I think there may be a small typo in the beginning of the article. You wrote "Behold! The Dual E5-25670". It's supposed to be "Behold! The Dual E5-2670" right? E5-2670 and not E5-25670? Awesome Video Wendell! That is a really neat setup :-) I'm jelly. Thanks for sharing the build process with us. It was very interesting.
My old PC (i5 4690, Asus Z97i-PLUS ITX, MSI R9 390, etc) was having boot issues. It would boot fine, then not boot at all repeatedly, then be fine again. Wasn't the RAM, wasn't the PSU, we suspect it was the motherboard. So, instead of buying some cheapo 1150 motherboard, I decided to give up on my stupidly overkill and already a little outdated home server build and turn the parts I had into my main rig.
Motherboard: Asus KCMA-D8
CPU(s): Dual AMD Opteron 4332 HE's (3GHz, 6 cores each)
CPU Cooler(s): Noctua NH-U12DO
RAM: Samsung branded 32GB DDR3 ECC
GPU: MSI R9 390
Storage: Samsung 850 PRO 120GB SSD (boot), Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD, 2 x 2TB HDD for media
Case: CoolerMaster N300
Yes, I know the cable management is balls, but, the case isn't the best for it, and the 8-PIN and 24-PIN are ages away from the PSU.... I've always been a Function > Form guy anyways.
I do need a USB 3.0 PCI card though, as this particular motherboard only has 2 rear USB 2.0's and one internal USB 2.0 and no headers for USB 3.0 :(
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I just want to make a few comments for other thinking of doing something similar as I also built a 'garbage' computer out of old server hardware... although mine is an actual server.
Be very careful with your cooler selection!
A lot of the older generation server boards have CPU backplates built into them whereas their desktop equivalent did not. 1366 and 1356 are the main culprits, although I think it might differ from brand to brand.
The actual layout spacing of the holes between 1366, 1356 and 2011 (inc the newest 2011) is exactly the same, the only notable difference is affor mentioned backplate being integral to the socket assembly which actually has nuts built in. In the older sockets, you tend to find M3 nuts and in newer ones its M4.
In my experience, you wont find many coolers available that specifically support the 1356 socket. It seems to me like the main thing to look out for is that the bracket system supports 1366 or 2011, but doesn't come with pushpins. (I suppose you could also disassemble the pushpins and use the holes).
If you are thinking of undertaking this project, be prepared for a bit of bodging!
Im in the UK so obviously prices and availability of products is a bit different but the specs of my system are as follows:
2 x E5-2428 (60W Hex core)
Supermicro MBD-X9DBL
Logic-case SC-43400-8HS
I cant remember what RAM I put in it but its ECC Registered stuff. (Another note here; if possible, buy RAM from the motherboard manufacturers recommended list. Server motherboards are a LOT more picky!)
I haven't used the stock mounting components in the exact way the manufacturers intended, but they do work very well
Due to the way the case is designed with the hot swap bays and shallow depth, its not possible to get 2 x 4u coolers in there as it would get in the way of the hard drive cages, so I had to pick either 2 x small cooler or 1 small and one large.
First of all I thought I would tackle the small one and I went for the Scythe Kozuti. The mounting system is supposed to work (if using 115x) by mounting the long M3 bolts from the back with the black washer, then they lock into the front with the hex topped nuts. I just used the long screws with a washer on, straight through the top of the bracket into the 1356 captive nuts.... Bob's your uncle!
The washer squashes to take any additional pressure and the fit really is great. Be warned, you may lose RAM slots with this cooler unless using low profile RAM.
I didn't want to use the low profile cooler on both CPUs as I wasn't sure they would both fit next to one another, so the other one I went for is the Arctic Freezer i11. This cooler was even easier! The intended result of the back bracket
supplied with the captive nuts is really very similar to what you get built into the 1156. With this cooler I simply ignored the back-bracket, used the 1366/2011 holes and the included m3 bolts (that are intended for the included bracket) and it just works, no washers or anything else.
Unfortunately these coolers didnt work together in the orientation I wanted though and my measurements were a little bit off...
Dremel fixed it though.
Unfortunately In the days of getting this thing to actually work I had a lot of issues with the RAM so this computer is still running on piece of cardboard rather than in the case... that will be fixed in due time and I will make sure to put some photos up but girlfiend moving house and the project i have at work at the moment is taking up all my time (and space).
Nah it's fine. The CPU2 gets 5C hotter temps under load than CPU1.
THANKS!! the t610 is dual quad core, and since posting I have done some research and decided to part with the t610. the cost of upgrading the old 73gb sas drives to what I need alone makes it cost-prohibitive, to get the machine fully functional with ram etc just isn't worth the $. I do work mostly with Red 6k, and sony 4k and my 4790k has done just fine. With the addition of the new proxy workflow even my xps with a i7-6700hq is doing ok. Now i just need to sell this huge clunker and all the tape drives that came with it! Hoping to get maybe $400 out of it and put it towards some gear.
Cheers
Kris
At this point my machine is resting on top of a cardboard supermicro box. As a multi-vm, development workstation it is fantastic. Once I add a modern video card or two I suspect it will render video just fine.
I'd rather have a v3 platform as a workstation but for the price this is unbeatable and completely adequate to my needs. I am seriously considering picking up a couple of 2u 2 node open compute boxes and 8 more 2670's for general server duty and raw compute.
Just adding my two cents to this.
The premise behind this is a friend wanted a build that could do CAD and play some games while still being pretty cheap. I took this as an opportunity to throw some random things in a case.
This is a dual xeon build, but the USP (unique selling point) is that its in a normal ATX case. It is mostly built out of extra parts I had and ebay of course.
motherboard: SuperMicro X8DAL-I
dual cpu's: Dual X5660
The PCpartpicker link is to the original build i posted there. It has lots more pictures and specs if your interested.
https://pcpartpicker.com/b/PWLD4D
still going strong today.
Ethan,
modern art, that is.
I've optimized my build for feng shui...
Finding a case to put a 15.2x13.2 motherboard into is unusually challenging if you don't want to spend $1000 for a chassis.
Uuuuuuhhhhmmm..........
My system is complete. -> Here <- is the full log.
Hey @wendell, what do you think? And any news on the shootout video?
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Late in the video Wendell say's this board can boot from NVMe - I just can't get it going. I'm running a Intel 600p on a ASUS Hyper 4x PCIe adapter.
The idea is, if I get it going, I'll switch my Samsung 850 Pro boot disk for a Samsung 950 Pro - but the BIOS (latest rev.) doesn't show any signs of picking the card up... Windows finds it fine, though.
You have to set the bios to UEFI only for everything in the mode screen I think under boot settings.
Yeah, did that, and been messing with a lot of other settings too, but no luck. You used an Intel 750, right? Might be something in that, hardware vise, that makes the BIOS find it. Perhaps not as straight forward using a m.2 stick on an adapter.
Edit: Yeah, checked the video, 400Gb 750 series disk... Damn, I really don't wanna have to buy one of those, they're friggin ~$400 here in Sweden. :P
Yep Intel 750. Hmm wonder if it has some extra compatibility bits to make it work. Using Linux? Worst case you can just boot from USB each time.
Naeh, this is all in the BIOS, it doesn't find the disk at all, thus I can't boot from it. Running Windows 10 (mostly) and Linux Mint on this workstation using a hot swap sata bay, but I would like to get a faster boot disk. (for Windows)
It is getting colder, so I fired up the heater.
Still impressed. Just converted a bit more stuff to fill the NAS... (side note: watch The Expanse!)
These chips are beastly and with two instances of handbrake I can use all the performance.
10/10 would build again!
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I'm amazed how little heat my box produces compared to my previous box - the 128Gb ECC RAM seems to be the only thing that actually gets really warm, well, unless I do GPU rendering at least... But still not very hot compared with the dual GTX580s I ran a couple of years back - under full load, not kidding when I say the "exhaust" fan in the back was like a hairdryer... :D
Well, dual 580s is rough. :P My Fury surely is capable of producing a bit of heat as well but I am running it in the lower of two settings just because I really don't feel limited there.
On the CPU side I am running noctuas and that does a lot. Even my smaller box is barely hitting 70C on full tilt with those two NH-U9S and I can sleep in the same room while it is running at 100%, It is easily quiet enough.
I just bought a 460 for another machine and I might put one of those in here as well so I can also use it as a HTPC.