Will either an Intel Xeon x5680 or x5690 work with the ASUS Rampage Gene III?

[yoyonucca]

Hi,

I am trying to make a mini pc build from a bunch of older parts I have sitting around. Will either an Intel Xeon x5680 or x5690 work with the ASUS Rampage Gene III mATX mobo?

I have searched around and the general answer is yes it will work for the x5680 but it is not officially supported. Is this the same case for the x5690? Also, how is the overclock potential for this setup? I am planning to run a cooler master nepton 240m for cooling.

Thanks,
yoyonucca

 

[bob4933]

Theoretically yes. Practically speaking, no.

Those chips are severely dated and severely overpriced for the performance you get. You are MUCH better off going x99 over x58.

 

[yoyonucca]

Theoretically yes. Practically speaking, no.

Those chips are severely dated and severely overpriced for the performance you get. You are MUCH better off going x99 over x58.

I'm just trying to make something out of my older pc I have sitting around. All the Xeon chips seems pretty cheap on Ebay. All I need to do is swap out my old 960 for a Xeon assuming it will be compatible. At least I am hoping it will be that simple.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

What chip are you running now?
You can get an X5660 for cheap and overclock it.

 

[yoyonucca]

What chip are you running now?
You can get an X5660 for cheap and overclock it.

The CPU I'm currently running is the i7 960.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

The CPU I'm currently running is the i7 960.

Watch eBay for an X5650 or X5660. If your board can do around 200MHz BCLK (it should), then you can get the X5660 to 4.0GHz or above.
It should do that fairly easily.
I want to say my X5660 was ~$80, not bad for a 6c/12t CPU that'll do well into the 4GHz range on any decent X58 board.

I've benchmarked my X5660 in the 4.8GHz range and even higher.
http://url.hwbot.org/1AAlpDx

I've got REALLY good cooling on mine, don't try to run that kind of voltage without at least a 240mm radiator and cold (read: 0°C) air.
But running 4.0-4.2 should be easily doable with a fairly low vCore and an AIO.

Also, I urge you to look at the Glacer 240L instead of the Nepton.