Was just browsing the Intel ARK and noticed the Xeon L3406. It doesn't have an on-package GPU like other Clarkdales and it has a lower clock but the rated TDP is pretty amazing. I wonder how actual power consumption is on this chip.

So unless you're building a server, the lack of the IGP at 8-10W makes this chip very limited. But of course servers are exactly the intended market.

I know you can overclock the IGP, perhaps also underclock, maybe to the point of turning it off or at least to 1W.

For me the IGP made Clarkdale, meets my needs.

Does anyone actually own this CPU? Or found any reviews or benchmarks of it anywhere?

MtnHermit

You can probably answer this question. Would you look at it and comment on it?

Cost Justifying the Move to Clarkdale CPUs
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/vi ... hp?t=58327

Thanks

ces

I'm planning on using this together with a Supermicro X8SIA-F mobo.

However, I can't find any comparisons of it with an i3-540 in terms of power useage at idle...

The i3 has a greater clockspeed but not HT, but costs 50% less...

Nobody seems to have any real interest in this CPU. I suppose the price has dampened interest.

Not that I have any real understanding of this, but I believe it is comparable in power usage at idle, where the real difference lies in the maximum draw?

There are some interesting videos with power consumption measurements on YouTube. They're in Japanese though, but you get the idea . Search for L3406.

Had a search on Youtube but didn't find any comparisons, just Japanese videos of the CPU itself and its power draw...

I'm trying to decide between the following (in order of price):

Intel i3-540 @ £100
Intel L3406 @ £155
Intel i5-750 @ £160
Intel X3440 @ £185

Not sure whether I'm not wasting money on the Xeon chips. Would I really get that much Power saving over the i3/i5? Should money not be spent on a more powerful CPU (in case it is needed) IF the idle power useage is the same across all four CPU's?

I never said there was anything else. My apologies if I was misunderstood.



Sure. I think this has got do with with maximum power draw. Under certain conditions/environments you might not want to draw more than a certain amount of power. If you want to pay for that, then go ahead and do so, otherwise, you are probably wasting your money.

Afaik the idle power draw of <30W can be achieved with the i3-540 CPU as well.

The L3406 is LGA-1366 so I'm guessing it might geared towards low power servers or data centers.

No it's not, it's LGA1156.

Huh, you're right. My eyes must have been crossed when I was looking at the specs page.

I just got a Xeon L3426 running. It's rated at 45W TDP. I don't have any power readings yet. Rate at 1.87Ghz, it idles at 1.2GHz and boosts to 3.2GHz as needed. I like the fact that I can use ECC memory, which I wouldn't be able to do with an i-series.

Nice, quicksilver. If you could give us some power readings at some point that'd be nice, and maybe some more info on the setup you've got running?

thanks!

I've been using an L3426 for the past few months, and am thinking of building a new machine using the L3406. However, I just learned that the L3406 doesn't support Registered ECC memory, according to the Intel datasheet (sorry, can't post URLs yet; it's easy to find). Since I already am using 4 2GB Registered modules with the L3426, I may have to change my plan...

Can anyone confirm that the L3406 does indeed only support unbuffered ECC modules?

First post, by the way. Been following this forum for years, and have learned much valuable information!

L3406 spec sheet says it does support ECC
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=47555



Don't have a Kill-A-Watt yet. Will post as soon as I get one.

Asus P7F-E motherboard (Intel 3420 chipset)
Xeon L3426
4GB (for now) 1333 DDR3 ECC Registered
80GB Intel X25-M SSD
HIS Silent Radeon HD 4670
Seasonic 300 power supply

Dell G2410 LED-backlit 24" is on the way.

It's really snappy running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

As long as you can undervolt and underclock I don't see the point of getting this CPU, unless you need ECC.

The regular Clarkdales have a TDP of 73 W, and if we look at the 680, just to get as close as possible to that TDP, you'll get this after underclocking:

73 x 2266 / 3600 =46 W

Now with that massive underclock of over 1300 MHz it won't be hard to undervolt it down to a TDP of 30 W, like go from 1.15 V to 0.93 V

In real world you can use the cheaper 530 for this, of course.

The desktop i3 have HT. http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=46 ... odes=SLBLR

The L3406 supports only unbuffered ECC memory, not registered ECC memory, as far as I can tell. Some Japanese retailers list this caveat in the product description. Right now, I would be unable to use this CPU with my registered ECC RAM (it's working perfectly with the L3426).

Just wondering where you got the prices as I'm looking to buy something along these lines and cant find the xeon anywhere

sixleaf: Don't know if you mean "out of stock" or "not at all", but if you contact some store that lists it I'm sure they can help you.

http://geizhals.at/uk/a530894.html

Why don't you just get an i3-530? For the price of a Xeon you get both CPU and motherboard.

Well the plan for the build was a 150w picopsu, lowest power cpu i can find and a 5750 go green. (with motherboard and memory, ssd etc). 30W is the lowest i've found by a loooong way. Much better than 73W for the core i5.

I dont think you could undervolt it down to 30W?

Did you see my other post?

Have you actually tried that, cos I think your theory is a little iffy, though i'm no expert - I generally just undervolt til I hit stability issues.

Assuming that the 530 actually is at 73W

You'd have to underclock down to (30/73) * 2.9 Ghz = 1.2 Ghz
and somehow manage to drop the voltage down by more than 50% as well.

I just dont see that as doable, but I could very very easily be wrong.

For £60 difference I think its easier to get something specced in the right thermal envelope - plus theres no IGP to worry about generating heat.

Whats the lowest people have undervolted an i3?

No, as your math shows dropping down to 1.2GHz at stock Vcore would do the trick.

Assuming 73W at 2.9GHz at stock voltage. At 1.2GHz at half Vcore it would then draw 73W x (1.2/2.9) x (0.5^2/1^2) = ~7.6W

I used the speed of the fastest CPU model just to get closer to the TDP, but a 530 should work just as well in real world since it of course uses less power.

So dropping a 3.6 GHz, 1.15 V, 73 W CPU to 2.26 GHz and 0.93 V gives you 30 W, either do the math yourself or use the power consumption calculator if you don't believe me.

Fair play, I can concede when I'm wrong. I was always under the impression that voltage dictated the majority of the power consumption, with clock speed not having much of an effect but it would appear I'm wrong.

Cheers

It would be interesting to read any power consumption mesaurements, and some benchmarks.

So I happen to have a similar system and a seasonic watt meter:

Supermicro X8SIL-F (Intel 3420 chipset)
Xeon L3426
8 GB 1333 DDR3 ECC Registered
80GB Intel X25-M SSD system disk
5 x WD2002FYPS GP4-RE in RAID5
Antec Earthwatts EA-380D
Nexus LOW-7000 R2 cooler
2x80mm 1000 rpm fans in the drive enclosures.

At the wall drawn 55 watts idle.

When I built the system I have tried it with pico-psu + 120 watt adapter, but it did not always start reliably. Sometimes when the insurge of current was big at start, even with the drives starting one by one, it would shut down. When it did start though had drawn about 48 watts with 4 drives only.

Currently I use Ubuntu 10.10 server as OS. The 10.04 LTS has some issues with its e1000e driver and the Intel 82574L NICs onboard. The 10.10 has this fixed. The two gigabit NIC are teamed up to the same switch, there is a separate 100Mbit NIC for the IPMI interface onboard also powered up.