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X56xx vs W36xx series

JA2
Beginner
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Hi!

I have some spare parts laying around - all except the CPU - and I think it's a good opportunity to build a system out of them.

FYI - P6T6 WS (X58), 12GB DDR3, SSD

Top CPUs supported by that board are the X5690 and the W3690. Given the fact that both the top X and top W series will cost just over 120USD (used) and the fact that a W3680 about 40% cheaper, I m considering that as well:

https://ark.intel.com/compare/47917,52586,52576 Intel® Product Specification Comparison

Strange thing is that few benchmarks I found, suggest that the W3690 has a slight edge over the X5690. Hell, even W3680 puts just a little more punch than the X5690 in terms of performance. How come? Only difference is that the X series can go dual (whilst the W series can't), supports VT-d and more RAM (which I don't mind, as I only install 12GB RAM)

Other than that, the X5690 has just over 10C TCASE temp tolerance.

Given the substantial price gap in favour of the W3680, is there any reason I should look towards the X5690? Performance seems to be already in favour of the W3680 (for reasons I can't understand...). Price is too. What about longevity? I will be purchasing from a company who gets these CPU from working servers (and not some kids' overclocked PC...) Hence, a CPU like that that has had proper cooling and haven't been overclocked, should have some plenty of juice left in it, right?

e.g.

Antony mentioned like 20 years?? And I don't think he was referring to a Xeon (which should last a bit longer)

Your thoughts please!

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
1,178 Views

Top performing processor for X58 chipset-based boards is Core i7-990X.

Just saying...

...S

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JA2
Beginner
1,178 Views

Do you mean IF overclocked?

Because overwise I can't see how the I7 is better. 'Tied' and 'close' is what I would use to describe it, but not better.

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-W3690-vs-Intel-Core-i7-990X Intel Xeon W3690 vs Core i7 990X

Also has slightly less Max Mem Bandwidth, no ECC support and lacking couple of extensions.

What's more, price for a used 990X is double compared to the other two Xeon CPUs. And given the fact (on paper at least) their identical performance (no overclocking) it makes no sense to even consider it as an option.

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