Xeon 5150

[lsteele]

Hello,

I'm looking to upgrade my computer - a hopelessly underspecified Core 2 Duo E7200 w. 2GB RAM and ABIT IP35P mb.

I was looking at the price/performance chart on cpubenchmark.net and noticed the Xeon 5150 @ 2.66GHz comes top. I turned up some on ebay for only around £10, and I also turned up a HP XW6400 XW6600 dual processor Motherboard for about £40. Superficially this looks like a cheap way to build a system - is it a good idea or is there something I'm missing? I'd still need memory and a graphics card.

My absolute maximum budget is £200 (~$300), but I'd rather spend less if possible! I'm going to be using this for engineering software - CAD (Solidworks) and ANSYS etc.

Any suggestions appreciated!

Thanks,

Luke

 

[phyco126]

Well, on one hand the XEON has more cache (slightly more, rather), and is clocked slightly faster. But is also based on older technology. The E7200 is about as fast as the Xeon chip due to new technologies (mainly the 45NM die shrink).

However, you found a cheap motherboard that can support two xeons, and can grab two of them for 20 pounds... I say why not? Might as well as go for it. Just check to make sure the motherboard doesn't require ECC enabled RAM, that used to be pretty expensive stuff (haven't looked at prices in 5 years, so I don't know what ECC RAM is at anymore).

 

[phyco126]

Read this real quick about that motherboard; might save you some headaches: http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=125&prodSeriesId=1844973&prodTypeId=12454&objectID=c02654715

 

[lsteele]

Hi,

I was under the impression the Xeon is a lot faster - cpubenchmark.net has it at 3,540 versus 1721 for the E7200.

I'll check out the memory situation.

I'm open to other routes as well. I was thinking about just upgrading my CPU and buying more memory but it doesn't look (from what I've read elsewhere) I can get much more out of my existing motherboard. I don't have a problem with buying used solid-state stuff - it doesn't have to be new.

Thanks

Well, on one hand the XEON has more cache (slightly more, rather), and is clocked slightly faster. But is also based on older technology. The E7200 is about as fast as the Xeon chip due to new technologies (mainly the 45NM die shrink).

However, you found a cheap motherboard that can support two xeons, and can grab two of them for 20 pounds... I say why not? Might as well as go for it. Just check to make sure the motherboard doesn't require ECC enabled RAM, that used to be pretty expensive stuff (haven't looked at prices in 5 years, so I don't know what ECC RAM is at anymore).

 

[phyco126]

Can you link the specific chart you are looking at? The chart I am looking at shows them to be the following:

E7200 - 1,721
XEON 5150 - 1,725

Also, these charts are based on price per performance. The Xeon will be cheaper but run about the same speed. So therefore its score will be slightly higher due to being a cheaper processor.

Also, there is no magic that makes a Xeon 2.66 GHz run faster than it's generation's non-xeon 2.66 GHz processor. Both will run the same speed. If the server has more cache, it will run faster in some applications that are cache hungry. A Xeon is nothing more than a higher binned chip - meaning it has better silicon and can run under a more stressful environment.

 

[lsteele]

Ok, this is the chart: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=%5BDual+CPU%5D+Intel+Xeon+5150+%40+2.66GHz

I realise now that it must refer to the total performance of the system with two processors, not one. Which makes it seem a lot less exciting, and possibly not the hassle.

Ok, is there any sensible upgrade I can do with my existing motherboard or do I just need to start from scratch?

Can you link the specific chart you are looking at? The chart I am looking at shows them to be the following:

E7200 - 1,721
XEON 5150 - 1,725

Also, these charts are based on price per performance. The Xeon will be cheaper but run about the same speed. So therefore its score will be slightly higher due to being a cheaper processor.

Also, there is no magic that makes a Xeon 2.66 GHz run faster than it's generation's non-xeon 2.66 GHz processor. Both will run the same speed. If the server has more cache, it will run faster in some applications that are cache hungry. A Xeon is nothing more than a higher binned chip - meaning it has better silicon and can run under a more stressful environment.

 

[phyco126]

Yes, that is based on the performance of having two Xeon's in the system (which basically doubled the score). I'm not against you doing this; it could be a fun project and you will see an increased performance in multi-threaded applications.

As for upgrades, if you can find a Q9300 for cheap on eBay, that would be a good upgrade, putting you at the same performance as basically those two Xeon's.

Also, if your MB can handle it, I would max out the amount of RAM to whatever the board can handle. 2GB isn't really enough, 4 GB would be better, and 8 GB would be optimal.

 

[lsteele]

The Q9300's seem to go for about £75 ($116). Is this sufficiently economical to make sense?

 

[phyco126]

Depends on who you ask. Some will say it makes no sense upgrading bygone technology with bygone technology. But for 75 pounds, you can get a quad-core chip. Throw it in your PC; no need to upgrade the MB. Add more RAM and whatever money you have left over, possibly upgrade the GPU (if the GPU will help speed things up in CAD).

 

[lsteele]

I take your point. Seems that the best I can get new for that money is a Pentium G860 which has a lower passmark score, plus I'd need a new motherboard. The only catch is that DDR2 memory seems a lot pricier than DDR3... Gonna have to do some sums!

Thanks for the help.

 

[phyco126]

Not a problem. If it was me, and this is just going based on price of that quad-core, I would just upgrade to the Q9300 and add some RAM. The Q9300 is still a good chip despite its age and will get the job done. But this is just what I would do if I was on a bit of a budget.

Now, if you had a higher budget, then shoot for a new quad-core base Ivy Bridge and call it a day.

 

[Pailin]

If you have a budget of about £200

(... CAD likes more Threads) - get a cheap i7, will be a lot faster than the Q9300 and can be done in about your budget

for about close to £220 ish you can get an i7 920 + Mobo and RAM with a little patience on ebay.

Should be an excellent setup for your work

 

[lsteele]

Hi,

Pailin, you convinced me. I realised if I went the i7 route I'd be able to sell all my old kit (vs keeping everything but the processor), and I don't have to spend much more than my original plan. So I just picked up an i7 920 d0. Now I'm looking for a suitable motherboard. I found all the following going on ebay for not much. I'm tempted by the P7H55d-M EVO...

Asus P7H55D-M EVO
Asus P7H55-M SI
ASRock H55M-LE Rev 1.02

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Luke

 

[Pailin]

as a simple budget board it seems like a cheap deal at £35ish to get you up and running, though I have no idea about how Good a board it is or even if it come with good overclocking features

How much of your budget have you spent so far and do you also still need RAM ?