Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5 Review

Introduction

The Intel Xeon range of processors are the type which cause any of us with a desire for the most CPU performance available to have a little pang of desire in our stomachs. Then we remember how eye-wateringly expensive they are and move back to the more affordable world of the regular Core ix series. It isn’t only the price which has kept the Xeon away from mass adoption either. Because it’s all about raw CPU horsepower they tend to require esoteric motherboards, have little support for blazing fast memory, and are hardly the best basis for a gaming rig either.

So why are we reviewing one today?

When we first heard about the Xeon E3-1230 V5 it seemed like it was too good to be true. A CPU which promised the hyper-threading goodness of a Core i7, but at the price point of a Core i5. An affordable Xeon? An affordable Xeon which could undercut Intels own top Skylake model?

As always the reality isn’t quite as cut and dried, as we’ll see over the next few pages.

Technical Specifications

The specifications of the E3-1230 V5 read just like a Core i7-6700K. 3.4GHz Quad Core with Hyperthreading. Turbo up to 3.8GHz. Supporting 64GB of DDR4, although only in two channels, and the speed tops out at 2133MHz. So memory bandwidth isn’t a patch on the i7 and the Xeon isn’t capable of being overclocked. Suddenly the reason how Intel can undercut their Core i7-6700K becomes clearer.