Intel first timer - Xeon CPU advice?

[BigBadBeef]

Greetings everyone,

AMD has always met my needs but I am not a fanboy. I would like to build a 900€ Xeon rig. Its features seem almost ideal for me except I cannot find certain bits of information that I require to make my decision:

1) My mobo of choice is Asus H97 plus. Cheap, high-tech, but it throws out a strange warning:
*Intel Xeon Processor Family is designed for servers. Some features may not support when installed on 8 series chipsets. For more details, refer to ASUS support site at http://support.asus.com.
I believe I would only loose ECC which I don't need, can you confirm that, please?

2) Some people I asked claim that Xeon have issues with crossfire, could somebody provide a reply to that?

3) How is a Xeon E3 1240v3 for gaming?
Let me stress that it would not be just a gaming rig since I do work on it too, but I enjoy spending late evening behind a PC, duking out games at max settings instead of watching tv.

As a last thing, let me just add that (in case you were going to suggest it) i5 is not enough, FX is too old and i7 4770 is too expensive.

Thank you in advance for your discussions.

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

1) You are correct. You're not losing any important functionality.

2) Crossfire/SLI doesn't really have anything to do with the processor. Only for balanced performance, which the Xeon would deliver. Pay more attention to mobo and PSU.

3) Great. Unless you're looking to overclock, you won't see significantly better performance with any other CPU. Just to be sure, what games do you plan on playing?

If you don't mind my asking, what kind of work do you plan on doing with this machine?

Finally, would you like any build advice?

 

[junkeymonkey]

after i bought the 15 4670 chip i'm running now a guy pointed out to me that 1230v3 chip and i think if i knew about it before i bought this i5 it would be in here now .. i thought it look pretty good for $20 more bucks seeing i did not need onboard gpu and it was closer to i7 than i5.. and i dont overclock so being locked was not an issue .. i think if i could go back in time i would have give it a shot for sure.

 

[BigBadBeef]

1) You are correct. You're not losing any important functionality.

2) Crossfire/SLI doesn't really have anything to do with the processor. Only for balanced performance, which the Xeon would deliver. Pay more attention to mobo and PSU.

3) Great. Unless you're looking to overclock, you won't see significantly better performance with any other CPU. Just to be sure, what games do you plan on playing?

If you don't mind my asking, what kind of work do you plan on doing with this machine?

Finally, would you like any build advice?

I need to be sure about Mobo Xeon support, I am ordering from Germany which is 2 countries away, the uncivilized animals that call themselves respectable vendors have taken upon themselves to charge 35% more for the same components.

I'm into all games, action for blowing off steam, adventure for killing boredom and strategy for those lazy rainy weekends, but right now I said to myself that its the last straw since my old 2.6GHz quad core phenom can't even run assassin's creed black flag playably at 720p minimum settings. imagine the "minecraft graphics" it has even without the poor performance on a 23" 1080p monitor.

As for non-gaming, I stream movies, I plan to host long live-stream events for my MMO gaming clan, I video edit, I design, I program and I run teamspeak and file server 24/7.

And since you generously offered build help, I would rather show you what I have put together so far and ask what you feel about it:
ASUS H97-PLUS, Sockel 1150, ATX
Intel Xeon E3-1240v3 Box, LGA1150
Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Dual-X OC
16GB Kit Crucial Ballistix Sport Series
XFX Pro Series Modular Edition (Bronze) 750W ATX 2.3
WD Black 2TB SATA 6Gb/s
Xigmatek Apache III CD903
Now, before you say anything, let me say that I have consciously decided not to go for a SSD favor of more storage.

Also, I have a pending business transaction from which my profit will vary based upon which my build will reflect, this build is 932€ on hardwareversand, but if circumstances are favorable, my budget could go as high as 1200€. If that were the case, what would you advise, an R9 290X or 2x R9 280X crossfire?

THX!

 

[junkeymonkey]

if its on your boards supported cpu list then its supported also check the bios updates to see if one has added any extra support on chips

 

[junkeymonkey]

i guess this is your board

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/H97PLUS/HelpDesk_CPU/

shows 2 of them the 1240 and the 1240L

 

[logainofhades]

You need a Z97 board for proper crossfire like an Asrock Z97 extreme3 or 4.

 

[junkeymonkey]

ya i think you would be better with the z boards over the h

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

ASUS H97-PLUS, Sockel 1150, ATX - enough slots and bandwidth for crossfire, but I personally would rather have an SLI setup. Lower power consumption, cooler operating temperatures, better driver support. A Z97 board (I've always been a fan of the Extreme4 series) would be great.

Intel Xeon E3-1240v3 Box, LGA1150 - Now that you've detailed your needs, this sounds like the perfect CPU for you. I can tell you did your research!

Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Dual-X OC - Not the card I would choose, but based on your current motherboard selection, it does give you options. I would spring for the GTX 770 if you ever went with Z97. An added bonus would be their Shadowplay technology - streaming with almost no hit to system performance.

16GB Kit Crucial Ballistix Sport Series - I can't comment on pricing in your country, so I don't know how good of a value these are. Regardless of price, this is great memory.

XFX Pro Series Modular Edition (Bronze) 750W ATX 2.3 - No complaints here. Great PSU, gives you some options for upgrading.

WD Black 2TB SATA 6Gb/s - If you're ever thinking about recording, get two 1TB drives instead. This just allows you to have double the hard drive bandwidth (one drive for the OS, game, and other software, the other for the large video files)

Xigmatek Apache III CD903 - Not that there's anything wrong with this cooler, but you should also consider trying a low profile Noctua cooler if you're looking for silence with performance cooling. Just food for thought!

Aside from my comments, this looks like a solid build! I think you'll be very happy with it.

Just to reiterate: If you get the larger budget, go Z97 and GTX 770.

 

[BigBadBeef]

Got it... I chose this one because its dirt cheap because heat dissipation and performance cooling are mutually exclusive terms when speaking about Xeons, after all, its got the lowest TDP I've ever seen in a performance processor, I only bought it because the stock cooler is ugly. I predict that that it won't exceed 25% speed even under heavy load.

I chose H97 because Xeon doesn't OC anyway and the whole board is like 90 bucks and has a brand new platform, future CPU ready... just in case I would get the power jeebies in the coming months!

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

Fair enough!

 

[junkeymonkey]

well all you can do is what feels right for you get what YOU want and be happy at least you cant sat ''that so and so said i need this and that and now it dont work'''

 

[logainofhades]

The H97 does not have the proper bandwidth for doing crossfire well.

1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 mode, gray)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode, black)

That x4 mode will be a bottleneck for CF mode.

 

[junkeymonkey]

you need to look at boards that do 1-pcie@x16 and 2-pci-e @8x8 on intel boards that dont have plx

 

[BigBadBeef]

The H97 does not have the proper bandwidth for doing crossfire well.

1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 mode, gray)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode, black)

That x4 mode will be a bottleneck for CF mode.

Well then, single R9 290 it is! Now its just a matter of how much money am I gonna get out of that deal, thanks all!

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

The H97 does not have the proper bandwidth for doing crossfire well.

1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 mode, gray)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode, black)

That x4 mode will be a bottleneck for CF mode.

I've never heard of an x4 PCI 2.0 lane being a bottleneck. Please enlighten me.

Regardless, I think the R9 290 would be a better way to go. No sense in crossfiring right away.

 

[logainofhades]

The H97 does not have the proper bandwidth for doing crossfire well.

1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 mode, gray)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode, black)

That x4 mode will be a bottleneck for CF mode.

I've never heard of an x4 PCI 2.0 lane being a bottleneck. Please enlighten me.

Regardless, I think the R9 290 would be a better way to go. No sense in crossfiring right away.

It will for sure with a 290 or 290x as it does not have a CF bridge and crossfire is done over the PCI-E lanes.

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

Oh. Looks like I was looking at all the wrong sources. My mistake. You will get around 10% less performance with the 280/280X on a 2.0 x4. I stand corrected!

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[BigBadBeef]

By way, does anybody have any experience with AsRock? I hear they got great boards out lately and their audio chip is killer, pun intended, hehehe!

But how are they in terms of longevity? Do they last?

 

[logainofhades]

I have a P67 Extreme4 and a Z77 extreme4. The P67 is 3yrs old and the Z77 is two now.

 

[DonQuixoteMC]

The Extreme4 (Z67, Z77, Z87) has been consistently one of the best motherboards for the money. I haven't kept up with how the Z97 fares, but I doubt it will be shoddy. While some people hate ASRock for some of their early motherboards, they have some fantastic products, Extreme4 series being one of them.

 

[BigBadBeef]

Alright then, I'll be more specific: ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Performance

I kinda had my eye on it before I saw the Asus mobo, but I clinched my teeth since I don't know AsRock as a manufacturer.

 

[logainofhades]

That board should be just fine.

 

[BigBadBeef]

Well I build my stuff to last you know... really last!

I got a Mobo from 2009, Flashed bios so many times that the board is completely lobotomized, lastly done that so that I could fit AM2+ CPU. Still runs like a kitten, just can't keep up anymore.