Question 1

Does this thing come with a fan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. It comes with the same fan all Intel chips I can think of would have come with since LGA 775 in 2003ish. Fine for non overclocked cpus. I use this chip for encoding video files, so it will stay at 100% for 8+ hours at a time, and I use the stock cooler.  Highest I've ever seen was 81C-higher than I'd like but not nearly high enough to worry about. I did have to raise the fan settings in BIOS to achieve this though. With stock settings, it gets around 85-86 after about 10 min of testing.-still safe, but higher than I'd like.

Question 2

Does this processor require a "server" board with a C2xx series chipset, or can I use it with a consumer board?

I ask because I don't need ECC memory or integrated graphics and this processor is cheaper than the speed equivalent i7.

Accepted Answer

You do not need a server motherboard to run this CPU. However you would want to check your motherboards HCL to make sure this CPU is on the list.

Question 3

Will i be able to use this in my gaming build with a lga 1150 motherbord?

Accepted Answer

I used this Xeon CPU with a server motherboard. You need to check the CPU compatibility of the motherboard you intend to use. I use this chip/motherboard with a Microsoft Server 2012 installation and it works just fine. I don't know how it will work with a gaming build. Suggest you check the requirements of the games you intend to run. You might be better off going with an i7, plenty of RAM and a video card with cuda cores.

Question 4

Will this work on a ASUS P8B-X?

Accepted Answer

No, the socket types need to match. This CPU uses the 1150 socket type. The P8B-X uses the 1155 socket type.

Question 5

I have a few questions about this CPU, and I'd be very grateful if anyone could help me with them :)

One of the reviews for this CPU said that the CPU can be locked into the turbo frequency. Does this mean that it can be locked into a constant speed of 3.4GHz on all 4 cores (standard turbo for all 4 cores being utilized at once), or does it mean that it can be locked into 3.7GHz (the max turbo frequency) on all cores?

Also, can this CPU be overclocked at all via the Bclk if paired with a Z87 based motherboard (such as an Asus Hero or Gene)? I heard that Xeon's didn't have any other Bclk straps, but I didn't know if they still had the ability to adjust it just a little (say to 105 - 110 or so).

Finally, does this CPU support higher speed RAM? Intel states that it supports 1333 and 1600 ram, but in the "Other Thoughts" section someone put that they're using 2133 RAM. Are they able to run it at this speed, or will they have they underclocked it to 1600 and reduced the latencies?

Accepted Answer

Here's what I'll say: if you're building this for a budget gaming build, then use budget parts. 2133 RAM is expensive and overkill in 99% of application. You wouldn't get anything out of RAM faster than 1600mhz. You can't overclock this CPU from my knowledge; I haven't even tried on mine. Xeon processors are a bit different from their i7 Haswell brethren. You cannot increase the frequency without causing instability. If you want to overclock and you want to spend money on high frequency RAM, spend the little extra to buy the 4770 and you get exactly the kind of processor you want. I put this in my workstation PC as a low energy, efficient, and powerful CPU. If you want a gaming PC that you can overclock, go with an i7 or i5. This will not be what you're looking for

Question 6

How did you get the usb 3.0 ports to work with this CPU? I have it with a GIGABYTE motherboard and the drivers provided by them don't work. Thanks.

Accepted Answer

The processor should not affect the USB 3.0 ports. Have you tried downloading the latest drivers from the manufacturer website? When you say the drivers do not work, do the ports them selves not work? Or do they just run at USB 2.0 speed?

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