It's been 2 years since Intel released their first octa-core desktop processor, the Haswell-E based Core i7-5960X, which until merely recently was the most powerful consumer grade processor available. That title now belongs to the equally impressive but even more expensive 10-core Core i7-6950X. Out of the box, the 6950X is 20 to xxx% faster than the Core i7-5960X in applications that tin use those extra cores, yet at $1650 it'southward also absurdly expensive.

Granted most would consider $1000+ an unreasonable amount of coin to pay for a desktop processor -- but for some, the cost to pay for these isn't as of import as the performance they deliver. Thanks to its eight-core pattern aided past Hyper-Threading, the 5960X is a multi-threading monster, and a popular choice for those doing a lot of video editing, especially with 4K content.

But here'south the affair. Before Intel graced united states with the 8-cadre i7-5960X, there were server-grade viii-cadre Xeon processors on the market style back in 2022 in the form of the Xeon X6550, X7550 and X7560. The cheapest of these originally went on sale for ~$2500, while the flagship model cost a absurd $3700. Clocked at just 2.27GHz, the X7560 was no longer impressive when the 5960X arrived. In addition, the X7560 was a 45nm Nehalem (read: hot!) based part.

Every bit with desktop processors, Xeons saw a leap in efficiency and compute power with the arrival of Sandy Bridge, which used a 32nm blueprint process. Even today, Sandy Span chips are able to hold their ain against Skylake processors, with a total four-generation gap between them.

Note: This feature was originally published on 4/iv/2016. We have revised it and bumped information technology equally part of our #ThrowbackThursday initiative. Well-nigh notably, RAM prices have soared, the Xeons are simply $20-twoscore more expensive than they were at their lowest point, and it's still a great bargain to build this Xeon automobile if sheer multi-cadre processing power is what you lot need.

Desktop Sandy Bridge processors arrived in 2022, while the Xeon models came a year later. A huge range of octa-core "Sandy Bridge-EP" processors were released in 2022, the cheapest of which came at $1100 -- even more expensive than the 5960X.

4-plus years later, the Xeon E5-2670 is attracting a lot of interest in enthusiast circles. Originally priced at around $1550, the E5-2670 has eight cores clocked at 2.6GHz with a 3.3GHz turbo frequency and a whopping 20MB L3 cache.

Using the LGA2011 socket, the E5-2670 was intended for use with the C600 workstation series chipset. Still, it is also uniform with X79 desktop motherboards. As such, the E5-2670 supports quad-channel DDR3 retentiveness as its desktop cousins, the Cadre i7-3970X and 4960X. The 5960X, on the other hand, features back up for more modern DDR4 retentivity, but that won't account for a significant performance advantage in virtually use cases.

Even faster (still all the same affordable): 40-Thread Xeon PC for less than a Broadwell-E Cadre i7, read our follow-upward here

So you're probably wondering at this betoken: why we are talking nigh a four-year-old hideously expensive server-grade processor? Last twelvemonth these processors were selling for effectually $300. Not a bad deal for an 8-core Sandy Bridge processor with great L3 cache...

At their lowest point, the Xeon E5-2670 was selling for as little equally $70. PC enthusiasts post-obit the secondhand market place were snapping them upwardly in disbelief over the price.

Expecting this seemingly too-proficient-to-be-true deal to end before long, not much has changed and as of writing the E5-2670 can be had for $xc-100.

So how can it be that an eight-core Xeon has depreciated by 90+% in 4 years? The answer is simple: demand for these processors isn't huge (or at least it wasn't), but tardily last year, the supply became massive when thousands of processors hitting the market every bit previous-gen servers from Facebook and other big Internet companies were decommissioned by used equipment recyclers. With and so many processors in play, prices plummeted to the levels you run across today.

Apart from the obvious specifications which we've already mentioned, some other noteworthy feature of the Xeon E5-2670 is its ability to back up symmetric multiprocessing. This means you tin buy not just one Xeon for ~$100, but 2 for less than $200 and create an insanely affordable sixteen-cadre/32-thread beast.

Every bit the ruby-red on top, the Asrock Rack EP2C602 server motherboard we picked up for putting this build together costs effectually the same amount as a high-end X99 motherboard, $300 brand new. So the two Xeons and the dual-socket motherboard came to a total of but $500, less than the request price of a single hexa-core 6850K.

The Build

To brand the nigh of the unbelievably cheap Xeon E5-2670 processor you are really going to want two on a Dual Socket R (LGA2011) solution. For our build, the Asrock Rack EP2C602 seemed like the best pick, as information technology was the cheapest board nosotros could go our hands on.

The board is well laid out, and is quite well equipped for what is substantially a base of operations model using the Intel C602 chipset.

Apart from the standard two SATA 6Gb/southward and eight SATA 3.0Gb/south ports offered by the Intel C602 chipset, Asrock Rack has included a Marvell SE9230 controller supporting an additional iv SATA 6Gb/s ports, giving the EP2C602 a 1000 total of fourteen SATA ports out of the box. These storage options make this an ideal motherboard for use in a storage box or SAN (Storage Area Network) server.

The EP2C602 also includes five PCIe x16 slots along with a single PCIe x4 slot as well as one legacy PCI slot - meaning there's no shortage of room for expansion cards.

Network support is handled by a pair of Intel 82574L Gigabit controllers which back up teaming. There is a third network port found on the I/O panel which is connected to a Realtek RTL8211E controller supporting enterprise-friendly features similar integrated IPMI 2.0 with KVM and dedicated management LAN.

Things to be aware of are the limits on DDR3 retentivity support. While we say limited, it tin still handle up to 256GB of ECC retentiveness or 64GB of UDIMM retention - notwithstanding, the retentiveness capacity is express equally the board merely supports iv DIMM slots per CPU rather than eight, every bit are plant on more expensive boards such as the EP2C612D16C-4L. Yet, if y'all don't require massive amounts (512GB+) of system retentiveness, the EP2C602 should suffice.

Those hoping to use the EP2C602 as a workstation rather than as a traditional server will want to be aware of the express peripheral connectivity options out of the box. Equally this is a server lath, the rather basic I/O panel features ii PS/two ports, a COM port, VGA port (supported past ASPEED AST2300 graphics), only 2 USB 2.0 ports and three Gigabit Ethernet ports. An additional four USB two.0 ports can exist installed via on-board headers. Those seeking USB 3.0 support volition accept to resort to PCIe expansion cards, and the same goes for 10Gb/s networking.

The ECC memory this board tin support is by and large meant for servers, where any data abuse is unacceptable, such equally making scientific calculations for instance. Since this isn't really a concern for about of our readers, we went with standard UDIMM modules from M.Skill, rather than equip the board with ECC retentiveness.

The G.Skill F3-1866C10Q2-64GZM (8 x 8GB) retentivity kit costs $385 $285 (memory has gotten more expensive in the by few months) which equates to $48 per 8GB module. Each DDR3 module is designed to operate at 1866MHz and will provide each of our Xeon E5-2670 processors with quad-channel memory.

Keeping the two 115w Xeon processors nice and cool are a pair of Noctua NH-U12DX i4 coolers. Noctua's DX line of coolers have go a pop choice in high performance quiet cooling solutions for Intel Xeon CPUs. The latest i4 revision supports the LGA2011 platform (both Square ILM and Narrow ILM) and comes equipped with a 120mm NF-F12 'Focused Flow' fan.

Thanks to its slim design with just 45mm fin depth, the NH-U12DX i4 ensures easy access to the RAM slots. When installed parallel to the slots, it will not overhang the memory even with two fans installed. Still, for those concerned most infinite, the NH-D9DX i4 is an even more compact option. At a cost of $sixty both the NH-U12DX i4 and NH-D9DX i4 are well priced and come backed by a half-dozen-year manufacturer's warranty.

Finally powering the 16-core animate being is the Corsair RM Series RM100x power supply. Priced at $170 there are cheaper options available but few better. Ideally consumers are going to want a ability supply that can output around 600 watts so the RM100x is certainly overkill. That said it provides plenty of room for expansion.

Something to continue in mind is whichever power supply y'all choose, it needs to support a pair of EPS 8-pivot ability connectors. The everyman rated ability supply in the Corsair RM Serial to offer a pair of EPS power connectors is the RM850x.

A pair of GTX 980 Ti graphics cards will see the ability figures ascension well over 500 watts for example. The RM850x might be a smarter option equally it is considerably cheaper at $120 and still supports a heap of devices.

The RM850x and RM1000x are fully modular power supplies sporting an 80 PLUS Aureate certification and 100% Japanese capacitors. The RM1000x in conjunction with the Noctua fans made for an incredibly quiet dual Xeon server and almost of the time the power supply was in "Cypher RPM Fan Manner" which was dainty.