dual 771 Motherboard any good for gaming?

[HeXploiT]

I notice that many of the 771 server end motherboards have really come down in price and one can pick up a couple of 3ghz Xeon Quad-Core cpu's for under $100.

How would something like this compare to your average mid/high end gaming rig?

Anyone using a setup like this for gaming?

 

[DaveVandorAmon]

I briefly used my Precision 690 as a 'desktop' when I only had 16GB of memory in it. The machine did much better as an encoder/decoder/transcoder than a gamer against my then Q9550 using the same card (Radeon 5770 1GB) before I converted it to an esxi box.

The X5365 3 Ghz Quad-core is about equivalent to the QX9650 under quick comparison, except for the difference in die size and cache memory; you just end up with a hotter running chip in the xeon, and usually louder fans on air to compensate for it.

Under less than 10 pct load, the precision is quiet, but when it's running full load it is comparable to a tower server

FBDIMMs are also not cheap, unless you plan to use 8 2GB sticks, and have high latency due to buffering, which if I remember correctly increases with the amount of sticks, and you should always use at least 4 sticks to maximize the benefit.

SharkeyExtreme did a review back in 2007 with some benches, etc.

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardwa...26/Intel-Xeon-X5365-V8-Performance-Review.htm

IMO, one would still be better off with a locked i5, some performance DDR3, and a decent graphics card than a dual s771 for gaming.

 

[SPBHM]

X5365 is the equivalent to a Q6850, not Q9650.

core 2 quad and 771 xeon quad cores use the same die...
and with a simple mod it seems 771 CPUs can work on 775 MBs

dual 771 probably uses slower memory, and I think the dual CPU adds latency, so it's probably not a great solution for gaming.


single Core 2 Quad overclocked is a lot better than dual quad cores for gaming.

 

[nenforcer]

The Intel D5400XS Skulltrail motherboard was way ahead of its time and quite costly when it was new but it was held back by the FB-DIMM memory and it only has PCI-E 1.0. FB-DIMM memory is cheap, however, and can be had for $10 for like 4GB if bought in multiple quantities.

It came from Intel's server line and was their answer to AMD FX Quadfather machines.

Its really just a server machine though and you'd be much better off like DaveVandorAmon says with a S775 board and some performance DDR3.

Even used X58 rigs are much higher performing and nearly as cheap and in fact sometimes cheaper because people still overcharge for the SkullTrail motherboards.

You'd be better of with a generic Intel D5000 series server motherboard.