HP Z800 LGA1366 Still Viable?

Forskin on 15/06/2017 - 14:09
Last edited 15/06/2017 - 14:13

Hi Guys,
I currently have an entry level PC (i5-2500k, 8GB RAM & GTX 960)
I do some light gaming, run a small game server and love to muck around with virtual machines.
Unfortunately my PC struggles when it has a game in the background and trying to run a linux or windows VM.

I have done a bit of shopping around and found an older HP Z800 workstation for sale with the dual 1366 socket (Older xeon x55xx and x56xx series).

The Z800 workstation currently has a couple L5640's in it, but I wish to upgrade them to a pair of X5680's. Also has 96GB of ram, which is absolutely overkill but I won't run in to any memory issues when I have my VM's and games open. A definite requirement would be Intel's VT-d technology, which the x5680's support.

If i do get the older Z800, I will be putting my GTX960 in it and using it as my main pc.

What are your thoughts on ~2011 hardware in this day and age?
I find it should be more than enough for what I wish to do. Don't have a massive budget.

Thanks

Computing

Comments

pinchies on 15/06/2017 - 14:33

I use a Z800 as a workstation at uni - with dual X5670, 96GB ram, and a GTX1070 plus SSD in it, it works great today for my research needs.

However, I think for gaming the low single threaded performance will be the main issue - its only just over half that of a 7700K i7, and is actually slower than your 2500k i5. For single threaded workloads this machine definitely is not speed demon!

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+X5680+%4…
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=intel+core+i7-7700k+…
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-2500K…
- scrimshaw on 15/06/2017 - 14:56
  
  Assuming the OP wants to stick with the GTX 960's I think even the Westmere 11 chips shouldn't pose any major bottlenecking issues.
  
  But I agree for gaming purposes the 2500K is far more suitable and I'm actually using a similar vintage machine for gaming (Ivy Bridge 3570 stock clock) and it still kicks ass.
  
  Perhaps you should keep the Core i5 machine and buy a new rig solely for the purpose of VM?
- Forskin on 15/06/2017 - 16:26
  
  Thanks for the responses,
  As for gaming, I'm not too fussed. I have a game open in window mode and on medium graphic settings which I use to admin my game server and not really play
  
  The seller is asking ~$700 for the Z800 with the low power L5640's. A matched pair of X5680's go for about $250 on eBay.. bringing the cost up to nearly 1k.. which is quite ridiculous for lga1366 hardware, however it would make a lovely VM machine when paired with the x5680's
Gronk on 15/06/2017 - 15:11

I wouldn't, there's another similar thread here: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/313043

The tl;dr of that thread seems to be that LGA1366 is too old to be paying money for.
demiurge on 15/06/2017 - 17:11

If you already have a 1366 system it can still game fine and I wouldn't bother upgrading except maybe put in a cheap 6 core CPU. But buying into 1366 now is not recommended unless price is dirt cheap.
Peace Maker on 15/06/2017 - 17:20

I used one at work. Kept blowing PSU's (which are a propriety design). It's a common problem apparently.
tonyjzx on 15/06/2017 - 18:49

if i had to, i could use my old 2008/9 spec i7-920 12gb whatever but why? I have a bunch of newer machines.

A machine of that age still runs win7/10 fine.
dcep on 15/06/2017 - 21:19

wait for threadripper
Taverner on 27/06/2017 - 17:39

No point. Look at LGA2011 - you can have a dual socket board with a pair of E5-2650's and 64GB of RAM for <$300 AUD
- Forskin on 27/06/2017 - 18:31
  
  Cheers mate, ended up just doing a ryzen 7 build. Seems to be holding up everything I throw at it
- Shonky on 21/09/2017 - 18:27
  
  +1
  
  Bit of a thread dig but found this whilst researching Z800/Z820s.
  
  Where can you get something like these prices?
  
  E5-2650 - $100 ea (AliExpress)
  64GB DDR3 - $225+ (ebay)
  Dual LGA2011 Mobo - $300-400 and up (ebay) or maybe a little less for a proprietary board from a workstation or server that will probably cause PSU and fitting headaches.
  
  and already well beyond your price plus still need a case, PSU etc
  - Taverner on 24/09/2017 - 16:06
    
    Pricing that was available at the time may not be available now - it happens, particularly with decommissioned datacenter parts.
    
    At the time I made that post, I'd just purchased a pair of E5-2650's @ $40AUD each, 64GB DDR3 @ $100AUD, and some ex-server dual socket boards with 10GbE for $80 each. If I was recommending parts for inexpensive, high core count machines today I'd be suggesting different parts.
    - Shonky on 24/09/2017 - 16:08
      
      There's no way that was the going rate at that time so you got a very very good deal.
    - Taverner on 24/09/2017 - 16:32
      
      @Shonky:
      
      It was 100% the going rate at the time, and it was well documented.
      
      Here's some more detailed information of the prices of E5-2670's - not identical, but close enough to give you an idea.
      
      https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/intel-xeon…
      
      The motherboards were Quanta Opencompute nodes, which are designed to slot into a two node chassis. If you're using them without that chassis you just need to jump a couple of pins and provide 12V - I bought some of the matching connectors from the original chassis and made a few adapters to use commonly available HP server PSU's or an ATX PSU. It looks like you can still get individual nodes with a pair of E5-2630L's and 16GB of RAM for ~$215AUD plus postage.
      
      http://www.ebay.com/itm/QUANTA-OPEN-COMPUTE-WINDMILL-SINGLE-…
      
      You can also get single nodes without CPU/RAM for $89USD negotiable - he was happy to negotiate last year, I'd be guessing you could get a couple at $50USD each by now if you asked nicely. E5-2630L's are $20USD before postage on Ebay, 2650L's are $45USD before postage.
      
      Alternatively if it's for non-critical use, E5-2630V4 ES parts are ~$200AUD for a ten core hyperthreaded part. Stability is obviously not guaranteed, but I've been running one for about four months 24/7 for both VM workloads and gaming without any trouble.

HP Z800 LGA1366 Still Viable?

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