Question Xeon x5660 on Intel DX58SO ??

[sirrelll]

Hi all, I have been running the same rig, i7 920 on an older intel DX58SO motherboard with 8gb DDR3 for like 8 years now, and I want to swap it out for a xeon x5660 that I bought on ebay to squeeze a couple more years out of my PC. When I put the cpu in, the PC turned on with no display, turned off after a few seconds and turned on again with still no display. I think the issue is I need to update my motherboard's BIOS, but intel has removed any downloads for the DX58SO motherboard from their website as of a few months ago I think. Is there any workaround for this?

 

[william p]

I'm seeing a BIOS dated 07 29,2013 running Xeons at userbenchmark.com
https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Intel-DX58SO/2640
No version number given though.
ver. 5600 here says improved processor support.
https://drivers.softpedia.com/dyn-search.php?search_term=DX58SO&p_category=10
W3680 Xeon is unlocked and can be overclocked with Throttlestop software.
You should look on page 14 of the manual and try to get a 3 channel RAM setup going. Most X58 boards have 6 RAM slots.
https://www.intel.com/content/dam/s...p-boards/X58/DX58SO/DX58SO_ProductGuide02.pdf
4 just causes confusion. HP did that also.

 

[sirrelll]

I'm seeing a BIOS dated 07 29,2013 running Xeons at userbenchmark.com
https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Intel-DX58SO/2640
No version number given though.
ver. 5600 here says improved processor support.
https://drivers.softpedia.com/dyn-search.php?search_term=DX58SO&p_category=10
W3680 Xeon is unlocked and can be overclocked with Throttlestop software.
You should look on page 14 of the manual and try to get a 3 channel RAM setup going. Most X58 boards have 6 RAM slots.
https://www.intel.com/content/dam/s...p-boards/X58/DX58SO/DX58SO_ProductGuide02.pdf
4 just causes confusion. HP did that also.

The express bios update is giving me this error: https://prnt.sc/ql4g1q
And yeah the dx50so has a channel a0 and a1, and channels b and c .

 

[william p]

Ask these guys.
https://www.bios-mods.com/

The express bios update is giving me this error: https://prnt.sc/ql4g1q
And yeah the dx50so has a channel a0 and a1, and channels b and c .

The memory controller is on the CPU so there should be some way to get 3 channel RAM going on that. Page 38 here.
https://www.intel.com/content/dam/s...p-boards/X58/DX58SO/DX58SO_ProductGuide02.pdf

 

[william p]

In the manual I saw a v1 , and v2 motherboard. Sometimes the MB itself won't accept newer CPUs.
A Xeon X3570, or X3580 are about $20 and are also unlocked multiplier.
Overclocking is done here.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...cking-desktop-pcs.235975/page-34#post-4182221

 

[sirrelll]

In the manual I saw a v1 , and v2 motherboard. Sometimes the MB itself won't accept newer CPUs.
A Xeon X3570, or X3580 are about $20 and are also unlocked multiplier.
Overclocking is done here.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...cking-desktop-pcs.235975/page-34#post-4182221

Is there going to be a visible difference in power between my current i7 920 and the Xeon w3570? They're both 4 core 8 thread cpus

 

[william p]

The Xeons support 1333 RAM in 3 slots, the i7 is 1066. . Those older CPUs drop RAM speed if you fill up all the slots.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-W3570-vs-Intel-Core-i7-920
The overclocked i7 920 scores well though. For $20 I'd give it a try.

 

[sirrelll]

The Xeons support 1333 RAM in 3 slots, the i7 is 1066. . Those older CPUs drop RAM speed if you fill up all the slots.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-W3570-vs-Intel-Core-i7-920
The overclocked i7 920 scores well though. For $20 I'd give it a try.

Will I see a considerable difference in the w3570? My issue with the 920 was that it was overheating so I had to underclock it. Cooling is a Hyper TX3 EVO so I dont see why it would be overheating.

 

[william p]

That cooler to my eye looks like a cooler for a 95W CPU. The i7 920 and Xeon are both 130W parts. If you're going to take advantage of the unlocked multiplier then a much more aggressive cooler will be needed. A 120mm cooler with 5 or 6 heatpipes would be appropriate.
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=scythe

 

[sirrelll]

That cooler to my eye looks like a cooler for a 95W CPU. The i7 920 and Xeon are both 130W parts. If you're going to take advantage of the unlocked multiplier then a much more aggressive cooler will be needed. A 120mm cooler with 5 or 6 heatpipes would be appropriate.
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=scythe

Are you saying this could be my problem? I did recently put the TX3 in because my aio was leaking, if I can solve my performance issues with a better cooler? I have around $50 AUD/$40 USD to work with.

 

[william p]

The Cooler Maste Hyper 212 Evo has been the go to budget cooler for a while. The extra heatpipes and 120mm fan are about what's needed. For overclocking a 130W base clock CPU you will need more, and it will cost more.
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-212E-20PK-R2-Contact-Renewed/dp/B07JZTZ2RZ?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-
20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07JZTZ2RZ

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JQ2YDCY/ref=psdc_11036281_t1_B005O65JXI
It will solve your immediate problem. It will cool the Xeon at stock speeds but if you want to overclock you should get a better cooler now so you don't have to buy again later.

 

[faalin]

i did this switch a few years ago. for work i have a Asus rampage 3 extreme board, upgraded from a 950 to a X5690. Issues i ran into is the ram could only run at 1333Mhz and could not overclock as well as the 950.

I ended up buying a used 980x to fully use the ram at 1600Mhz and it overclocks to 4.5ghz.


Throw your 920 back in and manually downclock the ram to 1333Mhz, then throw the x 5660 back in and see if it boots. If i remember correctly that is what mine did until i figured out the ram issue.

 

[sirrelll]

i did this switch a few years ago. for work i have a Asus rampage 3 extreme board, upgraded from a 950 to a X5690. Issues i ran into is the ram could only run at 1333Mhz and could not overclock as well as the 950.

I ended up buying a used 980x to fully use the ram at 1600Mhz and it overclocks to 4.5ghz.


Throw your 920 back in and manually downclock the ram to 1333Mhz, then throw the x 5660 back in and see if it boots. If i remember correctly that is what mine did until i figured out the ram issue.

I can't even do the switch to the x5660 I bought, due to intel REMOVING their BIOS downloads for legacy boards like 3 months ago. Really frustrating for me now to realise my new cooler is garbage.

The Cooler Maste Hyper 212 Evo has been the go to budget cooler for a while. The extra heatpipes and 120mm fan are about what's needed. For overclocking a 130W base clock CPU you will need more, and it will cost more.
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-212E-20PK-R2-Contact-Renewed/dp/B07JZTZ2RZ?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-
20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07JZTZ2RZ

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JQ2YDCY/ref=psdc_11036281_t1_B005O65JXI
It will solve your immediate problem. It will cool the Xeon at stock speeds but if you want to overclock you should get a better cooler now so you don't have to buy again later.

I plan on building a new PC within the next year, I think this will keep me going until I can afford to move to Ryzen. Will be going with the Hyper 212x to cool the i7 920, it's actually an even better version of the 212 Evo.
Thanks for your help, you've been amazing mate!

 

[faalin]

I can't even do the switch to the x5660 I bought, due to intel REMOVING their BIOS downloads for legacy boards like 3 months ago. Really frustrating for me now to realise my new cooler is garbage.

When i first put in the x5690 it did the same thing yours is doing, it would boot loop with no image on the screen. It wasnt till i turn my ram speeds down fro 1600Mhz to 1333Mhz that it would finally boot.

I would give the ram speed a try, the worst that is going to happen is it still wont boot and you lost some time swapping out cpus.