Xeon 2603 V3

[Nebby]

Hey guys. I have a simple questions. Is it possible to game on a xeon 2603v3? The clock speed is 1.6x 6 cores. The games I am wanting to play is Landmark Everquest Next, and Lichdom BattleMage. Not really interested in playing any other games.

If I don't get that processor I will probably be getting the Xeon 1620 v3. It is a Quad core with base clock of 3.5. Was really trying to build a budget x99 build =)

The GPU I will be using is the 280x or GTX 960. with 8 gigs ram. and a Seasonic 620 Watt m2ll or whatever its called. SInce I am rocking Xeon I will just be using the 212+ to cool it. I will also be using Photoshop, Maya, zbrush, and Mudbox.

Last question I know the xeons are locked processors but would it be possible to bump it up to 2GHZ? and would that help it out with gaming.

 

[Calculagator]

The 1620 will have much better gaming performance. Most games won't be able to take advantage of the 6 cores and for that particular low end Xeon, turbo boost is disabled, so they really do run at 1.6 GHz. It may be possible to increase the base clock to overclock it, but you shouldn't expect a miracle.

 

[synphul]

If going with such a tight budget, why are you trying to base it around the x99? I mean is there any particular reason? Looking at those two games in specific, the recommend quad core cpus and somewhat faster core speeds so core speed still plays a role in these games. The 2603v3 is liable to be a real bottleneck in just about everything you do because of the low clock speeds.

For this reason the quad core xeon would be a much better choice at over twice the speed (3.5 vs 1.6) even though it has 2 less cores. If only using one gpu and not using max sli of gtx 980's either 2 or 3 way, there's no real perk to using x99. All the components you have listed are easily able to reach their performance potential on a much less expensive 1150 z97/h97 setup.

Where the x99 comes into play is for 6-8 core cpus with over 32gb of ram and running massive cards in crossfire or sli that can take advantage of the additional pcie lanes. Otherwise it's a lot of extra money for no benefit unless you're planning to make significant upgrades in the somewhat near future (waiting too long and it will all be outdated anyway).

You might be able to increase the baseclock some and reach a little more than 1.6 but chances are not by much. Baseclock affects a lot of other things like ram and pcie slots and going from say a factory baseclock of 100mhz - you might get to 104mhz before it starts crashing due to instability, not nearly enough to push the cpu higher. You need to look at a faster cpu in the first place, it's expecting too much of that chip. If it were possible, then yes it would help but would still be underperforing comparing to a quad core at 3.5ghz.

If it were me, I'd go with a nice 1150 setup and use the money I saved on the x99 mobo, the ddr4 ram etc and put toward a better video card. Also for those programs (photoshop, maya etc) you should really be considering 16gb of ram as a starting point rather than 8gb.

 

[Nebby]

If going with such a tight budget, why are you trying to base it around the x99? I mean is there any particular reason? Looking at those two games in specific, the recommend quad core cpus and somewhat faster core speeds so core speed still plays a role in these games. The 2603v3 is liable to be a real bottleneck in just about everything you do because of the low clock speeds.

For this reason the quad core xeon would be a much better choice at over twice the speed (3.5 vs 1.6) even though it has 2 less cores. If only using one gpu and not using max sli of gtx 980's either 2 or 3 way, there's no real perk to using x99. All the components you have listed are easily able to reach their performance potential on a much less expensive 1150 z97/h97 setup.

Where the x99 comes into play is for 6-8 core cpus with over 32gb of ram and running massive cards in crossfire or sli that can take advantage of the additional pcie lanes. Otherwise it's a lot of extra money for no benefit unless you're planning to make significant upgrades in the somewhat near future (waiting too long and it will all be outdated anyway).

You might be able to increase the baseclock some and reach a little more than 1.6 but chances are not by much. Baseclock affects a lot of other things like ram and pcie slots and going from say a factory baseclock of 100mhz - you might get to 104mhz before it starts crashing due to instability, not nearly enough to push the cpu higher. You need to look at a faster cpu in the first place, it's expecting too much of that chip. If it were possible, then yes it would help but would still be underperforing comparing to a quad core at 3.5ghz.

If it were me, I'd go with a nice 1150 setup and use the money I saved on the x99 mobo, the ddr4 ram etc and put toward a better video card. Also for those programs (photoshop, maya etc) you should really be considering 16gb of ram as a starting point rather than 8gb.

Honestly, Just for giggles I thought about buying some parts this year buy a cheap processor then next year when skylake comes out be ready for it. If I build the x99 I plan on buy another 8 gigs of ram for total of 16 next month. Once Skylake comes out I figured they will have a new processor for the 2011v3 and I would be able to just buy the new processor without having to buy a new board, processor, and memory. if I got 1150 then in 2 years I will be in the same boat as I am in now. My current rig is in my Sig. I was going to upgrade a few years ago but ended up using the money for something else =). I Figured if i bought the x99 I will be a step ahead. It is just 80bucks more for the 1620 so I will most likely go that route. I was hoping the 2603 could get to me next year but that low clock speed really sucks. At least they could have unlocked it. That would have been pretty nice =)

 

[synphul]

To my knowledge none of the xeons are unlocked, they're more the business/server market. An i7 extreme edition would be unlocked for the x99 (though pretty pricey beyond the 5820k 6 core). I'm not sure how skylake is going to work for the 2011v3 platform or if they're going to go with a whole new platform for it like they're doing with the quad series moving away from the current 1150 to a new 1151. I don't see you being in the same boat as you are now, the c2d e6400 is over 8yrs old. By comparison, the 2nd and 3rd gen i5 2500k and 3500k are still completely viable and it came out over 4yrs ago.

It's really hard to 'future proof' anything in the tech market especially with things that are just rumors. People are treating the latest tech that's actually in hand as if it's old and already trying to outguess the manufacturers plans or moves which could change at any moment. It can be a risky roll of the dice. In this situation, it sounds like you want skylake so I would wait for skylake or get the most current that's out now. Trying to build up now the reason I say it's risky - it might all pan out and skylake pops right into an x99 board which would be awesome. No guarantees though and there's just as much chance that you'll invest in an expensive x99 motherboard and parts which is slowly being outdated anyway (if skylake skips 2011v3 for a newer version).

A perfect example of putting the cart before the horse, Intel had access to their hardware before it even hit the shelves. They could have tested it to make sure, but they assumed. Straight from their words in articles they said the new devil's canyon cpu's would hit 5ghz on air cooling and apparently had no proof to back it up and ended up choking on their own assumptions since the real results were much different. I'm not trying to be one of those hardheaded people who says show me or it isn't true but getting sucked into speculation or hype can make for costly poor investments that don't pan out.