What's your question for the Intel team?
What's your question for the Intel team?
I usually work with AMD hardware, but I noticed several Intel enthusiasts relying on older Xeons instead of upgrading their systems. That makes sense in most cases, since I've seen some 6C or 8C models, even higher-end ones. However, while browsing for a couple budget builds, I found mentions of Xeon support—something unusual for a single-socket board. Looking it up, the best option was a 4C/8T chip at around 3.70 to 4.10 GHz, which is slightly faster than an i7-2600 in similar builds. Finding these listings on sites like Amazon and eBay led to prices ranging from $180 to $200. Why such high costs? Were these Xeons already hyperthreading when they were released? Could ECC buffering play a role in the price difference? You can buy an i7-2600 for just $25 to $40, yet pay that much for a processor with a similar spec. What makes someone spend so much just because of the brand name?
ECC support stands out as the main distinction between the E3 Xeons and standard i5/i7 models. (The built-in graphics perform marginally better on Xeons, though it’s just a modest edge.) These desktop processors are widely available in much larger quantities than budget workstation chips. The E5 series brings the most excitement. When you move to LGA1356 and LGA2011 socket versions, you gain additional PCIe lanes, enhanced ECC RAM options, multi-processor compatibility, and significantly more cores.
An LGA1155 Xeon offers similar performance to an i7-2600 or i7-3770 in terms of speed and capabilities.
They don’t really justify the higher price in my view. E3 Xeons might run a bit faster, but their architecture and caches are the same. (A 3770k should likely outperform them even with a small boost.) All of them use the Ivy Bridge quad-core design. If you want more speed than an i7 3770 can offer, it’s time to switch platforms.
I thought the details were enough. It looks like they just added a fun name to a basic 2600K model. You mentioned the excitement comes from the E5s, and I know some servers with E5606 are coming out. Are those the ones you're referring to, or are you talking about the Ex-xxxx vx series? Updated October 28, 2022 by An0maly_76 Added more info
The E56xx series are Nehalem-based, and the E5606 is a quad-core model without hyperthreading. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_In...lem-based) You're looking at the E5-24xx or E5-26xx lines. v0 is Sandy Bridge, v2 is Ivy Bridge, v3 is Haswell, and v4 is Broadwell. There are no E5-24xx models from v3 or v4 since Intel saw little demand for a mid-range workstation CPU with only two-thirds the features of a large server socket. I'd skip anything older than Sandy Bridge—its performance doesn't justify the power usage.
I switched from an i5 4440 to a Xeon E3 1280V3. It lacked ECC support, but it matched the performance of a 4790 and cost about a third of what it did at the time. The new processor kept me productive for another year before it became too slow, prompting an upgrade.
I wasn't expecting it, but I learned about a potential flipper deal yesterday that turned out to be LGA775. My current projects are driven by necessity, and that’s when ideas come. The Lenovo M71E performed poorly as a media NAS, yet destroying a functioning i7-2600 and a loose i3-2100 processor seemed like a waste. Videos on YouTube suggest both models could work well for budget gamers, which would be exciting for some kids. New retail prices are impressive these days, especially considering the value for money, though it might be tempting for parents this Christmas. I decided to take matters into my own hands and assist others in getting better value. My GTX1650 didn’t start because Lenovo restricted the H61 to a GTX1060 maximum. So the 2600 is being upgraded to a GTX1050ti, while the i3-2100 gets a GTX750ti—both using 4GB EVGA SC cards. However, needing a second board, plus $30 in header adapters to upgrade a $30 board, didn’t seem worth it given $40 DH77EB boards available on eBay. After this, I’m unlikely to view Lenovo as anything more than a source for CPUs, memory, and storage. The DH77EB QVL model appears to support Xeon, which raises questions. I considered a future no-markup Xeon upgrade offer to make the lower-spec machine more appealing, but with an LGA1155 board, an i7-2600(K) seems more fitting. The Xeon options only provide slightly higher clock speeds for the same core/thread count. Some specs or requirements call for 1600 RAM, which isn’t supported by earlier generations. Edited October 28, 2022 by An0maly_76 Updated, more info