Hello guys. I'm new here and this is my first post. Wanted to post this before I went to sleep. I was searching some information on the Xeon L5639. The chip caught my eye and while searching, this topic helped me make the purchase. You guys asked the correct questions and gave the correct answers. Made my decision a lot easier so THANKS. My old CPU wasn't completely behind. My Quad i7-960 was still going strong. I had my i7-960 OC'd @ 4.1Ghz. I usually only ran it @ 3.9Ghz for lower temps and Vcore. Once you hit 4Ghz+ on Bloomfields the Vcore gets a bit crazy so I ran slightly below 4Ghz.
Here are my setups:
24/7 stable setup
L5639 @ 3.974Ghz [or
4Ghz] w/HT
Vcore = 1.31v
Bus = 221x18
Average Idle Temp = 34c-36c
100% Load = 61c-64c [Intel Burn-in Test\Prime 95 etc]
-note my Thermal Paste needs to complete the cure time.
-Passed several Burn test all day. No shutdowns.
-----
Highest
stable overclock:
L5639 @ 4.4Ghz w/HT
Vcore = 1.4v
Average Idle Temp = 37c-40c
100% Load = 66c-71c [Intel Burn-in Test\Prime 95 etc]
-note my Thermal Paste needs to complete the cure time.
-Passed several Burn test all day. No shutdowns.
MB: Asus Sabertooth X58
GPU: GTX 670 2-way SLI
RAM: 12GB Triple Channel
I might have to re-apply my TIM if I don't get better temps after a few days. I hate how I can't lock in that [x20] multiplier. I hope we find away how, but I'm not sure if it's for all of the cores or only two of them. Anyways that's ass backwards to run 4.4Ghz then downclock to x18. I might be able to run 4Ghz under 1.31Vcore, but 1.31Vcore isn't so bad and I'll let it be.
I was surprised to find that I might get even more life out of my X58 chipset. I was contemplating upgrading to a X79 eventually or the next high-end chipset from Intel [Haswell-E if it was good]. I wasn't in a rush to upgrade though. I guess it's just all being a enthusiast.....the constant upgrade itch!!! I've compared my i7-960 @ 4.1Ghz and 3.9Ghz [both with HT enabled] vs. my new Xeon chip w/HT.
I've dropped my Vcore to a stable 1.31vcore.
Cinebench 11.5
i7-960 @ 4.1Ghz =
7.03
i7-960 @ 3.87Ghz =
6.64
Xeon L5639 @ 3.971Ghz [4Ghz] =
9.94
Performance Test 7.0 [I know 8.0 is out. This will do for now ]
i7-960 @ 4Ghz =
CPU Mark - 8237.4
Xeon L5639 @ 4Ghz =
CPU Mark - 11810.7
VERY nice results. As you can see above I was constantly benching and finding my sweet spot while overclocking. While getting better and better results obviously. I get better scores in other programs like 3Dmark as well. My L5639 reads 3.54Ghz, but I have the turbo locked with the x18 [221] which is 3.974Ghz to 4.0Ghz. I might try to take the overclock higher. Hopefully the results above will help some upgrade the CPU and get more life out of the X58 chipset . Right around it's 5th year on the market the 1st generation is still alive and kicking.
I will update once I do more testing and more overclocking. I'm in the process of overclocking my GPU's as well. So hopefully I'll be able to post a few graphic benchmarks. I have yet to play any games with the new CPU.