# What motherboard is this?



## Nick.D (Dec 20, 2016)

I need to figure out what motherboard I have so that I can figure out what CPU I should get...

It doesn't say its name anywhere on it... The computer I'm using as of now is just the Intel Thinkstation S20 with more ram, and a good video card slapped in. I did a google search to try and find the motherboard on the S20, but couldn't find anything.

The processor I have right now is the Intel Xeon W3350.
If you google 'Thinkstation S20 motherboard' I don't think you'll find anything, but it does come up with images of the right one, if that helps.

That's everything I know about it, and I've been unable to figure out what it's name is. If you can tell me, that'd be pretty helpful.


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## Cisco001 (Dec 20, 2016)

Run CPU-Z?

This could help?
https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/documents/pd005642


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## Nick.D (Dec 20, 2016)

Cisco001 said:


> Run CPU-Z?
> 
> This could help?
> https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/documents/pd005642



The first thing you mentioned is just telling me it's made by Lenovo, which I knew.

I've been to that website a few times also, but didn't find the name.


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## johnb35 (Dec 20, 2016)

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkS...rocessors-in-the-ThinkStation-S20/ta-p/402987

However, that machine is like 7 years old, time for a new one.


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## Nick.D (Dec 20, 2016)

johnb35 said:


> https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkS...rocessors-in-the-ThinkStation-S20/ta-p/402987
> 
> However, that machine is like 7 years old, time for a new one.



I want to get a new one, but money won't allow it :/

Everything in it is decent except for the processor, which, by the looks of it from what you posted, might not change.

I have 32gb of ram, and a GeForce GTX 970. If I can get a decent processor, I'll be okay, I think. I don't know by name if any of those that were listed are good though, so I'll have to do some research.


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## johnb35 (Dec 20, 2016)

You would have to hunt any cpu down on ebay or something similar.  You currently have a quad core at 3.06ghz.  You could get a 6 core at 3.46 ghz by getting the w3690.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SLBW2-Intel...or-/201750952313?_trksid=p2349526.m2548.l4275

Are you using this for gaming or what?


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## Nick.D (Dec 20, 2016)

johnb35 said:


> You would have to hunt any cpu down on ebay or something similar.  You currently have a quad core at 3.06ghz.  You could get a 6 core at 3.46 ghz by getting the w3690.
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/SLBW2-Intel...or-/201750952313?_trksid=p2349526.m2548.l4275
> 
> Are you using this for gaming or what?



Yeah It's for gaming, though it isn't doing that great of a job at it as of now.

Actually, I do have another motherboard laying around somewhere, the 760GMA-P34 (FX), which may be newer. I might have to start a thread in a different section, as this is starting to be more about processors than motherboards.


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## johnb35 (Dec 20, 2016)

Nick.D said:


> Actually, I do have another motherboard laying around somewhere, the 760GMA-P34 (FX), which may be newer.


It is newer but its a lost cause.  Don't waste any money, buy all new.  


Nick.D said:


> Yeah It's for gaming, though it isn't doing that great of a job at it as of now.


The machine you have was dedicated for business applications and such not gaming.  Thats what the xeon cpu's were for.  You would probably be downgrading going from what you have now to the am3+ platform.


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## AMD_man (Dec 20, 2016)

Nick.D said:


> Intel Xeon W3350



You meant 3550 right? In that case you should have DDR3 RAM, is it 1066Mhz? If so you could use it in that motherboard. That way you wouldn´t be throwing that much stuff away. Although AM3+ is not the best purchase right now, you almost have the entire setup.


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## Nick.D (Dec 20, 2016)

AMD_man said:


> You meant 3550 right? In that case you should have DDR3 RAM, is it 1066Mhz? If so you could use it in that motherboard. That way you wouldn´t be throwing that much stuff away. Although AM3+ is not the best purchase right now, you almost have the entire setup.



Yeah, it is 3550, sorry. I'm trying to replace it though, it isn't doing too well. It can't run any newer games, stuff from 2011ish is the newest it can run.

I just have to figure out which motherboard will have better processors it can use now. A downside to the other mobo I have is that I would have to go from 32gb ram to 16, because it only has 2 slots for it.


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## AMD_man (Dec 20, 2016)

Maybe what speed does your RAM have? Your motherboard supports from 1066Mhz.


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## Nick.D (Dec 20, 2016)

AMD_man said:


> Maybe what speed does your RAM have? Your motherboard supports from 1066Mhz.



2127.7 MHz.


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## AMD_man (Dec 20, 2016)

Nick.D said:


> 2127.7 MHz.



Where did you get that?


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## Nick.D (Dec 20, 2016)

AMD_man said:


> Where did you get that?


From the thing Cisco001 said to download. :/


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## AMD_man (Dec 20, 2016)

Nick.D said:


> From the thing Cisco001 said to download. :/



But that's not an official speed. That's why I asked. That software must be showing you current speed. Still it's probably 2133Mhz, so you shouldn't find any issues.


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## Intel_man (Dec 22, 2016)

johnb35 said:


> You could get a 6 core at 3.46 ghz by getting the w3690.




I can vouch for that chip. It's a beautiful thing for multithreaded applications. Unless the OP plans to OC the bageesus out of the chip, which it technically can but I don't think the Lenovo mobo allows for, don't expect it to perform significantly different in games vs the W3350. It'll be better, since it's basically a i7-990X with Xeon badging, but it is quite old compared to what is offered now.


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## mistersprinkles (Dec 24, 2016)

A picture is worth a thousand words...


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## YourDigitalJester (Feb 7, 2017)

johnb35 said:


> It is newer but its a lost cause.  Don't waste any money, buy all new.
> 
> The machine you have was dedicated for business applications and such not gaming.  Thats what the xeon cpu's were for.  You would probably be downgrading going from what you have now to the am3+ platform.


i game on my xenon and it works flawlessly... Better than my intel i7-970 ever did


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## Intel_man (Feb 7, 2017)

YourDigitalJester said:


> i game on my xenon and it works flawlessly... Better than my intel i7-970 ever did


If it's your E5506 you're talking about... then that's not right. The i7-970 is a superior processor than the E5506. Just because it's branded as Xeon doesn't mean it's automatically better than the Core i counterpart.


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## YourDigitalJester (Feb 7, 2017)

Intel_man said:


> If it's your E5506 you're talking about... then that's not right. The i7-970 is a superior processor than the E5506. Just because it's branded as Xeon doesn't mean it's automatically better than the Core i counterpart.


well, its true. Same game, same settings, same everything else, higher FPS. Tested on TF2, Beamng.Drive, Euro Truck Sim, and a few others...


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## Intel_man (Feb 7, 2017)

YourDigitalJester said:


> well, its true. Same game, same settings, same everything else, higher FPS. Tested on TF2, Beamng.Drive, Euro Truck Sim, and a few others...


Well something doesn't add up. You're telling me that a processor that's on an older architecture, less clock speed, less cores is slower. I mean if it works for you, then it works for you, but as a technical standpoint, it makes no sense.


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## YourDigitalJester (Feb 7, 2017)

Intel_man said:


> Well something doesn't add up. You're telling me that a processor that's on an older architecture, less clock speed, less cores is slower. I mean if it works for you, then it works for you, but as a technical standpoint, it makes no sense.


Theyre both quad cores, and the same clock speed, which is why it amazed me there was such a massive difference. Depending on game i saw a difference of 5FPS-15FPS (TF2 at the low end, BeamNg.Drive at the higher end). Ill agree with you its strange, but its what happened. The i7 may have been damaged, as it fried and took my power supply with it (or visa versa)


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## YourDigitalJester (Feb 7, 2017)

Im sorry, the i7 was a 3.2 GHz if memory serves me right, not 2.13 as the xeon is (which im going to try to overclock some)


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## Intel_man (Feb 8, 2017)

The i7 970 is not a quad. It's a hexa. Clock for clock, the 970 (gulftown) is suppose to be faster than your xeon (nehalem).


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## YourDigitalJester (Feb 8, 2017)

Ive seen the miscommunication, i have a 960, not a 970


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## Intel_man (Feb 8, 2017)

The 960 should still be faster. It's clocked way higher than the E5506.


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## YourDigitalJester (Feb 8, 2017)

Again, i agree but for some reason it just isnt. Maybe the i7 was being bottle-necked by my GPU? Then it should have been closer, but thats my best guess...


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## YourDigitalJester (Feb 10, 2017)

Now im confused even more, i reinstalled the i7 and its preforming far better than the xeon ever did...


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## beers (Feb 10, 2017)

That PEBKAC tho


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## YourDigitalJester (Feb 10, 2017)

I will concede that was 100% my stupid


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