$100 1366 Xeon CPU Upgrade

MakoRuu

Honorable
Jan 8, 2013
283
1
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Hello again.

I recently purchased a Dell Precision T3500 for $90

It came with a Xeon W3520, 3GBs of RAM, and a 1 TB Hard drive.
Though I plan to increase the memory to 6 GBs and recycle my GPU into it.
I also understand that the Xeon line of processors are nearly identical to their i-core counterparts.


I am thinking of upgrading the CPU, but I am on a small budget.

I'm currently considering some second hand CPU's from eBay.

$23 - eBay
Intel Xeon X5570 HT Quad Core @ 2.9 Ghz
Passmark scores of 5563 Quad / 1336 Respectively.

$48 - eBay
Intel Xeon W5590 HT Quad Core @ 3.3 Ghz
Passmark scores of 6390 Quad / 1494 Respectively.

$89.99 - eBay
Intel Xeon X5670 HT Hex Core @ 2.9 Ghz
Passmark scores of 8224 Sex / 1351 Respectively.

$118 - eBay
Intel Xeon X5687 HT Quad Core @ 3.6 Ghz
Passmark scores of 7369 Quad / 1592 Respectively.

I will mainly be using this computer for moderate gaming, drawing, graphic art, watching video's and DVDs. Basically every day use. And I am attempting to squeeze out every last ounce of performance that I can, while trying to save some cash as I have other bills to pay. lol

I have a few questions.

1. Will the 5670 be any better than the 5570 simply because it has six cores on a newer architecture? Will I even need or use six cores?

2. Will the higher clock frequency and the newer architecture of the X5687 be noticeable outside of benchmarks?

2. Can I use the same heatsink that comes with the W3520? I'm not sure if an after market cooler will fit into my case.

Thanks for reading guys. It's been difficult building a computer on a budget, but I'll be using this one for as long as I can. Or until I find better employment and can build a Skylake in a year or two.


 
Solution
Sorry I didnt answer the questions.

1- 6 Cores does help in certain cases, mainly for video rendering and software development. I dont think you'd need it in my opinion.
2- The higher clock frequency will make a small difference but not anything HUGE in benchmarks.
3- If you stick with a CPU with the same socket, then you will be able to use the same heatsink. Otherwise there is sometimes small differences in spacing.
Any reason why you want to upgrade the Xeon you currently have? It seems to be a good chip and can be OC'd to 4.4Ghz which is quiet good. However the X5570 has quite a large performance increase, higher operating temps and better passmark scores. All up to you.
 
Sorry I didnt answer the questions.

1- 6 Cores does help in certain cases, mainly for video rendering and software development. I dont think you'd need it in my opinion.
2- The higher clock frequency will make a small difference but not anything HUGE in benchmarks.
3- If you stick with a CPU with the same socket, then you will be able to use the same heatsink. Otherwise there is sometimes small differences in spacing.
 
Solution


Thank you for posting.

Simply put. The T3500 does not support overclocking.

Like I said, I'm trying to get all the performance I can out of it, as it will most likely serve me for at least a year or two.

And the W3520 is basically an i7-920. Still a pretty capable CPU.

My main reason to handle GTA V and Dragon Age Inquisition. Both games run on the i7-920, but I just want to make sure that I have the extra horse power if I need it down the road.
 


Thank you. I knew the heatsink would fit physically. I should have specified if it would be enough for the X5600 series in terms of heat and power.

If you had to pick of these four, which would you go with?

 
If you can get your hands on the X5670 then I will recommend that at that price, just sometimes deals are a bit shoddy off of eBay. But that 6 Core CPU, even though you may not need 6 cores, will be more than enough for 2/3 years, without having to worry about bottlenecking. Otherwise your current CPU should be just perfect.