Intel Xeon Processors for gaming?

[Michael Mastronardi-1357740]

Hello all,

I've been a reader of these pages for a long time and recently become more and more intrigued by desktop gaming, i'm hoping you all can help me out. I recently came into a dell precision T7500, which has an intel xeon 5600 series processor. Since i'm extremely new to desktop gaming, i went to canirunit.com to see what would need to be replaced in this machine (outside the GPU), and sadly, it says that the processor needed to be replaced. Is this accurate? If so, can anybody tell me why, and what processor would be a good option to replace this one with?

 

[swifty_morgan]

what 5600 do you have. the $1500 model?............

I use a xeon in one of my machines and it games like hell. why would you want to swap out a good fast processor? what else does the machine need for gaming? a good video card? spend the money there.


what other hardware is inside the box? what software?

 

[bryonhowley]

Depending on the Xeon you are running in that rig it should play games just fine. What you are seeing on Can You Run It is because the database does not recognize your CPU not because it can't play games. Run CPU-Z that would give us a better idea of what CPU you have and it's speed. And the reason it does not see your CPU as capable is because the Xeon is mainly for Workstations/Servers and not gaming rigs.

 

[Michael Mastronardi-1357740]

what 5600 do you have. the $1500 model?............

I use a xeon in one of my machines and it games like hell. why would you want to swap out a good fast processor? what else does the machine need for gaming? a good video card? spend the money there.


what other hardware is inside the box? what software?

Hey thanks for an answer so quickly, i believe it is the $1500 model. I know it is a good, fast processor, but i've read that these supposed "server" processors cannot game well, and that the six cores it contains are poor for gaming. If i may ask, what exact model is your xeon processor? I know i obviously need a good video card, but i want to make sure the processor i have/get does not bottleneck my new gpu.

 

[Pinhedd]

Hello all,

I've been a reader of these pages for a long time and recently become more and more intrigued by desktop gaming, i'm hoping you all can help me out. I recently came into a dell precision T7500, which has an intel xeon 5600 series processor. Since i'm extremely new to desktop gaming, i went to canirunit.com to see what would need to be replaced in this machine (outside the GPU), and sadly, it says that the processor needed to be replaced. Is this accurate? If so, can anybody tell me why, and what processor would be a good option to replace this one with?

The Xeon 5600 series processors are based on the Westmere architecture (die shrink of the Nehalem architecture) which is still fairly new and by and large still quite viable for gaming. What it doesn't tell us is which Xeon 5600 series processor it is. However, all but a few of them should still work just fine for most games.

What I'd like you to do is this:

Right click on "My Computer" and go to "Properties". Under the "System" heading write down here what it says under "Processor" and "Installed Memory".

Since it's a Xeon 5000 series processor (dual socket compatible) there may even be two of them in there.

Server processors are identical to their desktop counterparts with two large but unimportant exceptions. First, some of them support dual or quad socket configurations. Second, they support ECC memory. Other than that, they game just like their desktop counterparts.

 

[Michael Mastronardi-1357740]

Hey all, it is apparently six cores running at 2.0 GHZ. I hear that a lot of new games need something running at over 2.4 GHZ, but i thought the six cores would make up for this. Could this be the problem?

 

[Michael Mastronardi-1357740]

Hello all,

I've been a reader of these pages for a long time and recently become more and more intrigued by desktop gaming, i'm hoping you all can help me out. I recently came into a dell precision T7500, which has an intel xeon 5600 series processor. Since i'm extremely new to desktop gaming, i went to canirunit.com to see what would need to be replaced in this machine (outside the GPU), and sadly, it says that the processor needed to be replaced. Is this accurate? If so, can anybody tell me why, and what processor would be a good option to replace this one with?

The Xeon 5600 series processors are based on the Westmere architecture (die shrink of the Nehalem architecture) which is still fairly new and by and large still quite viable for gaming. What it doesn't tell us is which Xeon 5600 series processor it is. However, all but a few of them should still work just fine for most games.

What I'd like you to do is this:

Right click on "My Computer" and go to "Properties". Under the "System" heading write down here what it says under "Processor" and "Installed Memory".

Since it's a Xeon 5000 series processor (dual socket compatible) there may even be two of them in there.

Server processors are identical to their desktop counterparts with two large but unimportant exceptions. First, some of them support dual or quad socket configurations. Second, they support ECC memory. Other than that, they game just like their desktop counterparts.

Hey, it says that it is an Intel Xeon CPU E5504 @2.00 GHZ (2 processos)

and it has an installed memory of 16.0GB of RAM

 

[Pinhedd]

Hello all,

I've been a reader of these pages for a long time and recently become more and more intrigued by desktop gaming, i'm hoping you all can help me out. I recently came into a dell precision T7500, which has an intel xeon 5600 series processor. Since i'm extremely new to desktop gaming, i went to canirunit.com to see what would need to be replaced in this machine (outside the GPU), and sadly, it says that the processor needed to be replaced. Is this accurate? If so, can anybody tell me why, and what processor would be a good option to replace this one with?

The Xeon 5600 series processors are based on the Westmere architecture (die shrink of the Nehalem architecture) which is still fairly new and by and large still quite viable for gaming. What it doesn't tell us is which Xeon 5600 series processor it is. However, all but a few of them should still work just fine for most games.

What I'd like you to do is this:

Right click on "My Computer" and go to "Properties". Under the "System" heading write down here what it says under "Processor" and "Installed Memory".

Since it's a Xeon 5000 series processor (dual socket compatible) there may even be two of them in there.

Server processors are identical to their desktop counterparts with two large but unimportant exceptions. First, some of them support dual or quad socket configurations. Second, they support ECC memory. Other than that, they game just like their desktop counterparts.

Hey, it says that it is an Intel Xeon CPU E5504 @2.00 GHZ (2 processos)

and it has an installed memory of 16.0GB of RAM

Okay. Xeon 5504 is a quad core Nehalem processor. Gaming performance on that won't be outstanding, but it won't be awful either. Since you're new to PC gaming I assume that you don't have any expectations of playing Battlefield 3 at a solid 900 FPS like some people around here do. If that is indeed the case, there's plenty of games out there that will work just fine on that. PC gaming didn't start yesterday, it started about 30 years ago and in my very seasoned opinion some of the best games around are from the late 1990s. You will have no problems running any of those. Get your hands on a graphics card that your PSU can handle and have some fun!

 

[Michael Mastronardi-1357740]

Hello all,

I've been a reader of these pages for a long time and recently become more and more intrigued by desktop gaming, i'm hoping you all can help me out. I recently came into a dell precision T7500, which has an intel xeon 5600 series processor. Since i'm extremely new to desktop gaming, i went to canirunit.com to see what would need to be replaced in this machine (outside the GPU), and sadly, it says that the processor needed to be replaced. Is this accurate? If so, can anybody tell me why, and what processor would be a good option to replace this one with?

The Xeon 5600 series processors are based on the Westmere architecture (die shrink of the Nehalem architecture) which is still fairly new and by and large still quite viable for gaming. What it doesn't tell us is which Xeon 5600 series processor it is. However, all but a few of them should still work just fine for most games.

What I'd like you to do is this:

Right click on "My Computer" and go to "Properties". Under the "System" heading write down here what it says under "Processor" and "Installed Memory".

Since it's a Xeon 5000 series processor (dual socket compatible) there may even be two of them in there.

Server processors are identical to their desktop counterparts with two large but unimportant exceptions. First, some of them support dual or quad socket configurations. Second, they support ECC memory. Other than that, they game just like their desktop counterparts.

Hey, it says that it is an Intel Xeon CPU E5504 @2.00 GHZ (2 processos)

and it has an installed memory of 16.0GB of RAM

Okay. Xeon 5504 is a quad core Nehalem processor. Gaming performance on that won't be outstanding, but it won't be awful either. Since you're new to PC gaming I assume that you don't have any expectations of playing Battlefield 3 at a solid 900 FPS like some people around here do. If that is indeed the case, there's plenty of games out there that will work just fine on that. PC gaming didn't start yesterday, it started about 30 years ago and in my very seasoned opinion some of the best games around are from the late 1990s. You will have no problems running any of those. Get your hands on a graphics card that your PSU can handle and have some fun!

Hey thanks for all your help, you definitely sound like you know your stuff. One last question ( i promise it's the last). Is there ANY hope at all in even running BF3 at something like 60 FPS, or is that even out of the question? I just would like to know for future reference in case i ever do want to start playing newer games.

 

[Pinhedd]

Hello all,

I've been a reader of these pages for a long time and recently become more and more intrigued by desktop gaming, i'm hoping you all can help me out. I recently came into a dell precision T7500, which has an intel xeon 5600 series processor. Since i'm extremely new to desktop gaming, i went to canirunit.com to see what would need to be replaced in this machine (outside the GPU), and sadly, it says that the processor needed to be replaced. Is this accurate? If so, can anybody tell me why, and what processor would be a good option to replace this one with?

The Xeon 5600 series processors are based on the Westmere architecture (die shrink of the Nehalem architecture) which is still fairly new and by and large still quite viable for gaming. What it doesn't tell us is which Xeon 5600 series processor it is. However, all but a few of them should still work just fine for most games.

What I'd like you to do is this:

Right click on "My Computer" and go to "Properties". Under the "System" heading write down here what it says under "Processor" and "Installed Memory".

Since it's a Xeon 5000 series processor (dual socket compatible) there may even be two of them in there.

Server processors are identical to their desktop counterparts with two large but unimportant exceptions. First, some of them support dual or quad socket configurations. Second, they support ECC memory. Other than that, they game just like their desktop counterparts.

Hey, it says that it is an Intel Xeon CPU E5504 @2.00 GHZ (2 processos)

and it has an installed memory of 16.0GB of RAM

Okay. Xeon 5504 is a quad core Nehalem processor. Gaming performance on that won't be outstanding, but it won't be awful either. Since you're new to PC gaming I assume that you don't have any expectations of playing Battlefield 3 at a solid 900 FPS like some people around here do. If that is indeed the case, there's plenty of games out there that will work just fine on that. PC gaming didn't start yesterday, it started about 30 years ago and in my very seasoned opinion some of the best games around are from the late 1990s. You will have no problems running any of those. Get your hands on a graphics card that your PSU can handle and have some fun!

Hey thanks for all your help, you definitely sound like you know your stuff. One last question ( i promise it's the last). Is there ANY hope at all in even running BF3 at something like 60 FPS, or is that even out of the question? I just would like to know for future reference in case i ever do want to start playing newer games.

BF3 tends to be rather hard on the CPU. Harder than most games anyway. I haven't played it in a while and I haven't really paid any attention to the load levels when I do. You could probably play it, just not at a solid 60FPS. It's also a bit of an overrated game too.

 

[Michael Mastronardi-1357740]

Hello all,

I've been a reader of these pages for a long time and recently become more and more intrigued by desktop gaming, i'm hoping you all can help me out. I recently came into a dell precision T7500, which has an intel xeon 5600 series processor. Since i'm extremely new to desktop gaming, i went to canirunit.com to see what would need to be replaced in this machine (outside the GPU), and sadly, it says that the processor needed to be replaced. Is this accurate? If so, can anybody tell me why, and what processor would be a good option to replace this one with?

The Xeon 5600 series processors are based on the Westmere architecture (die shrink of the Nehalem architecture) which is still fairly new and by and large still quite viable for gaming. What it doesn't tell us is which Xeon 5600 series processor it is. However, all but a few of them should still work just fine for most games.

What I'd like you to do is this:

Right click on "My Computer" and go to "Properties". Under the "System" heading write down here what it says under "Processor" and "Installed Memory".

Since it's a Xeon 5000 series processor (dual socket compatible) there may even be two of them in there.

Server processors are identical to their desktop counterparts with two large but unimportant exceptions. First, some of them support dual or quad socket configurations. Second, they support ECC memory. Other than that, they game just like their desktop counterparts.

Hey, it says that it is an Intel Xeon CPU E5504 @2.00 GHZ (2 processos)

and it has an installed memory of 16.0GB of RAM

Okay. Xeon 5504 is a quad core Nehalem processor. Gaming performance on that won't be outstanding, but it won't be awful either. Since you're new to PC gaming I assume that you don't have any expectations of playing Battlefield 3 at a solid 900 FPS like some people around here do. If that is indeed the case, there's plenty of games out there that will work just fine on that. PC gaming didn't start yesterday, it started about 30 years ago and in my very seasoned opinion some of the best games around are from the late 1990s. You will have no problems running any of those. Get your hands on a graphics card that your PSU can handle and have some fun!

Hey thanks for all your help, you definitely sound like you know your stuff. One last question ( i promise it's the last). Is there ANY hope at all in even running BF3 at something like 60 FPS, or is that even out of the question? I just would like to know for future reference in case i ever do want to start playing newer games.

BF3 tends to be rather hard on the CPU. Harder than most games anyway. I haven't played it in a while and I haven't really paid any attention to the load levels when I do. You could probably play it, just not at a solid 60FPS. It's also a bit of an overrated game too.

Okay, thank you so much again. I hope you don't mind but i lied and i do have a ONE more quick question

Do you think that the new Nvidia 760 GTX GPU would be bottlenecked by my processor? or something comparable to it?

 

[Pinhedd]

Hello all,

I've been a reader of these pages for a long time and recently become more and more intrigued by desktop gaming, i'm hoping you all can help me out. I recently came into a dell precision T7500, which has an intel xeon 5600 series processor. Since i'm extremely new to desktop gaming, i went to canirunit.com to see what would need to be replaced in this machine (outside the GPU), and sadly, it says that the processor needed to be replaced. Is this accurate? If so, can anybody tell me why, and what processor would be a good option to replace this one with?

The Xeon 5600 series processors are based on the Westmere architecture (die shrink of the Nehalem architecture) which is still fairly new and by and large still quite viable for gaming. What it doesn't tell us is which Xeon 5600 series processor it is. However, all but a few of them should still work just fine for most games.

What I'd like you to do is this:

Right click on "My Computer" and go to "Properties". Under the "System" heading write down here what it says under "Processor" and "Installed Memory".

Since it's a Xeon 5000 series processor (dual socket compatible) there may even be two of them in there.

Server processors are identical to their desktop counterparts with two large but unimportant exceptions. First, some of them support dual or quad socket configurations. Second, they support ECC memory. Other than that, they game just like their desktop counterparts.

Hey, it says that it is an Intel Xeon CPU E5504 @2.00 GHZ (2 processos)

and it has an installed memory of 16.0GB of RAM

Okay. Xeon 5504 is a quad core Nehalem processor. Gaming performance on that won't be outstanding, but it won't be awful either. Since you're new to PC gaming I assume that you don't have any expectations of playing Battlefield 3 at a solid 900 FPS like some people around here do. If that is indeed the case, there's plenty of games out there that will work just fine on that. PC gaming didn't start yesterday, it started about 30 years ago and in my very seasoned opinion some of the best games around are from the late 1990s. You will have no problems running any of those. Get your hands on a graphics card that your PSU can handle and have some fun!

Hey thanks for all your help, you definitely sound like you know your stuff. One last question ( i promise it's the last). Is there ANY hope at all in even running BF3 at something like 60 FPS, or is that even out of the question? I just would like to know for future reference in case i ever do want to start playing newer games.

BF3 tends to be rather hard on the CPU. Harder than most games anyway. I haven't played it in a while and I haven't really paid any attention to the load levels when I do. You could probably play it, just not at a solid 60FPS. It's also a bit of an overrated game too.

Okay, thank you so much again. I hope you don't mind but i lied and i do have a ONE more quick question

Do you think that the new Nvidia 760 GTX GPU would be bottlenecked by my processor? or something comparable to it?

Processors and GPUs don't "bottleneck eachother", that's an extreme simplification that keeps getting repeated on this forum (to my extreme frustration). A GeForce GTX 760 is probably a bit overkill and may be too much for the stock power supply of that workstation. I would suggest something along the lines of an AMD Radeon HD 7790 to be safe. Anything more demanding may necessitate a new power supply as well.