Intel Haswell-EP Xeon 12 Core Review: E5-2650L V3 and E5-2690 V3
by Ian Cutress on November 6, 2014 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- IT Computing
- Intel
- Xeon
- Enterprise
- LGA2011-3
- Haswell EP
Gaming Benchmarks
While the last thought on the minds of most Xeon users is related to gaming, we frequently get requests to test gaming performance on Xeons. As a result we strap the Xeon to a regular consumer level motherboard that can support them and add in one or two GPUs to see how they perform and if more cores makes a difference over the drop in frequency. Unfortunately due to the orientation of the PCIe slots on the 2P board, we were unable to test the dual E5-2650L v3 configuration.
F1 2013
First up is F1 2013 by Codemasters. I am a big Formula 1 fan in my spare time, and nothing makes me happier than carving up the field in a Caterham, waving to the Red Bulls as I drive by (because I play on easy and take shortcuts). F1 2013 uses the EGO Engine, and like other Codemasters games ends up being very playable on old hardware quite easily. In order to beef up the benchmark a bit, we devised the following scenario for the benchmark mode: one lap of Spa-Francorchamps in the heavy wet, the benchmark follows Jenson Button in the McLaren who starts on the grid in 22nd place, with the field made up of 11 Williams cars, 5 Marussia and 5 Caterham in that order. This puts emphasis on the CPU to handle the AI in the wet, and allows for a good amount of overtaking during the automated benchmark. We test at 1920x1080 on Ultra graphical settings.
Bioshock Infinite
Bioshock Infinite was Zero Punctuation’s Game of the Year for 2013, uses the Unreal Engine 3, and is designed to scale with both cores and graphical prowess. We test the benchmark using the Adrenaline benchmark tool and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.
Tomb Raider
The next benchmark in our test is Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider is an AMD optimized game, lauded for its use of TressFX creating dynamic hair to increase the immersion in game. Tomb Raider uses a modified version of the Crystal Engine, and enjoys raw horsepower. We test the benchmark using the Adrenaline benchmark tool and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.
Sleeping Dogs
Sleeping Dogs is a benchmarking wet dream – a highly complex benchmark that can bring the toughest setup and high resolutions down into single figures. Having an extreme SSAO setting can do that, but at the right settings Sleeping Dogs is highly playable and enjoyable. We run the basic benchmark program laid out in the Adrenaline benchmark tool, and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.
Battlefield 4
The EA/DICE series that has taken countless hours of my life away is back for another iteration, using the Frostbite 3 engine. AMD is also piling its resources into BF4 with the new Mantle API for developers, designed to cut the time required for the CPU to dispatch commands to the graphical sub-system. For our test we use the in-game benchmarking tools and record the frame time for the first ~70 seconds of the Tashgar single player mission, which is an on-rails generation of and rendering of objects and textures. We test at 1920x1080 at Ultra settings.
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vomitme - Thursday, November 6, 2014 - link
x264 and x265 are not formats. the formats are h.264 and h.265. x264 and x265 are just specific encoders for those formats.marraco - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
The quantity of models, and their -purposely- confusing naming, paired with the scarcity of trustworthy reviews for all the models, make purchasing so difficult, that it discourages upgrades.Similarly named processors have huge differences in performance, and prices that don't match it. Worse, the jungle of models also extends to older CPU, not just the last iteration. An older CPU may be more powerful, cheaper, or many other things which add a lot of confusion.
The asking prices are so high, that is better to not buy or upgrade, because the large number of processors rises the probability of making a wrong purchase. Is better not to run risks.
AtenRa - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
Seriously now, Web and Gaming benchmarks in 12 core XEON review ?? is that a joke or what ??h4rm0ny - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
I'd like to see some citations that production costs between these chips are close to each other. Even allowing for that it's a naïve argument. Might as well say that the costs of Windows 8 and the movie Sharknado are the same because the production cost of the DVDs is the same in each case. Kind of misses the fact that billions are spent on R&D and that these costs must be recouped.I'm now picturing you in a shop demanding all books be priced at a set rate per page because "it costs the same to print per page, don't it?"
(but still, citation that production costs actually are the same still required, please).
h4rm0ny - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
I'd like to see some citations that production costs between these chips are close to each other. Even allowing for that it's a naïve argument. Might as well say that the costs of Windows 8 and the movie Sharknado are the same because the production cost of the DVDs is the same in each case. Kind of misses the fact that billions are spent on R&D and that these costs must be recouped.I'm now picturing you in a shop demanding all books be priced at a set rate per page because "it costs the same to print per page, don't it?"
(but still, citation that production costs actually are the same still required, please).
jabber - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
I'll look forward to playing around with these when I pick one up on Ebay for £40 in 4 years time.Ytterbium - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
I wish, I have L5640 these are worth about $125, the E5-2650L is about $600, this is kinda a 2nd reflection of what was at the beginning of article, the older chips are still goo so they hold price.Bytales - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
I got a dual Xeon 2690 v3 rig at home, paired with a GTX750Ti, and the Asus ROG Swift.Waiting for the big Maxwell.
If anyone wants any tests done, give me a hawler !
Bytales - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
Here are some preliminary tests:http://www.overclock.net/t/1330326/build-log-sth10...
mastercde - Sunday, November 9, 2014 - link
Redis is single threaded, not sure what the point is to benchmark.