Crossfire on Dell Precision Tx500 series workstation?

matt167

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I have 2 matching R9 270X, and need a capable second guest gaming computer.. Nothing high end, just playable framerates on modern titles tweaked as high as possible

Will a T3500/5500/7500 Crossfire these card's? I know Crossfire isn't the best but, the video card climate is still messed up and I happen to have them. T3500's are all over Ebay for $100 or so. I have an XFX/ Seasonic power supply that is CF rated
 
AFAIK, there is no licensing/certification limit like SLI.

I believe if you put the CF bridge on them, it'd be golden.

I'd test it for you with some of my cards and my T5500 but I won't be home for another month since I'm on an extended business trip.
 
Yeah, factory power supply won't support them for sure, but I have an XFX Seasonic 650W that is CF rated and wll support them.. Not an ideal setup but a Tx500 makes a good budget gamer anyway.
 
the 270s shouldn't need a bridge, cf is through the pcie. toss it together and try it.
 
They do have the CF edge connector though
yeah maybe they do then since they are rebrands of a rebrand.
edit: just google and they do. from what I saw the 290x and newer dont need it anymore.
 
Yeah. that's what I thought, since they are basically 7800 series re release. I knew the new stuff needed no bridge... Can't complain, they earned me a bit of Crypto, still work and are still decent for 1080P on their own. Crossfire because why not.
 
Is it safe to assume, that CF 270X will be approx a 1060 3gb performance? In games that support it of course.. The most taxing game it will run will be Fallout 4 most likely which I know supports CF.
 
Is it safe to assume, that CF 270X will be approx a 1060 3gb performance? In games that support it of course.. The most taxing game it will run will be Fallout 4 most likely which I know supports CF.

I played around with CF 270's @ 270X clocks, and they benched @ 290X speeds but with lower minimums.
 
That would be cool. If it'll hold a stable 45 frames it should be good enough. I know the CPU matters a lot with FO4
 
The cpus on these seems pretty weak with a passmark below 4000 almost on par with high end lga775 processors. :eek:

Is this enough for gaming when setup with an sli setup like the OP has? I always thought the cpu would be too slow.
 
The cpus on these seems pretty weak with a passmark below 4000 almost on par with high end lga775 processors. :eek:

Is this enough for gaming when setup with an sli setup like the OP has? I always thought the cpu would be too slow.

IDK what CPU's your looking at, but the passmarks on the better 1366 Xeon's are in the 8-10,000 range. For my main rig I run a T3500 with an X5670, 12gb of ram and a 1060 6gb and there is very little limitation.. That said, the $100-150 T3500's don't have a great processor. W3520 is very common in them, which scores at 5,059

All in all, yes it will need upgrades most likely, but parts and processors are cheap
 
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I know. I like the hex in my main rig since I do other things also, but guest box will likely get an X5687 and 12gb of Ram. Will probably buy an extra stick of Corsair Vengence 4gb, since I have 2x4gb right now on hand so it will have pretty nice ram.
 
Sounds like a good plan.

I put a T5500 board in one of my extra T3500. Reason being it will now accept registered RAM which is fairly cheap. Starting off with three 8gb modules so I can run triple channel at full speeds.
 
Looks like W3580 is pretty close to the X5687 performance in general, and very close in single core ( higher than X5670 still by a decent margin ) for a $25 chip.

Is the PCIE X16 slots spaced farther apart on the 5500 board? The R9 270x's are blower cards so they can work close together but 5500's in similar configurations are not a ton more than a 3500 if they will allow more space between them.
 
The W3580 does have a faster clock speed. But there are reasons it is cheap. For one, will run significantly hotter than your X5670, if that is the direction you are going.

Yes. The PCIE x16 slots on the T5500 board are same distance as the T3500.
 
Just scored a system with 8gb ( 4x 2gb ) and a W3520 for $98 shipped. $15 away from triple channel 12gb. Probably bench it with the W3520 but get a W3580 or X5687 soon after
 
This is a great setup for a quick-n-dirty secondary gaming box. Older workstation systems / server parts are generally overlooked on ebay, and they're usually a lot easier to overhaul than the desktop-class systems (Dell's Optiplex systems for instance). Bonus, with the Xeons, you can throw ECC registered memory in them, and for DDR3 mem the smaller DIMMs are usually really cheap, so you can avoid the current sky-high pricing for RAM too.

Also if you're into customizing, the T3500 case is, IIRC, fairly easy to disassemble to give a nice coat with sprays. Peel off the stickers, wipe off the tampo'd make/model on the front panel (seriously, use some rubbing alcohol to get the "Dell Precision" and "T3500" off of the top of the front panel, otherwise it messes with the paint's ability to adhere properly) and cover the Dell logo up with some tape. Then get a spray can of Tamiya metallic flake color of your choice (a few bucks at most hobby shops) and give it a few quick passes. The stuff dries in a couple hours, so for an afternoon's work you can have a big tower system with a sparkly ice blue front panel, or deep red, or whatever.

Would love to see a few quick benchmark results matt167 .
 
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Yup. Been running my personal T3500 gaming box with a 1060 6gb for a yr. That's why it was an easy choice, knowing what they can do. The front panel just slides and pops off with a latch on the inside. I'm anxious to do benchmarks since I have never had a crossfire setup. I bought the cards for crypto only so they are basically free.
 
IDK what CPU's your looking at, but the passmarks on the better 1366 Xeon's are in the 8-10,000 range. For my main rig I run a T3500 with an X5670, 12gb of ram and a 1060 6gb and there is very little limitation.. That said, the $100-150 T3500's don't have a great processor. W3520 is very common in them, which scores at 5,059

All in all, yes it will need upgrades most likely, but parts and processors are cheap
That's what I seeing too in that $100 price point. Yeah, the x5670 is pretty stout. I have 2 of these that I plan to install as an upgrade to the current e5620s in my r410.
Just scored a system with 8gb ( 4x 2gb ) and a W3520 for $98 shipped. $15 away from triple channel 12gb. Probably bench it with the W3520 but get a W3580 or X5687 soon after
Wow, just wow. (y) How did you find this nice beasty? Link?
 
Hey, matt167, or any of you guys:

I also have a T3500, love it.

I have FS: 4 X 2GB DDR3 1333 ECC - I've used it in my T3500, worked perfectly, even though it's an even number of DIMMs, ran triple chan.

$9.00 each + shipping


I hope me posting the FS isn't against the rules. If so, Mods, please delete, or I will be happy to.
 
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apparently not.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Quad+Q9400+@+2.66GHz&id=1045
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+W3520+@+2.67GHz&id=1266

In any case a W3580 is $20-25 any day of the week and then your close to the fastest 1366 single core performance available ( X5687 ) at 1/2 the cost with slightly more heat.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+W3580+@+3.33GHz&id=1272
Interesting. When I first looked at the listing, it was showing a w3503 in the description vs w3520--huge difference as you pointed out:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-Xeon-W3503-vs-Intel-Xeon-W3520/1264vs1266

Yep, and the x5670 is just a little more and sometimes the same price as a w3580 if you look hard enough. And there seems to be more of the x5670s available too since a lot of servers used them.

I wonder if the slight premium for a t5500 would be a way to get even more cpu power for cheap? You can then run dual w3580s or x5670+.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Preci...174710?hash=item25f7ae23b6:g:ZtcAAOSwBXhbDFvt
 
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It would be a nifty way but costly. The dual CPU setup on the T series is an add on board with it's own ram. Not all/ most T5500's do not have the additional CPU board, and those that do, Cost. That said, also only X chips will run in dual. The "W" chips are single CPU apps only

A W3690 and X5690 ( top tier 1366 chips ) are basically the same, with the exception the X carries a premium due to higher ram capacity and dual capability

If gaming, the W3580 will actually end up faster than an X5670 with the single core performance slightly higher

If you look at something like the I5 6600K vs the X5670, you'll note they are very close. So close that gaming probably would not know the difference
 
Ah, that's what some posts below a video about disassembly of a T5500 were talking about (didn't watch the video).

Didn't know about the W-series multiprocessor limitations--thank you!

It's interesting to see how close the W3580, X5670, and X5690 are on single thread performance. Definitely a difference between them all, but I wonder how much one would notice in real world use.

The i5-6600K seems to blow away the X5670 on single performance (but it's a different socket too):
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-Xeon-X5670-vs-Intel-i5-6600K/1307vs2570

Would the i5 really feel about the same as the x5670 in gaming with this much of a difference in single thread performance?
 
It would be a nifty way but costly. The dual CPU setup on the T series is an add on board with it's own ram. Not all/ most T5500's do not have the additional CPU board, and those that do, Cost. That said, also only X chips will run in dual. The "W" chips are single CPU apps only

A W3690 and X5690 ( top tier 1366 chips ) are basically the same, with the exception the X carries a premium due to higher ram capacity and dual capability

If gaming, the W3580 will actually end up faster than an X5670 with the single core performance slightly higher

If you look at something like the I5 6600K vs the X5670, you'll note they are very close. So close that gaming probably would not know the difference
I believe you are mistaken. It has been years since I had one of these rigs, but I don't think X are the only chips you can run in dual. I believe 3000 series are single cpu, 5000 series are dual capable, regardless of if they are X5690, e5640, etc.
 
I believe you are mistaken. It has been years since I had one of these rigs, but I don't think X are the only chips you can run in dual. I believe 3000 series are single cpu, 5000 series are dual capable, regardless of if they are X5690, e5640, etc.

Your probably right, I just use X and W as those processors are what the T3500 series usually have. I know that 1366 E series fits as well with the latest Bios
 
Ah, that's what some posts below a video about disassembly of a T5500 were talking about (didn't watch the video).

Didn't know about the W-series multiprocessor limitations--thank you!

It's interesting to see how close the W3580, X5670, and X5690 are on single thread performance. Definitely a difference between them all, but I wonder how much one would notice in real world use.

The i5-6600K seems to blow away the X5670 on single performance (but it's a different socket too):
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-Xeon-X5670-vs-Intel-i5-6600K/1307vs2570

Would the i5 really feel about the same as the x5670 in gaming with this much of a difference in single thread performance?

I don't have an I5 6600k to bench against, but I don't think the 803 points are going to be that huge. And the W3580 scores 1490 so even less of a difference. Pretty much I think it's safe to bet that the W3580 or better will run similar to an I5 6600K, which is still a nice middle of the road CPU for gaming.
 
Your probably right, I just use X and W as those processors are what the T3500 series usually have. I know that 1366 E series fits as well with the latest Bios

I had a e5645 in a t5500 few years back. It is the cheapest 6 core you can get. Then I got a t7500 with a x5690. Those things weigh a ton and are huge.
 
That may have the second cpu riser but I don't think so.

FWIW this is what the CPU riser is https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-F623F...319017&hash=item3f9b9fb277:g:wxMAAOSwIM9a7G8r

IIRC The T3500 is 525W with 1 6 pin PCIE, T5500 is 875W with 2 6 pin PCIE and I think the T7500 is 1000w with 4 6 pin PCIE
Ah, now that I've seen what the second riser looks like, this one definitely doesn't have it, but I can see the connectors for where it could be added. (y)

Sounds like the t7500 power supply would be a nice upgrade for anyone needing more power on the t3500 or t5500.
 
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It would be, except it's not the necessary route. Tx500 series can utilize aftermarket PSU's. They need a 24 pin and a 8 pin cpu connector. 4+4 connectors that are standard on most modern PSU's work as well
 
It would be, except it's not the necessary route. Tx500 series can utilize aftermarket PSU's. They need a 24 pin and a 8 pin cpu connector. 4+4 connectors that are standard on most modern PSU's work as well

I don't think a t7500 Psu would fit anyway. From what I recall, it's massive. A t7500 is almost 2 inches wider than a t5500
 
Yeah, I think I read somewhere that it will fit with modification, but it's not a cheap part anyway. Makes no sense when you can bend a few tabs and drop a plain old ATX PS in it
 
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