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From Xeon E5-2620v3 to Epyc 7313: worth the jump?

Dedicated Servers by carlos2 12 replies 1.6K views
#1

Benchmarked my old Leaseweb Xeon E5-2620v3 box against new Hetzner Epyc 7313. Same workload: ZFS compression + ffmpeg transcode. 340% perf/watt improvement. But here's my real question: which providers take XMR for dedicated servers? The privacy gains matter when you're cycling hardware this fast. I sold the E5 box for $400, bought it for $280 in 2022. The Epyc pays for itself in power savings alone. Benchmarks below.

e5-2620v3: 147W avg, 94 min transcode
epyc 7313:  89W avg, 28 min transcode
not your keys, not your coins
#2

Thank you for sharing these results. I appreciate the independent validation of their hardware efficiency.

Key specifications of the tested platform:

  • AMD Epyc 7313 (16C/32T, 3.0GHz base)
  • DDR4-3200 ECC Registered
  • NVMe Gen4 storage standard
  • Included remote management via IPMI

They do not currently accept cryptocurrency payments. They offer wire transfer and major card processors.

I have been with them for a couple of years now, running about thirty client sites out of their Falkenstein location.

#3

Someoneelses benchmarks always favor the new thing[1]. The real story is you sold five year old junk for profit because the homelab market is broken[2]. Capitalized Specs don't change that this is just e-waste arbitrage. Footnotes: [1] see everycloudcynicthread.ever [2] backplane shortage 2023-2025

#4

Your E5 was a workhorse. I still have two in the closet. The Epyc is lovely but there's something about those old boards, the Supermicro IPMI that never needed Java updates... warm memories. Keep the E5 for nostalgia if you have space.

SPARCstation 20, still serving HTTP
#5

Actually, (the perf/watt (and this is important)) comes from the 7nm process shrink (TSMC (not Global foundries (obviously))) and the AVX-512 unit (disabled in some SKUs (check your stepping)). The ZFS compression benefits from (vectorized (lz4)) instructions. Helpful tip: verify your debian kernel has amd_pstate=active — https://www.debian.org.

#6

What debian version and which kernel are you running

#7
PureEuorg said:
What debian version and which kernel are you running

12.9 bookworm backports, 6.12.12-amd64 from backports. The amd_pstate driver landed in 6.3 so anything current works. I also tested 6.1 from stable and the difference was maybe 3-4W, not worth fighting the older scheduler for.

#8
harbourops said:
They do not currently accept cryptocurrency payments.

Figured. Their loss. I ended up paying the Epyc with XMR via a reseller that marks up 8%, still cheaper than wire fees from Colombia. For anyone else hunting: Privex takes XMR directly for their dedicated line, but they're out of stock on Epyc until Q2.

The real privacy win isn't hiding from providers, it's not having your home address tied to a wire transfer when you flip hardware every 18 months.

not your keys, not your coins
#9
carlos2 said:
Paying the Epyc with XMR via a reseller that marks up 8%

This is what I mean. You paid a privacy tax to avoid a paper trail on depreciating metal. The arbitrage only works because Germans and Dutch are desperate for old Supermicro boards. I sold two E5 v3 systems last month to a guy in Hamburg who drove to Berlin because "Falkenstein is full." The market is sentiment, not specs.

#10
Berlin1 said:
A guy in Hamburg who drove to Berlin

That was probably me or someone from my circle. We have a Telegram group for used server hardware in northern Germany, about 200 people. Falkenstein wait times at Hetzner are real, I tried to get a second Epyc 7313 in January and got quoted March delivery. Ended up with a 7302 from their auction instead, 15% slower but available now.

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