Intel Xeon E5-2699v4 22-core LGA2011-3

The E5-2699v4 is a 22-core Broadwell-EP Xeon that's identical to the OEM E5-2696v4, so buy whichever is cheaper. Multi-thread performance is still decent at 7363 PassMark, but single-thread is near the bottom of our database at 259. At $525 USD used, it's a reasonable upgrade for existing X99 or C612 owners, but European pricing over 1,000 EUR makes it a tough sell. Only worth it if you need maximum cores for minimum cash and already have the platform.

The PassMark numbers tell the story pretty clearly. Multi-thread comes in at 7363, which lands it right around the middle of the pack compared to everything in our database. That's not bad for a chip this old, and it's where the 22 cores earn their keep. If you're running VMs, compiling code, or doing CPU-based rendering, the throughput is still usable. The 39MB of L3 cache helps keep those cores fed, and the 3.6GHz boost gives you a little headroom when a single thread needs to sprint.

But the single-thread score of 259 is rough. That puts it in the bottom 10% of everything we've tested. Any workload that depends on one fast core, think older games, some database operations, certain scripting tasks, will feel sluggish. The 2.2GHz base clock means sustained all-core loads will drop you down to speeds that feel ancient by 2025 standards. And the efficiency ranking is weak too, so you're not getting modern performance-per-watt. This chip pulls real power for what it delivers.

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D shows up as a top competitor in our database, and the contrast is stark. That chip has 8 cores but absolutely destroys the Xeon in single-thread and gaming workloads, and it's competitive in multi-thread despite having a third of the cores. If your workload doesn't scale perfectly across 22 cores, the Ryzen is the obvious choice. The Xeon only wins when you have embarrassingly parallel tasks that don't care about per-core speed.

Against other used server chips, the E5-2699v4 holds up okay. It's not the fastest Broadwell-EP part, but it's near the top of that generation. The real competition comes from used first-gen Threadripper and Epyc chips, which offer similar core counts with better single-thread performance and newer platforms. The Xeon's advantage is compatibility with cheap, abundant X99 boards and the fact that dual-socket setups are possible if you have a C612 board. But you're buying into a dead platform either way.

At $525 USD on the US used market, the core count is the pitch. You're paying roughly $24 per core, which sounds great until you factor in the platform costs. A decent X99 board still runs $150-250, and DDR4 ECC registered memory isn't free either. If you already have the board and RAM, this is a cheap upgrade. If you don't, the total cost starts creeping toward used Ryzen or Threadripper territory, and those chips will run circles around this thing in both single and multi-thread.

The European pricing is harder to justify. At over 1,000 EUR, you're well into used Threadripper 1950X or even 2950X money, and those are faster, more efficient, and on platforms with actual upgrade paths. The CAD and GBP listings fall somewhere in between. The value proposition really only works if you're locked into LGA2011-3 and need maximum cores for minimum cash.

The Intel Xeon E5-2699v4 is a 22-core Broadwell-EP chip from 2016 that still pops up on the used market, mostly because it's one of the cheapest ways to get a ton of cores into an older LGA2011-3 board. You'll see it listed alongside the E5-2696v4, and here's the thing: they're the same silicon. Intel just used different part numbers for retail versus OEM channels. Same 22 cores, same 2.2GHz base, same 3.6GHz boost, same 55MB of combined L2 and L3 cache. If you find one cheaper than the other, buy the cheaper one and don't look back.

Who's this for? Homelab tinkerers, people running older dual-socket servers, or anyone who needs a pile of threads for virtualization, rendering, or batch workloads without spending modern server money. The 22 cores and 44 threads look impressive on paper, and for certain parallel workloads they still get the job done. But this is a 2016 architecture, and it shows in single-thread performance and platform features.

What makes it interesting is the price-to-core ratio on the used market. You can find these for around $525 USD in the States, though European listings run much higher. If you already own an X99 or C612 board, this chip can breathe new life into it. If you're starting from scratch, you need to think hard about whether an old platform is worth the savings.

Skip this if you're building a new system from scratch. The platform is dead, the single-thread performance is genuinely bad, and the power draw will show up on your electric bill. You'd be much better off with a used Ryzen 7 or even a modern budget i5, which will feel dramatically faster in everyday use and sip power by comparison.

Also skip it if you care about gaming or any latency-sensitive workload. The 2.2GHz base clock and weak single-thread score mean this chip will bottleneck you constantly. And if you're in Europe, the pricing makes even less sense. At over 1,000 EUR, you're in used Threadripper territory, and those chips are faster, more efficient, and on platforms with actual upgrade options.

If you already own an LGA2011-3 board and need more cores for virtualization or rendering, the E5-2699v4 is a solid, cheap upgrade. The 22 cores will handle multiple VMs or a render queue without complaining, and the used market has plenty of these floating around. Just make sure you're not overpaying for the retail part number when the OEM E5-2696v4 is the same chip.

For anyone building a new system, even a budget one, this chip is hard to recommend. The single-thread performance is genuinely bad by modern standards, the platform is a dead end, and the power draw means you'll pay for it on your electric bill. A used Ryzen 7 or even a newer i5 will feel dramatically faster in day-to-day use while using a fraction of the power. The Xeon only makes sense when you need maximum threads per dollar and already have the infrastructure to support it.