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W3680 Processors - Buy now?

R

Raunien

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 3, 2011
541
66
Hi everyone,

Just wanted to ask about the "longevity" of processors. Right now, I have a 2.8 ghz quad core W3530 in my 5,1. I don't necessarily need the power right now, and I wanted to wait to upgrade. But is there any chance of the w3680 (3.33 Hex) ever "running out" as in no one will sell it on ebay in the future? Let's say 3 years down the road?

And if I decide to purchase it, what is a good price for a purchase right now? Anyone buy one recently?

For those of you who upgraded from a w3530 to a w3680, what were your temperatures like? Did they increase?

Thanks
 
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Prices have fallen considerably. You could probably snag a W3690 for nearly the same price (clocked a bit faster)
 
If I don't need the extra power right now, would you still recommend buying one (either 3680 or 90) at the moment so that I snag one before people stop selling them?
 
For a single processor upgrade, what is the consensus on X5690 vs W3690? I know the memory limit is higher on the X, but are the idle/operating temperatures higher as well?
 
Gonna be a while before people stop selling them. You can still get Core 2 Duos, Athlon 64s and Pentiums 4s on eBay for a couple bucks. If you need the power get it and if you don't there's no harm in saving money.
 
Raunien said:
For a single processor upgrade, what is the consensus on X5690 vs W3690? I know the memory limit is higher on the X, but are the idle/operating temperatures higher as well?
Click to expand...

I think the memory limit thing really isn't an issue as people have said the W series can handle >24GB despite the Intel specs page saying otherwise.

But, my philosophy is that if I'm spending a decent amount on a CPU and can get the X series for a few bucks more, it's a good investment because if I happen to upgrade to a dual CPU cMP in the future, then I already have one CPU and just need one more, whereas with the w series, you'll need to buy two processors.

BTW, I just did exactly that, after upgrading a single CPU cMP with a x-series, I found a good deal on a dual CPU cMP and upgraded to dual CPU's!
 
DougTheImpaler said:
Gonna be a while before people stop selling them. You can still get Core 2 Duos, Athlon 64s and Pentiums 4s on eBay for a couple bucks. If you need the power get it and if you don't there's no harm in saving money.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this was the answer I was hoping for!
 
One thing that I never see posted here, per Intel, the X56 series support VT-d, which the W series doesn't.

Granted, few people might need that, also, osx doesn't support it and I'm not sure if the cMP mobo supports it, so maybe is something unimportant.
 
Raunien said:
For a single processor upgrade, what is the consensus on X5690 vs W3690? I know the memory limit is higher on the X, but are the idle/operating temperatures higher as well?
Click to expand...

You are completely mistaken. The X is meant for dual machines. Using two cpus means having a second memory controller. I don't know if the X5690 would even work in a single socketed board. I would have to look it up, but I doubt it. They cost more because you can use them in dual configurations. For your purposes it isn't any better.

Apparently I was wrong.
 
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thekev said:
You are completely mistaken. The X is meant for dual machines. Using two cpus means having a second memory controller. I don't know if the X5690 would even work in a single socketed board. I would have to look it up, but I doubt it. They cost more because you can use them in dual configurations. For your purposes it isn't any better.
Click to expand...

Huh, then I guess I can't be answering this.

Using a single X5690 in my single CPU 4,1/5,1.

You probably haven't read about recent discoveries. Using X5690 lets you use 64GB of RAM, while a W3690 stops at 56GB. I am not alone in these findings, been confirmed many times.
 
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X56xx used to cost a lot more. Now they are running neck and neck with the W36xx, often cheaper, probably because so many dual-CPU severs are being retired. Unless you need more than 56g of RAM in a single-CPU MP, buy whatever you find for less. Dual CPU Macs need the X56xx.
 
thekev said:
You are completely mistaken. The X is meant for dual machines. Using two cpus means having a second memory controller. I don't know if the X5690 would even work in a single socketed board. I would have to look it up, but I doubt it. They cost more because you can use them in dual configurations. For your purposes it isn't any better.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but you are completely mistaken. I posted this in a thread awhile ago:

flowrider said:
Intel's Part Number Descriptions Explained here:

Intel has changed what the leading Alpha means. The change happened when going from the 35XX (55XX) to the 36XX (56XX) series.

In the older series it meant:

E = Enterprise and CPUs with a TDP of 80 Watts
X = Accelerated and CPUs with a TDP of 95 Watts
W = Workstation and CPUs with a TDP of 130 Watts

and in every case the leading numeric after the alpha meant:

3 = for single CPU use only (1 x I/O Bus)
5 = for dual CPU use, but will work in single CPU applications (2 x I/O Bus)

In the later series, the above nomenclature rules stayed constant EXCEPT - The "X" prefix means accelerated (95 or 130 watt TDP) and is only used on CPUs with a 2 x I/O bus. The "W" prefix is now used only in the single CPU series (1 X I/O Bus).

In any case in both series, the meaning of leading numeric after the alpha has remained the same. A "3" for CPUs with a 1 x I/O bus and a "5" for CPUs with a 2 X I/O Bus.

I hope this makes sense to you. It took me awhile to figure it out.
Click to expand...

In any case, as detailed above, a X56XX CPU will work both Dual CPU or Single CPU machines. The W36XX will only work in Single CPU Machines.

Lou
 
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Yeah, good info here. I bought 2 X5690's for $220 each and installed them last night in my 5,1. Funny, but now I almost have the Mac Pro I always wanted but never wanted to pay for, and its still almost as as fast as the new one. :eek:
 
jmfangio said:
This link states:
Better geekbench (32-bit) score 18,008 (X5690) vs 14,500 (W3690) Around 25% better geekbench (32-bit) score

Is this 25% increase true in a MP? I can find no other evidence of such a difference between the two processors except for this cpuboss link.
Click to expand...

That 32-bit multi-core test result looks like an aberration. In every other geekbench score, the two CPUs are much closer, including the 32-bit single-core test. I suspect they made a mistake of some sort.
 
ActionableMango said:
That 32-bit multi-core test result looks like an aberration. In every other geekbench score, the two CPUs are much closer, including the 32-bit single-core test. I suspect they made a mistake of some sort.
Click to expand...

No, you are starting to sound like Lou. Xeon depends on wafer and bin process. It is like buying a lottery. Look at it like this, each processor has it own personality
 
kennyman said:
No, you are starting to sound like Lou. Xeon depends on wafer and bin process. It is like buying a lottery. Look at it like this, each processor has it own personality
Click to expand...

True, but in case of cpuboss and other crappy sites like this it's matter of inaccuracy. Since when W3690 supports 24GB RAM only? They don't care enough to publish accurate data. Most likely they took some OC'ed 5690 score and compared it to stock clocked 3690.
 
666sheep said:
True, but in case of cpuboss and other crappy sites like this it's matter of inaccuracy. Since when W3690 supports 24GB RAM only? They don't care enough to publish accurate data. Most likely they took some OC'ed 5690 score and compared it to stock clocked 3690.
Click to expand...

Well, I have nothing against those professional review sites. Why are we even talking about memory support here? Any third party manufacturer can manipulate and pimp their motherboard to add memory slots as much as they can, Welcome to 2015! (BTW, that was a practice from way back in the days...)

Are you pointing to the fact that X5690 has dual QPI and W3690 is a single QPI processor. If yes - I think the OP knows about the max memory support! We are talking about CPU operating power here, let us review the facts:

W3690
QPI: 1
Platform: WS
Turbo: 3733 MHz (1 core active)
Max Temperature: 67.9 degrees celsius (core temperature)
TDP: 130W
Max Voltage: 1.375V

X5690
QPI: 2
Platform: WS, EP & EN
Turbo: 3733 MHz (1-2 cores active), 3600 MHz (3-6 cores active)
Max Temperature: 78.5 degrees celsius (core temperature)
TDP: 130W
Max Voltage 1.35V

It is Gulftown versus Westmere EP, same lithography, but different season.

Most likely, the review sites did not even bother to overclock anything, just tested it out the way it is.
 
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