going for a xeon.

1 hour ago, AskTJ said:

You got it to 4.6GHz???

yes i did! and that's the limit i found out today, 4.7GHz is not happening on this chip sadly

i'm really happy with 4.6

[wildgg]

On 28-6-2018 at 3:31 PM, AskTJ said:

You got it to 4.6GHz???

tried all day to get 1100 points but no luck

my last post showed 1025points, i couldn't up the core clock any higher or it wouldn't boot, so been busy tuning the uncore and got that to almost 4ghz but ran into a wall again.

so this is the MAX i can get.

 

 

UPDATE:

 

this is where it ends, i cannot push any higher because i'm limited by cooling at this point

7th place on hwbot for the x5660