Extreme Quad Core Goodness for ~$15

[Timmah!]

Was puttering around in the computer hardware sections of several websites last week & found this & decided to do it to my backup rig.  For ~$15, I upgraded my backup socket Lga 775  rig to a quad-core Intel Xeon X5460 server cpu.  Being server processors, they are binned from higher quality silicon than standard cpus, being there is an overabundance of them, they are a fraction of the cost, ($15 compared to $190 for a QX9770) & they can be overclocked to 4.0 gigs. http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-X5460-vs-Intel-Core2-QX9770  Here's a more detailed comparison chart of Xeon & lga 775 cpus with pricing: https://www.delidded.com/lga-771-775-cpus/   The only thing it requires is a simple mod:  https://www.delidded.com/lga-771-to-775-adapter/comment-page-1/#comments

[Nanobeast]

 $190 for a QX9770 ?? .thats insane ! 

 

 

[piglo]

Got two quad core Xeon 3.46 for $250 upgrading my MacPro soon.

[Nanobeast]

You mean two of these ?

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/392104830704

[LaRSin]

from what cpu did you upgrade from ?

I have E8400 and I don't think there would be much of performance improvement and it draw more power ..

what do you think ?

[Timmah!]

15 hours ago, LaRSin said:

from what cpu did you upgrade from ?

I have E8400 and I don't think there would be much of performance improvement and it draw more power ..

what do you think ?

The backup was running on an E6400, so:

 

Much more l2 cache	12 MB	vs	2 MB	6x more l2 cache; more data can be stored in the l2 cache for quick access later
Significantly higher clock speed	3.16 GHz	vs	2.13 GHz	Around 50% higher clock speed
Much newer manufacturing process	45 nm	vs	65 nm	A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor
Much more l2 cache per core	3 MB/core	vs	1 MB/core	3x more l2 cache per core
Much better geekbench 3 Multi-Core score	7,123	vs	2,071	Around 3.5x better geekbench 3 Multi-Core score
Supports more CPUs in SMP configuration	2	vs	1	Twice as many CPUs in SMP configuration
Better PassMark (Single core) score	1,335	vs	801	More than 65% better PassMark (Single core) score
More cores	4	vs	2	Twice as many cores; run more applications at once
Better overclocked clock speed (Air)	4.06 GHz	vs	3.33 GHz	More than 20% better overclocked clock speed (Air)
More threads	4	vs	2	Twice as many threads

[J3st3r]

Wonder if something like that would work in my old dell XPS 420?  It had a core 2 duo and I upgraded it to a Core 2 Quad Q6600. It does have the Intel X38 Express chipset but Being a Dell it's very limited to what CPU and memory will actually work in it.

[LaRSin]

I'm lucky my motherboard supports DDR 3 ram..It's an old acer..

did you have update your bios ?

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by LaRSin

[Timmah!]

9 hours ago, J3st3r said:

Wonder if something like that would work in my old dell XPS 420?  It had a core 2 duo and I upgraded it to a Core 2 Quad Q6600. It does have the Intel X38 Express chipset but Being a Dell it's very limited to what CPU and memory will actually work in it.

The Xeons I listed in the links seat into an Lga 771 socket; the motherboard I have is a socket 775; For 99 cents, you buy an adhesive strip in which a simple circuit is embedded which you attach to the Xeon chip; it swaps 2 of the contacts on the chip, allowing it to be compatible in the 775 motherboard socket.  All the information is included in the links I provided in the initial post of this thread.

[Timmah!]

4 hours ago, LaRSin said:

I'm lucky my motherboard supports DDR 3 ram..It's an old acer..

did you have update your bios ?

 

All the relevant information is accessible via the links in the initial post. Some boards, like Intel brand name boards, require the addition of some microcode.  My board is a Gigabyte with an Award bios, so it required no modifications.  For an extra ~$60 you can buy a 2nd cpu & a used dual socket server mobo & run an 8 core beast on the cheap.

Edited January 15, 2019 by Timmah!

[Dessy]

775?

[Timmah!]

1 hour ago, Dessy said:

775?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_775

 

[LaRSin]

Just for fun I ordered the strip and cpu ..I haven't tinkered with with this stuff for a long time , time too.

[Timmah!]

Interesting; worked for me, probably will for you, too.  If not, you can always spend an extra $30 to get an lga 771 motherboard in which it naturally seats...and even another cpu for another $15 bucks & have an 8-core rig.  

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=lga+771+motherboard&_sacat=0&_sop=15&LH_ItemCondition=3000&rt=nc&LH_BIN=1

Good luck & let me know how it works out for you.  =)

[LaRSin]

You know ebay , it will be a month before I see it , In the meantime I made a new bios and might flash it today ,

[LaRSin]

was looking at the motherboards , it seems most use ddr2 ram ,, not good , hard to find in large sizes..

[J3st3r]

That's part of the problem that I have with my 2007 Dell XPS 420 which uses DDR2.  It says it supports up to 8gb in 2gb max per module and I have a 4x2gb kit but atleast 1 stick is bad. I currently have 4x 1gb sticks of DDR2 800 in it. I have a couple of games on it but I mostly use it for KODI.  With a couple dozen plugins it can easily use 4gb+ of memory.    

Wish it was a DDR3 board. Then I could whack in 2x 4gb sticks or 2x 8gb sticks and be done with it.  I hate to part with the damn thing. It cost over $1800 when it was bought new "On Sale" by my aunt. List price was $2479. BTW that's almost 2x what I have in my current PC  lol

 

This was a Really FAST, fully loaded computer back in the day. It was almost as fast as the $7000 Alienware Area-51 7500.

[Timmah!]

26 minutes ago, J3st3r said:

That's part of the problem that I have with my 2007 Dell XPS 420 which uses DDR2.  It says it supports up to 8gb in 2gb max per module and I have a 4x2gb kit but atleast 1 stick is bad. I currently have 4x 1gb sticks of DDR2 800 in it. I have a couple of games on it but I mostly use it for KODI.  With a couple dozen plugins it can easily use 4gb+ of memory.    

Wish it was a DDR3 board. Then I could whack in 2x 4gb sticks or 2x 8gb sticks and be done with it.  I hate to part with the damn thing. It cost over $1800 when it was bought new "On Sale" by my aunt. List price was $2479. BTW that's almost 2x what I have in my current PC  lol

 

This was a Really FAST, fully loaded computer back in the day. It was almost as fast as the $7000 Alienware Area-51 7500.

I had the same exact issue with my backup board!  I had 4 X 1Gb sticks of Patriot 5300 in it...the board has 4 slots & can handle up to 8gb of RAM, so I bought- for $30- a 4 X 2GB kit of Ram; 8GB total.  This new ram was Crucial 6400 instead of 5300..both kits run @ 1,8V/Dimm.  I could run up to 3 of the new 2GB sticks in the rig; but whenever I put in the 4th, no deal.  I could even have one of the Patriot 1GB 5300 sticks in the remaining slot with the  3 Crucials occupying the other 3 slots, or leave the 4th slot empty...just couldn't get all 4 and have it run.  So I called Crucial tech support; this knucklehead proceeds to put me on hold no less than 4 times to ask/ read or both what the hell to do.  His amazing answer after 20 total minutes of waiting on hold is "Let's unplug a case fan" and see what happens."  To which I replied:  The Crucial sticks run @ 1.8 volts just like the Patriot sticks,  I also have a 640 watt PSU, with no bells or whistles such as adapter cards or anything in the rig; plenty of elbow room, I would think.  I then ask him if it could be the memory controller (on the Northbridge on these older boards) that's causing the issue...to which he replied...let me put you on.... At which point I just hung up.  So, I'm currently running 7GB:  3X2GB  sticks of Crucial 6400 & 1 stick of the Patriot 5300 1GB in the 4th.  And to be sure, I tried different configurations & iterations of the 8 sticks to be sure they all worked properly individually...I think it's the mobo memory controller can't handle it.

 

[J3st3r]

I might try a 4x 2gb kit of 5300. I did some reading and it Seems like certain memory controllers do not like to run 1.8v DDR2 800 in all 4 slots. I had similar problems with the old VIA chipset boards back in the day. They would run DDR 400 in 2 slots but would only run up to DDR 266 or 333 speeds with all 4 slots populated. 

 

[Timmah!]

16 hours ago, LaRSin said:

was looking at the motherboards , it seems most use ddr2 ram ,, not good , hard to find in large sizes..

Huh???  What do you mean hard to find in large sizes?  There are literally thousands upon thousands of listing for ddr2 ram on Ebay, Amazon, Newegg, TigerDirect...  I mean, the filters on the left of Ebay let you choose from which continent to order so you don't have to deal with  the "order-from-China-and-wait-6-weeks" thing, & still have a very reasonable purchase price.  How many Gigs/stick are you looking for?  How many gigs total?  It's all there on Ebay, bro.  You can choose Gigs per stick, total gigs, ram speed, price, purchase method(s) (buy it now vs. auction)...everything.  If you wanna post the specs of that which you want, I can look it up for you. Here's the listings for Buy it now, North Armerica, ddr2, 2GB/stick, 4 sticks, 8GB total.

Here's a reputable dealer with over 72,000 sales & a 99.6% customer rating.  It's for brand new, unused ram.  $25 for 8 gigs all day long.  You can sort the filters for total gigs, gigs/stick/ speed, to your own liking. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/8GB-4x-2GB-DDR2-PC6400-LOW-DENSITY-PC2-6400-800-Mhz-DESKTOP-MEMORY-RAM-INTEL-AMD/331649720364?hash=item4d37dd202c:g:u2EAAMXQPatTHVwR:rk:10:pf:0&LH_BIN=1

and this guy...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2GB-New-For-Samsung-DDR2-800MHz-PC2-6400U-DIMM-Desktop-RAM-memory-intel-CPU-US/332698371737?hash=item4d765e4699:m:m1PgFl8ARjsrp7N6IrQXyww:rk:1:pf:0&LH_BIN=1

 

[Timmah!]

2 hours ago, J3st3r said:

I might try a 4x 2gb kit of 5300. I did some reading and it Seems like certain memory controllers do not like to run 1.8v DDR2 800 in all 4 slots. I had similar problems with the old VIA chipset boards back in the day. They would run DDR 400 in 2 slots but would only run up to DDR 266 or 333 speeds with all 4 slots populated. 

 

Yup, I have found the same information searching computer hardware forums about these older lga 775 boards.  The mainboard on my backup rig is a Gigabyte 965P-DS3.  It's not the power supply, it's not the ram; has to be the memory controller on the Nortbhridge not handling the 6400 ram.  Maybe I will try an 8 Gig kit of 5300 and see if it works...the 4 Gig kit of the Patriot 5300 originally in there worked fine.

 

[J3st3r]

I'm Going to grab these for $22.95 shipped. 4x 2gb 5300 667mhz

https://www.ebay.com/itm/8GB-DDR2-PC-5300-MEMORY-RAM-DELL-DIMENSION-E310-PRECISION-WORKSTATION-T3400-380/223276085966?hash=item33fc4ab2ce:g:JMUAAOSw7OdcC--b:sc:USPSFirstClass!15554!US!-1:rk:44:pf:0

 

Seller Guarantees they will work in a dell dimension e310 which is an old Prescott compatible P4 LGA775 machine. Should work in my XPS without any problems. I did put a my old 160gig Intel 320 series Sata 2 SSD in it when I upgraded the SSD in my main computer. And it has a WD Black 640gb storage drive in it for all of my midget porn. 

 

Edited January 17, 2019 by J3st3r

[Timmah!]

25 minutes ago, J3st3r said:

I'm Going to grab these. https://www.ebay.com/itm/8GB-DDR2-PC-5300-MEMORY-RAM-DELL-DIMENSION-E310-PRECISION-WORKSTATION-T3400-380/223276085966?hash=item33fc4ab2ce:g:JMUAAOSw7OdcC--b:sc:USPSFirstClass!15554!US!-1:rk:44:pf:0

 

 

Just make sure you're getting 5300, because the included example picture on that page is showing 6400.

[J3st3r]

Ya it's just a stock photo. Read the listing.   They sell ALOT of memory and they have really good feedback.

[LaRSin]

what I mean the best you do 4x2 gig , I guess I'm used to dd3 where the starting point is 4 gig sticks for me.

And on another note , I flashed my Bios yesterday , All set to go , except cutting the the tabs off,