4 replies to this topic

[Ocilfa]

I've always put Intel Xeons and gaming in two separate worlds. Xeon for server stuff, i3/i5/i7 for general/gaming. However, apparently the xeon is a secret i7 at the i5 price. There are only a few drawbacks:

It drops the HD4000 igpu. Which this is to reduce power(and the price) I'm assuming.

You cant overclock.

Also, you need to plan ahead when buying a mobo. You definitely don't need a server-type mobo, since most regular 1155 socket boards will support it just fine. However, there are also the few that don't, so please do your homework.

Its worth noting that you don't need server-type ram(unbuffered or something like that).

It's also worth reading the reviews on newegg: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819117286

Edited by Ocilfa, 19 April 2013 - 08:40 AM.

[ArmageddonKnight]

IMHO , if any1 intends on building gaming rig around a intel build they 'should' have enough money to invest in a good mid to high end air or good AIO water cooling system. And with the will to build / buy such a system i expect they would be verssed in enough in computer knowledge to get their heads around OCing. Any1 with a K version i5 or i7 that doesnt OC is IMO a tad silly.

Xeon vs i7 is fine and dandy when OC'ing isnt somthing ur looking for. Xeon's can be OC'd but they are a PITA to do so and dont go as far as non Xeons would.
if ur looking for somthing for gaming, stick with a normal i5 or i7 that can OC. it will last longer, if u get a Xeon it may be cheaper and maybe even better at stock as a equaly priced i5/i7 ..but without the ability to OC very well, it wont last as long performance wise.

[Egomane]

If you don't plan to overclock then the E3s are a valid choice. In fact I selected one for my next upgrade (E3-1230v2 to be exact).

But ...
While Intel blocked almost all ways to overclock the Xeons, some mainboards are still capable of overclocking them (as I don't intend to do so I haven't looked closer on how they do it). If you are willing to do some research, you could get the same longevity out of the Xeon you could get from an i5, without the mostly useless HD4000 graphics core.

They perform close to the equally clocked i5s in gaming, but bring the extra power of an i7 for heavily multi-threaded applications like video rendering, for the same or sometimes even lower price then an i5.

[Catamount]

I agree with the OC capability being more valuable though, at least for a gaming-centered rig. If gaming is an afterthought maybe it would be easier to justify. For a machine where gaming was a major concern, however, even if I did do video rendering though, I think I'd rather have a 3570k at 4.3 or 4.4 (typical stock voltage OC you can get even with a bad IHS), than a Xeon pumping all cores up to 3.4 or 3.5 (the 3.7 is for one core, not all), overall.

Still, for certain builds that need an emphasis on multicore performance, this is a good option, much more economical than a 3770k for high-performance work where OCing isn't necessary.

Edited by Catamount, 19 April 2013 - 09:29 AM.

[Bad Karma 308]

I almost exclusively use Xeon based systems and they've become my goto system for gaming as well. The OP is correct at every point.

The only issue that I've really found is when you drop a Xeon in a consumer baser motherboard, is that you can lose some of the more advanced features inherint to a server CPU. Another factor is that consumer level chipsets have far less IO capabilitites than thier server based bretherin.

So will an E-3 based Xeon work in a Z77 Mother board? Most of the time.

Will you handicap that Xeon using a Z77 Motherboard. Yes.

If you pay a few bucks more for a Workstation or server class mother board will it make a great gaming machine?......hell yea!

Edited by Bad Karma 308, 19 April 2013 - 05:34 PM.