ECC Supported CPUs for Gaming?

[wblegoboy]

Hi!

I’ve finally decided to upgrade my old Dell Precison T5500 motherboard, case and dual CPUs while retaining the rest of the system. However, because some of my components/setup depend on certain features (DDR3 ECC RAM, dual CPUs, etc.) it’s been hard to find a relatively inexpensive match - I’m not looking to go over $400 if possible. For my dual CPUs, they would need to not bottleneck my GTX 1060 while also being reliable server processors (that support DDR3 ECC!). My motherboard would then have to be dual CPU socket with at least 8 DDR3 slots and at least 3 PCIe slots. After a motherboard is chosen, then a fitting case would have to be chosen - but I am not looking to buy a motherboard that would require a highly specific case design.
Sorry if this isn’t the right place to ask, but I’m open to any suggestions. I’m currently leaning towards some LGA 2011 Xeon processors, but I don’t know exactly what specs I should be interested in, or what motherboard I could use that would not blow a hole in my wallet.

Thanks,
Will

(P.S. in case not clear, only looking to purchase a case, motherboard, and two processors. I have all other components)

 

[TJ Hooker]

Do you actually use your PC for non gaming tasks that demand ECC memory and dual CPUs? If not, it seems like you're doing yourself a disservice by trying to build your system around your RAM.

 

[wblegoboy]

Do you actually use your PC for non gaming tasks that demand ECC memory and dual CPUs? If not, it seems like you're doing yourself a disservice by trying to build your system around your RAM.

To be honest, I haven’t found much use in ECC RAM, but I did purchase the memory recently as it was one of the only types compatible with my motherboard (DDR3, ECC, less than 1333MHz, etc.) I’ve also heard of RAM prices being pretty bad. Do you think I should sell my current sticks and get non-ECC memory (I bought 32GB of DDR3 ECC for $70, I don’t think I could ever beat that ) As for the dual CPUs, while it’s more of a want, I do host a website on this computer and have also wanted to host LAN gaming servers as well.

 

[velocityg4]

Everything I've looked at shows about $250 to $300 for a decent used motherboard and likely being stuck with used dual Xeon E5-2620 V2 CPU due to your budget. Which won't be great for gaming. A single Ryzen 2600 would beat a dual E5-2620 V2 system in gaming and energy efficiency by a wide margin. It would also have equal performance in heavily multi-threaded applications. While a Ryzen 2700x would be roughly equal in multi-threaded performance to a dual Xeon E5-2650 V2 with big advantages in gaming and energy efficiency. Of course the big downside is cost if you need 32GB RAM.

Single CPU socket would likely be more practical from a cost perspective and CPU performance. What I did not see mentioned is if your RAM is Registered or Unbuffered. That makes an important compatibility difference. While ECC is generally registered it can also be unbuffered.

As for case design. You'll have to stick with say an ASUS or Supermicro motherboard if you want case options. Dell and HP boards will likely be specially designed. Even then choices will be limited. As it'll probably need a larger than normal case.

 

[wblegoboy]

Everything I've looked at shows about $250 to $300 for a decent used motherboard and likely being stuck with used dual Xeon E5-2620 V2 CPU due to your budget. Which won't be great for gaming. A single Ryzen 2600 would beat a dual E5-2620 V2 system in gaming and energy efficiency by a wide margin. It would also have equal performance in heavily multi-threaded applications. While a Ryzen 2700x would be roughly equal in multi-threaded performance to a dual Xeon E5-2650 V2 with big advantages in gaming and energy efficiency. Of course the big downside is cost if you need 32GB RAM.

Single CPU socket would likely be more practical from a cost perspective and CPU performance. What I did not see mentioned is if your RAM is Registered or Unbuffered. That makes an important compatibility difference. While ECC is generally registered it can also be unbuffered.

As for case design. You'll have to stick with say an ASUS or Supermicro motherboard if you want case options. Dell and HP boards will likely be specially designed. Even then choices will be limited. As it'll probably need a larger than normal case.

Wow! Thanks for the reply!

I’ve never considered an AMD CPU (I’ve used Intel for as long as I can remember) for my build, mainly because I plan on setting up a Hackintosh installation on my second hard drive. But, I suppose it’s all still possible. However, if I were to get an AMD, I don’t need anything too extreme as I don’t tend to play very newly released games (mainly just something my GTX 1060 could not be bottlenecked by). A 2700X looks great, I just don’t know how I’ll squeeze it in (I’d like some room to buy a decent motherboard and case). A single CPU socket would work if the CPU had over 4 cores (which it looks like the 2700X has 8 of!). For RAM, unbuffered non-ECC would work if I were able to get a lot of it for cheap (I probably could on Craigslist). And, now that you mention it, I might as well just go with an ASUS motherboard.

My only thing is that my graphics card is the one component I’d be keeping from my current build, but I suppose it’s for the better - ECC and dual Xeons is probably not very necessary for my applications.

Thanks!
Will

 

[velocityg4]

Wow! Thanks for the reply!

I’ve never considered an AMD CPU (I’ve used Intel for as long as I can remember) for my build, mainly because I plan on setting up a Hackintosh installation on my second hard drive. But, I suppose it’s all still possible. However, if I were to get an AMD, I don’t need anything too extreme as I don’t tend to play very newly released games (mainly just something my GTX 1060 could not be bottlenecked by). A 2700X looks great, I just don’t know how I’ll squeeze it in (I’d like some room to buy a decent motherboard and case). A single CPU socket would work if the CPU had over 4 cores (which it looks like the 2700X has 8 of!). For RAM, unbuffered non-ECC would work if I were able to get a lot of it for cheap (I probably could on Craigslist). And, now that you mention it, I might as well just go with an ASUS motherboard.

My only thing is that my graphics card is the one component I’d be keeping from my current build, but I suppose it’s for the better - ECC and dual Xeons is probably not very necessary for my applications.

Thanks!
Will

As far as CPU are concerned. An i5-8600K overclocked can provide similar results to a stock Ryzen 2600 or dual Xeon E5-2620 v2 in multi-threaded and superior gaming results. Same with an i7-8700k vs Ryzen 2700x or dual Xeon E5-2650 v2. The presumably 8-core i7-9700K and 8-core/16 thread i9-9900K are also expected soon. Intel would be a saner choice if you were doing a hackintosh. The advice we can give in this respect is quite limited. Research thoroughly before buying any motherboard.

Although a modern Intel can produce superior gaming results than Ryzen. That's really only with a top tier GPU at 1920x1080. I doubt you'd see much if any difference with a 1060.

The main reason why those Xeon are so outclassed. Despite the dual Xeon system having many more core. They have a very low clock rate per core. They also don't get quite as much work done per Ghz although generational differences in this respect are minor.