Which Dual Socket Mobo For Gaming

[Hoonini]

Don't roast me, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to go for dual Xeon X5675's for gaming, unless someone could convince me otherwise. It also has to be able to multitask exceptionally well, because my i5 is not getting it done for me. So my question is, what would be wrong with using a motherboard like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro-LGA-1366-Xeon-Tylersburg-Dual-Socket-DDR3-Server-Motherboard-X8DTU-F/292264700002?epid=1600248763&hash=item440c556862:g:xuUAAOSwxflZw~wu

Vs. one like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro-X8DTI-F-Motherboard-Intel-Xeon-5600-5500-CPU-DDR3-W-I-O-Shield/263258368699?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D48736%26meid%3Dc235335654a2437c8a69aee9f9dd3d60%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D142452684759&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

The first is cheaper, but it's weird. I'll also be making a custom case to house this

 

[bjornl]

Have you compared IPC? Those older Xenon's aren't that great and you are looking at some very old ones. Also gaming will be tricky since some games will simply not run at all and those that do will typically depend on the first core or two they find not multiple processors. Multi-tasking and doing other basic (undemanding) tasks will be nice, but is that your goal?

I'd suggest that instead you look at a more modern system such as a coffeelake or maybe a i7-5820k and overclock it.

 

[kanewolf]

The first motherboard, notice there are no standard PCIe slots. That motherboard may have been for a rack mount case and uses a riser card for standard PCIe slots. The second board, notice it has only 1 x16 slot and I think a PCI-X slot.

Dual socket motherboards REQUIRE Windows PRO to use both sockets. They also require a power supply with dual EPS12V power plugs. Compared to typical desktop motherboards, they are usually not worth the hassle.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Any modern CPU that costs at least $150-200 would almost certainly outperform that setup in gaming.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($193.67 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($74.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $268.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-02 13:26 EDT-0400

 

[Hoonini]

My issue is is, DDR4 is crazy expensive. Also I only have about $300 for Motherboard, CPU, RAM, and Case. I cannot beat the price of these chips.

 

[bjornl]

My issue is is, DDR4 is crazy expensive. Also I only have about $300 for Motherboard, CPU, RAM, and Case. I cannot beat the price of these chips.

Is it worth $300 if all you're doing is renting problems you can avoid?
Have you even priced out a used i7? I bought two around 2 months ago as extra systems for a total of 300.

 

[Hoonini]

It is about $250 just to get hyperthreading. Here I get triple the cores, and sixtuple the threads, or however many x6 is. And 32 gb of RAM is included in that $300. I only have 8 gb rn.

But, I have proved the RAM is not the issue, as I have seen my system when I'm doing some lighter multitasking, such as running a game such as minecraft in the backround and say like Rocket League in the Foreground. Light Games. Rocket league can't stay at 144hz. The CPU is Capping at 99% and the RAM is at %80

 

[bjornl]

It is your money and so it is your call how to spend it. Keep in mind that there was a unanimous advice against it.

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

Games wont use all those cores. Games like high clock speeds and high IPC, none of which a Xeon have. Even an older I7-4790K with DDR3 RAM will outperform that Xeon platform by a huge margin.

Something like this, while being a little over your budget, will outperform those Xeons by miles, and doesn't need Win 10 Pro

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1500X 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($168.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350M PRO-VDH Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($68.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($105.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $343.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-02 17:03 EDT-0400

 

[TJ Hooker]

Yeah, but for gaming you're never going to make use of all those cores/threads, or all that RAM. For gaming, a fast 4C/4T CPU will outperform slow 12/24Ts the majority of the time. And 16 GB of RAM is more than enough for gaming.

You really have no evidence that your proposed build will outperform your new build. I see in your profile you list your 6600K as being at stock. Why not try overclocking it if you find it holding you back?

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

Yeah, but for gaming you're never going to make use of all those cores/threads, or all that RAM. For gaming, a fast 4C/4T CPU will outperform slow 12/24Ts the majority of the time. And 16 GB of RAM is more than enough for gaming.

You really have no evidence that your proposed build will outperform your new build. I see in your profile you list your 6600K as being at stock. Why not try overclocking it if you find it holding you back?

Didn't see his current build.
I agree, there is no way those old Xeons will perform better than a 6600K. Also what about DDR4 RAM, don't you already have DDR4 RAM with your current build?

 

[Hoonini]

I do, but my motherboard is shaky, and RAM slots are shaky. I also want to be able to play a game while rendering, my i5 is miles away from being able to do that. I know it won't outperform it, but it's not going to be miles behind it, right? I also only have a gtx 960 sooo.

 

[Hoonini]

And i have Win10 Pro

 

[TJ Hooker]

Define "shaky".

Ok, if you're rendering then that changes things. Yes, if you look at combined gaming/rendering performance your proposed build will likely be better. It comes down to which you want to prioritize though.

 

[bjornl]

TJ Hooker nailed it.

If you want to render while gaming, you can't even buy enough cores. Even a dual processor system with E5-2699 v4 (44 cores) can have the life sucked out it during a render.

A massive number of cores will help most render engines, at least every one I've ever tried. But they make for kinda crummy gaming machines. Look at the work arounds they needed on the AMD threadripper to game on that (turned off half the cores during gaming).

Also the per core work done by these older xenons is not that impressive. Even in the best of circumstances, it won't game well. And setting it to game and render at the same time is asking a lot.

My suggestion is build a render box. Use it exclusively for rendering. When budget allows, build a dedicated gaming box.