Technical > PC Hardware Discussion/Reviews > Xeon Processor for Home Use?

Xeon Processor for Home Use?

I don't think 200 W is going to be enough, frankly, for gaming, unless we're talking multiple years' old games that can run on a very low end graphics card, even if you were to find a processor with a TDP < 80 W.

Why not look into an alternate power supply? Is this a proprietary form factor in the case?
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"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." -Ferris

deblin,

I only want to know whether a Xeon processor is suitable for home use. I need to know such things as whether I can use a standard socket 1366 motherboard, standard RAM (suitable for a consumer level motherboard), and any other considerations I should be aware of when using a Xeon processor.

Freddy

It depends on the motherboard. Look at its specs/etc to see if it'll take a Xeon. I know that some of the LGA775 Xeons would work properly in some (all?) LGA775 consumer motherboards, but I don't know about socket 1366.

But again, it's all moot as you won't be able to run a hard drive, optical drive, 80 W TDP processor, and middle of the road video card on a (probably low end) 200 W supply. You can ignore this all you want, but it won't change the fact that 200W isn't going to cut it.
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"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." -Ferris

deblin,

I just finished building a mini-ITX system for a friend with the following components:

200 watt power supply
Motherboard, IBase MI-935
Lite-On CD/DVD Burner (6.7")
Radeon 4350 PCIe Graphics Card
Mushkin 4GB DDR2 800 SDRAM
Silverstone NT07-775 Cooler
Intel 4-Core Processor (Q9400s, 775 Core2 Quad)
Windows 7 Home Premium, 32 bit OEM
Crucial 128 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (SSD)
3.5" Bay Bracket for above 2.5" Drive
PCIe Riser Card (for Graphics Card)

It all works great. Fast and stable. You can do a lot with a 200 W mini-ITX form factor. Nice and small for the desktop. I like these size computers.

Freddy

No offense, but that is a recipe for disaster. Just because it hasn't crashed or rebooted yet doesn't mean it will continue to "work great".

Those components combined are certainly going to come close to 200W at full usage, and you're not even going to get 100% efficiency from a 200 W supply.
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"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." -Ferris

deblin,

Well, the processor and the other hardware devices are likely never running at peak power load. So, most of the unused devices are either in a low power state or maybe even shut off.

In addition, these modern systems offer power settings (like speed step technology) where power usage is applied as needed. I doubt that the system I built, above, will be a problem in this regard.

I think the power supply I used is 75% efficient. I chose the components with careful thought given to power usage. I don't think the components come close to using 200 watts.

Freddy

deblin,

OK, so you think using a Xeon processor for general home use is nothing to worry about.

Can I conclude that the Xeon is designed to work best in a busy server environment, but that it can also be used for general home use, so long as the motherboard supports it?

I'm asking because I know nothing about Xeon. My above mini-ITX is fine. It's just a fact, though it's actually off topic.

Anyone have any additional comments, or special considerations I should be aware of, about using a Xeon processor for general home use?

Freddy

reply to Freddy
Forget about 1366.
The 1156 socket chips are 95w. Get a 750 or 860 lynnfield.

" including mild gaming"

If you want to give more specifics about this we can discuss it.
The 4350 doesn't draw much power but it isn't much of a gaming card either. Have you played the games you want to play on your friend's computer to make sure that the performance is acceptable to you?

asdfdfdfdfdf,

Why forget about 1366?

As of now, I've found no mini-ITX motherboard with socket 1366. I'm expecting that they will be produced, eventually.

I'm familiar with the Lynnfields. I'm trying to get ahead of the curve.

Yeah, a mid level graphics card, like the 4350 or similar, works just fine for what I'm doing for myself and for others. I'm up to the challenge.

Freddy

reply to Freddy
Yes, ignoring the power situation in your case, as long as the motherboard supports it, a Xeon should work fine.

It used to be, Xeons were only supported on high end server boards that required FB-DIMMs, etc. But I think there are LGA775 (and likely LGA1366) Xeons that will work in consumer grade motherboards, as long as said motherboards support them.
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"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." -Ferris

reply to Freddy
"Why forget about 1366?"

As I understand it you are looking at a $400 xeon in order to get a processor that draws less power than socket 1366 core i7.

There is nothing about the xeon, like dual cpus, that you require.

So you are looking at spending more money and ending up with a lower performance setup(lower clock speed) than if you go with socket 1156.

Why do that when you are building a small form factor desktop with a modest graphics card that must draw minimal power?
I see nothing about socket 1366 that you need and I would forget about socket 1366, get socket 1156 and then the concern about power takes care of itself as the lynnfields are 95w.

asdfdfdfdfdf,

OK, I see your logic. I only wanted to know what that is. Too often people use vague terms (like too big, not good, etc.) without explaining what they mean by those words.

Thanks to deblin for his explanation, also.

I'll see what I can do. The nice thing about the Internet is that, if something exists, you can find it.

Freddy

Historically, older Xeons had different pinouts, so you had to have a different mobo for it. They were usually very similar to their regular siblings -- the differences were usually minor (i.e. more cache), or irrelevant to most home users (i.e. P4 Xeons could be used in a dual CPU system, regular P4s don't)

As for power, many people tend to overestimate that, and so often people use much bigger PSUs than needed. I bought a ill-A-Watt partly for that reason.
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And the winner is:

aurgathor,

I agree that many people overestimate the amount of power that is needed. My first venture into using mini-ITX occurred several years ago.

At that time, I used a case with a 150 watt power supply. I installed a 2.4 GHz P4, a regular hard drive, an optical CD-RW/DVD ROM, an ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card (low profile), a FAX modem, and of course RAM and motherboard, along with mouse and keyboard, not to mention some fans. I even used some USB devices, like a floppy and a Zip drive from time to time.

I never had a problem with that configuration. Played games and what have you. I've been a convert ever since.

I like mini-ITX, but they do have limitations. I'm mindful of that. I keep things within limits.

Freddy