Overclocking Intel’s Xeon E5620: Quad-Core 32 nm At 4+ GHz

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]reynod[/nom]Enjoyed reading this.Thanks Chris.[/citation]

Very welcome Rey!

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]ChronoTrigger[/nom]Just wanted to note that the Xeon E5620 (and similar) will work in the Asus P6X58D series mobos as well, not just the ROG mobos. MSI's Big Bang Xpower will also work. Direct test on a Gigabyte X58A-UD3R rev. 2.0 did NOT work.[/citation]

Thanks for letting us know Chrono--would be good to get a more comprehensive list of Xeon-compatible X58-based motherboards for the community to pick through!

 

[jimmysmitty]

[citation][nom]greghome[/nom]Can Tom's do one on the Opteron?or something from IBM?[/citation]

This Xeon is a LGA1366 part made for home servers or low end servers. Opterons are all on their own socket. There is no AM2+/AM3 Opteron that cam compete here especially since these Xeons are pretty cheap.

 

[Guest]

LGA1366 is Intel's server socket - The fact that Intel releases "Home" Processors for it and AMD doesn’t do the same for G34 is totally unrelated.

I will also be happy if Tom's reviews Magny-Cours.

 

[deanjo]

[citation][nom]MU_Engineer[/nom]3dsMax: the Linux version of this app scales very well, like the Windows version tested here appears to. The 6128s should beat the chips here handily.[/citation]

Well this is where you crush your credibility. There is no linux version of 3dsmax, period.

 

[Proximon]

It's a good article, regardless of whether you like the results or not

Chris, I really didn't get the "why" here until I got to the power and heat. That opened my eyes. A good water cooling setup would make that an every-day clock speed for sure.

There's a quad with an unlocked multiplier just a few months away that should give this some competition, and cost less also.

 

[sockso]

Good article, but I'd like to see Starcraft 2 results in CPU articles because it's so CPU bottlenecked.

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]Proximon[/nom]It's a good article, regardless of whether you like the results or not Chris, I really didn't get the "why" here until I got to the power and heat. That opened my eyes. A good water cooling setup would make that an every-day clock speed for sure.There's a quad with an unlocked multiplier just a few months away that should give this some competition, and cost less also.[/citation]

I'm still not sold on Sandy Bridge, having played around with an early sample a few months back ;-)

 

[deanjo]

[citation][nom]sockso[/nom]Good article, but I'd like to see Starcraft 2 results in CPU articles because it's so CPU bottlenecked.[/citation]

Bottlenecked by CPU for sure but only because it really only supports up to 2 cores. Clockspeed is king for that game.

 

[gorillateets]

GTA 4 is one of the most popular CPU intensive games I know. It's much more demanding than any other game you listed. Why didn't you use it? Bleh...

 

[mapesdhs]

Chris,

Thanks for the read, a neat experiment, but I find myself pondering the following...


XEON E5620 2.4GHz: 285 UKP
Rampage III Formula: 273 UKP
----------------------------
TOTAL: 558 UKP


Core i7 950 3.06GHz: 227 UKP
Asrock X58 Extreme6: 178 UKP
----------------------------
TOTAL: 405 UKP


Hence, hate to say it but the suggestion of the Formula + E5620 makes
no sense to me at all. The price difference in the above is enough to
cover a 300GB WD VR 10K *and* a TRUE RevC. And btw, the Extreme6 does
support a whole range of XEON options, including the E5620:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/cpu.asp?Model=X58%20Extreme6

The power consumption figures are interesting, but the 60W advantage of
the E5620 setup isn't that impressive IMO (indeed, the above price advantage
of the 950 config is enough to cover the power consumption excess for
almost 8 years!), and surely the 950 would be able to reach 4GHz without
increasing the voltage so much? (and thus less of a power increase anyway)

Ian.

PS. Btw, just wondered, how come hardly anyone has reviewed the Extreme6?
It looks like an excellent board IMO.

------

Refs:

http://www.crescentelectronics.co.uk/intel-xeon-e5620-24-ghz-processor-16.html
http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/ASUS-Rampage-III-Formula-Desktop-Motherboard-Intel-Chipset/5235604/product.html?cid=133635

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/Intel+Core+i7/Intel+Core+i7+950+3.06Ghz+(Nehalem)+(Socket+LGA1366)+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=39341&source=googleps
http://www.trymarket.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=6805&zenid=7b506aa906539446daa7505b2f65e94c

Other refs:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=X58%20Extreme6
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1041/pg1/asrock-x58-extreme6-and-intel-core-i7-970-review-introduction.html
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300-gb-western-digital-wd3000hlfs-velociraptor-sata-300-10000-rpm-16mb-cache-42-ms-ncq
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/thermalright-ultra-120-extreme-revc-6x-heatpipes-on-48-alium-fins-for-socket-1366775am2-3-cpus

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i guess the lesson is, you dont need more than a 2.4ghz xeon to get good gaming performance with a gtx480.

 

[K2N hater]

A different approach:

I7-980X = $1000 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115223
Asus Rampage III Extreme = $370 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131642
total: $1370

2x E5620 = $770 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117234
EVGA SR-2 = $580 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188070
total: $1350

Considering also:
> The EVGA board is not compatible with every EATX case. It comes in a custom form factor to allow 4-way SLi. It adds extra cost.
> The dual socket board requires more powerful power supply, especially considering overclock.
> The dual board is able to equip a pair of 6-core and 12 RAM sticks, allowing some serious upgrade without replacing RAM or the motherboard itself. In comparison, the following high-end desktop platform - X68 - will come with 4-channel memory and 8-core processors. The dual socket platform is sure to lose value to the new LGA1567 but will survive longer than the single socket X58.

 

[MU_Engineer]

[citation][nom]deanjo[/nom]Well this is where you crush your credibility. There is no linux version of 3dsmax, period.[/citation]

I must have been thinking of 3ds (Dassault) CATIA, which does run under Linux and is part of Phoronix's Linux benchmark suite.

 

[Makaveli]

Good overall review.

However it clearly shows the Xeon chip is not worth it. 4mb of extra cache and 32nm and AES would not temp me at all based on the performance.

My 920 D0 does 4Ghz at 1.25v with a TRUE and 1900 RPM S-Flex and i'm pretty sure if you had a decent 930 and the memory both running at the same speed it would even out the small % lead the xeon has in one or two test.

 

[dEAne]

Thank you so much for this article, it is helpful indeed.

 

[utengineer]

[citation][nom]JOSHSKORN[/nom]I wonder if it's possible and also if it'd be useful to do a test of various server configurations for game hosting. Say for instance we want to build a game server and don't know what parts are necessary for the amount of players we want to support without investing too much into specifications we don't necessarily need. Like say I hosted a 64-player server of Battlefield or CoD or however the max amount of players are. Would a Core i7 be necessary or would a Dual-Core do the job with the same overall player experience? Would also want to consider other variables: memory, GPU. I realize results would also vary depending on the server location, its speed, and the player's location and speed, too, along with their system's specs.[/citation]

Yes you can run a game server on dual core and 4Gb of memory.....the main issue is the internet connect bandwidth. You would need a 1Gb pipe to handle 32+ players at your residence and a good NIC too.

 

[Zerk]

Fantastic Review!

one of the Best reviews! up there with the top reviews Guys, Thanks!

Excellent Job.

 

[blibba]

[citation][nom]blibba[/nom]Note: Higher clocked Xeons are available.[/citation]

[citation][nom]omoronovo[/nom]However, I'm sure everyone is aware of how sharply the price of Xeons rise above the lowest-of-the-low. I expect a Xeon capable of 4.5ghz (a good speed to aim for with a 32nm chip and good cooling), you would already be over the costs of purchasing a 970/980x/990x, especially considering how good a motherboard you would need to get - a Rampage III extreme is possibly one of the most expensive X58 boards on the market, offsetting most of the gains you'd get over a 45nm chip and a more wallet friendly board - such as the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R.[/citation]

I must say I've just looked into Xeon pricing, and the increase in cost as you step up the multipliers is nuts. Not sure why this is the case, but you make a good point.

 

[the-real-link]

Thanks so very much! This was the exact article I was looking for. Really been evaluating hardware here to purchase - I just didn't know how bad or not of a "handicap" I'd be in if I went Xeon instead of i7. Now I know.

 

[mapesdhs]

The handicap is more in your pocket rather than performance. As omoronovo says, for the same money one could buy a much better
CPU, or as I pointed out just get a 950 (plus a much cheaper mbd)
and use the saved money for something else like a far better
cooler, SSD, etc.

Oddly enough btw, the E5620 is very common in servers used by
movie companies for animation rendering. One place I know uses
a whole load of Dell PowerEdge C6100s, each fitted with eight
E5620s, 48GB RAM, 4 x 500GB SATA, and likewise a bunch of
Supermicro Quattro 5500GP with the same specs.

Ian.

 

[eddieroolz]

It was a good read. Xeons are great but unfortunately their price has always been the barrier to entry. While still rather expensive for me, a $400 Xeon isn't so bad.

 

[WarraWarra]

[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]Josh, if you have any ideas on testing, I'm all ears! We're currently working with Intel on server/workstation coverage (AMD has thus far been fairly unreceptive to seeing its Opteron processors tested).Regards,Chris[/citation]

PS> very nice article, would have named it Xeon desktop vs i7 desktop where the value's at.

As far as I have researched in the past you can get away with a dual core for that only, there is a formula for that somewhere.
Problems comes in when you or your gaming buddy's demands grow as it always will ie: more ram more cpu more games more internet etc.

You would be better of testing a quad+ core for this buy once , have expansion until you can not bond cable / adsl / VDSL2 connections any more and have to pay some clowns online to stuff your hosted servers up.

Also have a few intel atoms or 1 big rig to do all the game servers on and rather have a switch + can config 5ip's easier using Intel Atoms VS 1 big rig.
Also look at online hosting cost ie: 1 year = $xxxx.xx investment for internet + hardware + software online vs at home including power + heating / cooling indirect cost's.

You might also end up with several servers running on the same machine and having to set the affinity / resource manage your hardware to cope with what is normal.

Normal end's up as:
Teamspeak , ventrillo , webpage / file download hosting at home, ftp, at least 2 or 4 servers of one game + a few others games 1 copy each so 12 game servers hosted 4 = COD, 2 battle field, UT3, Graw1, teamspeak etc.

Also would be nice to see if in what Major City's there is actual internet where and how you could host from home with 1 or more connections bonded same type or mixed to get a stable internet for this. + maybe 5 ip's config for different game server hosted to prevent clashing ports.

Hosting to friends down the road over the internet is not major but as always national or international players will end up on your servers.
speedtest(DOT)net, pingtest(DOT)net, myspeed.visualware(DOT)com europe / australia to your server testing.

That is normal issues you might encounter on a daily basis 3 months down the game server from home hosting. I have to frequently re-route using DNS as Dallas TX intermap is on a international mainline and has frequent router hick-ups as does Atlanta especially when there is sorties in the middle east the internet from CA-AZ-NM-TX-Atlanta link degrade excessively.

O yeah and horribly configured ISP DNS server + re-routing using alternative DNS server to bypass crappy close by routers.
Test with DNSbench "grc" , namebench "google code" myspeed.visualware(DOT)com voip + speed + routing test, pingtest(DOT)net to get some idea from international + national/canada to you.

Hope this helps.

 

[king smp]

The Xeon is back.
For far too long it has been misunderstood by the enthusiast gaming crowd.
A duallie setup is not going to run a game better but you can encode/burn a dvd file at the same time you are playing Left 4 Dead 2 for example with no lag.
If you are an extreme multitasker running many applications when you try out a duallie rig you will never want to go back to a single socket mobo again.

 

[Jaspel]

If Xeon is now fair game, chipsets should be addressed.