Intel Xeon E5-2690 v2 10-core LGA 2011

The E5-2690 v2 is a 10-core server workhorse with flawless user reviews and solid multi-threaded performance for its age. Single-threaded speed is weak and the platform is dead, but at $250 it's a great drop-in upgrade for existing LGA 2011 systems. Worth it for homelab tinkerers, skip it for new builds.

Multi-threaded performance lands at 13,295 in PassMark, which is solid middle-of-the-pack territory for server chips in our database. Single-threaded is a different story at 1,853, sitting at 47th percentile. That's fine for background services and virtualization, but don't expect snappy desktop responsiveness. The 130W TDP is manageable, and one reviewer noted a 15W idle power reduction per chip versus older v1 Xeons. DDR3 memory support means cheap RAM, but you're capped at older platform features. For 24/7 server duty, this chip is reliable and predictable. For anything interactive, it shows its age.

Stacked against something like the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, this Xeon gets embarrassed in every category except core count per dollar. The Ryzen has modern single-threaded performance, PCIe 5.0, and DDR5 support. The Xeon counters with cheap DDR3 ECC RAM and drop-in compatibility with older server boards. The Core i9 BX80673I99960X is another competitor that outclasses it on raw speed but costs significantly more. The E5-2690 v2's real competition isn't modern chips, it's other used Xeons and older Ryzen parts. In that niche, it holds up fine.

At $250 USD for a renewed unit, this is a weird value proposition. You're paying for cores, not speed. A modern Ryzen 5 will crush it in single-threaded work and sip power doing it. But if you already own an LGA 2011 board and need to max out core count without replacing the whole platform, $250 for 10 cores and 20 threads is hard to argue with. The renewed units ship with anti-static packaging, foam, and sometimes thermal paste, which tells you these sellers actually care. For a homelab upgrade, it's a reasonable spend. For a new build, put your money elsewhere.

The Intel Xeon E5-2690 v2 is a decade-old server chip that refuses to die. Ten cores, 20 threads, 25MB of L3 cache, and a 3.6GHz boost clock on the LGA 2011 socket. It's not winning any speed records in 2024, but for homelab tinkerers and budget server builders, this thing still has a pulse.

Our database puts it at 66th percentile for multi-threaded work and 65th for AI, which sounds mediocre until you remember this chip launched in 2013. The real story here is the user sentiment: 100th percentile. Every single verified buyer gave it 5 stars. That's rare for any product, let alone a renewed server CPU.

Skip this if you're building a new system from scratch. The LGA 2011 platform is a dead end, DDR3 is outdated, and the single-threaded performance will frustrate you in everyday desktop use. If you need snappy responsiveness or any gaming capability, a modern Ryzen or Core i5 will serve you far better for similar money once you factor in motherboard and RAM costs.

Buy this if you have an LGA 2011 server or workstation that needs a core count bump on the cheap. It's a proven workhorse for virtualization, NAS duties, and background services. The 100th percentile user sentiment isn't a fluke, people genuinely love this chip for what it is. Just don't expect it to feel fast in 2024. It's a server chip doing server things, and it does those things reliably.