Gaming on Xeons

 What? Aren’t Xeons for servers or “workstations” (whatever that means)?

Yes, Xeon’s are Intel’s line of workstation- and server-class processors. But really, the difference between a workstation, server, and gaming rig is mostly marketing. Xeons have nearly the same cores as their i7 cousins. And they tend to have larger cache sizes and more cores. So while an i7 and is made to run one desktop application really fast with high clock speeds, and Xeons are made to run lots of multi-threaded programs simultaneously, with lower clock speeds.

This is great for demanding, multi-threaded applications, but many games prefer that higher clock speed. So if you’re playing games, you wouldn’t normally run a Xeon.

But there’s another thing about Xeons that makes them unique. Used workstations are cheap. Usually companies buy or lease new machines. But when the lease is up, there's no demand. Companies don't buy used, and most consumers don't want them. So for not much money, you can pick up a high quality machine and turn it into a great home computer. 

If you are building a workstation gaming computers, Green PC Gamers is a good resource with guides on upgrading specific models.

Combine that Xeon with taskset, and you can get your workstation running as well or better than an i7. 

Some anecdotes:

Mech Warrior 5 gets a better frame rate when limited to two cores per CPU, maximizing the clock speed.

$ taskset -c 0-1,14-15 wine64 MechWarrior5.exe

CyberPunk 2077, on the other hand, prefers more cores, but not all. With just a few cores at a high boost, the framerate goes up to 60 Hz, but there’s a distinct stutter every few seconds (especially when moving between areas). Adding just a few more cores gives smooth performance at about 45 FPS. Running without taskset gives a framerate around 30 Hz.

It’s possible the effect here is less about boost and more about leaving some spare CPUs around for background processes to run.

$ taskset -c 0-7,14-20 proton run CyberPunk2077.exe