Xeon W3520 versus W3530?

[bofors]

Dear XtremeSystems forum:

I am buying a new CPU immediately for a high performance rig with air cooling (Noctua NH-D14).

Should I order a Xeon W3520 or W3530?

The price difference is trivial. Which is likely to be a better overclocker? Are currently available Xeon W3520's not as good as they used to be? eva2000 implies they might not be here:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...0&postcount=33

W3530 results are hard to find and some bad Core i7-930 results have been reported:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=245318

... and some good Core i7-930 results (batch dependent):
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=863733
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=242323

However, HWBOT databases seem to imply that the Core i7-930 is not so bad, and (by extrapolation not by the single DIce result posted) that a new W3530 will be a better overclocker that a W3520:


http://hwbot.org/browseHardwareProce...ubFamilyId=168


http://hwbot.org/browseHardwareProce...ubFamilyId=185

[PytonOrm]

Xeon w3530 has higher multiplier than W3520 nothing else.. but looking for good batch for great oc =)

[bofors]

Xeon w3530 has higher multiplier than W3520 nothing else.. but looking for good batch for great oc =)

Thanks for your response.

Yes, it seems that the multiplier difference (or price difference) is very much a secondary issue to the batch quality.

So really this questions comes down to what batch quality should one expect if they order a W3520 today versus W3530.

There is very little information about W3530 overclocking at the moment.

There certainly were some high quality W3520 batches, so I ordered one and hope to get lucky.

[radaja]

the W3520 should be better and the 22x doesnt help too much from what ive heard
since its an even multiplier and i7's dont do too well with even's.most 930's i read about
have trouble using the 22x once you get to 4.0Ghz,and after that they run into stability
problems with the 22x.

[OhNoes!]

If you can find a W3520 from March last year, go for it, otherwise, I'll get the W3530. As has been said, it boils down to the batch, as always. The extra multi is actually useful because you can get 23x turbo vs the 22x for the w3520.

[bofors]

The W3520 I got is a SLBEW, which is supposedly guaranteed with all W3520's, but I did not win the W3520 "gem batch" lottery with a batch# of 3951A (nor did I expect too). Other than exactly how high of an overclock I can stably achieve with this chip, the real question here is whether or not a W3530 would have come from a batch as good or better. Nobody seems to know the answer to that yet.

[v0dka]

Why is this even an issue if they cost about the same? Get the W3530 because on average higher bin = better chip and it has 1 multi extra.

[bofors]

Get the W3530 because on average higher bin = better chip.

How did you determine that W3530's are on "average higher bin" than W3520's?

I would expect that as far as Intel is concerned they draw from exactly the same bin.

[OhNoes!]

How did you determine that W3430 is an "average higher bin" than a W3520?

I would expect that as far as Intel is concerned they draw from exactly the same bin.

Actually they are; these are w3520s with with a higher multi - nothing more, nothing less. If Intel didn't EOL the 920s/w3520s, these same w3530s would have been released as w3520s.

[bofors]

Actually they are; these are w3520s with with a higher multi - nothing more, nothing less. If Intel didn't EOL the 920s/w3520s, these same w3530s would have been released as w3520s.

Thanks for confirming that.

I got lucky and found two "gem batch" (3849A) W3520's for sale last night:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...0&postcount=33

I bought them both for $309 shipped each.

[PytonOrm]

if i where you man buy Xeon E5620 it has 32nm, 12Mb cache, runs 2,4ghz and have newest Westmere core, and tdp of 80w only...
much oc friendly and almost same price of Xeon W3530

[bofors]

if i where you man buy Xeon E5620 it has 32nm, 12Mb cache, runs 2,4ghz and have newest Westmere core, and tdp of 80w only...
much oc friendly and almost same price of Xeon W3530

This is an interesting idea, but here the Xeon E5620 is almost $100 more than the W3530. That is almost 33% more and not the almost same price in my book. Usually, I draw the line at paying more than about $300 for a CPU too.

My plan is to buy some entry level hex core Gulftown Xeon 3600 series when then come out in a few week or months.

However, I am thinking that I might just the new W3530 that I already have instead of sending it back. So, I might be posting its batach number and some results here with it this weekend.

[bofors]

Another W3520 I got is a SLBEW, which is supposedly guaranteed with all W3520's, but I did not win the W3520 "gem batch" lottery with a batch# of 3951A (nor did I expect too). Other than exactly how high of an overclock I can stably achieve with this chip, the real question here is whether or not a W3530 would have come from a batch as good or better. Nobody seems to know the answer to that yet.

[bofors]

I hit a wall at 200MHz BLCK with this W3520, I was barely able to POST with at 201MHz by increasing the PCIe frequency.

So at this point, I would favor a W3530 over the W3520 and am looking forward to XS member Musho posting his W3530 soon.