Processor Upgrade Question

mMike01

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 1, 2008
Messages
110
Hi,

I have an I7 920 build I put together right when that processor launched, it's gone through a few upgrades over the years such as an Intel 128 SSD when they first came out, with the newest upgrades being a 2TB mechanical hardrive, Windows 10, and an EVGA GTX 1060 6gb gfx card.

PC still works great; however, I'm pretty sure the power supply is making a funny noise and I plan on replacing it before it fries my system. I figured while I replace the PSU, I will take the whole thing apart and give it some much needed TLC (aka cleaning).

A PSU upgrade is pretty standard, but I was recently reading the"1366 x58 Xeon Enthusiast Overclockers Club" thread and I was inspired to maybe upgrade to a Xeon chip as they seem pretty cheap used.

The motherboard is an EVGA E758-TR 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard. I was researching online and I'm not thinking it's compatible with a Xeon processor.

A few questions:

  • Is the motherboard compatible?
  • What would be the best ~50$ used 1366 Xeon to use if compatible?
  • Do i need to buy new RAM (like ECC ram) . Currently i have 6 gb of GSkill 1333 DDR3
  • Would I need to perform a PC back-up and re-install Windows after a processor change? Or can i just drop it in and start the PC as normal.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 
1) The board is compatible, always a good idea to double-check you are on the latest bios, too.

2) The 6 core Xeons are starting to hit a price floor at this point, so do some sorting on fleabay and you'll be surprised at what someone is offloading their top end chip for. W3680s/X5680s (2nd best of the series, the W3600's are unlocked cpus) are readily available for $50 or less, but do some deep searching and someone will have a W3690/X5690 (the best) at that price (avoid China/Hong Kong sellers), but it's also not worth $80 if the W3680/X5680 is <$50.

3) You don't need ECC ram if you aren't doing anything with serious compute or workstation type software and it will likely hinder any OCing you want to do, but 6GB is a bit low...get some more! (you'll find 4 channel kits are easier to find and cheaper than 3 channel ones)

4) Not totally sure on this, but it may depend on the type of Win 10 license you have. If it's retail, you're fine, if it's OEM, you don't need to reinstall, but it may seriously bitch at you and either make you jump through some hoops to reactivate, or you might just have to get a new license (retail keys super cheap on the F/S forum!)
 
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Great, thanks for replying.

Hehe, I know i need more RAM, same 6 gbs when I built the thing many years ago. I may just reinstall windows then. No big deal, my boot drive doesn't have much on it, back up is no big deal

I may try and overclock it. I have my 920 OC'd to 3.7 on my Xigamatek dark night cooler which i'll be re-using.

Thanks.
 
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