【1】16-core electronic waste is everywhere

It's not difficult to get a 16-core processor at a low price; as mentioned yesterday, the widespread Xeon E5 V3, V4 paired with the X99 clone board can easily achieve this. For instance, the E5-2682/2683 V4 can be acquired for just 120 yuan, and with a super budget X99 clone board costing less than 200 yuan, the total cost can be easily kept around 300 yuan. Even an 18-core processor is not expensive, such as the E5-2686 V4, which is only 199 yuan. Although its base frequency is only 2.30GHz, the single-core turbo frequency can reach 3.00GHz, and the all-core turbo frequency is also around 2.70GHz, making its multi-threading performance quite impressive.

【2】Introduction to the Xeon D-1581

The Xeon D-1581 recommended today is not a new topic; our computer review room, as well as many online media, have conducted related evaluations and published articles introducing it on multiple occasions. In the past two years, the price of the D-1581 platform has continued to drop, and the combined price with the motherboard generally only requires 300 yuan. Coupled with its low power consumption and comprehensive functionality, it is once again brought out from the bottom of the box to introduce to new friends.

The Intel Xeon D family, since its first launch in 2015, has been continuously updated through multiple generations. Its architecture has evolved from the first-generation Broadwell (corresponding to the 5th generation of Core i) to the current Ice Lake (corresponding to the 10th generation of Core i mobile version). Its development path is quite different from other Xeon or traditional desktop processors, focusing on low power consumption while the entire series uses BGA packaging, meaning they are directly soldered onto the motherboard rather than sold as individual CPU units (unless you have the capability to replace them yourself).

The parameters of the D-1581 are not eye-catching; although it has 16 cores and 32 threads, its base frequency is only 1.80GHz, and the highest turbo frequency is 2.40GHz. Therefore, its single-thread performance may be only a little more than half of the 8-core 16-thread R7-3700X/i7-10700F, while its multi-thread performance is not much different. This CPU allocates 256KB of L2 cache per core and shares 24MB of L3 cache, with a TDP of 65W, and the actual power consumption is also around this figure (after all, the operating frequency is relatively low). In terms of performance and usage, it is more suitable for multi-program opening, multi-tasking office work, and running games with discrete graphics that do not demand high CPU performance.

【3】Xeon D-1581 Motherboard

Traditional manufacturers occasionally launch motherboard-CPU products based on Intel Xeon D family processors in the retail market, similar to the Atom platform. Coupled with the fact that Xeon D generally has low power consumption, usually ranging from 25W to 65W, the matching coolers do not need to be very "bulky." Products launched by manufacturers like Gigabyte naturally have no purchase value, although they look exquisite, their prices are seriously inflated and do not align with consumers' desire to try new things or "play around."The low-priced D-1581 motherboards currently available on the market are "almost identical," with an overall design that gives off an overwhelming "knockoff" feeling. The materials used seem not so great, but the PCB layout adopted is quite server-like. The motherboard has a large area of empty soldering positions reserved, and you can even see SAS hard drive slots. Therefore, similar products launched by different manufacturers will actually retain different interfaces according to the final use. If you only need to use the M2 interface on this motherboard, it doesn't matter whether the board has SATA interfaces or not, as this type of board is also the cheapest; a version with more SATA ports might cost an additional 10 yuan. SAS ports are mostly not available unless you pay extra for the "high-end version."

Currently, the 300 yuan motherboards on Xianyu all look like this; they are indeed basic, but the interfaces and functions are sufficient. You don't need to worry about the CPU power supply; a 3-phase power supply can handle a fully loaded CPU of about 65W without any issues. Additionally, it integrates 4 USB 3.0 ports (all at the back), 6 USB 2.0 ports (4 at the rear and 2 at the front), 2 full-speed M.2 interfaces (both 3.0*4), and 1 M-SATA. The PCI-E X4 expansion slot at the bottom of the motherboard also conveniently allows you to expand the various interfaces you need. Most D-1581 motherboards will integrate dual gigabit network ports, which greatly expands their practical applications. However, SATA ports and integrated sound cards are both optional, so when you choose a motherboard, if you need SATA ports, make sure to choose the right one; integrated sound cards are not integrated on some server-oriented board types, so you must be very clear about this.

In terms of memory, the D-1581 supports both DDR3L and DDR4 memory types, and supports ECC REG. When purchasing, be sure to remember that the board type matches the memory type, and try to choose REG memory to reduce the overall budget for building the machine (unless you plan to use the memory on other ordinary platforms in the future, in which case you must choose standard DDR3/DDR4). The DDR4 board type is more common, and it is generally paired with 16GB DDR4-2133P ECC REG (be sure to choose 2Rx4) or larger capacities.

【4】Reference for Building a System

Since the motherboard does not integrate front USB 3.0 interfaces, there is no need to consider this when choosing a case; the CPU power consumption is relatively low, about 60W under full load, and the power consumption of the actual paired graphics card is also very low, so a 200W power supply here is more than sufficient.

The Xeon D-1581 is actually an integrated design (SoC) with the motherboard itself, so there is no such thing as a chipset. This CPU is everything, which can also save a lot of trouble, and there will be no significant differences in hardware compatibility between different board types.