Is it worth installing a server processor on 1150? How to build an inexpensive gaming computer based on an Intel Xenon E5450 processor

This time we won't talk about popular server platforms LGA1156 or LGA1366. To be honest, we ourselves just recently learned about a rather cool alternative, which is also sold on AliExpress at an affordable price and is a better solution when compared to the above sockets. What is this mysterious processor? We will talk about the LGA1356 platform and the Intel Xeon E5 2440 processor.

This rather interesting socket began to appear on AliExpress quite recently. This is most likely due to what the Chinese from HUANAN have learned to do motherboards under it. Thus this platform should now take first place among budget Zeons in terms of price-performance ratio, eclipsing the old socket and .

What is LGA1356?

The platform was released in 2012. It replaced socket 1366 and has much in common with the more productive one, but is a little simplified. Essentially, this Socket is a good improvement on the mistakes of the previous 1366: it has PCI 3.0, you can overclock the RAM, the northbridge does not overheat, and it uses a ring bus. In simple terms: all the jambs that arose earlier have been eliminated.

Also, the most powerful processors that the platform supports have 10 cores and 20 threads, but they operate at a relatively low frequency. The maximum that could be allowed for 1366 was 6 cores and 12 threads.

Another 1356 has a second generation of processors - with a postscript "v2" at the end. They were manufactured on the newer Ivy Bridge architecture on a 22 nm process technology. The previous generation has 32 nm, which affects higher power consumption and heating.

There are also disadvantages: unlike LGA1366, the multiplier on the processors is locked, which makes overclocking impossible. But, to be honest, I don’t think that most users will do any overclocking at all, and the frequencies of socket 1356 processors are not bad even without overclocking.

Building a computer on this platform in 2018 costs about the same as on the old 1366. Considering all that has been said, building a system on an older socket makes no sense.

1356 vs 2011: what's the difference?

How does the LGA1356 socket and processors differ from the more expensive 2011? Firstly, the memory controller supports only 3 channels instead of 4. Secondly, there are significantly fewer PCI-E lines - 24 versus 40. Thirdly, there is only 1 QPI bus. But I don't think you're interested in all these technical details.

If we talk about more understandable things, then the choice of processors for 2011 is 2-3 times larger: there are both high-frequency and multi-core processors. In 1356 processors, frequencies are often lower, however, for budget build Such processors are just right. And they play games well.

What's in the games and what components should I choose?

Since we're talking about games, it would be nice to show tests of the most profitable socket 1356 processor today in terms of price-performance ratio - with 6 cores and 12 threads, which You can buy it on AliExpress for about $37. To be honest, about a month ago I wanted to order a motherboard and a processor on this socket so that I could later make a video with tests, but plans changed, and some guys have already done it for me.

In general, these components began to appear on Ali relatively recently, so it is unknown what will happen to the prices next, but for now they are very attractive.

Speaking of motherboards, this moment their selection is not very large, but new models appear every day. Who is familiar with motherboards from HUANAN, which are very popular in LGA2011 systems, knows firsthand about the quality of these components. I highly recommend buying boards from this particular manufacturer, since they are much cheaper than their analogues and are not inferior in quality. The motherboard is not cheap - almost $100. But if you take into account the low price of processors and support, you get the most profitable build of a powerful personal computer.

If you have a good video card, which, by the way, we don’t recommend saving on, like , on such a computer you can play all the most demanding games, including PUBG and Fortnite, at maximum settings. A good video card in my opinion - starting from GeForce GTX 780 (970, 1060) and higher. Or cards of similar power from AMD (but it’s more difficult with them - miners are buying them up more diligently).

What can be concluded

The LGA1356 platform is a new hit on the used server processor market. The Chinese learned how to make motherboards for this socket quite recently, so prices for components are still very affordable. What will happen when demand increases significantly is unknown, so you should hurry with the purchase.

The most optimal processor is, and the motherboard HUANAN X9D. Links to verified sellers with the most favorable prices leave below.

We have organized all the best offers into a catalog of PC builds on server processors. The section is updated, so there are always the best offers for the most low prices. For convenience, we divided the components into categories: cheap up to 200 bucks, mid-budget up to 300 dollars and the most productive solutions.

Hello Giktimes! Popular belief says that your neighbor’s grass is always greener, and the computers that meticulous entrepreneurs purchase for their needs are more reliable and productive than retail models flavored with marketing. A whole caste of enthusiasts hunts for server components and idolizes the performance of enterprise-class hardware. Let's figure out whether large organizations are really splashing around in the “IT paradise”, or have the geeks created an idol for themselves out of thin air?

There are no barriers to enthusiasts, especially if these barriers are erected by insidious marketers who have divided everything electronic devices for corporate and consumer! Because even in the media with advertisements about the mysterious “user experience,” software and hardware developers say, “The camera of this smartphone provides professional quality pictures!” And in other ways, the cliche about professionals who don’t use nonsense has been exploited for a long time. And if you’re looking for the notorious “professional equipment” and quality of services, then it’s better to ask for enterprise-class hardware and service methods, right?

The motives that guide restless enthusiasts lie on the surface - even though consumer technology is developing more vigorously due to the appetites of buyers, “battle-hardened” corporate-class components will clearly be more reliable, and even cheaper on the secondary market. Somehow geeks play on video cards for workstations and assemble powerful and “eternal” home PCs with server hardware! So, it makes sense to try your luck?

And, of course, there is a bit of this sense in such an undertaking, but with the acquisition of corporate “attributes” for home conditions, you can “get stuck” and, at best, overpay for unclaimed functionality, and at worst, go into the red in comparison with the options available to retail buyers. Let's figure out what the catch is in using hardware designed for corporations.

The server one is also a gaming one. Intel Xeon in home PCs

Xeon - initially not for games and “racing” in benchmarks, but sometimes they are useful

Enthusiasts focused on High-End components. This is the level where large-scale versions Intel Core i7 is already missing, and when looking at the LGA-2011 platform (of any generation), thoughts come to mind that “supercharged” Core i7s offer “the same eggs,” only in smaller quantities and without overclocking.

Because, since we’re talking about price, there have been times in history when eight-core Xeons turned out to be a third cheaper and significantly “cooler” than 6-core Core i7s Extreme Edition. For example, this was the case after the debut of Intel Haswell-E chips in 2014 - firstly, the price difference between the six-core Core i7-5960X and the “civilian” quad-core i7-4790K was a measly 15%. And secondly, the junior eight-core server Xeon E5-2609 v4 cost about 30% less than the candidate from the Haswell-E camp. At the same time, unlike the “just” Core i7, the Xeon has a lower TDP level and does not have graphics integrated into the processor that are useless for enthusiasts.

At the same time, there is tons of L3 cache in all three models, and the frequency, although lower in the Xeon, does not allow the belief that “there is no such thing as a superfluous core” and “very soon games will be optimized so that they run quickly on 8 or more cores.” thrifty lovers of resting speed, after which the hot guys send junior versions of Xeon to Intel chipset X99 and... do not admit to anyone how things are in games.

Therefore, four cores, diluted with the help of Hyper-Threading, are almost always more effective in games than eight low-frequency “pots” in the Xeon, which cannot even be overclocked (locked multiplier, near-zero overclocking on the bus).

"Kulibins", who wanted to modernize the old platform with minimum costs . For example, to replace the old Core 2 Duo processor, buy not the old Quad, but a much cooler and high-frequency quad-core Xeon X5460, which, using a simple adapter, can be installed not in a server motherboard with Socket 771, but in a “civilian” one for Socket 775.

The main thing in this scenario is to take care of high-quality cooling (server “stones” sport a TDP of about 120 W instead of 95 W for standard quad-core processors), but in the end this option of upgrading from a very old platform to a “tolerably old” one justifies itself, especially since on some On motherboards the processor can be overclocked up to 4 GHz.

And after all, “Zions” have advantages with which they compensate for their multi-core sluggishness in games! For example, the ability to support multiprocessor configurations, with which video/music/photo encoding and CAD modeling are much faster than in the top-end Core i7 Extreme. Support for register memory with ECC, for example, allows you to correct errors on the fly, and this comes in handy when uptime is high (it’s a server!). Support for huge amounts of RAM and a huge number of cores will also come in handy when the server needs to process incoming connections as quickly as possible. But all this is almost useless on a home PC.

And it is useful for it - many cores at high frequencies. If these conditions are met, the processor itself is compatible with the LGA 2011 or LGA 2011-3 platforms and is cheaper than “just” Core i7 - there is a point in purchasing it. Otherwise, it is better to either get by with mass-produced quad-core processors with eight threads, or design a workstation for specific use cases (rendering, encoding).

High-frequency Intel Xeons (if they are cheaper than mainstream CPUs) can be a good help not only in work, but also in games (source: ferra.ru)

Mow down frags on a workstation with hacked NVIDIA drivers

Professional NVIDIA Quadro video cards are significantly more productive than their gaming counterparts

Moreover, Quadro is quite suitable for these purposes - the fact is that gaming GeForce is most often a professional video card with partially disabled pipelines GPU(from marketing considerations to chip rejection) at a more affordable price. For example, the new professional video card Quadro P6000 contains the most “complete” version of the GP102 graphics chip and for this reason outperforms the cool gaming GeForce 1080 in performance by almost 20%, and the mighty Titan X based on the same Pascal architecture invariably leaves behind.

In general, among fans of NVIDIA video cards, a proprietary sport has long been formed - using hardware modifications to bring the GeForce closer to the Quadro (for example, the GTX 680 is similar to the Quadro K5000 in terms of performance), while game lovers, on the contrary, cross a hedgehog with a snake, “picking” drivers and make professional video cards work faster in post-shooting games/ride-alongs/adventure games. Such activity does not allow one to “play as intended,” but one can only envy the persistence of the enthusiasts.

In mobile workstations, almost every NVIDIA Quadro video card has a funny pattern: every mobile NVIDIA Quadro video accelerator is equal to a gaming GeForce of a lower class in gaming tasks and a couple of levels cooler to a gaming GeForce in CAD disciplines.

Performance of mobile NVIDIA Quadro in comparison with GeForce analogues (source: msi.com)

For example, the Quadro M2000M performs at the level of the GeForce GTX 960M in games, but as soon as it comes to simulation, it “jumps” in results to the GeForce GTX 980M. Roughly the same ratio holds true for other Quad models: the M5000M competes with the GTX 980M in games, and the M1000M competes with the 950M in games.

NVIDIA Quadro M6000 compared to the fastest gaming video cards
(source: techgage.com

Ice cream for the kids, flowers for the lady: priorities in corporate memory and storage

In other words, additional chips and the ability to automatically recognize and correct errors greatly increases the fault tolerance of this type of memory, but also increases its cost. In a word, don’t be surprised if you find that even low-frequency (by the standards of the DDR4 standard) modules will be 50% or more more expensive than their “household” counterparts - the inhuman requirements for endurance in systems that are turned on 24/7 have noticeably modified server RAM. In everyday use, it will be neither faster nor more efficient than its “civilian” counterparts, so for high performance you should turn to gaming kits - for example, HyperX Savage, if you need easy-to-overclock memory for gamers, and HyperX Predator, if you want to get the most out of the subsystem RAM maximum. For standard frequencies, the budget Kingston ValueRAM is great - reliable, install it once and forget it.

A server processor in a home PC can be useful, but instead of register memory it is better to purchase a standard DDR3/DDR4 kit

Enterprise SSD class have also undergone “tuning” in the direction of reliability - they, for example, have the ability to flexibly manage the reserve volume to suit the needs of the controller. The larger the volume, the lower the wear of the cells and the higher the durability of the drive. And a huge number of algorithms that are effective in difficult operating conditions, especially in terms of data safety in case the drive turns off in emergency mode. The firmware has been reconfigured for minimal latency in multi-user access mode and strives for stable performance even with an abnormally large volume of write and read operations. A home computer does not survive such a load, even if you “torture” the SSD with torrents. On the other hand, industrial SSDs are also not record holders in typical operations - typical SATA drives will quickly become obsolete “morally” in terms of memory capacity, rather than completely exhaust the number of rewrite cycles available for the cells - verified by a long-term comparative test involving HyperX models. And speed records with the same level of reliability have long been passed on to drives based on NVMe interface, which are implemented in one of the newfangled form factors “on top” of PCI-Express. In the Kingston/HyperX model line, the “king of the hill” was and remains the Predator SSD PCI-E.

The longevity benefit of purchasing an enterprise-class SSD does not compare to the performance benefits of a PCI-e gaming drive.

If you can’t, but really want to, then you can

Buy the platform in which it is used register memory with error correction (ECC) for home is a bad idea. Excessive durability does not compensate for expensive components and the average (in comparison with gaming analogues) level of performance will not please, especially since the prices for server memory are noticeably higher than for the average DDR3/DDR4 module.

Enterprise-class drives in a home computer are needed if you are paranoid, extremely worried about the safety of data in the event of power outages, and are worried about the reliability of modern SSDs in general. Organization-oriented drives will allow you to “maximize” reliability indicators so that your soul can be at peace.

A server processor for games... an interesting and quite effective idea, but only when we are talking about a cheaper (compared to mainstream analogues) and, most importantly, high-frequency model. Or about upgrading an old computer to a server CPU at “little cost,” that is, for almost nothing. And yes, ideally the platform should be borrowed from the “regular” Extreme series of mass-produced processors.

Professional video cards do an excellent job not only with modeling, but also with games. But it should be remembered that in mobile workstations (with a “stifled” TDP) a professional middle-class video accelerator will be able to compete in gaming disciplines only with budget-class gaming video cards. And desktop professional video cards, in turn, although fast in all work scenarios, are exorbitantly expensive, and are certainly not suitable as an economical option for “work and play.”

Be that as it may, you cannot skimp on high-quality and fast RAM... But today you can! We remind you that from February 2 to February 20, all memory kits

Many people mistakenly believe that a server is no different from a regular desktop computer. On virtually any computer that satisfies minimum requirements to the equipment, you can install a server operating system. But this fact still does not make the PC a real server. Even if you install the fastest processor, HDD large capacity and a lot of RAM, this computer still won't replace the server. The reason lies in the fact that PCs and servers are designed for different purposes. Let's look at the main differences without touching on

Functional differences

Some of the server tasks:

• management, storage and processing of big data, ensuring its integrity;
• working with many clients at the same time. Imagine, the server plays the role of a terminal on which all the necessary software is installed. All calculations are also performed on it. Those. no need for powerful computers in the office and maintenance of a large number of software (installation of updates, etc.) all in one centralized place.

It follows that the architecture of server processors is aimed at as much as possible effective management network resources, and data exchange with server equipment (network cards, disks, RAID controllers, etc.)
Desktop processors are designed more for “household” multitasking - for running many programs and browsers/tabs at the same time. They are also designed to move data (slowly) from many low-speed peripheral devices: keyboards, mice, USB devices, external hard drives, and BluRay discs and more. These processors are designed to do different things or many small things for one user, hence the name personal computer.

Reliability

The most important requirement for the server is that it perform its tasks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, etc., it’s clear what I’m getting at. Quality control on server CPUs is much more thorough. They go through all kinds of testing stress conditions: operating at higher temperatures and high computing loads. Because they must be designed to operate for long periods of time at 100% steady loads. For example, AMD estimates the duty cycle of the Opteron line is 5 years at 100% load 24/7 versus three years for desktop chips.

The reliability of servers is ensured not only by a good quality control department, but also by a number of special software and hardware solutions:

• Increased memory resilience to failures, due to intensive error monitoring and error correction (ECC), at all memory levels (cache, RAM)
• Duplication and redundancy are critical important devices(power supplies, hard drives, cooling systems)
• Introduction additional sensors control of technical parameters (tachometers, temperature sensors)
• The presence of a watchdog timer that will reboot the processor when it freezes

Specifications

• Number of Cores. Server processors have more cores (up to 12), although no desktop processor currently offers more than 8.
• Ability to function effectively on multiprocessor systems
• Larger cache L1, L2, L3
• Support for more RAM, even older versions of server processors support 144 gigabytes of RAM

As you can see, the technical differences were described abstractly and without exact numbers, more is less, but by how much? let's consider specific example. We take the top Intel Core i7 and XEON.

To summarize: throughput system bus twice as large, the cache volume is 6 times larger, it is possible to connect 768 GIGABYTES of RAM, and support for ECC - error control and error correction. But there is another side to the coin, these are larger overall dimensions, power consumption, and almost 9 times more expensive.

The most famous representatives of server CPUs, known to a wide range of users thanks to desktop processors, are the line from Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron. There are also very significant players in this market - these are IMB (POWER line), a joint Intel work And Hewlett Packard(HP) Inanium, Sun Microsystems - UltraSPARC processor.

Due to rising prices for new computer hardware, assemblies based on components from previous generations are becoming increasingly popular. Indeed, you can assemble a computer that meets all modern (or not so modern) requirements much cheaper if you do not buy it in the nearest store, but order it from China or explore the secondary market. Of course, in terms of price/performance ratio, there are no equals to Xeon server processors, which are often not only cheaper, but also more productive than their desktop counterparts. Let's try to understand the old sockets, understand what they are capable of and which Xeon is better to choose.

Socket 775

Performance

Price

Most a budget option, capable of providing comfortable work in the browser, office applications and other tasks for the average user. A great opportunity to breathe life into an old computer.

Xeon E5450 is one of the best processors for the 775

It is not well suited for modern games (although it is quite possible to play some well-optimized projects), but it copes with the hits of past years with a bang.

The main advantages of building on lga 775:

• Low cost processors
• Large selection of motherboards
• Relatively inexpensive ddr2 memory

Flaws:

• The platform is outdated
• Most boards cannot handle more than 8GB of RAM
• Lack of sata 3, usb 3.0, pci-e 3.0
• No new instructions (sse 4.2)

The most popular processor models: - , . Do not forget !

Suitable video cards: average level of previous generations: gtx 660, HD 7850, HD7870, gtx 950, or lower level of new ones: 1030 - 1050 and analogues.

There is almost no point in assembling a 775 system from scratch, but if you have a suitable motherboard or memory kit lying around at home or at a friend’s house, then you can very inexpensively assemble a good PC for the Internet, office and old games.

Socket 1156

Performance

Price

Despite their advanced age, Xeon X3400 series processors in acceleration are still capable of delivering comfortable FPS in modern games. The assembly cost is not much more expensive than the 775 socket, but it has serious advantages:

• Supports up to 32 GB ddr3 RAM
• Low cost processors
• Possibility to play modern games

Flaws:

• If the platform has not yet become morally obsolete, it is about to do so
• Overclocking is vital for more or less comfortable gaming.
• For overclocking you will not need the cheapest motherboard, and noticeably fewer motherboards were released than for the 775
• When overclocking it gets quite hot, you will need a normal cooling system
• Modern ports sata 3, usb 3.0, pci-e 3.0 are still missing
• Most boards do not support inexpensive ECC memory

Xeon X3440 - eight-thread processor with overclocking for only 1,500 rubles

Video cards: an overclocked system can easily work with mid-level cards, such as nvidia 1050ti - 1060 and similar. Powerful cards previous generations will also fit.

Now this is one of the most budget gaming builds on Xeon, but there is little point in assembling a 1156 from scratch; even when overclocked, the platform is stretched to the limit and there is absolutely no reserve for the future. It's a completely different matter if you already have a suitable motherboard in stock.

Approximate gaming performance level:

Socket 1366

Performance

Price

Powerful and hot Xeon processors of the X5600 and W3600 series still show a good level of performance. Pros of building on 1366:

• There are both 4 and 6 core processors
• Excellent overclocking potential for most stones
• Low cost processors
• Triple channel ddr3 RAM
• Confidently handles modern games when overclocked, the performance reserve will last for some time

Flaws:

• Branded motherboards are quite rare and expensive
• Budget Chinese motherboards do not support overclocking and have noticeable disadvantages
• High power consumption and heat dissipation, especially during overclocking
• Not all boards support inexpensive ECC memory

Xeon X5650 - was six-core when it was not yet mainstream

Video cards: up to nvidia 1060 - 1070 and analogues.

Despite its age, the platform is still quite relevant and adequately copes with modern tasks. You can build on 1155 from scratch, in the future it is possible to upgrade to Core i7 2600 / 3770 (k), but first it is better to pay attention to the 2011 socket.

Approximate gaming performance level:

Socket 2011

Performance

Price

The most relevant socket at the moment, which has a lot of advantages:

• Large selection of processors, from 4 to 12 cores for any task
• Lots of Chinese boards are visible best quality than 1366
• Overclocking processors with an unlocked multiplier is possible even on Chinese motherboards
• Quad-channel ddr3 RAM, comparable in speed to ddr4
• Most boards support inexpensive ECC memory
• Works great with games
• Performance reserve for at least another couple of years