WTF!! Wir bauen den 44-Kern AliExpress Gaming PC... #GamingSchrott

Summary

The video showcases an experimental dual CPU mainboard purchased from AliExpress, equipped with two used 22-core Intel Xeon server processors totaling 44 cores and 88 threads. Various benchmarks are run to demonstrate exceptional multi-core performance on par with modern mainstream CPUs, but very poor single-core speed more comparable to entry-level chips. Gaming bottlenecks are highlighted given most games cannot utilize so many cores. Potential future upgrade ideas are proposed including custom water cooling and multi-GPU setups to create an unconventional AliExpress gaming system.

Takeaways

• 😲 Ordered a dual CPU motherboard with 2x 22-core Xeon processors for €616
• 👷‍♂️ The CPU model seems to be mislabeled - listed as E5-2696v4 but detected as 2699v4
• 🤯 Achieved 1708 points in Cinebench R24 multicore test, faster than Apple M1 Ultra
• 😥 But single core performance is very poor, slower than a Core i3-10105
• 💪 With both CPUs fully loaded power consumption was around 400 watts
• 🔥 The CPUs run very cool thanks to the big heatsinks, 41-48°C under load
• 🎮 In games the 64 PCIe lanes don't help - the CPUs bottleneck the RTX 4090 badly
• 🤔 Author wonders if he should build a multi-GPU AliExpress system for fun
• 🤑 Spent €616 on used server hardware that competes with €1000+ consumer chips
• ❓ Remains to be seen what other entertaining things he'll do with this system

Q & A

What type of PC did the person order from AliExpress?

The person ordered a dual CPU gaming PC from AliExpress with two Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4 CPUs.

How many CPU cores does the PC have in total?

The PC has a total of 44 CPU cores and 88 threads with the two Intel Xeon CPUs installed.

What kind of performance did the PC achieve in Cinebench R24?

In Cinebench R24 multicore test, the PC scored 1708 points, placing it between Ryzen 9 7900X and Core i7-14700K in performance.

How did the PC perform in 3DMark Time Spy?

In 3DMark Time Spy, the PC scored 11889 points overall. The GPU score was 12771 points but the CPU score was lower at 8545 points due to CPU bottleneck.

What power consumption did the two CPUs have at full load?

At full load, the two Intel Xeon CPUs consumed around 400 watts of power based on external power meter measurements.

How did the PC perform in Far Cry 6 gaming test?

In Far Cry 6 at 720p ultra settings, the PC averaged 67 FPS, far lower than modern CPUs which scored over 180 FPS in this test.

Why did the GPU have low utilization in games?

In games, the GPU utilization was low, around 30-50% in tests. This indicates the CPUs were bottlenecking performance despite their high core count.

How much memory did the PC have compared to what was ordered?

The PC was ordered with 64GB RAM but came with 128GB RAM installed, double the original order.

What chipset was actually on the motherboard?

Despite being advertised as X99, the motherboard had a C612 server chipset which makes more sense for the Xeon CPUs.

Did the overall build quality seem good?

Yes, the build quality including PCB, power delivery, heat sinks seemed quite good, similar to a high end desktop motherboard.