I have the chance to get both of these for basically pennies from a work colleague- but in 2020, are they worth it for CPDN crunching?
I don't know much about server grade processors apart from the one Bloomfield Xeon I own.
The AMD's combined are 16 physical cores (I think) and the Xeon's are a combined 32 threads with 16 real cores too.
I have 32 GB to fit in both of these machines too - for now.
They'll be running Linux, and a single Xeon has 20 MB l3 cache so could probably handle 3-5 n216 per processor while the AMD could probably handle 2-3 per.
Any thoughts? Again, totally new to having dual processors, so currently feel like I'm in over my head a little.
thanks.

The Opteron would be of Phenom II performance, (circa 2009/2010) but limited to 2 GHz in speed, and power hungry. I'm thinking it's not a good fit for the current models.

The Xeon on the other hand is of Sandy Bridge era performance, has much more cache, higher base CPU speed, turbo boost possible, quad channel memory capability, faster memory capability, etc. Obviously wouldn't want to run on the Hyperthreads, but otherwise a capable processor/system.

The Opteron would be of Phenom II performance, (circa 2009/2010) but limited to 2 GHz in speed, and power hungry. I'm thinking it's not a good fit for the current models.

The Xeon on the other hand is of Sandy Bridge era performance, has much more cache, higher base CPU speed, turbo boost possible, quad channel memory capability, faster memory capability, etc. Obviously wouldn't want to run on the Hyperthreads, but otherwise a capable processor/system.

I'm leaning more toward the Xeon than anything at this point. 2 GHZ and well over 200 W would offset the original cost very quickly in electricity vs. efficiency.
You reminded me I had a 1045T sitting in the Junk pile that meraculously still had parts to go with it, though...I forgot it had some sort of Turbo boost to clock it up past 3 GHZ. Seeing how it fairs here, but probably won't run it long.
It's amazing how many people have given me computers over the years saying they're slow and they needed an upgrade - yet the processors still work fine and dandy. If I had the physical space, I could have a lot more crunchers.

Your main concern (and your children's next seven generations' concern) will be "Performance per Watt" and I suggest you look what a modern CPU, MB, and RAM running at a combined 100 Watt usage will consume versus what the the "cheap" hardware will. It might be a good thing to with the old school stuff, but when you consider the fact that an ASRock X570 Pro4 board will let you set Eco Mode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKOEqvrQXRs) in the UEFI BOIS, then combine that with the cost of Kingston's HyperX RAM, any Ryzen 3000 CPU, and any SSD you may find that spending a little more money now will save a lot more than money later. I run both of my Ryzen 3700X CPUs in Eco Mode so they are limited to 45W TDP instead of the default 65W TDP. It amounts to about 30% less power lost to heat for about 5% less performance.

Don't just take me at my word. Do some homework.

Your main concern (and your children's next seven generations' concern) will be "Performance per Watt"

Though this time of year, I wouldn't nmind a little extra heating in my office!

Your main concern (and your children's next seven generations' concern) will be "Performance per Watt"

Though this time of year, I wouldn't nmind a little extra heating in my office!

I'm likely not going to be using these full time, but I've now been offered a Nehalem xeon as well which is likely faster than the Opterons, at least.
These two Xeon's plus boards are going to cost me less than a Ryzen 3. Yes, performance per watt is terrible, but I don't plan on using these for years to come - if anything until spring or summer.
I think the sweet spot will be the Ryzen 5 3600 or 3600x. Heck, even the g series would be decent at this point if you threw them in a smaller case. I'm not even looking at Intel for a new build. AMD is stomping all over them.
That 45 w mode is very interesting - maybe a Ryzen 7 could fit in one of those SFF cases without too much fuss.

Your main concern (and your children's next seven generations' concern) will be "Performance per Watt"

Though this time of year, I wouldn't nmind a little extra heating in my office!

I suggest you go with body heat. Get some interns from the Marshall Islands. They need a change at dual residency.

I would say neither. I grabbed dual E5-2670 when they were dirt cheap three years ago. That 700W system was less productive than my EPYC 7401P system which is like 250W and I've recycled those E5s last year. Ryzen 3 is really awesome in terms of power efficiency. It looks a bit pricer up front, but unless your electricity is free, a 400-500W saving running 24/7 will make up for it in a few month. (Though I guess you are probably not paying power bill for your office, which is nice. :-P) In addition, if you don't have the memory already, eight DDR3-1333 RDIMMs needed to populate all channels for dual E5-2670 is going to cost more than the two DDR4-3600 sticks for Ryzen 3.

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I would say neither. I grabbed dual E5-2670 when they were dirt cheap three years ago. That 700W system was less productive than my EPYC 7401P system which is like 250W and I've recycled those E5s last year. Ryzen 3 is really awesome in terms of power efficiency. It looks a bit pricer up front, but unless your electricity is free, a 400-500W saving running 24/7 will make up for it in a few month. (Though I guess you are probably not paying power bill for your office, which is nice. :-P) In addition, if you don't have the memory already, eight DDR3-1333 RDIMMs needed to populate all channels for dual E5-2670 is going to cost more than the two DDR4-3600 sticks for Ryzen 3.

This definitely isn't going to be something I'll be using full time or even for years to come.
I have 2 dual socket 2670's right now, both were bought for less than 3 cases of beer. I just need time to put everything together. I have 32 gb DDR3 ram for each as well as drives and power supplies. Ddr4 is more expensive (32 gb cost four times as much as I spent on these 4 processors and 2 motherboards. 64 GB is as much as the Ryzen processor at this point in Canada, and that Epyc you mention is about $1500 CAD on its own, even 2 years after its release.


I don't have thousands to throw around up front on machines for simply crunching - though I am saving for a new Ryzen 5 or 7 around spring or summer, or whenever I see a good deal. It also appears Ryzen's are selling out mighty quick - places around here haven't had many in supply. The ryzen G series (Ryzen 5 3400g) looks tempting too. I really like the power efficiency figures I'm seeing too. I love that AMD is putting Intel in its place.

Before I got natural gas, I was heating my place with 2 1000 w infrared heaters. At least my two space heaters will be doing something useful at least until it gets above 70 f or so outside. Old faithful fx8350 might have to be replaced with a Ryzen 3600.
The office. Now that's a fantastic idea I'll have to consider....maybe this can be written off as a work expense?

This definitely isn't going to be something I'll be using full time or even for years to come.

Oops, I made the wrong assumption. If it's not for purpose of crunching 24/7, ignore what I said. :-P EPYC is just an example for power difference. I don't mean to add that to the choices here anyway.

Then latest generation stuff makes no sense in this case. Release of Ryzen 3 dropped Ryzen 2 to a much lower price, like <$150 during holiday season for a new 2700X. You can probably get really good deals on used ones soon. A used Ryzen 2 is likely something you want to consider instead, even if you want something decently recent. Since you have all other parts already, I would go with E5. E5 2670 should be quite better than Opteron 6128.

The office. Now that's a fantastic idea I'll have to consider....maybe this can be written off as a work expense?

LOL. I just realized "the office" is not from your reply...

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This definitely isn't going to be something I'll be using full time or even for years to come.

Oops, I made the wrong assumption. If it's not for purpose of crunching 24/7, ignore what I said. :-P EPYC is just an example for power difference. I don't mean to add that to the choices here anyway.

Then latest generation stuff makes no sense in this case. Release of Ryzen 3 dropped Ryzen 2 to a much lower price, like <$150 during holiday season for a new 2700X. You can probably get really good deals on used ones soon. A used Ryzen 2 is likely something you want to consider instead, even if you want something decently recent. Since you have all other parts already, I would go with E5. E5 2670 should be quite better than Opteron 6128.

The office. Now that's a fantastic idea I'll have to consider....maybe this can be written off as a work expense?

LOL. I just realized "the office" is not from your reply...

Well, lucky break for me. Both of these, as it turns out, are e5-2670v2' - so Ivy Bridge with 10 real cores per cpu. Can't even consider the Opteron anymore - not that I was for very long anyway. It might do okay for WCG, but I could do better with 2 Phenom's and use less power to boot.
I'm debating grabbing up a Ryzen 5 3400g to put in a small, tiny case - though eagerly waiting on the Intel Nuc equivalent companies using AMD will come out with.