Solved Your opinion for Intel Xeon E5620 CPU ( Video editing, gaming )

[Vladimir 1]

Hello,

First of all I wanna say that I am new to this forum and as I can see, it is very helpful, keep it up people.

Alright so, few days ago I had just ordered a new ( used ) CPU, an Intel Xeon E5620 quad core 2.4 GHz

So, I was wondering what do you guys think for this CPU, would be even better to see someone's opinion who already had the same CPU or has it still.
Basically, the processor was cheap on eBay so I thought why not give it a chance, I doubt I can find a better processor for the same price ( $20 + free shipping ), though the cheapest motherboard costs much more than that, about $82 ( MSI X58 Pro )

Im gonna use it for internet browsing, video editing ( Adobe After Effects/ Premiere Pro/ Sony Vegas Pro ) though not heavy editing, just 1080p and perhaps gaming a little bit.

I currently own an AMD Athlon X2 240 2.8 GHz dual core CPU, so I guess any quad-core CPU will be a huge upgrade for me basically in everything, especially in video editing where more cores are always better, however I need your opinion for the CPU for both video editing and gaming.

Oh, I also plan to overclock it to about 4 GHz or a bit less, not more than 4 though because I have never done overclocking so I dont wanna risk anything.

 

[Mellon Head]

I'll give you points for optimism. That is a very aggressive overclock.

I don't think that there is any way that you are going to get that Xeon to 4 GHz. That's a 60% OC (if I've done the math right). You would be extremely lucky to reach 3 GHz, and I would recommend liquid cooling if you try for 3 GHz. That's a 600 MHz OC (~25%) and more than respectable (but possibly unachievable with a Xeon due to heat and limited overclocking options).

You will probably also run into a problem with a locked multiplier, so you will have to OC by using the front side bus. Xeons are usually used in servers, and their boards typically will not have the usual overclocking settings enabled in BIOS. Your board may be different.

If your board will let you adjust the FSB, make sure to drop your memory multiplier accordingly. The memory speed will rise with the FSB. Don't OC the memory if you can help it, unless it has heat spreaders and you have very good case cooling, if not a memory cooler.

 

[Vladimir 1]

Hello,

Thank you for your reply.

First of all let me start by saying that my motherboard will be MSI X58 Pro ( still havent ordered ) and the cooler is " AlpFan EKL Brocken "

Motherboard: MSI X58 Pro MS-7522 LGA 1366 für i7 CPUs GBit LAN RAID 6x DDR3 Slots inkl Blende 0816909054484 | eBay
Cooler: Alpenföhn EKL Brocken FÜR Sockel 775 1366 27971 | eBay

Alright so, as I said already, I have never done overclocking, I read many threads about it on the internet as well as speak to my friend who is experienced when it comes to overclocking.
According to my friend, the Intel Xeon 1st / 2nd generation CPUs are easy to overclock, compared to the newer ones which cant be overclocked at all.

He had an Intel Xeon E5620 and overclocked it to 4,4 GHz. He used " P6X58D-E " Motherboard and Air cooling system, the same one I bought - the EKL Brocken.

He also told me that the front side bus does not affect overclocking, unless you have 2 CPUs, especially not for LGA 1366/ Socket B motherboards, it only affects LGA 1567 socket CPUs.
What do you think about that?

Could you also check this out please ?

The Contenders - Overclocking Intel?s Xeon E5620: Quad-Core 32 nm At 4+ GHz

Thank you.

 

[Laith]

If he got it to 4.4 GHz it will most likely BSOD later on and eventually break.

 

[Vladimir 1]

I posted the same thread as this one in other forums and they gave me positive answers, the CPU is much much better than my current one and the difference in video editing will be MASSIVE because of the 4 cores and 8 threads the Xeon has against the 2 cores and 2 threads my current CPU has.

About overclocking it to 4 ghz, well I changed my mind, both due to safety and saving money on electric bills, so Im gonna overclock it to about 3,6 ghz or 3,8 ghz max, I'll see how it goes

Anyway, thank you for your messages, Im marking this thread as solved now.

 

[Laith]

Well, i think you should buy it but anyways glad to help!

 

[Vladimir 1]

I already bought it

 

[Laith]

Haha, fast

 

[Knogle]

Hi



Dont worry brother


Its easy to overclock the 1366 CPUs (and also 1567 with extended knowledge)
i wrote a little tutorial about it


[How-To] Übertakten mit RW-Everything auf Non-OC Boards (Alternative zu SetFSB)


its written in german but u can translate it maybe
but i will explain it in a few steps


1.
You need to find out which Clock Generator ur Motherboard uses
Mostly its a Winbond one or on Server Mothboards the IDTCV183-1A or Realtek 868M
Unfortunately there is no docu about the Realtek 868 so u could ask me about confidential papers in this case.


2.


Find out how the pinout of the clock generator looks like.
In case of the Supermicro X8DTi-F Motherboard its like that

As you see the pins FSA FSB and FSC are responsible for the BCLK of 133MHz Strap set 1


So there a 2 Options now
The soft and hard way


U could fix the strap by modifying ur clock generator to 166MHz --> its mostly stable, better than pure BCLK OC
Or u can change the BCLK by accessing the bitregisters of the clock generator


Step 1.


U have to find out the address in the SMBus of your clock generator
On ICH10R and W83667HG (Socket 1366) SMBus and W83667 (Socket 1156) there are 2 PPLs, 0x2D and 0x3D
0x3D is a clone of 0x2D so u have to apply the settings to 0x2D


NOTE: you have to access the clock generator by using WORD Block mode, byte access mode wont work




Now we modify the bits in Byte 17 to adjust the BCLK of the CPU, easy and simple

Lower value means higher BCLK

Everything is done already because the serverboards apply a high voltage so you dont have to adjust it

If you need higher voltages you can access them by using the Super I/O Chip registers in Non-GPIO Mode


If u want to save the values just change the last bit 7 in byte 0 of the clock generator 0x2D to 1 to save the settings in the SMBus and write them into the BMC Rom


NOTE:


You can find this SMBus addresses in ur Chipset or IOH/ICH docu, or extended explanations and registers in ES datasheets of Intel and AMI


Make sure that the settings work because they wont be resetted even after a CMOS Reset!!!!, its kind of factory mode, because usually this byte is read only

Unfortunately there is no way to change the Straps by software because these values are latched
the only way would be to modify the motherboard, video coming soon
NOTE:

Another way to increase the peformance of the cpu, is to let the CPU run in Freerun Mode

NOTE:


Software to access SMBus and Clock Generator


MS-DOS (with DOSSMB Driver), RW-Everything


You can also change the QPI Link Data Rate by using RW-Everything or DosSMB if you change some values in the I/O Space
More about that coming soon..


U can easily reach a frequency of 4GHz

 

[Laith]

The CPU will eventually break if it reaches 4GHz.

 

[Knogle]

My CPU even didnt break on 5GHz with 1,65V VCore on Server Motherboard
The Xeon X5650 i have is similar to the E5620 but has 2 cores less
so why should it break?

 

[Laith]

Because all the work it has to do when it's @ 4.0 GHz.

 

[Vladimir 1]

Ok Laith, do you think 3,8 GHz / 3,6 GHz will be safe enough ?

 

[Laith]

Yea, that's enough.

 

[Vladimir 1]

But it's a bit confusing me that according to you on 4 GHz the CPU will break but on 3,8 ghz it wont, I mean there's not a big difference it's just 0,2 GHz we're talking about.

Anyway, thanks for your replies

 

[Laith]

It's not a big difference but i think the CPU will handle that clock.

 

[Vladimir 1]

Dont get me wrong Laith, but since I am not sure about this by myself since I have never done it, I need answers only of those who are absolutely sure and not just " think so ", you know.
My point was, what makes you think it will not handle 4 GHz but it will handle 3,8 ghz ? Not a big difference as you said, it's just that I am new here and I wanna learn from people who are absolutely sure and will not lead me to mistakes, you get me ?

But hey, thanks again man

 

[Layback Bear]

Your going to have a tough time finding a lot of people that over clock
Xeons. Xeons were not intended to over clock.

What I have noticed is you don't state what cooling for the cpu you are using and what temps you are running at 1,65V VCore or what load test you did at that voltage. That is extremely high volts.

Spec for Xeon X5650
TCASE 81.3°C

I don't know of any way of telling what over clock any cpu can handle unless you try it and watch the vcore volts and temp of the cpu.

1,65V VCore is in the toaster range.

From post #11

My CPU even didnt break on 5GHz with 1,65V VCore on Server Motherboard
The Xeon X5650 i have is similar to the E5620 but has 2 cores less
so why should it break?

 

[Knogle]

Your going to have a tough time finding a lot of people that over clock
Xeons. Xeons were not intended to over clock.

What I have noticed is you don't state what cooling for the cpu you are using and what temps you are running at 1,65V VCore or what load test you did at that voltage. That is extremely high volts.

Spec for Xeon X5650
TCASE 81.3°C

I don't know of any way of telling what over clock any cpu can handle unless you try it and watch the vcore volts and temp of the cpu.

1,65V VCore is in the toaster range.

From post #11

My CPU even didnt break on 5GHz with 1,65V VCore on Server Motherboard
The Xeon X5650 i have is similar to the E5620 but has 2 cores less
so why should it break?

I used an EKL Brocken air cooler with JouJye 7400RPM Fan

My Ivy Bridge CPU also didnt break even with high voltages

 

[Laith]

Well as Jack said, it's gonna be tough overclocking it but if it's a must need then you can always try. What i was thinking was if your friend broke 5 GHz then the CPU should be able to tolerate extreme overclocking but in my opinion anything over 4 GHz is a little too monstrosity. I mean you can overclock to 4 GHz no problem at all if you have good cooling but be careful when doing it. I would recommend overclocking to 3.5 GHz if you are gonna overclock.