Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2

The Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2 is a Ivy Bridge-EP processor for socket LGA2011, used in HPE ProLiant Gen8 servers. It has 12 physical cores and 24 threads, starts at a 2.7 GHz base clock and boosts to 3.5 GHz under light load. It carries 30 MB of L3 cache and a 130 W thermal design power. An economical choice for web hosting, file servers, lab environments and light virtualisation: plenty of cores for very little money, at the cost of higher power draw than newer generations. Two things to check before ordering. First, in a dual-socket configuration both sockets must hold the identical model — a server with two different SKUs will not post. Second, anything above 135 W needs the high-performance heatsink and fan kit; with the standard heatsink the server throttles itself and you never get the performance you paid for. Every processor is booted and tested on the same server generation before it ships.