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Rebuilding an old X58 system, need advice.

2K views 87 replies 18 participants last post by  PriestOfSin 
#1 ·
Hello everyone! I have come across my old X58 PC, and wish to rebuild it to make it a "modern" gaming system for friends, as well as an emulator box to play PS2-era and below games on a 1920x1080 HDTV. Basically I want to resurrect it because it was my first "real" PC build, and I'm attached to it. My sister/mother had been using it since around 2012, and the PSU, SSD, and HDD are all relatively new. I just have a few questions before I begin, and would also like to get some advice.

The system's basic specs:

Mobo: ASUS Rampage III Gene

CPU: i7 920 (it's a crap overclocker, 3.1GHz max on this thing)

Cooler: Corsair H50 (so old it's got the ridged tubing, it's gotta go!)

RAM: 6GB OCZ DDR3-1066

GPU: EVGA GTX 670 (more or less dead, displays funky-fresh colors when trying to launch a game)

PSU: Seasonic X650 Modular Gold PSU (2 years old)

SSD: 250GB Boot drive w/ Win10 install (2 years old)

HDD: 3TB Seagate 7,200RPM (2 years old)

Case: Some sort of cube abomination that needs to be purged in cleansing fire

My proposed changes are:

CPU: Intel Xeon X5675 3.06GHz Six-Core

Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X Single Fan

RAM: Need to get my hands on more, need advice on the amount of ram to get. The OCZ stuff I've got in there isn't terribly quick, but I've never had any issues with it.

GPU: Need advice on this. Was thinking about picking up a cheap GTX1060 3GB, but am totally open to suggestion. I'd like to stay below $250 for this particular part.

Case: Fractal Design Define Mini C (I've found this case to be an absolute joy to work in)

My questions are:

1.) Does anyone foresee issues with the X5675 processor? According to:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1461359/official-xeon-x5660-x58-review-discussion-and-xeon-l5639-benchmarks-inside/2430

It should just drop right in.

2.) Should I make additional RAM a priority? I personally haven't used less than 8GB since 2010, and 6GB seems somewhat anemic.

3.) Will the CPU cooler I chose be adequate for the X5675 CPU? I will not be overclocking.

4.) What GPU should I get? It needs to be strong enough to handle emulators, but also games like Killing Floor 2, COD, and Battlefield 1. Resolution will be 1920x1080.

Thanks everyone in advance, and apologies if this is not the right subforum.

EDIT: Mistyped the ram speed.

EDIT2: So, here's an updated list of changes, thanks to feedback from you guys:

The GPU will end up being a used 970, I'm getting one very cheaply.

I'll be grabbing a dual-fan setup for the 212X, and will be attempting to OC the Xeon chip as far as I can.

I'll be trying out different ram sticks that I've got around here, and attempting to get at least 12GB installed and running well. I'll likely have to keep it slower since NBrock has pointed out that the memory controllers don't like to push the speed on memory much. Not a big deal.
 
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#2 ·
If the Gene 3 is anything like the Extreme, then Dual Channel ram should work fine on that board. One of the Ram slots on my old Extreme board stopped working so it switched to Dual channel mode.

Not sure of the price on triple channel ram but if its pricey then you can always look into Dual Channel DDR3 instead
 
#3 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheReciever View Post

If the Gene 3 is anything like the Extreme, then Dual Channel ram should work fine on that board. One of the Ram slots on my old Extreme board stopped working so it switched to Dual channel mode.

Not sure of the price on triple channel ram but if its pricey then you can always look into Dual Channel DDR3 instead
Looks like I can get a 12GB kit of triple-channel G.Skill for $75, I think I'll go ahead and go with that.
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheReciever View Post

If the Gene 3 is anything like the Extreme, then Dual Channel ram should work fine on that board. One of the Ram slots on my old Extreme board stopped working so it switched to Dual channel mode.

Not sure of the price on triple channel ram but if its pricey then you can always look into Dual Channel DDR3 instead
Quote:
Originally Posted by PriestOfSin View Post

Looks like I can get a 12GB kit of triple-channel G.Skill for $75, I think I'll go ahead and go with that.
"kits" are worthless, Channels is simply the amount of groupings it can access at once, In x58 its 3 groups of 2, Or 2 dimms per channel, Just go out and by the cheapest amount you actually want because it'll make zero differance, So long as 2-4-6 sticks are inserted it will run in dual, dual, Tripple respectivly

You can also use just 3 sticks to run in 3 channels provided they are in the correct spots.
 
#5 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rayleyne View Post

"kits" are worthless, Channels is simply the amount of groupings it can access at once, In x58 its 3 groups of 2, Or 2 dimms per channel, Just go out and by the cheapest amount you actually want because it'll make zero differance, So long as 2-4-6 sticks are inserted it will run in dual, dual, Tripple respectivly

You can also use just 3 sticks to run in 3 channels provided they are in the correct spots.
Ah, I didn't know that. Thanks for the info!
 
#6 ·
I highly recommend overclocking the X5675. It should be a very good overclocker. You should be able to squeeze out a few hundred megahertz at stock voltage.

I highly recommend doubling RAM. I tried running my system with 6GB because I was testing how far I could push my RAM. I could notice a stutter that wasn't there with 12GB. As long as you can do 1600 MHz at 9-9-9 you should be fine.

Any $250-class video card should do the job for you admirably.
 
#7 ·
If you can't spring for the 6GB 1060, or even if you can, you might want to get the AMD equivalent, the RX 580 or 570, as they have more VRAM which is becoming important in today's games, and are cheaper than $250 and than the 6GB 1060 or even maybe the 3GB 1060.

AMD has improved their driver quality control a lot, and their newer cards perform well even in Nvidia gameworks games due to better tesselation, so I don't hesitate to recommend them in the midrange where they are competitive.
 
#8 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by chessmyantidrug View Post

I highly recommend overclocking the X5675. It should be a very good overclocker. You should be able to squeeze out a few hundred megahertz at stock voltage.

I highly recommend doubling RAM. I tried running my system with 6GB because I was testing how far I could push my RAM. I could notice a stutter that wasn't there with 12GB. As long as you can do 1600 MHz at 9-9-9 you should be fine.

Any $250-class video card should do the job for you admirably.
Word, NBrock has confirmed that the 212X will do well for OCing, so I'll be taking the plunge!

Quote:
Originally Posted by PloniAlmoni View Post

If you can't spring for the 6GB 1060, or even if you can, you might want to get the AMD equivalent, the RX 580 or 570, as they have more VRAM which is becoming important in today's games, and are cheaper than $250 and than the 6GB 1060 or even maybe the 3GB 1060.

AMD has improved their driver quality control a lot, and their newer cards perform well even in Nvidia gameworks games due to better tesselation, so I don't hesitate to recommend them in the midrange where they are competitive.
I've got some extra RAM floating around here, I'm going to try and get it to work. Also I'll be grabbing a cheap 970, I think that'll do nicely.

Quote:
Originally Posted by NBrock View Post

PM sent
PM'd ya back

Thanks again for the help guys, I'll be sure to post pics when this gets rolling. Gotta explain to the wife why I'm dumping money into a system slower than what we've both got
rolleyes.gif
 
#9 ·
How cheap is the 970? Keep in mind that it performs about the same as a 570 or 1060 card now. I was talking about vram, the RAM on board the card, not on board your motherboard (on board your motherboard should be 8-16GB.)
 
#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by PloniAlmoni View Post

How cheap is the 970? Keep in mind that it performs about the same as a 570 or 1060 card now. I was talking about vram, the RAM on board the card, not on board your motherboard (on board your motherboard should be 8-16GB.)
The 970 will cost me $40. Hopefully the 3.5gb won't bottleneck too hard. Surely it'll be alright at 1920x1080? If not, I think I'll likely grab a 580 as you had suggested.
thumb.gif
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by PriestOfSin View Post

The 970 will cost me $40. Hopefully the 3.5gb won't bottleneck too hard. Surely it'll be alright at 1920x1080? If not, I think I'll likely grab a 580 as you had suggested.
thumb.gif
In a few games, you won't be able to use the highest texture settings. Other than that, it'll be fine.
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by PloniAlmoni View Post

In a few games, you won't be able to use the highest texture settings. Other than that, it'll be fine.
Excellent, we will play it by ear.
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by PriestOfSin View Post

Excellent, we will play it by ear.
The GTX 970 is a good 1080p card, and was enormously popular, so games should still be written to run well on it for a while. That's a good price too.
 
#14 ·
I would personally pass on the GTX 970. Your best options are a GTX 1060 6GB or RX 480/580. VRAM isn't much of a concern with 1080p gaming, but you can still use more than the 3.5GB offered by a GTX 970.
 
#15 ·
I got an MSI 1060 Gaming X in mine and it games pretty smoothly at 1080 res. Would get a 6gb model not the 3gb.
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by davidm71 View Post

I got an MSI 1060 Gaming X in mine and it games pretty smoothly at 1080 res. Would get a 6gb model not the 3gb.
No one should ever buy the 3GB model. One would think it's the same GPU with less VRAM, but it isn't. Nvidia should not have called it a GTX 1060.
 
#18 ·
$40 for a 970, you can't go wrong. The vram might hinder it on some of the newer games, but it should still run well with settings slightly lower.

As for the RAM, matched sets don't really matter as you were told, but having the dimms the same size, speed, and timings does. You may end up running your dimms in double, or even single, channel inadvertently because of a mismatch. However, tests have shown no large increase with running triple channel over double, so if you have a set or 2 of "matching" pairs, that will run fine as well.

The most important thing is to make sure you're running the latest BIOS BEFORE swapping CPUs. And after you swap, do a full CMOS clear.
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Firehawk View Post

$40 for a 970, you can't go wrong. The vram might hinder it on some of the newer games, but it should still run well with settings slightly lower.

As for the RAM, matched sets don't really matter as you were told, but having the dimms the same size, speed, and timings does. You may end up running your dimms in double, or even single, channel inadvertently because of a mismatch. However, tests have shown no large increase with running triple channel over double, so if you have a set or 2 of "matching" pairs, that will run fine as well.

The most important thing is to make sure you're running the latest BIOS BEFORE swapping CPUs. And after you swap, do a full CMOS clear.
I'll be doing some experimenting tomorrow when I get some time, hopefully I can get something working. Right now I've updated to the latest bios from ASUS website and everything is running good and stable. Hopefully Microsoft won't give me any flack when I do a clean install of the OS, surely everything will go fine since the mobo is staying the same.

When's the best time to do a clean install? Before the CPU swap, or after?
 
#21 ·
Finish all the hardware changes you want to make, then do your fresh install. Everything should still boot fine into windows until then.
 
#22 ·
I didn't realize the GTX 970 was only $40. That's a steal. You might as well try that out and sell it for the $150 it's worth if you aren't satisfied.
 
#23 ·
Ok if you're only capable of getting 3.1ghz from a i7 920 you probably shouldn't be doing this. Don't get those x56 hex cores they're made to work In a server and seem to be badly binned, with two x5670 I got shutdowns on both a 750w and 875w 80plus PSUs in both a rampage extreme and Alienware Aurora. When I switched to two w3670 I could hit 4.6ghz on both stable with Sli graphics cards.
I'd push you to get a x5667 as you can hit 4.2ghz stable on those with a stock i7 cooler.
 
#24 ·
edit: Woops, I misread your post. I guess you either were using very cheap bad PSUs, or it was the luck of the draw. My "SMT DS" system you see in my signature never had PSU shutdowns from my overclocked x56xx Xeon, it was a 750 watt 80+ gold PSU though.
 
#25 ·
No one said about running two CPUs together I just had one for each system and could swap chips around if needed.
600w should be enough for a gtx 970 as I've had gigabyte builds since then using 970s.
 
#26 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyfrog1 View Post

No one said about running two CPUs together I just had one for each system and could swap chips around if needed.
600w should be enough for a gtx 970 as I've had gigabyte builds since then using 970s.
Yeah, I figured that out after reading it. Overclocked, a x56xx chip draws a lot more current than most chips do, so 600w is probably not enough for that.
 
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