old Xeon Workstation to Intel Core i7 3930K Good Idea/bad Idea?

squishymax

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Mar 22, 2008
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Hi there I am Photographer and Videographer. I am currently running an ancient AMD Phenom II x4 940, with 8GB of RAM. Things are just not keeping up. My workload is increasing and it is starting to not be a hobby. That being said have a limited budget, about $500 or so to start. looking at benchmarks it looks like it might be smart to grab an old workstation like these

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkStation-S30-2-80GHz-Quad-Core-E5-1603-16GB-RAM-500GB-HD-Win7-Pro-/172172505388?hash=item281647f12c:g😛l8AAOSwAoRXFlYo

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3600-Workstation-E5-1607-3Ghz-8GB-500GB-1GB-AMD-V4900-DVD-RW-/222062855462?hash=item33b3fa4526:g:HH0AAOSw9uFW8tci

and swap out the CPU for a 3930k, which can be had for $150ish. Will that give me a good base to start with. I can add in a video card and SSD's later. I have a power supply for a desktop that should give me enough for a hefty video card in the future. the 2011 socket is slightly confusing to me, so first of all would that work? if it can, I would have a full workstation durability with 16 ECC RAM and benchmarks that beat the 6700K in multi threaded tests for under $500. SO please somebody tell me if that is a good idea or a bad idea. Because I built a computer once 6 years ago, and that does not make me an expert. If there is a better build for under $500 let me know.
 
Solution
dont do that for a few reasons. their is no need for a i7 if you can overclock which you cant with a dell mobo and the dell migh not support the 3930k. get a used e5-2670 instead its a great cpu and destroys the 6700k in multithread its also only $70.

another decent option would be to get a SuperMicro X9DRi-F and two E5-2670s that will cost 440 but will possibly be more future-proof if applications begin too use more than 16 threads
dont do that for a few reasons. their is no need for a i7 if you can overclock which you cant with a dell mobo and the dell migh not support the 3930k. get a used e5-2670 instead its a great cpu and destroys the 6700k in multithread its also only $70.

another decent option would be to get a SuperMicro X9DRi-F and two E5-2670s that will cost 440 but will possibly be more future-proof if applications begin too use more than 16 threads
 
Solution
Ive owned both the E5-2670 and the 3930k. They are nearly identical in video benchmarks. One chip cost me $600 (i7) the other I got used last year for $125. Now the 2670 can be found on ebay for $70.

One is 8Core 2.6ghz while the other is 6core 3.2ghz. Comes out to be about the same for video work (render time wise).
 


Hey thank you for your responses and input. So because I need almost a whole new computer, I think I will just get an old workstation instead of the dual CPU route. does this look like a good idea that I will be able to swap in a E5-2670 into. then I will add in an SSD and transfer the windows license over to that and put in a video card. does that all sound like a good idea? or would you recommend something else?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkStation-S30-2-80GHz-Quad-Core-E5-1603-32GB-RAM-500GB-HD-Win7-Pro-/381604922352?hash=item58d96d03f0:g:qUAAAOSwKfVXFlZ-