xeon w3540 gaming performance

Dagoat,

Remarkably, there is one Precision T3500 with both a Xeon W3540 and GTX 750ti on Passmark Performance Test:

Rating = 1952
CPU = 4606
2D = 496
3D = 3682
Mem = 1647
Disk = 646

The W3540 (4-core @ 2.93 / 3.2 GHz, original cost $683) is under-performing a bit in that T3500. The average Passmark benchmark if 5493.

However, the average for the GTX 750 ti is 3687 and given that average will include systems with fast, current CPU's, the GPU is not being throttled.

I'd say give it a try as is, and consider adding an SSD to perk up the disk system if it doesn't have one. For example there is the OCZ Trion 100 250GB that was selling recently for only about $60 on Amazon. There is also the PERC H310 PCIe RAID controller that will convert the disk system to 6GB/s.

If the CPU disappoints, there's always the W3580 4-core @ 3.33 /3.6 and X5687 4-core @ 3.6 /3.86GHz.

The Dell Precision TX500 series are beautifully made, ultra-reliable, and there are some really impressive LGA1366 CPU's for not much money. - Good choice!

Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six-core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card 875W PSU > Logitech z313> Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench 15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15

Pending upgrades: Add 2nd X5680 , Add 6GB RAM, PERC H310 RAID controller

Network: Netgear GS108-400NAS Gigabit Ethernet