 These questions, what's the difference between a Xeon and a Core i5 or Core i7 processor? Is a Xeon good for gaming? They have been asked and answered a thousand times. But the reason people keep asking is that there's a lot of misinformation in the answers that are floating around out there. So let's address it here once and for all. With the purchase of a qualifying Intel processor, SSD or NUC, you could instantly win an Intel gaming jersey and be entered in the draw for the ultimate system. Click now to learn more. Myth number one. Xeons and consumer CPUs don't work with the same motherboards. They're not intercompatible. This used to be true when Xeons were actually made for completely different sockets. But it's no longer the case. Nowadays, it's up to the motherboard manufacturer to implement support. And in many cases, it's possible to install a Core i7 on a workstation board or server board or a Xeon processor in a consumer board. But certain CPU features like overclocking on a workstation board or ECC memory support on a consumer grade board may not be validated. Myth number two. Xeons are inherently better for 3D rendering and consumer CPUs like Core i7s are inherently better for gaming. While in some cases, this will be valid. For example, this $2,500 12-core behemoth of a Xeon will not handle gaming as well as this $350 quad-core Core i7. Because gaming favors fewer faster cores compared to many slower ones. However, in cases where a Core i7 and a Xeon can be found based on the same microarchitecture with the same basic specifications, they should in theory perform exactly the same. But theories are just theories, right? So I handed a Xeon E3 1276v3 and a Core i7 4790 Non-K over to Luke to find out if their performance, other than support for ECC memory on the Xeon and a couple of consumer-centric features on the Core i7, is any different. And... They're pretty much the same. You'll see that the Xeon wins by kind of very small amounts on average. That's probably due to a binning process more than anything. There's a bit of overlap on the binning for i7s and Xeons, but this could be a fairly high-binned Xeon and a fairly average i7. That's... that's kind of about it. Fairly anticlimactic. Anyways, back to you Linus. Okay, so then why do Xeons exist at all? Well, for starters, they have ECC memory support, which reduces the chances of a memory error occurring that can harm data integrity or system stability for mission-critical systems that cannot crash. And along those lines, like other workstation and server-grade components, they are indicated for 24-7 operation. But that's not all. Even though we can find Xeons with the same specs as Core series CPUs sometimes, the Xeon lineup also contains many additional products with specialized features that are not available to consumers, usually because they simply don't need them, so why bother spending money on them? For starters, along with that ECC memory support, some Xeons support massive amounts of memory per CPU and larger on-chip data caches, which will dramatically affect performance in certain workloads, especially very repetitive ones. There are also many Xeons available, not only with additional processing cores for running lots of virtual machines on a single box or for big performance boosts in workstation or server workloads, but as you move up the product stack, you'll find ones that can have two, four, or even more CPUs in a single machine, for when a single multi-core CPU still isn't enough. And then finally, Xeons being targeted at specialized customers like data centers, who are less concerned with the cost of a CPU and more concerned with the higher cost of the rack space and electricity being used to support it over a long period of time, they are available in configurations that are designed to deliver optimal performance per watt and per unit volume, compared to consumer chips where the assumption is most of the time they'll be the only CPU in the room anyway. So in conclusion, Xeons are different from core series processors, but only if they are different for your workload. It's not about which one is the best, it's about the right tool for the job. So picking the wrong one won't make your PC explode, so that's good to know, but there's no need to pay a premium or give up consumer-friendly features like overclocking to buy a Xeon if you're just going to edit videos on your PC from time to time. However, in cases where you need something not available to consumers, it's also important to realize that consumer-grade chips are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what's available out there. Speaking of what's available out there, do I ever have something awesome for you guys? Whoops, it's backwards. From our friends at Chiro Power, they just released their new flagship portable battery bank at noon today, the Energy Plus, which features a very high capacity of 12,000 mAh while still maintaining a thin and actually surprisingly light form factor. I mean, look at this thing, 12,000 mAh, that's insane. It comes with an AC adapter for quick recharging and is suitable for any device that charges through USB, like your smartphone or tablet. Here at Linus Media Group, we use Chiro battery banks whenever we go on trips, and they certainly saved Luke and Nick's butts when both of their phones died on the E3 show floor. This is a product that anyone with a high power consumption smartphone should have, and for the first 3,000 units sold, Chiro is offering the ridiculously low price of $29.49. Insane. After those 3,000 units are gone, it'll be available at $39.99, which isn't half bad either, but whatever. You might as well save a couple bucks, right? Anyway, international shipping is now available. That's the biggest complaint we've ever had about these Chiro deals that we've offered you guys before. Well, I really want to buy it, but there's no international shipping. No, no, it's available now, so just click through the link below in the description on Amazon. And I was confused, but don't worry too much about it. It also comes with a cool little brown carrying bag, the AC adapter. Thank you for watching, guys. Like this video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it, leave a comment letting me know what you thought. Don't forget to check out the support us link in the video description. You can buy a t-shirt, give us a monthly contribution, or change your Amazon bookmarks to one with our affiliate code, so we get a small kickback whenever you buy portable battery banks or whatever else it is that you're into. Thanks again for watching, and as always, don't forget to subscribe.