Running overclocked Xeon X5675 on legacy server boards with proper cooling and power management.
Running overclocked Xeon X5675 on legacy server boards with proper cooling and power management.
I intend to assemble a machine with two Xeon X5675 processors and aim to push them over their limits. From what I've read, some enthusiasts achieved speeds around 4.6GhZ, but I prefer a more stable setting near 4.2. Most of the overclocking experiences I've seen come from non-server motherboards with just one socket, so I'm curious about using older server boards. Regarding cooling, you'll need something effective since these CPUs will generate heat. For power, a 750W supply seems reasonable, though I'm concerned about reliability. If you're using an older GPU like the AMD Radeon HD 6770 for display purposes, it should handle the load. I'm open to suggestions on better alternatives if you find a cheaper GPU for the price. Let me know!
I've used two machines from that CPU range. Both have X5650 and X5660 chips. Right out of the box they require strong cooling and ample power—each has a 95W TDP. Both are OEM, came with 500-600W power supplies, and included slot-based graphics cards. That’s what Dell and HP assumed was enough for just one unit at launch. For running two at full speed, you’d likely need around 750W minimum, and you definitely shouldn’t cut corners. You’ll also need a PSU supporting two 8-pin CPU power connections and a motherboard with eight 8-pin power outlets for each unit, since they’ll draw several hundred watts once overclocked. What’s your main purpose for this setup? Is it just for testing or something more serious?
Choose reliable coolers that fit well. For power needs, aim for at least 850 watts. However, a solid 1kW would be ideal. I’ve used two 850-watt units with my X58 rig, which only had a single X5690 and a Fermi. That older gear really struggles under heavy loads. Still, I’ve run 950 watts from an 850-watt power supply before, so proceed with caution.
This project is mainly for refining text and preparing documents. That’s why I believed having two processors would be beneficial—I can definitely utilize the extra cores. Wow, that’s more than I anticipated. But if I choose not to overclock now (these CPUs are still upgrades even without overclocking), am I okay with a 750W power supply? This build is supposed to be fairly affordable right now (based on the GPU you selected), so a 1kW supply might be excessive. I discovered an 80+bronze rated PSU (Zalman ZM750-GVII) and it seems suitable. I don’t have much hardware experience, so how do I be sure this is correct? I also found a Dell PowerEdge R510 server motherboard with two LGA1366 sockets, is that acceptable? As I mentioned earlier, the PSU I found would fit. As for the coolers, assuming I don’t overclock at the moment, I found some affordable options (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001049790389.html) and they appear to work fine. Agh, now it feels like I’m cutting corners.
Understand that the setup is handling 95 watts just sitting idle, but what’s actually going on? My X5690 could handle 300 watts alone. Adding the board RAM and system power brings it to around 100 watts more. Running a stock X5690 with GTX970 didn’t go well, leaving little room for overclocking—possibly up to 4GHz. The PSU wasn’t upgraded either. My 5900X is a 105-watt model, but when I run F@h on just the CPU, the wall draw exceeds 300 watts, which only slightly increases the PSU fan speed. The TDP can be tricky to manage. I also noticed that using both CPU and GPU for compute tasks pushes the power draw to 750 watts, causing the rails to become noticeably loose at 500 watts. That’s a bit concerning.
The CPU should draw around 95W at base speed. Speeds will increase during boost phases. Overclocking will further raise the draw. The overall system consumption at normal operation is likely near 300W when fully loaded, though I haven't tested those older Xeon systems. For that workstation I purchased, HP offered a 500W 80+ Bronze power supply. Another similar machine from the same time had only a 250W white label unit, suggesting they wouldn't justify a larger capacity unless it was essential for regular use.
Sure thing, man. Those 570s in SLi at 900MHz and my x5690 at 4200 were more than enough to push a Corsair TX-850 to its limits. Honestly, it might have been with fewer clocks overall if I’d been a bit more careful. Just pushing it a little too far, maybe even until it failed.
That 8700K performs quite strongly, and with those MEMS components I’m sure she’s quite capable. All good, my friend—I understand you’re juggling a lot these days. How does that PSU manage running two of them? At around 1.15v? I don’t really have much control over my setup right now. I wiped out the BIOS using custom clocks, voltages, memory speeds, voltage profiles, and fan curves. The odd thing is I can only apply one of roughly 28 GPU tweak versions with a specific driver, and it must be from Windows 7. I lost the drive that housed my old drivers, which made things even tougher. Because of this, I won’t purchase another Matrix Platinum or a new Crucial SSD in the future. Those files were crucial, and such a failure is unacceptable. Hope everything’s progressing smoothly, man, and enjoy your weekend!