Is overclocking necessary for gaming?

[kalniel]

I'm not sure you will see any performance advantage in using a Xeon over a regular i7 or i5 for gaming though. Xeons are basically made to be tougher and last longer for server enviroments where things run hot for years on end, as well as running multiple VMs.

Sure, but if they're cheaper or have more cores etc...

[Bonebreaker777]

They are cheaper that i7 (usually) plus lower TPD due to non-existing GPU (is it deactivated or not there physically??? ).
And last longer.

[Mister]

They are cheaper that i7 (usually) plus lower TPD due to non-existing GPU (is it deactivated or not there physically??? ).
And last longer.

There is no GPU on them, but you can disable this on an i7 anyway to save on heat/power.

I woudn't say Xeons are cheaper though. A current Xeon with 6 or more cores is vastly more expensive than an i7 and will have similar performance in games. It's not really worth it for a home PC, you would have to be extremely unlucky to have a CPU just die (even if it's overclocked). It's far more likely to be fried by a bad PSU.

[mack_5991]

It's not. I mean I'm running a locked i5 with a gtx580 and I get great performance in all games