Building an Affordable 16-Core, 32-Thread Xeon Monster PC

Squid Surprise said:
Most cases come with basic cables, etc... power supplies come with some as well - often power supplies get bundled with other stuff like cases or motherboards... depending on what CPU you want, you might want to get some thermal paste as well...

Here's an example...

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...&cm_re=full_tower_case-_-11-119-160-_-Product

That's a fairly popular full tower case (Cooler Master HAF 932), note the pics near bottom that show what comes with it... newegg is even helpful enough to show you other things you'll want to add (like power supply and cooling solution)...

As a point of interest, the Corsair 900D
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...9019&cm_re=corsair_900-_-11-139-019-_-Product

Kind of crazy, twice the price, and completely unnecessary for 99% of most people - but dang does it look imposing in your computer room :)
Click to expand...

Ok cool thanks for the tip. Yep got lots of paste from upgrading Mac pros.
Hopefully the smaller case model will work as I really don't want a monster box. This:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...&cm_re=full_tower_case-_-11-119-160-_-Product
So fans are another item. And drive bays aren't pre cabled? You just run Sata cables directly from board to drives? Maybe I just get the parts and see what's still missing. Lots of trips to Fry's...
 
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Why do you keep insisting there are numbers after the "ASRock EP2C602" to identify the board? That is your mistake. Because this specific board does not have additional characters.
 
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rlegg said:
I guess it doesn't help, that the asrock board numbers overlap. I think I posted the link to image of the bogey.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/60...rver-motherboard-intel-c602-review/index.html

Yours would be a -4L, not a -2T.
Click to expand...

Be honest are you suffering from a prolonged brain freeze? :) lol

As cliffordcooley said you keep adding numbers and letters to the end of the model number that shouldn't be there.

I mean I can't make it any simpler/clearer than I did in my first post where I provided a direct link to the Asrock Rack website for the board in question. Here let me do it for a third time...

http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=EP2C602#Specifications

Here is a direct link to a picture of the board from Asrock Rack...

http://www.asrockrack.com/Server/EP2C602-1(L).jpg

Here is a custom made enhanced model name version just for you...

 
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Steve said:
Be honest are you suffering from a prolonged brain freeze? :) lol

As cliffordcooley said you keep adding numbers and letters to the end of the model number that shouldn't be there.

Possibly.
Perhaps it's simply the difficulty of finding the suffix-free component advertised for sale, even as an out-of-stock item.
Click to expand...
 
Hi All,

Any suggestions about the EP2C602-4L/D16 MOBO fitting in the Chieftec Libra LF-01B-OP Case. Tha case can hold an ATX MOBO but the EP2C602-4L/D16 doesnt state if its an ATX or something different.

Any advice is good advice.

thanks,
 
keriati said:
Is there any advantage to use the 8x8gb ram kit? Is there any difference to using 2x 4x8 memory kits?
Click to expand...
The number of modules per channel is what matters. Since this is a quad channel board, you want to at least get quad channel memory. Each CPU has it's own channel. And for the boards that support 16 modules, each CPU has 2 channels. So that interpreted either 2x or 4x quad channel kits. One final note, even though the board supports quad channel memory, doesn't mean it will not run unless all the slots are populated.
 
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cliffordcooley said:
The number of modules per channel is what matters. Since this is a quad channel board, you want to at least get quad channel memory. Each CPU has it's own channel. And for the boards that support 16 modules, each CPU has 2 channels. So that interpreted either 2x or 4x quad channel kits. One final note, even though the board supports quad channel memory, doesn't mean it will not run unless all the slots are populated.
Click to expand...

Thanks, so I think I will go for the HyperX HX318C9SRK4/32 (2x 4x8 kit).
 
Steve said:
Not sure I am following or understand where the confusion is coming from. I even linked you to the exact board in my first post, here it is again and as you can see there are just eight DIMM slots in total, not 16 like the other boards that end in 16.

http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=EP2C602#Specifications

Here are some boards you can buy...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4R&cm_re=lga2011_dual-_-13-182-944R-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...8R&cm_re=lga2011_dual-_-13-182-938R-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...967&cm_re=lga2011_dual-_-13-182-967-_-Product

http://www.amazon.com/Supermicro-X9...TF8&qid=1460280448&sr=1-21&keywords=LGA2011+R

http://www.amazon.com/Supermicro-DD...TF8&qid=1460280448&sr=1-22&keywords=LGA2011+R

http://www.amazon.com/Supermicro-X9...TF8&qid=1460280448&sr=1-20&keywords=LGA2011+R
Click to expand...

As the AsRock board from the article is apparently a unicorn, I'm looking at the others listed by author here. these all list DDR4 ram spec, so that will greatly increase the cost of this budget build right?
 
Thanks again for posting this. The last 72 hours of my life have been consumed by this..I've decided to go with a single e5-2670 and x79 asus sabertooth..The Premiere Pro benchmarks on youtube and other copycat articles show diminishing returns with the dual setup..

My question is, on a desktop board, am I able to run DDR3-2133 speed with the e5? I noticed in this article you had your ram at DDR3-1866 but I assumed that was a server board limitation. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Also have you tried any blck overclocking? I'm hearing its minimal, like 5% at best...?
 
Awesome Article. Addictive as hell.
I'm a little too consumed with trying to find a compatible motherboard for the Dual Xeons, so I thought I'd reach out.
I have everything on hand, 32GB DDR3, 240 SSD, 650PS, quadro 4000, 2x 2670's.
I saw this article and thought "What better way to use these old parts than to build a render only station"

Problem is, every link I track down ends up with a pricey motherboard (relatively speaking for my particular build of course)

Does anyone know of a comparable motherboard on ebay, refurbished, or wherever, that fits the bill. I will literally be just dropping in the SSD, PS, and Quadro, installing windows and Keyshot and using those 32 threads to render. I'm not concerned with a billion pci lanes, overclocking the ram like a bat out of hell, or needing 50 USB 3.0 connections :)

Any help would be appreciated, as I feel that if help does not come, I will become consumed with LGA 2011 MB research to the point of insanity
 
OK,
I couldn't resist the temptation any longer.
Made a leap of faith on the motherboard and picked up what I needed to complete the build. Keep in mind, this is for the absolute bare bones-essentials needed to build, for rendering only.

For the MB I got this - it was the cheapest I could find anywhere
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-182-944R

For the CPU
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131567596148?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

For the RAM - nothing fancy... hope it works :p
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micron-64GB...5fd21db54:g:AJYAAOSwvgdW6djj&autorefresh=true

To Cool the CPU's - This part hurt me. I was really looking for some dirt cheap coolers but couldn't find any
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=35-186-093R

And for the Power Supply - I'll be cutting it close on power consumption here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438070

If you've read this far, then you may have noticed that every single item is open box or used. I don't care :) I just wanted to see if I could really build a 32 thread rendering beast for a little more than an xbox

Total
Motherboard - $247.99
CPU's - $119
Ram (x64GB) - $99
CPU Cooler(x2) - $35.98
Power Supply - $39.99

MY Build Total = $549.95 ( 0 tax and shipping)

Of course I already have an old video card, HDD, monitor and peripherals to complete the build, but I would expect you could find those items for just as cheap.

Thanks again for an awesome article and I'll post back with a quick update on what I hope will be improved rendering times ( Honestly, it will just be nice to free up my main workstation from that task)
 
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I'm also looking for an affordable motherboard option. I see some of you linking lga-2011 v3 motherboards, those won't work. stick with the intel c602 lga-2011 motherboards.
 
I'm such a dumba$$.
Ordered the wrong mobo... that's what happens when you have 50 tabs open with all the different c602 2011 mobo ... the numbers ran together and I picked up a c612 instead of the c602.
gonna cost me an extra $25 though... brings the total build up to $575.
 
Great article. Makes me want to build one just for the hell of it, although I have no use for it.

I read somewhere in here that some professional programs can utilize threads, I would like to see benchmarks for those since gaming benchmarks don't really factor in. Anyone know a link for those benchmarks? As a proud 6700K owner after upgrading from an OCed 2500K, I would like to see this monster really let its arms free and use all threads.
 
handruin said:
I found this article from other sites and I've been part of a group of people who have been building servers on these surplus E5 2670 V1 CPUs. Currently I'm sitting on two systems each with two E5 2670 v1s (SR0KX revision) and 128GB of RAM. I opted to go with the Intel S2600CP2J motherboard and 1333Mz RAM given the price was so good. There is a reliable supplier out of Colorado who has bundles with the CPUs, MB, and RAM. They’re selling the CPUs used at $65, the motherboards at $175, and the ECC ram (8 x 8GB) for $85. Then I sourced a new Intel case (P4308XXMFGN) and internal components such as shrouding, heatsinks, etc to make a genuine Intel server setup from a seller on eBay that accepts lower offers. I can link to both if it’s appropriate but I’m not here representing either them on their behalf.

I'd be very interested on the link to both if you can help a fellow techie out! Thanks in Advance!
Click to expand...
 
Patrick Saville said:
OK,
I couldn't resist the temptation any longer.
Made a leap of faith on the motherboard and picked up what I needed to complete the build. Keep in mind, this is for the absolute bare bones-essentials needed to build, for rendering only.

For the MB I got this - it was the cheapest I could find anywhere
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-182-944R

For the CPU
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131567596148?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

For the RAM - nothing fancy... hope it works :p
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micron-64GB...5fd21db54:g:AJYAAOSwvgdW6djj&autorefresh=true

To Cool the CPU's - This part hurt me. I was really looking for some dirt cheap coolers but couldn't find any
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=35-186-093R

And for the Power Supply - I'll be cutting it close on power consumption here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438070

If you've read this far, then you may have noticed that every single item is open box or used. I don't care :) I just wanted to see if I could really build a 32 thread rendering beast for a little more than an xbox

Total
Motherboard - $247.99
CPU's - $119
Ram (x64GB) - $99
CPU Cooler(x2) - $35.98
Power Supply - $39.99

MY Build Total = $549.95 ( 0 tax and shipping)

Of course I already have an old video card, HDD, monitor and peripherals to complete the build, but I would expect you could find those items for just as cheap.

Thanks again for an awesome article and I'll post back with a quick update on what I hope will be improved rendering times ( Honestly, it will just be nice to free up my main workstation from that task)
Click to expand...


Unfortunately Im pretty sure your motherboard will not support the cpu's you got. It is for the newer v3 processors which is why your motherboard was super cheap compared to others. It has been very confusing to track down a mobo that is correct for those v1 chips. It should say e5-2600 and e5-2600v2 chips.
 
Can the OP please clean up this post and remove all the frivilous comments? I hate having to keep reading through all the cr*p to get to the real information I need. Thanks! :)
 
OK, Just got the thing built. Yes, I got the wrong motherboard originally. You have to use a c602 chipset. I also goofed and got a power supply that had only 1 CPU hookup. I told you, I'm a noob.
There are some videos popping up now that say these dual 2670's suck , like this one
And that may be the case if all you do is video rendering. I, however, do 3D rendering. I was a little worried after watching the vids and dong some research ( all the while waiting on the parts to arrive - I was already committed) that I was going to be let down.
NOT THE CASE!!! This thing absolutely demolishes my overclocked 4770K in Keyshot Pro ( and I suspect many other CPU only rendering programs)
My 4770K scores 820 in Cinebench, this dual rigs scores 2000, and it REALLY shows in real time rendering.
In conclusion, for a total cost of $580, I am very pleased. Just make sure your power supply has 2x CPU 4x4 hookups, and the motherboard is a c602 chipset.
I'm a noob, and if I can build one, ANYONE CAN!
 
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Hi,
Nice review ! I wasn't aware of availability of second hand Xeon.
Considering the small improvement of Intel processors' performances of a new generation when compared to the previous one (maybe due to the increasing difficulty, the lack of competition ...), your approach sounds great.
I think I will have a try, to improve video encoding (Handbrake & Shotcut).
Thank you for this review,
P
 
Just thought I'd throw up which motherboard I used since it's not what the editor used.

GIGABYTE Server Motherboard - Intel C602 Chipset - Socket R LGA-2011 GA-7PESH2

Works great. Picked it up used on Ebay for $260
I see a lot of other DELL c602 2011 motherboards as well. I believe Linus did a video with one. Had a lot of proprietary parts CPU cooling, fan headers) but those may work as well... there are a ton of those out there.
 
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