Anyone had experience with cheap X79 combos from eBay?

donnot on 04/10/2017 - 20:14
Last edited 05/10/2017 - 21:04

Was researching X79 boards on eBay and came across a few listings like this with new (albeit generic) motherboards paired with a Xeon E5 2680 (8-core Sandy EP) and 16GB of RAM.

Wondering if anyone has had experience with these combos- very tempting but seem almost too good to be true. Obviously not for gaming, but more multitasking/VMs etc. The motherboard doesn't inspire confidence but other parts seem to be worth it?

Main thing I'm suspect about is that, under "Package includes" it says nothing of the CPU (which is mentioned in the description). Obviously paying with PayPal.

Thanks.

EDIT: Welp, contacted the seller who said that it's for the motherboard only, even though listed as a "combo"…

Computing

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 04/10/2017 - 21:13
    +1

    motherboard looks cheap and nasty but I think it'll work at least. usually with these generics they skimp on the ports and I/O.

    VRM's and capacitors though may be made of the cheapest quality stuff they can find in a spare parts box so I wouldn't count on it for long term reliability.

    • donnot on 04/10/2017 - 21:34

      That's my main concern- especially with the Xeon being a 130W chip + running a power-hungry GPU. I figured, how bad could capacitors on these boards be…could always sell the CPU if it dies I guess.

      At least the solder joints on the motherboard look okay :/.

      • scrimshaw on 05/10/2017 - 00:58
        +1

        I think it's a listing mistake. The title mentions the CPU. However, description doesn't.

        The item is also not listed under Motherboard combos category.

        You should probably message the seller for confirmation before buying. otherwise you're just paying $159.99 for a crappy generic motherboard.

        • donnot on 05/10/2017 - 01:03

          Under the "Descriptions" section it says "CPU type: Intel Xeon E5 2680 C2 2.7GHz 8 cores/16 threads" which is oddly specific if not true, but will definitely follow up with the seller.

        • donnot on 05/10/2017 - 21:06

          You're right - listing mistake :(. Seems like they have just directly copied the description from somewhere.

  • aeon05 on 04/10/2017 - 21:47

    I bought a cheap x79 a fair while ago off ebay, the thing worked but had a lot of instability issues.
    Wasnt worth the hassle.

    • donnot on 04/10/2017 - 21:50

      What sort of instability were you experiencing? Hangups, GPU issues, drivers, USB? Don't need it to be 'workstation' stable, just don't want to have to be rebooting too often.

      • aeon05 on 05/10/2017 - 15:20

        A lot of the time I had it not shut down, it just simply wouldn't power off.
        Was very very very annoying.

  • harryozz on 04/10/2017 - 22:29

    its not a bad deal considering the ram and cpu included, i reckon just give it a go and if you have any issues in the 30 days just send it back. Those 8 cores sell for at least 100 bucks anyway.I do feel that the boards wont supply enough power needed for prolonged sustained 100% load though. Also ECC ram gets extremely hot without any direct cooling makes sense as its meant to be in a server rack(i know its not always the case). So just make sure you have constant airflow throughout your case. And just beware that the x79 chipset is very fond of failures ive been through 1 Asrock x79 extreme 11 board and 2 asus px79 boards aswell. Atm ive been using a asrock x79 extreme 9 with a xeon 2670 v2 10core and its been running sweet for the best of 2 years now. if you look out for ecc ram deals on ebay you can normally snap up 64gb kit for 20 - 40 bucks

  • Marioedd on 04/10/2017 - 23:03

    Just a quick question, why would you not use it for gaming?

    • donnot on 04/10/2017 - 23:28

      I take that back, looking at some benchmarks the Xeon performs much better than expected!

  • tonyjzx on 05/10/2017 - 11:46

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/285530

    i have issue with unknown brands but I have the above unit, MSI x79 with that 8 core monster.

    As it is, I dont think such a powerful machine is useful to me as a general desktop.

    It may suit PS people and VM of course but ehh… its a 2012 spec machine so you may as well get Ryzen if you need 8 cores.

    Unless you have brand name x79 boards lying around. Also I believe the x2670 etc isnt that cheap any more on ebay.

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