Xeon Processor E5 2687w

The Intel Xeon E5-2687W series (v1 through v4) represents a high-frequency workstation-class lineage that remains popular in the refurbished and home-lab markets due to its balance of core count and clock speed TechpowerupIntel. Originally designed for high-end workstations like the HP Z840, these processors are now valued as low-cost upgrades for legacy LGA 2011 and LGA 2011-3 systems Pcserverandparts.

Product Insights & Evolution

The series evolved from 8-core designs to 12-core powerhouses, shifting from DDR3 to DDR4 memory support:

* E5-2687W (v1) & v2: Utilize the LGA 2011 socket and DDR3 memory. The v2 is particularly noted for hitting a 4.0 GHz Turbo frequency, the highest in the entire line, making it a favorite for single-threaded legacy applications TechpowerupTechnical.

* E5-2687W v3 & v4: Transitioned to the LGA 2011-3 socket and DDR4 memory. The v4 features 12 cores and 30MB of L3 cache, offering a 73% multi-thread performance increase over the v1 CpubenchmarkCpubenchmark.

Market Trends (2024–2026)

* Price Collapse: Refurbished units have seen a massive price drop. While the v4 launched at over $2,100, current wholesale prices range from $9 to $55 depending on the batch size and condition TechpowerupAlibabaAlibaba.

* Software Sunset: The series is reaching the end of its professional life. VMware's ESXi 9.x now officially blocks Broadwell-EP (v4) hardware, and none of these CPUs are on the official Windows 11 support list Pcserverandparts.

* Home-Lab "Value Pocket": They are currently in a "value pocket" where the cost per GB of DDR4 RDIMMs ($5.75–$11.75) is significantly lower than DDR5, making these CPUs ideal for high-memory Linux or Proxmox servers PcserverandpartsPcserverandparts.