At one time, the first-generation E5-2630 processor was a very popular choice among budget-conscious enthusiasts and gamers, but that was a long time ago, and since then the requirements for modern games and programs have changed quite a bit.

In this article, we will check what the Xeon E5-2630 processor is capable of in current games and benchmarks.

CPU

The marking of our test specimen is SR0KV; the base frequency of the chip is 2300MHz, and TDP is set at 95 watts. This is a very modest figure, so almost any mid-range cooler with two to four heatpipes will be able to handle the cooling of this CPU.

At the heart of the E5-2630 processor is a 6-core 32nm chip based on Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture. This chip has 256KB of second-level cache per core and a total of 15MB of third-level cache. This CPU is designed to be installed in motherboards with the first version LGA 2011 socket, its base frequency is 2300MHz, but with the help of Turbo Boost technology it can increase significantly: 2800MHz for one core and 2600MHz for all 6 cores, 12 threads.

One Xeon E5-2630 core is capable of reaching 2800MHz.

The speed of the E5-2630’s built-in memory controller is tied to the frequency of the cores and fully corresponds to it. The CPU supports quad-channel DDR3 memory with an effective frequency of 1333MHz.

In addition to all of the above characteristics, it should be noted that the 6-core Sandy Bridge does not have the FMA3 and AVX2 instructions, which are so necessary for the realities of 2023. This feature can seriously harm avid gamers since it will not be possible to launch some of this year’s new products with activated ray tracing.

Test setup and software

Test setup

  • Processors Intel — Core i5-12400F, Xeon X5660, Xeon E5-2667, Xeon E5-2620 v3, and Xeon E5-2630;
  • Processor AMD — FX-8350;
  • Cooling — Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition (RR-212S-20PK-R1);
  • RAM for LGA 1366 – 3 x 8GB HyperX Genesis Na’Vi Edition (KHX16C9C2K2/8) 24GB in total;
  • RAM for LGA 1700 – 2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO (CMW16GX4M2C3600C18) 16GB in total;
  • RAM for LGA 2011 – 4 x 8GB Micron MT36JSF1G72PZ-1G4M1HF 32GB in total;
  • RAM for LGA 2011 v3 – 4 x 4GB G.SKILL DDR4 F4-2400C15S-4GNT 16GB in total;
  • RAM for AM3+ – 2 x 8GB HyperX Genesis Na’Vi Edition (KHX16C9C2K2/8) 16GB in total;
  • Motherboard LGA 1366 – DELL T3500 (09KPNV);
  • Motherboard LGA 1700 — MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4 (MS-7D25);
  • 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, unlock the ability to control timings);
  • Motherboard AM3+ — ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0;
  • Graphics card – PALIT GAMEROCK GeForce RTX 3090 24GB (~1850/19000MHz, Power Limit 115%);
  • SSD – KINGSTON SUV400S37120G 120,0 GB (Windows 10), KINGSTON SUV400S37240G 240,0 GB + KINGSTON SUV400S37400G 400,0 GB (games);
  • Power supply — Chieftec GPS-1250C.

Software

  • OS: Windows 10 x64 with the latest updates as of January 2023;
  • Graphics card drivers: NVIDIA GeForce 528.02 WHQL;
  • Additional software for measuring FPS: MSI Afterburner 4.6.4;
  • Games: testing was conducted on current versions of games as of January 2023;
  • Game settings: testing was conducted at the highest possible graphics settings in 1080p resolution.

Settings of tested processors

  • Processors Intel:
    • Core i5-12400F@4000MHz, Dual Chanel DDR4@3600MHz (16-19-19-36)
    • Xeon X5660@3066MHz, Triple-Channel DDR3@1333MHz (9-9-9-24);
    • Xeon E5-2667@3200MHz, Quad-Channel DDR3@1333MHz (9-9-9-24);
    • Xeon E5-2620 v3@3200MHz, Quad-Channel DDR4@1866MHz (10-10-10-24);
    • Xeon E5-2630@2600MHz, Quad-Channel DDR3@1333MHz (9-9-9-24).
  • Processors AMD:
    • FX-8350@4200MHz, CPU-NB@2200MHz, Dual-Channel DDR3@1866MHz (11-11-11-28);
    • FX-8350@4434MHz, CPU-NB@2608MHz, Dual-Channel DDR3@2086MHz (11-12-12-30, CPU Core voltage — 1.416v, CPU-NB voltage — 1.375v, DDR3 voltage — 1.660v).

You can find out more about almost all of the subjects in our full-fledged materials or by looking at the blogs section, which includes small notes.

We would also like to remind you of the processor testing methodology: each game was run five times, then the average frame rate among the five runs was selected and recorded in the final results. All games were installed on SSDs.

Test results

Software

7-Zip

Blender

Blender Open Data Benchmark

Corona Render Benchmark

Cinebench R23

xNormal, AO & NM Map render

CPU-z Benchmark

Geekbench 5

HandBrake, AV1, 2160p, 60FPS

HandBrake, H265, 2160p, 60FPS

The performance of the Xeon E5-2630 chip in current applications is at the level between the stock FX-8350 and Xeon X5660. However, sometimes, thanks to 12 threads and support for AVX expansion, the E5-2630 is able to outperform even the overclocked FX-8350.

Games

3DMark Time Spy

Assassins Creed Valhalla

Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. A benchmark is built into the game.

Battlefield 2042

Ray Tracing – ON
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution.
Ray Tracing – OFF
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution.

Cyberpunk 2077

Ray Tracing – ON
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. A benchmark is built into the game.
Ray Tracing – OFF
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. A benchmark is built into the game.

Far Cry 6

Ray Tracing – ON
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. A benchmark is built into the game.
Ray Tracing – OFF
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. A benchmark is built into the game.

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered

Ray Tracing – OFF
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. Flying through the city on a spider web.

RPCS3 is a PlayStation 3 emulator. Red Dead Redemption

Settings: SPU block size – Mega, ZCULL accuracy – Relaxed, Write color buffers – On, Sleep timers accuracy – As Host, RSX FIFO accuracy – Atomic, 1080p resolution.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. A benchmark is built into the game.

The Riftbreaker

Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. A benchmark is built into the game.

The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update 4.01 + Hotfix (Complete Edition)

Ray Tracing – ON
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. Jogging in Novigrad.
Ray Tracing – OFF
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. Jogging in Novigrad.

Watch Dogs Legion

Ray Tracing – ON
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. A benchmark is built into the game.
Ray Tracing – OFF
Maximum graphics settings, 1080p resolution. A benchmark is built into the game.

When it comes to gaming, Xeon E5-2630 is not as smooth as it was in the software tests. In Assassins Creed Valhalla, the 6-core shows acceptable performance, Battlefield 2042 is also quite playable even with ray tracing, but starting with the legendary Cyberpunk 2077, there is an acute lack of processor power. Far Cry 6, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, The Riftbreaker, The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update, Watch Dogs Legion, and the PlayStation 3 emulator are extremely unstable and show low FPS. At the same time, the Xeon E5-2630 has no problems with Red Dead Redemption 2.

In addition, there are a few other facts worth noting: E5-2630 is not able to run Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered with active ray tracing. And also, until the recent 4.01 patch, The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update in DirectX 12 did not work on the old Sandy Bridge.

Conclusion

The year 2022 has brought some surprises: in order to experience most games at maximum graphics settings, the CPU is now required to have instructions such as FMA3 and AVX2. However, the Xeon E5-2630 chip is old and does not have an up-to-date set of extensions, which, together with its low clock speed, makes this processor not the best choice for current and future games and software.

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