Are E5 Xeons still a good buy in 2022? What other good used budget options are popular?

[KingArthur]

I'm considering an upgrade to my server. Currently it's just a deconstructed Optiplex (i5-6500) and a couple LSI cards, plus a bunch of various drives.

 

Of course I started cheap, spent a bunch of money on drives, and now want to upgrade. Partly for fun, and partly to just smooth out operation so I can reasonably run some VMs while Plex and the -arrs are doing things.

 

I recently discovered the Huananzhi X99 motherboards they sell on AliExpress. ~$120 for a seemingly competent X99 board. I could slot in a Xeon, and since I have some DDR3 RAM around I was considering an E5-2696v3. I'd probably want to drop a Quadro P600 or P620 into this in this config since I'd lose iGPU. Total cost = ~$450.

 

Does this kind of approach still make sense these days? Most of the hardware related posts I see are either Ryzen 3000-series focused or push for using a 9th-ish gen i7 to retain iGPU stuff. I'm just curious as to what people consider to be the most effective budget config options when buying used parts these days.

 

Edit: Adding links for the aforementioned Huananzhi board and the data page for the E5-2696v3. 

Huananzhi TF X99:https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000120773162.html

E5-2696v3: https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Xeon/Intel-Xeon E5-2696 v3.html

Edited April 19, 2022 by KingArthur
Added links to some items.

[KingfisherUK]

I thought the E5 v3 series CPU's only supported DDR4? Found an article on Toms Hardware about that board and it seems only very specific CPU's support DDR3:

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ddr3-ddr4-x99-motherboard-intel,40252.html

 

Interestingly, none of those "compatible" CPU models are listed on Intel's ARK website for the E5 v3 family:

 

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/series/78583/intel-xeon-processor-e5-v3-family.html

 

Even searching for the spec code (SR1XK for the 2696 v3 apparently) brings up no results on the Intel website.

 

As for if they are still good processors, I have two Unraid servers running on them - one on an E5-2650 v3 and the other on an E5-2609 v3 (will be upgraded to E5-2650L v4 soon). The primary one (2650 v3) runs Plex, -arrs, NZBget, Home Assistant, etc. with no issues.

[KingArthur]

1 hour ago, KingfisherUK said:

I thought the E5 v3 series CPU's only supported DDR4? Found an article on Toms Hardware about that board and it seems only very specific CPU's support DDR3:

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ddr3-ddr4-x99-motherboard-intel,40252.html

 

Interestingly, none of those "compatible" CPU models are listed on Intel's ARK website for the E5 v3 family:

 

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/series/78583/intel-xeon-processor-e5-v3-family.html

 

Even searching for the spec code (SR1XK for the 2696 v3 apparently) brings up no results on the Intel website.

 

You're correct on the results of your searching. There are a number of SKUs in the E5 lineup that support DDR3 and were only ever sold to other OEMs/system integrators. They're unlisted on Intel's site, but if you purchase these 2011-3 boards that support DDR3, they have a specific list of compatible processors that also support that DDR3.

 

Do you run a GPU in the 2650 server, or do you just roll with software transcoding?

[KingfisherUK]

The main server (with the 2650 v3) has a Quadro P400 installed for transcoding in the Plex and Tdarr containers.

 

Given the relative scarcity of those DDR3 E5 CPU's (and likely higher prices as a result?) could you not get a similar or equal spec DDR4 E5 and some DDR4 RAM for the same money?

[KingArthur]

Just now, KingfisherUK said:

The main server (with the 2650 v3) has a Quadro P400 installed for transcoding in the Plex and Tdarr containers.

 

Given the relative scarcity of those DDR3 E5 CPU's (and likely higher prices as a result?) could you not get a similar or equal spec DDR4 E5 and some DDR4 RAM for the same money?

 

The cost would be roughly the same. ~$140 for either a 2696v3 or a 2699v3. Both 18 core, 36 threads. I think they're basically the same CPU but one has DDR3 support and one has DDR4 support. The decision would ultimately come down to if I feel like going super budget and getting this cheap board + the RAM I already have or buying a more reputable board and purchasing some DDR4. That difference is only ~$200 in cost, but when the entire upgrade is only going to be $350-$650 depending on parts, that $200 is a significant percentage of the overall.

 

The same question I have about performance persists when looking at the mainstream E5s though. I quite literally have no clue if an E5 + a P400/P600 is more or less performant than an i7-10700. I mean, shoot, the 3rd upgrade option for me is to donate the Ryzen 1700X that's in my desktop and spend my upgrade money on a new CPU + mobo + RAM for my desktop. But, again, it is difficult for me to discern unRAID + Plex + docker performance differences between these CPUs of different generations.

[aarontry]

But note that there aren’t many quality X99 boards out there. The chips on Huananzhi boards are coming from used or damaged X99 boards.