After learning that some Xeon processors are compatible with consumer X58 motherboards, I decided to hit the almighty eBay and look for one at a suitable price. The X5650 fit the bill and it has given my trusty old gaming PC a new lease of life. With plenty of cache and twelve execution threads, the Xeon powers through every single task I throw at it including gaming, 3D renders, Photoshop, Camera Raw, and VirtualBox. Nowadays in 2016, nobody's going to confuse it for a brand-new Xeon, but it's definitely a great upgrade if you have a compatible motherboard. I encourage all X58 owners to investigate Xeon upgrades for their boards if a new build isn't an option -- it's well worth your money. The primary advantage of this processor over LGA1366 Core i7 processors is that it runs cooler, with a TDP of 90 watts versus 135 or even more in the consumer i7-9xx series. With the stock Intel heatsink and Arctic Silver Ceramique 2, I haven't been able to get the temps over 165 degrees under 100% load as opposed to 175 or 180 with the Core i7-920 it replaces, and it idles at 25-30 above ambient. (All temps quoted in Fahrenheit.) (For the record: I'm on the wonderful ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 board. The last BIOS update added support for Westmere processors. I can't get a stable overclock with this chip and this board, but your mileage may vary.)Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Upgraded from an i7-920 overclocked to 3.8GHz. This was as high as I could get it to keep it from overheating on air using a Cooler Master V10 CPU cooler. This new X5650 is amazing as so far I've overclocked it to 4Ghz and it barely gets hot at all at 52C using Prime95 stress test. I can probably go even further with it! Much higher FPS in GTA V using this CPU. It barely breaks a sweat running that game.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
If you still own an x58 motherboard then this is the CPU for you. I replaced and i7 920 on an old computer with this beast and it has a multi-core performance of the Haswell architecture once overclocked to 4ghz! It easily runs below 60c while overclocked and gaming as long as you have a decent cpu cooler (Cooler Master Hyper 212 at least).
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Got the processor and it was in a new static bag with the tamper sticker intact. Install was simple and performance is excellent. I see all cores and speed is fantastic. A+
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Used these for a home server in a supermicro motherboard. Super easy to install and get going. They perform just as expected.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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