x5650 OC @4.5Ghz VS. Dual x5650 @stock

[Collider]

This is obviously about single thread vs multi-thread performance.

Option 1 is to run single x5650 oc'ed to 4.5 range, I'm already at 4.1Ghz with plenty of voltage headroom to spare. I've seen some folks do 4.7 on air, so I plan to push the OC as much as I can. Will aim for aprox cinebench r15 multithread score of ~1000+/-

Option 2 is to grab a $125 dual LGA1366 mobo used on ebay and run 2 x5650 at stock frequency 2.6Ghz, they turbo up to 3Ghz which should help some single thread performance workflows. This should yield aprox cinebench r15 multithread score of ~1385+/-

Also adding an EVO 950 PRO via PCIe adapter to the mix to eliminate dick io bottlenecks (not using as a boot drive). I am mostly targeting development type workloads, so Visual Studio / Java / SQL / Gradle builds etc.

Very hard to say whether reduced single thread performance will end up hurting me if I go with option 2 or if I'll be better off in most situations with a much, much higher clocked single CPU.

I think its impossible to know for sure unless running some real world benchmarks comparing the 2 options

But generally speaking (or in most RL workflows) would option 1 or option 2 be faster?

 

[DrMrLordX]

If you are comfortable doing development on an overclocked machine, then the OCed x5650 will probably do the best except maybe where SQL stuff is concerned.

 

[Collider]

If you are comfortable doing development on an overclocked machine, then the OCed x5650 will probably do the best except maybe where SQL stuff is concerned.

I've overclocked most of my dev machines, never had any issues once OC is stable.

Yeah SQL stuff should scale well, but I'm using a version that is limited to a single socket unfortunately.

 

[DrMrLordX]

That tears it, then. Just OC the thing.

 

[MongGrel]

I'd just over clock a X5650 from the sound of it.

I just use a X5680 at 4.5 in the main and stuck the X5650 on my HTPC just OC'd to 4.0 for grins and giggles just because I had the boards.

I'd like a dual X5650 myself, not sure what you are doing, but a dual 1336 MOBO for $125 off flea bay doesn't sound would be much of a improvement if you could drive one X5650 OC'd faster. It sounds like you all ready have one higher end single socket board all ready.

If you want to push it a bit more maybe hunt for a X5675. I picked up the X5680 on a whim and it's in the hotter range for air, but I still like it.

 

[theAnimal]

Or pick up an SR-2, then you can have dual ~4GHz.

 

[MongGrel]

Or pick up an SR-2, then you can have dual ~4GHz.

Yeah, but good luck finding a SR-2 for $125. Or even anywhere near 3 times that.

 

[Collider]

Yeah, but good luck finding a SR-2 for $125. Or even anywhere near 3 times that.

Just saw a "new" SR-2 go for $600 on ebay, still very pricey.

 

[dark zero]

And.... how about finding a EVGA Classified SR-2 and overclock both Xeons?

 

[Markfw]

I have a dual 5670 (I think) motherboard and CPU's. PM me. I can't sell on the CPU forum. I know they are 3 ghz stock. and dual HSF's (big ones) and I think about 16 gig ram.

 

[Blue_Max]

Oh my... didn't think much of this at first until I stumbled across a local supply of X5650's here in town for only $100cdn each.

A used Dell Precision 7500 with twin 5650's is a very real possibility... but as much as I like folding@home, gaming is still my favorite activity and the i5-2400 beats a single 5650 at stock speeds. (Overclocking not an option for a prebuilt workstation.)

...but that's a lotta' threads for little cash... very tempting!

 

[theAnimal]

Oh my... didn't think much of this at first until I stumbled across a local supply of X5650's here in town for only $100cdn each.

A used Dell Precision 7500 with twin 5650's is a very real possibility... but as much as I like folding@home, gaming is still my favorite activity and the i5-2400 beats a single 5650 at stock speeds. (Overclocking not an option for a prebuilt workstation.)

...but that's a lotta' threads for little cash... very tempting!

Spending money on CPUs is not really worth it for F@H right now, much better off to get newer Nvidia cards. Of course that may change in future, but for example a GTX970 will get about 9-10x the ppd of dual X5650. Also feel free to join our folding team if you wish (#198). We are also currently having our annual inter-team folding race which you are welcome to join as well.

 

[Mercennarius]

For reference here are my dual X5690s at stock clocks in R15 Cinebench:

And my CPU-Z 1.74:

I could probably squeeze a bit more on both benchmarks with a little tweaking.

 

[Collider]

Spending money on CPUs is not really worth it for F@H right now, much better off to get newer Nvidia cards. Of course that may change in future, but for example a GTX970 will get about 9-10x the ppd of dual X5650. Also feel free to join our folding team if you wish (#198). We are also currently having our annual inter-team folding race which you are welcome to join as well.

Ok, I have a triple GPU (3 x R9 270) mining rig left over from my alt coin mining days, plenty of compute power there

What are the benefits of participating in F@H ?

 

[theAnimal]

Ok, I have a triple GPU (3 x R9 270) mining rig left over from my alt coin mining days, plenty of compute power there

What are the benefits of participating in F@H ?

F@H simulates protein folding (assembly) to learn more about misfolding, which can cause different diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, AIDS, some cancers. This can be used to design drugs and therapies for the diseases.

You can check out the project at https://folding.stanford.edu/ or visit the Distributed Computing subforum if you have any questions.

 

[Collider]

For reference here are my dual X5690s at stock clocks in R15 Cinebench:

I could probably squeeze a bit more on both benchmarks with a little tweaking.

Thanks for posting as reference. If I had 2 x X5690s I would absolutely go for the dual socket setup, but they're still pretty expensive $300 range even used.

I think for now I will squeeze as much as I can out of this OC and perhaps wait for a 6 or 8 core Skylake.

 

[Collider]

Just realized that most of my current OC comes from BLK, and Im using the default multiplier of x20.

With that said, can anyone tell if any dual socket 1366 besides the SR-2 can support BLK overclocking?

I'm ok with the multiplier setting being locked in, just as long as I can dial in the BLK and change voltages.

 

[Mercennarius]

Just realized that most of my current OC comes from BLK, and Im using the default multiplier of x20.

With that said, can anyone tell if any dual socket 1366 besides the SR-2 can support BLK overclocking?

I'm ok with the multiplier setting being locked in, just as long as I can dial in the BLK and change voltages.

I'm not aware of any dual socket 1366 besides the SR-2 that has any kind of OC capabilities.

 

[Collider]

I'm not aware of any dual socket 1366 besides the SR-2 that has any kind of OC capabilities.

So you're saying that all server boards normally have BLK locked in?

 

[Mercennarius]

So you're saying that all server boards normally have BLK locked in?

All the multi-socket 1366 boards i've seen aside from the SR2 have no overclocking capabilities. Base clocks are not adjustable in these BIOS's.

This is why I went with the fastest stock server chip for the 1366(X5690). Plenty for most anything I throw at it and having 24 threads allows me to do some things better than even a 5Ghz single socket 1366 setup is capable of. For gaming, especially anything pre-DX12(which is everything at the moment) a high clocked single socket will beat out a lower clocked dual socket.