CPU For Gaming

[Durvelle27]

Have any of you guys used a Intel Xeon for gaming. If so how did it perform. As i was thinking of getting a Intel Xeon E5-2630 V3 instead of a i7-5960X due to the more cores, cache, and price.

 

[RCoon]

Have any of you guys used a Intel Xeon for gaming. If so how did it perform. As i was thinking of getting a Intel Xeon E5-2630 V3 instead of a i7-5960X due to the more cores, cache, and price.

More cores is relatively worthless for gaming right now. We see it time and time again, 4 higher clocked cores are a million times better than 8 or 12 low clocked ones. Don't jump on the hype train of more-cores-is-better-for-real-gamers. It just isn't good value for money at all. I understand this is an enthusiast website, but anything more than a generic i7 begins to trade off cores for per-core-clockspeed.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

More cores is relatively worthless for gaming right now. We see it time and time again, 4 higher clocked cores and a million times better than 8 or 12 low clocked ones. Don't jump on the hype train of more-cores-is-better-for-real-gamers. It just isn't good value for money at all. I understand this is an enthusiast website, but anything more than a generic i7 begins to trade off cores for per-core-clockspeed.

building on what RCoon said, I don't even see the need for something like one of my 3930ks over a 4c/8t i7 like a 2600k/3770k/4790k. I had a 2600k OC'ed to 4.5ghz before I got my first 3930k (OC'ed to 4.3ghz). There was NO difference in gaming between the two CPUs using the same GPU (GTX 780ti) that I could notice.

 

[Durvelle27]

I also forgot to mention i do alot of editing & rendering

 

[RCoon]

I also forgot to mention i do alot of editing & rendering

i7 is just as good at rendering. It has the 8 threads and higher clocks than the Xeon does at stock. Honestly, unless you're making your living off of editing and rendering, I'd consider it a massive waste of money over a normal i7.

 

[Durvelle27]

i7 is just as good at rendering. It has the 8 threads and higher clocks than the Xeon does at stock. Honestly, unless you're making your living off of editing and rendering, I'd consider it a massive waste of money over a normal i7.

Not as of yet but i am taking a game dev course in school

I considered the i7-5960X at first but than i saw the Xeon and it's price

$1100 vs $667

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Not as of yet but i am taking a game dev course in school

I considered the i7-5960X at first but than i saw the Xeon and it's price

$1100 vs $667

I'd be willing to bet a $500 5930k from Microcenter OC'ed to around 4.5ghz would out perform that Xeon at 3.2ghz (max turbo for the Xeon).

 

[micropage7]

i agree, today software couldnt maximize all cores. 4 cores is ok but more than that is kinda wasting since you cant have full power of it

 

[Durvelle27]

i agree, today software couldnt maximize all cores. 4 cores is ok but more than that is kinda wasting since you cant have full power of it

With how i see things more cores are becoming more important.

Also note it has to be X79 or X99

 

[jboydgolfer]

just buy a good i5 if your looking for gaming...unless of course you do Lots of editing and rendering, then get an i7...save the extra $ and use it elsewhere. you'll be glad you did.

 

[RCoon]

Not as of yet but i am taking a game dev course in school

I considered the i7-5960X at first but than i saw the Xeon and it's price

$1100 vs $667

One is overclockable, the other has an extremely low stock clock and low turbo clock.

Also, why does it have to be x79 or x99?

 

[Durvelle27]

One is overclockable, the other has an extremely low stock clock and low turbo clock.

Also, why does it have to be x79 or x99?

Need Many SATA connections and PCIe Lanes

 

[RCoon]

Need Many SATA connections and PCIe Lanes

How many SATA and how many PCIE, and for what items exactly?

Usually there's a difference between actually needing something, and convincing yourself that you need something Most Z97 boards have up to 8 sata, which is enough for a 512GB MX100 and 7 1, 2 or 4 TB HDD's.

As for PCIE lanes, PCI-E 3.0 is double the bandwidth, so with 16 total PCIE 3.0 lanes you still have the equivalent of 32 PCIE 2.0 lanes. A GPU only needs 8 2.0 lanes, or 4 3.0 lanes, so you could run 4 GPU's on a supporting Z97 motherboard, or 2 GPU's and a sound and a capture card.

 

[Durvelle27]

How many SATA and how many PCIE, and for what items exactly?

Usually there's a difference between actually needing something, and convincing yourself that you need something Most Z97 boards have up to 8 sata, which is enough for a 512GB MX100 and 7 1, 2 or 4 TB HDD's.

As for PCIE lanes, PCI-E 3.0 is double the bandwidth, so with 16 total PCIE 3.0 lanes you still have the equivalent of 32 PCIE 2.0 lanes. A GPU only needs 8 2.0 lanes, or 4 3.0 lanes, so you could run 4 GPU's on a supporting Z97 motherboard, or 2 GPU's and a sound and a capture card.

I have about 10+ HDDs i need to use and i was thinking of getting 3x R9 290X, capture card, and a sound card

 

[RCoon]

I have about 10+ HDDs i need to use and i was thinking of getting 3x R9 290X, capture card, and a sound card

Now here's the kicker

1: Do you actually need those 10+ HDD's, or are they all mismatched HDD's that can be replaced with 4-6 7200RPM 2TB or bigger drives?
2: Do you actually intend on buying all of this gear (this is some seriously expensive stuff, and I recall seeing a thread where you weren't in the best of monetary situations), or is this all purely theoretical talk?
3: Is this a viable use of this amount of money purely for gaming at 1080p or eyefinity or whatever you use? By the looks of the capture card business, it looks like you're hoping to stream or record videos. Is this massive expenditure worth it for something that may not necessarily net you much benefit besides the joy of playing games? (Which can be done far cheaper, I also stream games, with an i5 and a GTX 780 on 1440p!)

Again, I understand this is an enthusiasts site, but most of us live in normal circumstances in terms of hardware.
I really don't mean to come across as condescending or anything, I'm just trying to relate to things I've seen before, or situations I've been in before.


If I'm out of line, tell me.

 

[Durvelle27]

1. Yes
2. Yes reason i sold off my i7-4770 gear
3. Like mentioned it's just for gaming as i do rendering/gaming more than i game

No you're fine

 

[Frick]

When in doubt, dual/quad socket.

I'd go for the Xeon in a heartbeat.

 

[Durvelle27]

Guess Xeon it is than