CPU/Motherboard for VMUG Homelab

Ok, I am hoping the legendary Level1Tech Wendel and team can chime in.

Backstory: So I purchased a VMUG subscription and would like to build a full-sized home lab where I can start spending more time digging into a number of different technologies. I would like to build a 3-server VMware cluster (2 vSAN 1 compute) so I can explore the full VMWare product stack. I am also going to be doing lots of container work and hosting a full-service AD domain.

The Question: TLDR is I am trying to find the highest-performance CPU with decent idle power. My specs are fairly straightforward but there is no real good way to find idle power numbers and the L1T team seems to know so much more than I can find on the spec pages.

My Requirements:

  • Low(ish) idle power (under 85watts)
  • DDR4 with preferable 3200mhz
  • Dual-socket compatible
  • TPM 2.0+
  • 16+ cores

My budget is about $700/server for the CPU + motherboard.

EDIT: Forgot to post this. The BEST CPU I have found after almost a week of searching is AMD EPYC 7601. Dual CPU can with some luck be under 100 watts idle, 2666mhz memory. 32 cores.

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