In one of the previous articles, we found out that the 6-core, 12-thread Haswell is able to provide decent performance in the vast majority of games in 2022 and confidently best its direct counterpart from the previous generation of Intel Sandy Bridge processors. However, at the same moment, a very logical question arose: is there any point in overpaying for a more productive, 8-core, 16-thread CPU from the same 22 nm family? Will two extra cores do any good, or is it much easier not to fork out and stick to the Xeon E5-2620 v3?

Once upon a time, we already tried to answer the above question, but at that time, we couldn’t answer unequivocally: the E5-2630L v3 chip had an extremely low TDP, which is why its frequency rarely reached the theoretically achievable 2900 MHz, which means that it was not possible to conduct an adequate comparison with the E5-2620 v3 operating at 3200 MHz.

Fortunately, the frequency formula of the protagonist of this note coincides one-on-one with that of the classic 6-core Haswell, therefore, the study must turn out to be extremely curious.

Processor

This is one of the most popular chips for the LGA 2011 v3 platform – 8-core, 16-thread Xeon E5-2630 v3. Let’s take a look at the CPU itself:

The marking of the E5-2630 v3 instance that came to us for testing is SR206; the chip is made in Malaysia, its base frequency is 2400 MHz, and the TDP is set at around 85 watts. This indicator is not very different from most conventional desktop processors, so almost any cooling system will be enough to cool our 8-core processor.

The E5-2630 v3 processor is based on a 22nm, 8-core, 16-thread variation of the Haswell-EP die. This chip is designed for installation in motherboards with an LGA 2011 v3 connector, its base frequency is 2400 MHz, however, using Turbo Boost technology, the CPU speed can be significantly increased: 3200 MHz for one core and 2600 MHz for all 8 cores, 16 threads. Fortunately, such a low-frequency rate is not a death sentence.

At the moment, there are an unlimited number of bios modifications for LGA 2011 v3 motherboards that allow you to force all processor cores/threads to operate at the maximum Turbo Boost clock speed for a single core. Thus, our experimental E5-2630 v3 can work quite stably at 3200 MHz for all 8 cores, 16 threads.

The Xeon E5-2630 v3 has 256KB of L2 cache per core and a fairly capacious total L3 cache of 20MB. The speed of the memory controller built into the chip in the E5-2630 v3 is tightly fixed at around 3000 MHz (the L3 cache also works on it), and the maximum RAM frequency is limited by the four-channel DDR4-1866 MHz controller.

In addition to all the above characteristics, it should be noted that the processor has SSE4.2, AVX, and AVX2 instructions that are so necessary for 2022. This feature will help avid gamers to launch almost any novelty of this year without any problems.

The E5-2630 v3 performance test will only be conducted with Turbo Boost unlocked at 3200MHz.

Test setup and software

Test setup

  • Intel processors— Xeon X3470, Core i7-2600, Xeon X5660, Xeon E5-2667, Xeon E5-2620 v3, Xeon E5-2630 v3;
  • AMD processors — FX-8350, FX-6350;
  • Cooling — Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition (RR-212S-20PK-R1);
  • RAM for LGA 1155/1156 — 4 x 8GB HyperX Genesis Na’Vi Edition (KHX16C9C2K2/8) sticks, totaling 32GB;
  • RAM for LGA 1366 — 3 x 8GB HyperX Genesis Na’Vi Edition (KHX16C9C2K2/8) sticks, totaling 24GB;
  • RAM for LGA 2011 — 4 x 8GB Micron MT36JSF1G72PZ-1G4M1HF sticks, totaling 32GB;
  • RAM for LGA 2011 v3 — 4x 4GB G.SKILL DDR4 F4-2400C15S-4GNT sticks, totaling 16GB;
  • RAM for AM3+ — 4 x 8GB HyperX Genesis Na’Vi Edition (KHX16C9C2K2/8) sticks, totaling 32GB;
  • Motherboard LGA 1156 — DELL OptiPlex 980 (0D441T, mod-BIOS);
  • Motherboard LGA 1155 — Gigabyte GA-Z68P-DS3 (rev. 2.0);
  • Motherboard LGA 1366 — DELL T3500 (09KPNV);
  • Motherboard LGA 2011 — DELL T3610 (09M8Y8);
  • Motherboard LGA 2011 v3 — Qiyida X99-H9 with a modified BIOS from Huananzhi x99-8m-f (Unlock Turbo Boost, as well as unlocked the ability to control timings and voltages);
  • Motherboard AM3+ — ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0;
  • Graphics card — KFA2 GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB (~1950/14816MHz, Power Limit 112%);
  • SSD — KINGSTON SUV400S37240G 240,0 GB (Windows 10 + Games) + KINGSTON SUV400S37400G 400,0 GB (Games);
  • Power supply — Chieftec GPS-1250C.

Software

  • OS: Windows 10 x64 with latest updates for August 2022;
  • Graphics card drivers: NVIDIA GeForce 516.94 WHQL;
  • Additional software for measuring FPS: MSI Afterburner 4.6.4;
  • Games: testing was conducted on current versions of games as of August 2022;
  • Games settings: testing was conducted at the highest possible graphics settings in 720p resolution.

Test processor settings

  • Intel processors:
    • Core i7-2600@3400MHz, Dual-Channel DDR3@1866MHz (DDR3 timings 10-11-11-26, DDR3 voltage 1.550v);
    • Xeon X3470@3200MHz, Dual-Channel DDR3@1333MHz;
    • Xeon X5660@3066MHz, Triple-Channel DDR3@1333MHz;
    • Xeon E5-2667@3200MHz, Quad-Channel DDR3@1333MHz;
    • Xeon E5-2620 v3@3200MHz, Quad-Channel DDR4@1866MHz (DDR4 timings 10-10-10-24);
    • Xeon E5-2630 v3@3200MHz, Quad-Channel DDR4@1866MHz (DDR4 timings 10-10-10-24).
  • AMD processors:
    • FX-6350@4200MHz, CPU-NB@2200MHz, Dual-Channel DDR3@1866MHz;
    • FX-6350@4595MHz, CPU-NB@2608MHz, Dual-Channel DDR3@2086MHz (CPU Core voltage — 1.440v, CPU-NB voltage — 1.375v, DDR3 voltage — 1.660v);
    • FX-8350@4200MHz, CPU-NB@2200MHz, Dual-Channel DDR3@1866MHz;
    • FX-8350@4434MHz, CPU-NB@2608MHz, Dual-Channel DDR3@2086MHz (DDR3 timings 11-12-12-30, CPU Core voltage — 1.416v, CPU-NB voltage — 1.375v, DDR3 voltage — 1.660v).

You can learn more about almost all the test subjects from our full-fledged articles, or by looking at the blogs section, where you can find small notes about overclocking or testing components.

Separately, we recall the processor testing methodology: each game was run five times, then the average frame rate among five runs was selected and it was recorded in the final results. Also, let’s clarify once again: all the games were installed on the SSD.

Test results

Assassins Creed Valhalla

Maximum graphics settings, 720p resolution. Benchmark built into the game.

In “Assassins Creed Valhalla”, the eight-core Haswell demonstrates a 10% advantage over its six-core counterpart. Actually, the 5-MB gap in the third-level cache contributes to this advantage to a greater extent than the advantage in cores.

Battlefield 2042

Maximum graphics settings, 720p resolution. Map “Opening”.

Ray Tracing – ON

“Battlefield 2042” with ray tracing enabled responded much better to two additional Xeon E5-2630 v3 cores. Here, the 16-thread processor’s lead was 12% in average FPS and 18% in minimum frame rate.

Ray Tracing – OFF

With ray tracing disabled, the gap between E5-2630 v3 and E5-2620 v3 increased to 23% in average FPS and 24% in minimum FPS. And these are exactly the numbers for which it is worth upgrading!

Cyberpunk 2077

Maximum graphics settings, 720p resolution. Benchmark built into the game.

Ray Tracing – ON

As soon as we launched Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing activated, the situation returned to normal: in the creation of Polish developers from the CD Projekt Red studio, the advantage of the eight-core E5-2630 v3 was a disappointing 13% in terms of average frames per second and 21% in minimum FPS. Still, it was enough for a 16-thread Haswell to provide a very comfortable level of performance in one of the most popular games of the last decade.

Ray Tracing – OFF

Disabling the notorious ray tracing allows you to squeeze additional FPS out of the E5-2630 v3, however, in fact, it will only be in demand for owners of monitors with a screen scan above 90Hz. Otherwise, the alignment of forces has not actually changed.

Destiny 2

Max settings, 720p resolution.

The multiplayer session shooter Destiny 2 actively uses only 8 threads, but even in this situation, the 8-core E5-2630 v3 is ahead of its six-core competitor, also thanks to a more capacious L3 cache.

Elden Ring

Maximum graphics settings, 720p resolution. Horseback riding in an open world.

The situation in Elden Ring has not changed much since the last article about E5-2667: the creation of the brilliant game designer Hidetaka Miyazaki is extremely poorly optimized, which is why even on the 8-core E5-2630 v3 with a large 20 MB cache of the third level, small friezes often slip through, and the frame rate itself suffers from extreme instability. However, it should be noted that it is the protagonist of this test that shows the best performance.

Far Cry 6

Maximum graphics settings, 720p resolution. Benchmark built into the game.

Ray Tracing — ON

Far Cry 6 cannot adequately distribute the load on the CPU if its number of threads is more than 12, which is why rare events (consider micro freezes) occur even on a 16-thread E5-2630 v3. But here it is necessary to make an important note: this judgment applies only to old processors. It is likely that more current architectures like AMD Zen 2 or Intel Skylake (or its derivatives up to the 11th generation of Core) do not have this drawback and multi-threaded chips based on them provide more stable frame rates in Far Cry 6.

Ray Tracing — ON

With ray tracing disabled, the situation has not changed much. The Xeon E5-2630 v3 is still quite a bit ahead of its 6-core counterpart and, in fact, looks rather faded.

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered

Maximum graphics settings, 720p resolution. Flying through the city on a web.

Ray Tracing — OFF

Nothing has changed since the previous article: processors without AVX2 support cannot run the current version of the remaster of the cult game from SONY “Marvel’s Spider-Man” with ray tracing enabled. Meanwhile, fortunately, the E5-2630 v3 has the necessary expansion of instructions and allows you to test yourself in the novelty of 2022. Despite this, just like the 2620 v3, the 8-core is not able to provide really comfortable gameplay at ultra-graphics settings. But we could not fail to note the increased frame rate compared to the 6-core one: the actual part of Spider-Man’s adventures is extremely sensitive to an increase in the third-level cache memory, and even five extra megabytes of the latter can increase performance by 4%.

Ray Tracing — OFF

With RT disabled, owners of the E5-2630 v3 chip can expect a 3% increase in frame rate compared to the E5-2620 v3. The reason for such a low advantage of 8-core, 16-thread Haswell over 6-core, 12-thread is quite simple: “Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered” can effectively use only 6-8 threads, which is quite clearly shown by the results of FX-6350 and FX- 8350.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

Maximum graphics settings, 720p resolution. Benchmark built into the game.

Ray Tracing — ON

“Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” with ray-tracing enabled is much better optimized for multi-threaded processors: here, the advantage of the E5-2630 v3 over the 2620 v3 is a more impressive 12%. And yet, even 6-core Haswell provides acceptable FPS here.

Ray Tracing — OFF

Without ray tracing, the frame rate increases on all processors without exception. At the same time, the alignment of forces and the separation do not actually change – the same 12% in favor of the E5-2630 v3.

Saints Row [2022]

Maximum graphics settings, 720p resolution. City trip.

Ray Tracing — ON

In the relaunch of the Saints Row series with ray tracing activated, the gain from switching from E5-2620 v3 to E5-2630 v3 will bring you only 3%. At first glance is not that much, but it is not. To begin with, it is worth noting that the 8-core provides a much more confident, and most importantly, stable minimum FPS. In addition, it is on the 16-thread Haswell that the game practically loses such annoying microfreezes, and this, in turn, has an extremely positive effect on the perception of the gameplay.

Ray Tracing — OFF

With tracing disabled, the situation changes quite noticeably: now the difference in frame rate is not so critical, and rare microfreezes disappear even on the E5-2620 v3.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Maximum graphics settings, 720p resolution. Benchmark built into the game.

In the second part of the legendary Red Dead Redemption franchise, the 8-core E5-2630 v3 chip was able to demonstrate a much more confident performance increase over the E5-2620 v3: 8% on average, 6% on minimum, and 13% on rare events. Thus, 16-thread Haswell is able to provide stable FPS even in the heaviest RDR2 scenes.

Watch Dogs Legion

Maximum graphics settings, 720p resolution. Benchmark built into the game.

Ray Tracing — ON

Finally, we got to the heaviest game from our test package – Watch Dogs Legion. The third part of the popular series from Ubisoft responds quite well to the increase in processor cores: as much as a 14% increase in frame rate. However, even these figures did not allow the E5-2630 v3 to deliver 60 frames with ray tracing enabled.

Ray Tracing — OFF

But in normal mode with ultra graphics settings, the E5-2630 v3 looks like the undisputed leader with an extremely confident 72 frames per second. The 8-core Haswell was able to outperform its 6-core counterpart by as much as 14%, which certainly makes this processor an extremely profitable purchase for Watch Dogs Legion.

Advantage of E5-2630 v3 over E5-2620 v3 in 11 games:

Игра:AVG FPSMIN FPSMIN FPS 1%
Assassins Creed Valhalla9.78%8.86%8.06%
Battlefield 2042 RT12.5%18.52%13.04%
Battlefield 204223.17%23.94%21.05%
Cyberpunk 2077 RT12.7%21.28%22.73%
Cyberpunk 207710.71%16.95%21.82%
Destiny 215.69%22.99%0
Elden Ring14%13.33%24.14%
Far Cry 6 RT5.66%6.38%10%
Far Cry 64.84%6%6.52%
Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered RT4.35%5.41%5.88%
Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered3.28%4%4.65%
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy RT12.5%12.73%23.26%
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy12.35%20.34%15.91%
Saints Row [2022] RT2.9%3.64%8.7%
Saints Row [2022]4.23%1.69%6%
Red Dead Redemption 27.45%5.95%13.04%
Watch Dogs Legion RT14.58%17.95%15.79%
Watch Dogs Legion14.29%14.29%14.89%
Average increase in 11 games10.28%12.3%13.85%

Conclusion

Based on the results of testing, it turned out that the average advantage of an 8-core, 16-thread Xeon E5-2630 v3 CPU over a 6-core, 12-thread E5-2620 v3 processor is a very inconspicuous 10%. Despite this, first of all, you need to decide which specific projects you are interested in. For example, in Destiny 2, Far Cry 6, and Elden Ring, the transition from six to eight cores will not bring tangible dividends, while in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Cyberpunk 2077 and Watch Dogs Legion E5-2630 v3 performed more than confidently and did not leave chances for an opponent.

At the same time, it is impossible not to note that thanks to a more capacious L3 cache, the 8-core processor in all titles demonstrated a stable (albeit not significant) superiority over its six-core brother.

Summarizing the data obtained in the course of our research, we can make a very obvious conclusion: 6-core, 12-thread chips are still enough for most AAA projects. Moreover, even if Haswell can no longer cope with actual games with activated ray tracing, then literally any modern 12-thread processor is obliged to “pull out” almost any game of 2022 without any problems. And whether this is actually so, we will find out in one of the upcoming articles.

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