Quick Answer
The Intel Xeon processors are very powerful CPUs, but they are not worth it when you are looking for a gaming processor. This is simply because they have greater potentials than what you need for gaming, hence it will only be a waste to spend on them since you will not be able to take full advantage of what they offer.
I do not envy anyone who is looking for a good gaming GPU, RAM, or processor, because the truth is that it can be a herculean task. This is not because they are limited in the market, but rather because of their abundance which could get you confused at the end of the day.
Some time ago, you would hardly find gamers contemplating to go with the Intel Xeon processors because they are on the very expensive side of things. Nonetheless, things have changed a lot and now we are not only seeing newer ones but also cheaper ones (although not exactly cheap). What this has done is to get gamers hungry for it because of the very tempting specs they come with. Because of this, the question we are left with is on whether or not the processor is a worthy CPU for gaming.
What is the Intel Xeon Processor?
The processor was first released in 1998 to offer processing power for real-time analytics, cloud computing, and workstations. As a result of what it was designed to handle, the processor comes with features that are typically not found on the Core-series which are the ones that have become popular with gamers and the consumer market in general.
One of the main things that the Xeon CPU has over the Core-series counterparts is a much higher core count reaching to 28 cores as well as 56 threads. This, however, is in high-end processors. More so the memory support for the Xeon processors can get to 1TB while the cache memory can stretch to 60mb depending on the series you are using.
Is Intel Xeon worth it for Gaming?
Before now, the main reason why the Xeon processor was not fit for gaming was that it didn’t work with the same sockets as consumer motherboards. Nevertheless, this has changed completely over the years and you can now even decide to use a Core i7 processor on a workstation motherboard which was not obtainable before now.
Another interesting thing is that because they mostly come with many cores, they will not be the best available for a gamer since a lot of games are not optimized for that much cores. In fact, you are better off as a gamer with fewer faster cores than you are with many that lack speed. One thing to understand here is that if you get a Core processor as well as a Xeon processor that have very similar specification and microarchitecture, there is hardly any reason why the two should not deliver almost the same performance.
Looking at the features it comes with can also help in understanding whether it is actually worth it for gaming. First of all, one of the main features of the Intel Xeon processor is the Error-correcting code memory (ECC memory) that it comes with which serves the function of correcting data errors and preventing corruption, which is not something that you need on a gaming PC.
In case you are worrying about bottlenecking, which is one of the things that people tend to bring up when talking about the need to get a good CPU so that the performance of your GPU cannot be hindered by the processor, there is hardly any way that you will have to get a Xeon to prevent bottlenecking since Core i5 and i7 are mostly sufficient for any type of game available today.
Also, it comes with high cache memory than the core processors. That is not to say that there are not those that come with moderate memory, but most of them are in the higher end of memory cache as well as larger on-chip data caches. The problem that this sometimes causes for gaming and other repetitive activities is that it could affect performance.
Just as you have rightly expected, we cannot afford not to talk about the price which is one of the major reason why gamers prefer to stay off it completely. Because it is made for more serious activities and complex needs as well as specialized customers, the price of the processor is way higher than what you will get a core processor that will perform the same job or even better.
With time, however, a lot has changed and now there are Xeon processors that are coming for those needing less power than what you typically get with the higher-end Intel Xeon processors. What this means is that they also come at much more affordable than the others that are well overpriced.
Is Intel Xeon Any Good?
Now the simple answer to this question is that there is no simple answer. Xeon processors are very good in their own rights and if you decide to settle for one instead of a core processor for gaming, you will not suffer any consequence except, of course, the cost of it.
See Also: NVIDIA Ampere Release Date, Architecture, Price, Performance, and News
More so, there are some things that you will have to sacrifice such as easy overclocking that comes with consumer-friendly CPUs which are the ones that are always preferred for gaming.
Conclusion
As far as some gamers are concerned, the idea that there are some processors that are not created for gaming can be very appalling. Nonetheless, with all that has been said above, it is clear that not all processors are made for gaming, even those that are super-powerful.
There is no denying the fact that the processor is important to your gaming since it helps everything to happen being the processing unit, but the thing is that because gaming is not all that demanding, a processor that is too strong may only be a waste of time, although it will get the job done. It gets interesting to even realize that there are gaming systems that the Intel Core i7 processor will even be too much for them as they will be very good with the Core i5.
