Thoughts on first gen E5-2670

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davewolfs

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 7, 2006
Messages
338
So I've been using an i7-920 for many years now and lately the machine just hasn't been stable.

I want to upgrade but I feel like Skylake isn't well suited as I could use more than 4 cores (I'll use AWS sometimes for certain tasks).

Right now there is a fire sale on these E5-2670 chips. They can be obtained for around $90 a pop, memory is dirt cheap as well. Basically I'm debating if it makes sense to invest in Sandybridge until we see some new processors eg Skylake-E or the E5 V4s.

Any thoughts on this? Am I better off just going with X99 or does this make sense?
 
If you are on a budget then you can't go wrong with Sandybridge. Some games that are heavily limited by a single thread will not perform as well due to the lower boost clock, and hopefully with DX12 that issue will go extinct.

If money is no object then go with a X99 with a 5930K or 5960X and overclock - the overclock alone, disregarding the architectural improvements, will make it much better than the 2670 V1 (which benches like a 3930K in the 3DMark11 benchmark test)
 
Don't really play games but hey you never know.

SB just seems so damn cheap. I mean my up front cost is 450 (2xCPU, 1 Dual Board and 32GB Ram). Overclocking isn't really an option. I'd likely go with the E5 58xx equivalent which uses the C612 chipset along with ECC memory. Really looking for stability.
 
So you are more of a workstation user that will be using multithreaded applications?

Yeah, it is a no brainer. 2X E5-2670s will beat the snot out of a single 5960X, even if that 5960X is over clocked like a raped ape.

As for the equivalent on the server side, obviously the 2670 V1 won't be nearly as fast. But the COSTS! My god man, it's excessive going for the same thing compared to what you can get with the 2670 V1 at $90 to $110 per CPU (compared with $2500 or more per CPU).
 
Also, the 2670 V1 supports ECC memory. Just get a board that does as well.
 
For a workstation user coming from an i7 920, you will be extremely happy with a 2P E5 2670V1 system. There is no doubt about that - the difference will be rather, well, large.

If you want the best, and have very (VERY) deep pockets, the equivalent on a C612 (or if you wait an unknown amount of time for the Skylake-E) will be better performance.

Coming from an i7 920? Just go with that 2P Sandy and pocket all that extra money for a vacation. You'll be just as glad you did. Oh, and you can splurge on a really nice SSD (or one of those PCIE card SSDs) if you don't already have one with those savings, and experience even better workstation performance.
 
No kidding for the C612 equivalent. To get reasonable performance in an 8 core chip you are looking at minimum $1000 per CPU.

Just need to figure out what PSU now.
 
If you go 2P, you'll want one with two 12V CPU cables - but I'm sure you knew that.

You can get consumer grade PSUs, even platinum rated, that have two. Usually they are higher wattage. I've used a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121089 back when I had a 2P AMD system, and it worked wonderfully - still use that same PSU in my desktop now.

EDIT: FSP also makes good power supplies and they have good warranties on them (7 years!) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104192 should work nicely, but may be more than what you want/need. The 850W model looks to also have two 12V cables.
 
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arestavo said:
If you go 2P, you'll want one with two 12V CPU cables - but I'm sure you knew that.

You can get consumer grade PSUs, even platinum rated, that have two. Usually they are higher wattage. I've used a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121089 back when I had a 2P AMD system, and it worked wonderfully - still use that same PSU in my desktop now.

EDIT: FSP also makes good power supplies and they have good warranties on them (7 years!) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104192 should work nicely, but may be more than what you want/need. The 850W model looks to also have two 12V cables.
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Was actually considering the Corsair AXi series. Not sure if it makes more sense to get 860 or 1200.
 
I am running a E5-2670 on an Asus Sabertooth x79 board.
Works great for crunching BOINC primegrid
Waiting for the IVYbridge xeons to fall farther in price, I want a 12 core CPU.
 
You can get the other cable for modular seasonic and others that don't come with it...
 
davewolfs said:
Was actually considering the Corsair AXi series. Not sure if it makes more sense to get 860 or 1200.
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I am running a 2p e5-2670 machine with 2x gtx 980ti with the evga g2 850 psu.

With both processors and both gpu maxed out I am drawing 700w max at the wall, so an 850 psu should be fine.
 
Shumph said:
I am running a 2p e5-2670 machine with 2x gtx 980ti with the evga g2 850 psu.

With both processors and both gpu maxed out I am drawing 700w max at the wall, so an 850 psu should be fine.
Click to expand...

put some pics of that...sounds like a bad ass workstation:D
 
E5-2670, while 8c/16Ht, are not OCable. so you should consider going 2p with them if that tickles you.

In your position i would keep the mobo and upgrade to a Xeon 1366, which are overcloable on most x58 mobos and can be found cheaper. From the X5650 to the x5690 , they all reach around 4.2GHz at a lower voltage than your 920.

i found a direct comparison between 2p systems running E5-2670s and x5680s without overclock, For some task they are equal, for others they are up to 25% faster than X5690s.

I run dual X5675 on EVGA SR2, and price wise, 2p G34 opterons mobo are (much)cheaper that 2p LGA2011 mobos, but cooling hardware LGA2011 is easier to find. personally, if i needed a build for many slow cores, i would go 4p G34, which are cheap and can be overclocked.
 
You can get a 2P AMD board and two 12 core Operon 6172 with 2 heatsinks 75$ shipped lower 48 USA.
Uses a standard PSU
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1886166

I just ordered 2 xeon e5-2670 and a 2p board for them.
For BOINC primegrid the xeons (Sandy-bridge or better) rock, for WCG the AMD hold their own.
AMD 4P boards are still expensive, The ones for 100+ do not use a standard PSU

I have two 4P AMD one socket G34 and one socket F, Two dual xeon e5620, one dual x5660, four single overclocked x5660 systems and the one 1P e5-2670.

Keep in mind win7 can only see two processors, so you have to use a win server OS or Linux
 
Bill1024 said:
You can get a 2P AMD board and two 12 core Operon 6172 with 2 heatsinks 75$ shipped lower 48 USA.
Uses a standard PSU
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1886166

I just ordered 2 xeon e5-2670 and a 2p board for them.
For BOINC primegrid the xeons (Sandy-bridge or better) rock, for WCG the AMD hold their own.
AMD 4P boards are still expensive, The ones for 100+ do not use a standard PSU

I have two 4P AMD one socket G34 and one socket F, Two dual xeon e5620, one dual x5660, four single overclocked x5660 systems and the one 1P e5-2670.

Keep in mind win7 can only see two processors, so you have to use a win server OS or Linux
Click to expand...

How much did you get your 2P board cost and what did you get?
 
Coming from a quasi-server usage standpoint, i find a LOT of use for the extra cores. Even a Q19D Xeon, with its low speed but 8 cores, is still quite a match for my X5650 at stock speeds.

IMO, i would test first with a X56xx 1366 CPU. My X5650 did awesomely on anything it ran, way better than any 115x CPU, and even my old W3530. Plus, you save the RAM/Mobo updates as it is a ready upgrade for well under $100. Plus, it can be OCed, unlike the E5-2600 Xeons which are fully locked.

If it does not work, i find X79 to still have a lot of life, as expected of any "big socket" platforms. Hell, if you ever need more muscle than 8 cores, you can get a E5 2695 v2 or higher, and get 12 cores for relatively cheap (compared to newer Haswell-E equivalents). Plus, server boards for Ivy-E for dual socket are cheap nowadays, to get up to 24 cores.

Only get Haswell-E if you need way more power than that, core-wise. I really see no benefit of C60X chipsets over C61X chipsets (or X79 to X99). Maybe Intel's next chipset refresh may bring more improvements (like the Z170 for Skylake) but it is a long way until then.
 
If you can, OC that RAM and it will help out a good deal if you play games like Rise of the Tomb Raider and (especially) Fallout 4.

And yeah, it is a super bargain for what you get!
 
Bill1024 said:
This is the 2P socket 2011 board. Bord came in today, waiting on the two e5-2670 to come.
Paid 200$ for the two CPUs.
I had a 50$ gift cert. for newegg so I used that to cut the cost. 279$
Not many cheap 2P 2011 out there.

ASRock EP2C602
ASRock EP2C602 SSI EEB Server Motherboard Dual LGA 2011 DDR3 1600/1333/1066 - Newegg.com
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OH MAN. I'm so stoked I found this thread as I am in the process of doing one of these builds for a dedicated Premiere Pro render machine for 4k video. Also looking hard at the EP2C602 as the Asus board is mind numbingly expensive and tough to find to boot.

I'm planning on loading 4 SSDs in this build. Has anyone utilized the Marvell controller? I've had stability issues with them in the past.
 
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Typically a Marvell controller, such as the one in my X79 Dark, is absolute garbage when it comes to even utilizing a single SSD due to strangled throughput performance.
 
arestavo said:
Typically a Marvell controller, such as the one in my X79 Dark, is absolute garbage when it comes to even utilizing a single SSD due to strangled throughput performance.
Click to expand...

Yeah, even the one on my EVGA z170 Classy board is pretty bad. Need an alternative to getting these drives in here....PCIE adapter? Plenty of lanes to work with...
 
BadSeed said:
Yeah, even the one on my EVGA z170 Classy board is pretty bad. Need an alternative to getting these drives in here....PCIE adapter? Plenty of lanes to work with...
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Yikes, looks like all the PCIE Raid card options are all using Marvell controllers anyway. Really want to move to an all SSD setup but its looking like this might not be the platform for me. Any suggestions on how to get the most from 2x Samsung 850 Pros in Raid0?
 
If you don't have Intel SATA ports on your board it might get expensive.

I know that for Adaptec their 7805 and newer controllers were designed to be used with SSDs. I'm certain other discrete RAID card manufacturers have similar models.
 
Bill1024 said:
This is the 2P socket 2011 board. Bord came in today, waiting on the two e5-2670 to come.
Paid 200$ for the two CPUs.
I had a 50$ gift cert. for newegg so I used that to cut the cost. 279$
Not many cheap 2P 2011 out there.

ASRock EP2C602
ASRock EP2C602 SSI EEB Server Motherboard Dual LGA 2011 DDR3 1600/1333/1066 - Newegg.com
Click to expand...
I did this:
Dual Xeon E5-2600 v2 socket 16 DIMM Motherboard LGA2011 - $175
plus two of these:
Intel Xeon E5-2670 SR0KX 2.6GHz (3.3GHz Turbo) 20MB L3 Cache LGA2011 115W Eight-Core - $65 each
Shipping was about $25.

I got 8 8gB sticks of PC3-12800R ECC DDR3 RAM on eBay for $15 a piece and I'm off to the races. This is a good option if you're not looking for 1600MHz stuff: 64GB (8x8GB) PC3L-10600R 2RX4 DDR3-1333MHz ECC REG Server Memory NT8C72C4NG0NL-CG Nanya ~$10 a stick.

OEM XS / kalleyomalley on eBay sells the associated genuine Intel pieces to go around that motherboard in new bulk packaging and accepts rather low offers. Like this chassis / enclosure / power supply, passive heatsinks, I/O Shield, iKVM module, and the ducting for it. You should be able to get the chassis for $115-120, heatsinks for $5-10, iKVM module for $20, the ducting for $10, I/O shield for ~$5.

They have other Intel chassis too if that one doesn't strike your fancy. One with different power supply wattages, ones with 3.5" or 2.5" hot swap bays, redundant power supplies, etc. Shipping combines too. I paid $36 total to ship a chassis, 2 heatsinks, the ductwork, and I/O shield halfway across the country. I didn't know they sold the iKVM module when I ordered or I would have thrown that in too.

ps: I can't take credit for the OEM XS eBay find. Someone posted it up at STH over last weekend.
 
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BadSeed said:
Yikes, looks like all the PCIE Raid card options are all using Marvell controllers anyway. Really want to move to an all SSD setup but its looking like this might not be the platform for me. Any suggestions on how to get the most from 2x Samsung 850 Pros in Raid0?
Click to expand...
It all depends what you want to do. Are you trying to boot from it, or what? An LSI based SAS RAID controller is probably your best bet if you want real HW RAID. The cards will be PCIe 2.0 8x . If you just want to hang a bunch of drives on your system, but don't want to be limited to 3Gbps, get an SAS HBA, like an LSI 9211-8i based solution. You can crossflash a Dell PERC H200 or H310 card into an LSI 9211-8i. You can get a H310 for ~$54 on eBay (they were $49 the other day).
 
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Stereodude said:
It all depends what you want to do. Are you trying to boot from it, or what? An LSI based SAS RAID controller is probably your best bet if you want real HW RAID. The cards will be PCIe 2.0 8x . If you just want to hang a bunch of drives on your system, but don't want to be limited to 3Gbps, get an SAS HBA, like an LSI 9211-8i based solution. You can crossflash a Dell PERC H200 or H310 card into an LSI 9211-8i. You can get a H310 for ~$54 on eBay (they were $49 the other day).
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One of the mods at another forum put me on the LSI 9265 8i kit...snagged one used on ebay for $170ish. Raid0 seq i/o speeds look great in a review. Just waiting on the Asrock board and that raid card. Going in a Phanteks Enthoo Pro and I think I'm all set. Super stoked for this build...4k video is a beast to work with...until now.
 
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i just went from a 3930k to E5 2670 v1

video encoding is 20-30% faster with h264 and i dont see any noticeable difference in gaming performance

I bought 2 of the CPUs thinking I might go 2P or buy another motherboard and run another system for Plex server.... :)

Great value for awesome performance


oh and runs cooler than the 3930k
 
systemvipers said:
Keep us posted on how that board works out, seems to be a nice solution but the reviews all talk about bios issues.

thanks in advance!
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So far so good, just wrapping up a 3 day BOINC primegrid challenge, 16 cores @ 100% load 24/7 and other times I am running BOINC WCG @ 100% load 24/7
Runs great. No problems. Running the BIOS that it came, not sure if it is the newest or not.
One issue was I have a GTX960 onboard and had a hell of a time with Linux and the GPU, no problem with a GTX 660Ti.
So I installed Windows Vista business OS someone gave me, that and an old spinner HD. Makes me love Win7 with a SSD!!!!

Bit I am very happy with it and plan on building another in the future. Just hope the xeon V2 series drop in price before then.
 
systemvipers said:
although I should just bite the bullet and save.... I have the case already, just need the board and chips...
Figure 150 for the 2 E5-2670's, so just need a board.
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Did you read post #29? I provided a link to CPUs for $65 each and a motherboard for $175. Shipping is about $20-25. I "hacked" the SDR file for the board to make it run cooler instead of letting the CPUs get up to the low 80C range. Who at Intel thought that was a good idea? Maybe they don't want your CPUs to last too long...
 
systemvipers said:
HI, i tried that link and got
"The page cannot be found"

bit i will look for the board in the search.

thanks for your post, I am guessing that you have to use ECC ram...
Click to expand...
They redid their web store so the links are all different now.

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2670 v1 8-Core SR0KX
Motherboard: Intel S2600CP2J Motherboard

I'm pretty sure you don't need ECC RAM, but Registered ECC RAM is cheap. You can get 8 x 8gB DDR3 1333MHz DIMMs for $85 from Natex.us
64GB AM472D3LD4P13C9EC : Kinston 8x8GB 2Rx4 PC3L-10600R
64GB NT8C72C4NG0NL-CG : Nanya 8x8GB 2Rx4 PC3L-10600R

8 x 8gB 1600MHz DIMMs are $125
HMT31GR7EFR4C-PB : Hynix 64GB 8x8GB 2Rx4 PC3-12800R

Look at the technical product spec http://www.intel.com/content/dam/su...cp/sb/g26942005_s2600cp_p4000cp_tps_rev19.pdf page 48-35 of the PDF file.
 
Stereodude said:
They redid their web store so the links are all different now.

CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2670 v1 8-Core SR0KX
Motherboard: Intel S2600CP2J Motherboard

I'm pretty sure you don't need ECC RAM, but Registered ECC RAM is cheap. You can get 8 x 8gB DDR3 1333MHz DIMMs for $85 from Natex.us
64GB AM472D3LD4P13C9EC : Kinston 8x8GB 2Rx4 PC3L-10600R
64GB NT8C72C4NG0NL-CG : Nanya 8x8GB 2Rx4 PC3L-10600R

8 x 8gB 1600MHz DIMMs are $125
HMT31GR7EFR4C-PB : Hynix 64GB 8x8GB 2Rx4 PC3-12800R

Look at the technical product spec http://www.intel.com/content/dam/su...cp/sb/g26942005_s2600cp_p4000cp_tps_rev19.pdf page 48-35 of the PDF file.
Click to expand...

You are happy with the board and parts you ordered? I went ahead and ordered that dual 2011 board from them. 175 with free shipping is a good deal. Thanks for posting the link.
I ordered 2 e5-2670 off ebay, I got a pretty good deal. I have 4 sticks of Gskill 4gb 1866 sniper memory to go in it.. Ordered 2 HS/fans from Newegg I had a gift cert to use.
Will see how it goes
 
Bill1024 said:
You are happy with the board and parts you ordered? I went ahead and ordered that dual 2011 board from them. 175 with free shipping is a good deal. Thanks for posting the link.
I ordered 2 e5-2670 off ebay, I got a pretty good deal. I have 4 sticks of Gskill 4gb 1866 sniper memory to go in it.. Ordered 2 HS/fans from Newegg I had a gift cert to use.
Will see how it goes
Click to expand...
Ideally you want to put 8 DIMMs in the board so each CPU will have quad channel memory. Also, unregistered DIMMs will only run at 1333 (max) with a v1 E5. The Technical Product Spec doesn't say if it can use non-ECC...

Yes, I'm happy with the board, with the understanding it's a server board. It has no USB 3.0, no onboard audio, etc, etc. It works very nicely with the other Intel parts, the chassis, heatsinks, ducting, etc. I think it would be more of a challenge to use in a generic case since there's no customized FRU/SDR information for a generic configuration.

It also uses closed loop thermal control and by default lets the CPUs get up to about 82C before increasing the fan speed. You can change that behavior but it requires some work. It's not as simple as making an adjustment in the BIOS or BMC.
 
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Thanks for the reply. I am going to run without a case on a board with small wood blocks to keep the board up in the air for air circulation.
I do have another board with e5-2670 running 4 sticks of Gskill sniper 1866 at 1866. Will see if I can make this board do it too.
At some point I may spring for 4 channel but I do not see any improvement in my point production to bother with it . I build these systems to run BOINC, buying used, no case..... and all helps keep cost down.
I checked the PSU pin-out and it looks to be the same as a regular PSU so I will use an EVGA 750G like I have on my other servers.
Looks like the CPU fans will be plugged into a molex connector using adapters. I have a fan speed control, I'll dial in the speed I need to get the sound/temps I want.
Thanks again for the reply and the links.
 
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