Xeon E5-2670 system build for $400

xaqery · Jan 30, 2016

I just wanted to get some consultation before I lock in my this build. I've been looking at making a budget pc for a while now. I found out that there are some really good Xeon CPUs that you can get used for really cheap because of high supply from old servers and little demand. This build revolves around the Xeon E5-2670 (v1), which costs $1500 new, but used you can find for less than $100.

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2670 @ 2.60GHz $90
Motherboard: ASUS P9X79 LE ATX LGA2011 X79 DDR3 $130
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO $30
RAM: 2x4 GB G.Skill Ripjaws $30
PSU: Corsair CX600M $70 (-$20 MIR)
Case: Misc ATX mid tower (haven't chosen yet) ~$50

Total ~$400

I've already got 2 hard drives but I may want to get an SSD, and I have a crappy GPU already (Geforce GT 740) which I plan on upgrading a little later down the road.

One of my biggest concerns is about the age of the CPU. Its an incredible deal, but it is a Sandy Bridge. So should I have any particular concern about the lifetime of the system? Will it become outdated faster than some other $500 build even though the its a much better CPU than I could get new at that price?

My main goal is for a good value PC that will last me a long time and I can upgrade in the future fairly easily. I'm looking for it to be used for everyday use, gaming, and some rendering. I know the GPU isn't good but I mostly play older games and I want to get a new one in like 2 years.

Other questions:
Should I get 2x8 GB ram for $65 instead of 2x4GB for $30?
Should I get an SSD? (I have a 500GB HDD and 250GB HDD already)
Is that CPU cooler sufficient for high loads (no OC)?

bambiboom · Jan 30, 2016

xaqery :

xaqery,

I'm a big fan of this kind of system. I've bought a number of used CPU's over the last several years: Xeon: X3230, (2) X5460, (2) X5680, X5677, and: Core2 Quad Q6700, Core2 Duo E6700 and have never any kind of failure. Xeons such as the E5-2600 series are deigned to run under full load in servers for years continuously. As long as they're kept within their thermal limits, and with well-regulated power supplied Xeons seem indestructible. the E5-2670 you mention is a v1, introduced in the 1st quarter of 2012, so it's not that elderly. A lot of servers are kept in service for three years and then retired as a matter of course - not from problems, but extreme carefulness.

The CPU cooler should be fine as the E5-2670 is a moderate 115W. Find a good airy case,

The ex-server dual CPU models are indeed very good value. A couple of weeks ago I bought a Xeon X5677 which is a 32nm dual configuration 4-core @ 3.47 / 3.73GHz for $60 (new $1,550) and it really perked up a $53 Dell Precision.

You mentioned rendering and the 8-core /16 thread E5-2670 should be excellent for that. On Passmark, the average CPU score for a single E5-2670 is 12468. The i7-3930K -an unlocked gaming CPU- average is 12135. For gaming, the turbo speed is 3.3Ghz which might be at the lower end for games, but a good GPU can make up for a lot. - If your budget allows, I've seen used GTX 750 Ti (2GB) for $100.

An SSD will improve this system in important ways fro any of your uses. The prices seem to drop daily. I haven't tried it but there is a Silicon Power 120 or so GB for $50 that gets high user ratings.

What are you using for the operating system? That is an important cost consideration.

One other approach you might consider is to buy a used "barebones" LGA2011 workstation that can run the E5-2600 series. This would provide a solid case with the right cooling, very reliable PSU's, and workstations are designed to be very quiet. How about:

HP Z420 BAREBONES Win7 Pro Workstation (No CPU/No RAM/No HDD/No VIDEO) > Sold for $199.99 (1.12.16)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z420-BAREBONES-Win7-Pro-Workstation-No-CPU-No-RAM-No-HDD-No-VIDEO-/172052018574?hash=item280f19758e%3Ag%3A04gAAOSw7FRWYcMk&nma=true&si=nuAhPYjYp0mDYd4bxdBGgFf38aI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

This is already cheaper than your build list as that is the case, motherboard, power supply and CPU cooler. Importantly, that will have Windows 7 Pro COA so you can download the ISO from MS and activate Windows from the COA product key- saving $140. With careful shopping there could be enough savings in this approach that you can have a reasonably good GPU like the GTX 750 Ti or so.

I have two Z420's and both have been 100% reliable. They can use 2X 150W GPU's with a 600W PSU and they are the quietest systems I've ever had.

And you don't have to order each part , assemble, configure, and trouble-shoot- only plug in the CPU, RAM, GPU, and drives. The system could be running in a few hours.

Whether any system will perform to your needs for five years is not easy to guess. In my view, VR is going to be the Next Big Thing - and not only in games- and that is going to demand hardware that may be described as "Fancy". But, with a good CPU running at a reasonable speed, tha ability to upgrade the GPU, RAM, and drives when necessary, I think it has a very good chance.

A really smart project.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 (6-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz) > 32GB DDR3 1866 ECC RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > Logitech z2300 speakers > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)>
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

_____________________________

This $171 system arrived with a Xeon E5260 and I upgraded by adding a 2nd CPU riser, 2X Xeon X5680 , 48GB RAM, Quadro K2200 . The whole system cost about $1,000.

Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > 2X Xeon X5680 (6 -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz), 48GB DDR3 1333 ECC Reg. > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > PERC H310 / Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (27", 1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3844 / CPU = 15047 / 2D= 662 / 3D= 3500 / Mem= 1785 / Disk= 2649] (12.30.15)
____________________________

This is a backup system costing $78 including shipping. The CPU ($60) and RAM ($43) and the PERC controller and drives were left over when I upgraded the $171 Precision. So, a $185 system:

Precision T3500 (2011) (Rev 2) Xeon X5677 4-core @ 3.47 /3.73GHz > 12GB (6X 2GB) DDR3-1333 ECC > Quadro 4000 (2GB) > PERC 6/i +Seagate 300GB 15K SAS ST3300657SS + WD Black 500GB > 525W PSU> Windows 7 Professional 64-bit > 2X Dell 19" LCD
[Passmark system rating = 2751, CPU = 7236 / 2D= 658 / 3D=2020 / Mem= 1875 / Disk=1221]

I have several other similar stories,..

xaqery · Jan 30, 2016

bambiboom :

Thanks a lot for all this info. I'm really glad I could get some information from someone who has done this kind of thing before.

Since you have bought used Xeons before, I wanted to ask you if either one of these seems better thatn the other:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-CPU-E5-2670-SR0KX-2-60GHz-Eight-Core-LGA2011-20MB-CPU-Processor-QTY-1-/262075926231?hash=item3d04f146d7:g:CtIAAOSwVL1WDvjj
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SR0KX-E5-2670-INTEL-XEON-8-CORE-PROCESSOR-2-60GHZ-20MB-81Y9419-Similar-SR0H8-/151964337392?hash=item2361c7c4f0:g:rvQAAOSwLnlWnVog

One of them says used and one says "New other", which I guess is like open box. They are basically the same price, so is there any reason NOT to get the "New other" one? This also kind of confues me because I thought the price on these was so low because of these old servers that are getting rid of them, but apparently one of these hasn't been used. So why is it also so cheap? Is it false information?

I already have a Windows 7 Pro OEM key, so I'm not too concerned about it already having an OS, but I've started looking at some barebones systems and that seems like a very efficient route to go. So thanks for that insight.However, I am not sure about buying a used motherboard and psu. If the motherboard fails before I want to upgrade cpu, I may have a hard time finding an x79 board. And how much life may be left in the psu? It's easy enough to replace but something I am considering.

I am having a bit of a tough time finding many LGA 2011 barebone workstations. I have found some complete workstations that fit in my criteria.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Workstation-Z420-XEON-3-0GHz-E5-1607-10GB-Ram-500GB-HDD-7-Pro-w-recovery-/201511355979?hash=item2eeb03464b:g:STIAAOSwGotWpl-c
this one looks pretty good, but this is a whole refurbished system and one of my biggest criteria for this build is for longevity.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkStation-D30-Dual-8-Core-Xeon-E5-2660-Quadro-5000-64GB-RAM-5TB-HDD-/231829070060?hash=item35fa16e0ec:g:CfkAAOSwpzdWqrVZ
This one's a complete system that is way better than my $400 build, and it's only $200+ right now. But again it is a used system.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-WORKSTATION-Z620-2X-INTEL-XEON-E5-2-4GHZ-250GB-HD-8GB-RAM-No-OS-/191793881577?hash=item2ca7ce61e9:g:414AAOSw5dNWqjqi
Then there's this one which is similar to my build but only $60 right now! Again it is refurbished though.

So my concern is that if I get a barebones system for the e5-2670, nearly everything will be used already, so why not just buy a completely used workstation? An as you see in the links above, there are some great deals on used workstations. I would enjoy building something from parts, but is it a better option to just buy a complete used system? Because in that case I may have to completely start over my search because I have kind of been basing this build around that xeon because of its high price/performance value but not because I actually need a xeon.

Thanks again

Goran Petric · Apr 12, 2016

@bambiboom which 775/771 xeons are better for overclocking? E or X series? E have lower tdp, does that means i can extract more out of them by overclocking?

I'm also thinking about E5 2670 but 2011 x79 motherboards are too darn expensive, for little bit more money i can have i5 6400+z170 mbo which is better for gaming. That xeon have somewhat slow and weak single cores compared to modern i5, which is important for gaming.
For editing station and such, that xeon is a beast, but for gaming... i dont know, there arent any gaming benchmarks out there

bambiboom · Apr 12, 2016

Goran Petric :

Goran Petric,

For a gaming system, the single-threaded performance, as you mention, is most important. The Xeon E5-2680 single threaded rating on Passmark is 1815 as compared to a Xeon E5-2670 of 1614.

A Xeon E5-2680 (8-core @ 2.7 /2.5GHz, about $150) with a single-threaded rating of 1719 but in genral, using an 8-core server CPU is not conducive to gaming use. If a system were purely used for single-threaded games, a dual core i3-6320 (about $170) has a rating of 2256 and apparently can be overclocked to 4.7GHz ( = Passmark benchmark result at this speed on MSI Z170A MS-7970). The i5-4670 scores 2157 for $225.

There are many good choices of i5, Xeon E3's with very good single-threaded perfrormance at reasonable cost. You might set a budget and then scan the Passmark single-threaded chart until your budget and the highest single-threaded rating intersect.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

HyperLoop · Sep 28, 2016

bambiboom :

Goran Petric :

Goran Petric,

For a gaming system, the single-threaded performance, as you mention, is most important. The Xeon E5-2670 single threaded rating on Passmark is 1815 as compared to a Xeon E5-2670 of 1614.

A Xeon E5-2680 (8-core @ 2.7 /2.5GHz, about $150) with a single-threaded rating of 1719 but in genral, using an 8-core server CPU is not conducive to gaming use. If a system were purely used for single-threaded games, a dual core i3-6320 (about $170) has a rating of 2256 and apparently can be overclocked to 4.7GHz ( = Passmark benchmark result at this speed on MSI Z170A MS-7970). The i5-4670 scores 2157 for $225.

There are many good choices of i5, Xeon E3's with very good single-threaded perfrormance at reasonable cost. You might set a budget and then scan the Passmark single-threaded chart until your budget and the highest single-threaded rating intersect.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Hi BambiBoom, Is it possible to contact you outside of this forum, on a personal messaging platform? I have a similar discussion but would like to take it to a personal messaging platform.

bambiboom · Sep 28, 2016

"Hi BambiBoom, Is it possible to contact you outside of this forum, on a personal messaging platform? I have a similar discussion but would like to take it to a personal messaging platform."

Hyperloop,

See message in your PM inbox.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

lordorwell · Oct 1, 2016

bambiboom :

it's not that simple. The OS is multi-threaded so even if a game only uses a single core the OS can arrange for that to be the only thing on that core. A dual-core PC doesn't have that luxury. Additionally, newer games are almost universally multi-core capable. For example, my xeon build (a dell precision t3500 with 22gb ram and a w5650 six-core) has 12 virtual cores and fallout 4 uses eight of them. The game was mostly playable on a 1gb video card except in the center of boston. I now use three monitors with a780ti. I couldn't be happier with my processor. I'm eyeballing the e5-2680 though. It's 8 cores and a slightly faster mhz.

zeroonea · Jan 5, 2017

Hi bambiboom, I building a xeon system with two E5 2670. Can you recommended some barebones workstation to start with? Thankyou

zeroonea · Jan 5, 2017

bambiboom :

Goran Petric :

Goran Petric,

For a gaming system, the single-threaded performance, as you mention, is most important. The Xeon E5-2680 single threaded rating on Passmark is 1815 as compared to a Xeon E5-2670 of 1614.

A Xeon E5-2680 (8-core @ 2.7 /2.5GHz, about $150) with a single-threaded rating of 1719 but in genral, using an 8-core server CPU is not conducive to gaming use. If a system were purely used for single-threaded games, a dual core i3-6320 (about $170) has a rating of 2256 and apparently can be overclocked to 4.7GHz ( = Passmark benchmark result at this speed on MSI Z170A MS-7970). The i5-4670 scores 2157 for $225.

There are many good choices of i5, Xeon E3's with very good single-threaded perfrormance at reasonable cost. You might set a budget and then scan the Passmark single-threaded chart until your budget and the highest single-threaded rating intersect.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

Hi bambiboom, I building a xeon system with two E5 2670. Can you recommended some barebones workstation to start with? Thankyou

bambiboom · Jan 5, 2017

xaqery :

zaquery,

If true, "new other" is a very good feature. Keep in mind, though the MTBF (= Mean Time Before Failure) of a Xeon E5-2670 is 170,000 hours- that's 19.4 years' continuous running. For your $1,550 and in servr use, they needed to be ultra-reliable. That fact plus experience with 6 used workstation in the last 8 years having 100% reliability- not one component failure or MB of data lost- are examples of why I have no qualms about suggesting used workstations. I would have far less confidence in a used overclocked, overcooked gaming system.

So, yes, if you can find a used workstation such as the Dell Precison T3600 or HP z420 with the right processor, you'll be way ahead. Keep in mind that if you don't need an 8-core processor - and there is not a lot of software that needs that- CPU rendering, Solidworks, an scientific applications are among those few- I'd suggest something like:

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620 @ 3.60GHz 16GB RAM 500GB HDD 54858MA > Sold for $120 12.8.16

That's less costly than the new other E5-2670 alone. And, actually, the E5-1620 is much better than E5-2670 in a very important way:

Intel Xeon E5-1620 @ 3.60GHz Intel Xeon E5-2670 @ 2.60GHz

Socket Type ____LGA2011_________LGA2011
CPU Class ______Server ___________Server
Clockspeed ____3.6 GHz__________2.6 GHz
Turbo Speed ___Up to 3.8 GHz_____ Up to 3.3 GHz
Physical Cores ____4 _____________ 8 (2 logical cores per physical)
Max TDP__________130W_________ 115W
Single Thread Rating_1932_____1605
CPU Mark________ 9095___________ 12411

The E5-2670 gets through far more calculation cycles/ unit time than the E5-1620, but the single-thread rating of the E5-1620 makes it faster in all but the very few kinds of software mentioned. the E5-1620 system would feel much faster than the E5-2670 -except during CPU rendering or running custom fully-threaded algorithm on Matlab.

The E5-1620 is not the glamorous 8-core-which is a specialized thing anyway, but the $120 cost is low enough that you could add a 120-128GB SSD, a used GTX like the 750Ti, and a good SATAIII drive like a WD Blue 1TB right away for the $400. I used a system that began just like that one that for two years as my main system for 3D CAD:

HP z420 (2013)(Revision 2) > Xeon E5-1620 four core @ 3.6 /3.8GHz > 24GB DDR3 ECC 1600 RAM > Quadro 2200 (4GB) > Intel 730 (480GB) > M-Audio 192 soundcard Linksys WMP600N WiFi
[Passmark system rating = 4403 / CPU = 9280 / 2D= 797 / 3D= 3481/ Mem= 2559 / Disk= 4498]

Cheers,

BambiBoom

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