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The E5-2620 v4 is great. Have been using it for 10 years now. Wanted to upgrade until I saw current prices. I have 64 GB ddr4. Paired it with rx 9060 xt 16 GB a

The E5-2620 v4 is great. Have been using it for 10 years now. Wanted to upgrade until I saw current prices. I have 64 GB ddr4. Paired it with rx 9060 xt 16 GB and games run as fast as ever. Perhaps the cpu is a slight bottleneck in DOOM The Dark Ages, but i'm at 60 fps, so no problem. Light llm on the gpu is a nobrainer, and it's cool to see that things can be tuned to run ok on the cpu. I bought 2667 v4 a month ago for 30$. I'd expect it to give a decent performance boost but I just haven't had the need for it yet, but pushing into llm like in the article I'd probably upgrade because 2667 can handle slightly faster ram.

throwaway2037 4mo ago
> The E5-2620 v4 is great. Have been using it for 10 years now. 10 years? Damn, that is a long time. I always assumed that heat-induced damage will kill a CPU after a certain amount of time (5-7 years). Am I wrong here? I assume yes. Or are CPUs must stronger/tougher than the bad old days?
- jansommer 4mo ago
  A quick search on Xeon production yields that it goes through a rather rigorous testing. I wouldn't be surprised that server cpu's in a desktop pc works longer. I can't overclock it either, and that probably helps with its lifespan as well. But yeah, the fact that it actually powers on when i click the button and isn't a limiting factor after 10 years is quite something.
  - mrmlz 4mo ago
    Back from my old overclocking days - its heat that kills life. And if you keep that under control (what ages is the heatpaste, replace it ever so often) i very much doubt you'll have any life issues from the cpu itself. Bearings in fans, caps etc. are also stuff that you need to keep an eye on. I just replaced a i5-660 thats been powered on since 2010 24/7, heatpaste was fucked so it crashed during heavy loads :)
  - throwaway2037 4mo ago
    You raise two very good points that I didn't think about: (1) better binning/testing, (2) no overclocking. Keep rockin' that elderly Xeon!
  - dur-randir 4mo ago
    >I can't overclock it either Except you can overclock v3 :)
- bobmcnamara 4mo ago
  Intel sacrificing lifetime for short-term gigahertz is a relatively recent phenomenon.
  - throwaway2037 4mo ago
    How about AMD?
- BirAdam 4mo ago
  This is among the "real" differences between workstation/server CPUs and commodity chips for laptops/desktops/handhelds. Even then, if a commodity chip isn't pushed full tilt at all times, and assuming that the venting and dissipation are adequate, a commodity chip can last a long time.
- Grazester 4mo ago
  Not my experience.
- inetknght 4mo ago
  > 10 years? Damn, that is a long time. I always assumed that heat-induced damage will kill a CPU after a certain amount of time (5-7 years). Am I wrong here? I assume yes. Or are CPUs must stronger/tougher than the bad old days? My i7 920 is still running fine. Or, it was when I decommissioned it in 2017. I don't imagine any reason it shouldn't, except perhaps bitrot of spinning rust (spinning rust rotting is no joke, especially after ~20 years) and maybe aging of thermal paste. My i7 6950X is still running fine, in use since 2017 even today to write this message.
- kingnothing 4mo ago
  I've never had a cpu die in the decades I've been using them. I've bought 10-20 year old computers that still work just fine. I kept my last MacBook for 9 years before I upgraded out of want for more RAM. Most computer equipment fails quickly, otherwise you'll get a long life out of whatever it is.
- Saris 4mo ago
  I have a couple PCs running with CPUs from 15 years ago with tons of power on time. Never heard of a CPU dying from age before.
kevinsync 4mo ago
I'm on a dual-E5 2667-v4 / 256 GB DDR4 Z640 with a 1080ti that I picked up all the various pieces for (aside from SSDs) for less than $500 total in the first half of 2025 (case, PSU, riser board included). I'm still kind of blown away by what you can find aftermarket / secondhand! I also had no idea RAM and GPU costs would explode they way they did, just happened to do it the right time. I might try to grab a ~$300 3080 on Ebay and sell the 1080ti, but otherwise it's been a great upgrade -- it sucks electricity like Coca Cola, but otherwise performs fantastic as a workstation, and I'm just gonna drive it til the wheels fall off.

throwaway2037 4mo ago

> The E5-2620 v4 is great. Have been using it for 10 years now. 10 years? Damn, that is a long time. I always assumed that heat-induced damage will kill a CPU after a certain amount of time (5-7 years). Am I wrong here? I assume yes. Or are CPUs must stronger/tougher than the bad old days?

jansommer 4mo ago
A quick search on Xeon production yields that it goes through a rather rigorous testing. I wouldn't be surprised that server cpu's in a desktop pc works longer. I can't overclock it either, and that probably helps with its lifespan as well. But yeah, the fact that it actually powers on when i click the button and isn't a limiting factor after 10 years is quite something.
- mrmlz 4mo ago
  Back from my old overclocking days - its heat that kills life. And if you keep that under control (what ages is the heatpaste, replace it ever so often) i very much doubt you'll have any life issues from the cpu itself. Bearings in fans, caps etc. are also stuff that you need to keep an eye on. I just replaced a i5-660 thats been powered on since 2010 24/7, heatpaste was fucked so it crashed during heavy loads :)
- throwaway2037 4mo ago
  You raise two very good points that I didn't think about: (1) better binning/testing, (2) no overclocking. Keep rockin' that elderly Xeon!
- dur-randir 4mo ago
  >I can't overclock it either Except you can overclock v3 :)
bobmcnamara 4mo ago
Intel sacrificing lifetime for short-term gigahertz is a relatively recent phenomenon.
- throwaway2037 4mo ago
  How about AMD?
BirAdam 4mo ago
This is among the "real" differences between workstation/server CPUs and commodity chips for laptops/desktops/handhelds. Even then, if a commodity chip isn't pushed full tilt at all times, and assuming that the venting and dissipation are adequate, a commodity chip can last a long time.
Grazester 4mo ago
Not my experience.
inetknght 4mo ago
> 10 years? Damn, that is a long time. I always assumed that heat-induced damage will kill a CPU after a certain amount of time (5-7 years). Am I wrong here? I assume yes. Or are CPUs must stronger/tougher than the bad old days? My i7 920 is still running fine. Or, it was when I decommissioned it in 2017. I don't imagine any reason it shouldn't, except perhaps bitrot of spinning rust (spinning rust rotting is no joke, especially after ~20 years) and maybe aging of thermal paste. My i7 6950X is still running fine, in use since 2017 even today to write this message.
kingnothing 4mo ago
I've never had a cpu die in the decades I've been using them. I've bought 10-20 year old computers that still work just fine. I kept my last MacBook for 9 years before I upgraded out of want for more RAM. Most computer equipment fails quickly, otherwise you'll get a long life out of whatever it is.
Saris 4mo ago
I have a couple PCs running with CPUs from 15 years ago with tons of power on time. Never heard of a CPU dying from age before.

kevinsync 4mo ago

I'm on a dual-E5 2667-v4 / 256 GB DDR4 Z640 with a 1080ti that I picked up all the various pieces for (aside from SSDs) for less than $500 total in the first half of 2025 (case, PSU, riser board included). I'm still kind of blown away by what you can find aftermarket / secondhand! I also had no idea RAM and GPU costs would explode they way they did, just happened to do it the right time. I might try to grab a ~$300 3080 on Ebay and sell the 1080ti, but otherwise it's been a great upgrade -- it sucks electricity like Coca Cola, but otherwise performs fantastic as a workstation, and I'm just gonna drive it til the wheels fall off.