Socket 771 help needed

Outlaw85

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
Messages
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Current Server (File and Game)-
CPU- Q9450
RAM- 8GB DDR2 1066Mhz
HDD- 2x500GB RE3 Software Raid0
MOBO- Intel branded (nothing fancy)
--------------------
Addons-
GPU- 8800GTS 640MB (used only for connecting monitor..:/)
NIC- 2x Broadcom Gbit PCI (also using the onboard Gbit) running NIC Teaming



Idle Server-
IBM X3550 Type 7978
CPU- Dual core Xeon (unsure of speed)
RAM- 2GB FB-DIMM (unsuree of speed)
HDD- 2x500GB RE3 from above system would be used
--------------------
Upgrade Specs-
CPU- dual socket 771 up to X5460 (quad core 3.16Ghz)
RAM- 8slots up to 32GB (pc2-5300 FB-DIMM)


What I would like to do;
1. Turn the above system or an idle AMD tri-core into a dedicated file server. Again nothing fancy. Budget is next to nothing. I have a few 2TB and 1TB drives to use.

2. Upgrade the IBM server to dual E5440's and 16GB RAM. I would turn this into my game server and/or test server for ESXi / VM's. (Been getting into this a bit more with work and found it very interesting)


My Questions;
1. For it's age, is it still a very capable machine?
2. For the upgrade cost (~$100usd), is the 2 CPU's and 16GB worth it?
3. Is there something I should consider instead?
4. Is there anything I missed or should be aware of with running VM's?
5. Would this support a game server as a VM like I was running on a dedicated box (3x lfd2, 2x csgo, 1x tf2, 1x cs1.6)? (This isn't as important as I can play around with setting up and testing)


I would like something in the 2-4U chassis (I have a chenbro case supporting upto e-atx) but would require me to buy a new board too and that isn't cheap, socket 771 or otherwise. The 1U 3550 I have on hand. I tried to sell it but shipping is crazy so I figure if it's still decent, might as well put it to work.


Thanks in advance,
Outlaw
 
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I recently upgraded an IBM x3560 to dual x5460 CPUs and 48GB of RAM.

The x5460 CPUs can be had for $40 or less each off of Ebay.

When I got the RAM, I was patient on Ebay and found somebody selling 64GB of RAM for really cheap.

For VMs and such in a home lab, it should be a fairly capable machine. Pretty sure it will not support hardware passthrough, but that shouldn't be a problem unless you plan on installing a video card and playing games on a VM with a monitor hooked up to the server.

Also, unless you already have 2 CPUs in that server, I am pretty sure you will also need to get a second heatsink and CPU VRM board.
 
Thanks for the info.

The x5460's are cheap enough. I was looking from the power to performance gains. About 300Mhz for 40W power/heat over the E5440 -> Comarison. Also, they didn't fit into the $100 budget with the ram :)


Same goes for the RAM as the CPU, I did just look and I could get a 32GB kit for about 100bucks shipped, which isn't bad at all other than the ship time from Israel.


4x4GB kit would probably work though. Those are going for about $40 shipped and would still put me at 20GB until I can get the other 16GB kit if needed.


I definitely don't plan to game on this machine, just run the servers. I only had the 8800 in the current system for a video port (already had card on hand).

I know I would need the heatsink (and extra fan but forgot to mention. I did NOT know about the VRM though. I assume this would go in the vacant slot near the second CPU.

20141007_183932 by outlaw8505

20141007_183939 by outlaw8505

Got some homework to do for that VRM.


Thanks!
Outlaw
 
Maybe I am miss reading the specs on this server but I think it only needs the 1 vrm (looking at http://ps-2.kev009.com/pccbbs/pc_servers_pdf/bb1dxmst.pdf). As far as the CPU's is the 300 mhz per core worth the extra 80w of heat these things could put out? I guess if you have this thing in another room and do not have to listen to it you should be good ;). As far as Heatsinks will the one that is already in there fit in the other slot, if so they are under 18$ shipped on ebay, if not they also have weird shaped ones.
 
I think the same shape heatsink should fit. An easy test would be to move the CPU and heatsink over to the empty socket and verify.

And it does look like that model probably doesn't require a second VRM for the second CPU.

As for the potential 80w extra of heat being output.. I really wouldn't worry about it. The TDP is under full load AND at the highest VID available for the CPU. Most likely you are never going to see the max rated TDP.

Personally, I would rather have the extra speed available.
 
Maybe I am miss reading the specs on this server but I think it only needs the 1 vrm (looking at http://ps-2.kev009.com/pccbbs/pc_servers_pdf/bb1dxmst.pdf). As far as the CPU's is the 300 mhz per core worth the extra 80w of heat these things could put out? I guess if you have this thing in another room and do not have to listen to it you should be good ;). As far as Heatsinks will the one that is already in there fit in the other slot, if so they are under 18$ shipped on ebay, if not they also have weird shaped ones.

Thanks. Not needing that VRM helps keeps a few bucks free. The heatsink would be the same as the one I already have here (someone elses pic- http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/kX-Ihwfzf5I/hqdefault.jpg) The price is decent and I planned on getting another standard one to keep cost down.

I think the same shape heatsink should fit. An easy test would be to move the CPU and heatsink over to the empty socket and verify.

And it does look like that model probably doesn't require a second VRM for the second CPU.

As for the potential 80w extra of heat being output.. I really wouldn't worry about it. The TDP is under full load AND at the highest VID available for the CPU. Most likely you are never going to see the max rated TDP.

Personally, I would rather have the extra speed available.

For the heatsink, see above link. I don't think there will be an issue there. While the server will be in the basement, I was just trying to keep noise down. And price difference was about 15 per cpu. I will keep an eye out for the x5460. might as well max out the specs.

Other extreme option was to WC the CPUs. The only thing I am missing is some mounting hardware for cpu blocks / rad and an o-ring for the pump.
On hand-
CPU- 2x universal cpu blocks with 1/4"barbs (unsure if barbs come off)
RAD- 3x 140mm coolgate w 3x 140mm shark fans
RES- 2x 5.25 dual pump xspc
PMP- 1x MCP355 (need o-ring)
TUBE- Several feet left from mitx build

Or something like this for the cpu's lol
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Spraycool-1...?pt=US_CPU_Fans_Heatsinks&hash=item232a8134a0


What would you do? lol

Thanks for the info!
Outlaw
 
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Type 7978 won't accept E/X54xx family of Xeon's. I have one and it's a problem like the 3 generations of the Dell PE 2950's. Something to do with the voltage reference table variance for the CPU voltage between the older X/E53xx series and the newer E/X54xx series. the debug panel will indicate PSU overload led and will not boot. Consult with the PITA IBM upgrade path manuals on the broken IBM website.

Just looked at pics, your 7978 is the lowest speced of the 7978 serial based of the 3550 family. Single CPU no redundant dual fan for the second CPU position.
 
Thanks for the heads up. Do you know what quads will work in here if any? links?

Here is one, IBM x3550 type 7978 - http://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?lndocid=migr-64315 (E5450 installed)

I know it's a base spec, single dual core, 4gb ram, 1 psu. I planned to get the additional fan, cpu heatsink, and looking at the psu.

The links I found did say they were supported but didn't state if anything was needed for it. If this is the case it appears I should scrap it and look at the opteron family. I did find some boards reasonably priced on fleebay.
 
Another serial number part of the model is used for identification, my one has a G5M next to it and followed by L2Y. If your Type 7978 comes with dual redundant 550watt PSU's then there is a 99% certain chance the latest X/E54xx quads will not work (120watt rated CPU's), these are dual Artesan 55amp max on 12v rail spec'd PSU's. The newer 7978's from that generation came with dual 670watt psu's and shipped with either a E5450/X5460 out of the box or the 80watt TDP E54xx cpu's. These are 45nm Xeon's.

When I had X5460's installed in my both the processor and psu led's came up and would not boot. Installing the 65nm X5355 worked fine and I have the latest bios from 2011.

The X3550 is still pretty good, I've got 24gigs installed in mine and is pretty efficient for Hyper-v vm work which is host clustered through a storage backplane on iscsi.

I've got 2 other servers crunching numbers as well. If you can I'd go for a used dual 1366 setup. Faster then Opteron's which are absolute power hogs (the upper end 2/4P configs).
 
I got it with a single 670W version. IBM model 7001134 psu

The x5355's seem just as good (less cache only difference?). I would pair with 20gigs. I'd like to try VM and possibly run game servers from it.

Ideally I'ld like to use my Chenbro case and get a standard e-atx board for better cooling and lower noise but don't want to spend the extra if I don't have to (and because I can't. lol)

Looking at the 1366, that would be nice but the cost is near double. I did find a couple opteron setups to compare to the 1366 though. What do you think?

here is what I found-
Socket F Motherboard Asus KFSN4-DRE- $25
Socket F CPU 8360 SE 4core 2.5Ghz - $10ea ($20)
RAM 32GB PC2-5300P 4GBx8 dimm - $10ea ($40)
Total- 85

Socket F Motherboard Supermicro H8DAE-2- $45
Socket F CPU 2400 Series 6core ??Ghz - $10ea ($20) (2435 2.8Ghz $80)
RAM 32GB PC2-5300P 4GBx8 dimm - $10ea ($40)
Total- 105 / 165


Socket 1366 Motherboard - $50
Socket 1366 CPU X5560 4core 2.8Ghz - $40ea ($80)
RAM 24GB PC3-10600 8GBx3 dimm ECC - $41
Total- 171

Thanks again,
Outlaw
 
Indeed I'd side with the 1366 setup. I have an Intel SR2600URBR I got for around $150 start of this year came with 2x250GB hard drives, dual quad Xeon's at 2.8 and 8GB of ram, was used as a DHCP server where it was pulled from and the company has since gone cloud. I had hexacore's lying around that I put to good use and the server now has 32GB of ram. Absolutely blazing fast.

Prices here are significantly higher then the stuff on ebay USA so I'd say for $171 that is a mean setup to get you started with VM's.

As with your X3550, seems like your the lucky one and maybe able to drop X/E54xx Xeon's into the system. A maxed dual socket 771 is still pretty fast for about bit over a dozen VM's running concurrently and fairly cheap on ebay now since companies are churning over to newer stuff. Price for fully buffered ECC DDR2 ram is the only thing fluctuating on ebay.
 
Thanks guys for input. Much appreciated. Sorry about late response.

I really do try to find a reason to buy AMD (new or used), but it's times like this that turn me away. But for <105 bucks, how can it be beat, other than doubling down on the benjamin's lol.

As for the server, here is the tag info;
IBM-7978-XXX (A)
Machine Type- 7978
Model- AC1
SN- Doesn't Matter
MFG Date- 2008-02-29
Product ID- 7978EWU (currently has 5110 (dual core 1.6Ghz ))


All I could find is info confirming the specs of what I have and not what it can be, other than 32GB ram. Second guessing what processors would work. For a hundred bucks, I can build a quad or hex opteron system.

If the 5300 series quad works
5365 - 45 for 2 cpus
4x4GB- 65
Total 110

+771 board if it doesn't work in 1u, about 40-50 bucks. Now i'm at the 1366 price but a lot less performance.

For that price, If it didn't work, that could have also bought a board and 2 quad or hex core opterons.Going big, the 1366 is king for these options.
 
The options are certainly up to you as it seems prices for the different hardware components and a basic 1366 server isn't too far apart.

For me at least I have a Gen II Dell PE2950 with two E5355 quads, 16gb of ram, 1tb of sata's and a 8600gts silent running 2k12 Datacenter with about 20 Microsoft VM's in Hyper-v. Around $170 spent including upgrades minus the gfx card which I already had. Base server cost me $50 which had 2gb of ram, no hdd's and 2 x 2.33ghz dual cores.

My X3550 stores my ADDS config and doesn't need much power, also sporting same quad pairs as the Dell, 9GB of ram (2gb from the Dell), 2 x 73gb IBM 10k sas drive, ATi 2400 and running 2k12 Datacenter, linked to the Dell. Around $210 all up because the server cost me $90. Base server had 2 x Intel 3ghz dual core 5050 Xeon's and came with 7gb of ram.

My Intel 2600URBR is an all-rounder purpose server that is connected to my Cisco lab equipment via USB hub to console. Sports two hex-core X5670's, 36gb of ram, 2TB of hdd's running server 2k12 Datacenter. Base server was $150 with a single E5506 2.13ghz quad and 4gb of ram, had some L5638's lying around but was to slow for my needs so spent about $250 on the two X5670's add another $100 for hdd's and $100 for ram. About $600 all up including upgrades and I could easily part out on ebay for $800 if I wanted to make a profit since 1366 servers are expensive on our ebay domain.
 
1. Need to work on faster replies.
2. Need to work on paying attention. That 24GB DDR3 ram I was talking about for 41 was not a BIN and sold for about $100.

So new price for 1366 would be
50 for basic board (not sure if it would mount in case properly)
-80-100+ for board with expansion ports and is in the e-atx family
50 for cheapest x5560 pair
80 for cheapest 16GB (2x8GB or 4x4GB) set of ECC PC3-8500
Total- 180-230

Only because I'm cheap. With just experimenting with VM's and having this servers primary goal be running game servers. Would there be a noticeable real-world difference over the quad/hex opterons? All i've really found looking is cpu-boss, cpubench and cpu-world side by sides.

This server isn't going to be running high priority jobs for a business. Just some personal learning and fun. If I have to save up, so be it. Just seems like the AMD is still a good price to performance.

Thanks again,
Outlaw

Just want to mention this as part of my thought process.
While being cheap is the main reason I am still considering the opteron or 771 option. I am also looking to get a 2tb+ or 2 to expand my storage. I am just looking to get the most for my money. I can get either opteron setup or the 771 now if I wanted. If the 1366 was going to happen, I would have to save up a bit before everything would be up and running
 
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If you can get a 2/4P Opteron LGA setup for about same price for the 771, go for the Opteron as there quad's, hexacore's are pretty cheap. The 771 is limited to a single or dual quad only.
 
Thanks. Sorry to go through all that to want to go that route. ATM, financially makes sense.
 
Not sure if I should revive this thread or start a new one....

BUT...

I got a couple E5405's for the IBM x3550 (couldn't beat the price with 8GB of RAM). When attempting to boot, it says "over spec" on the diag panel. No actual power on. Only fan noise from the PSU.

I updated to the latest 1.17 BIOS but still no go. I do have a single 670W PSU installed (verified PN- 39Y7188). The 5110 that was initially in there is 60W but the E5405 is 80W

Does anybody know if it is REQUIRED to have both 670W PSU's?

I am thinking it will need it but wanted to get others opinions before spending more money.

Thanks,
outlaw
 
Try it with only 1 CPU, if it still doesn't boot, try only 1 stick of ram.
 
Tried with 1 cpu and 1gb of ram. No go.

It will not power on beyond the psu fan and the diagnosed panel led for "over spec".
 
Re-read the thread and I'm thinking Matthew Kane was correct with his first hunch.
 
Ya, that could very well be, especially if you upgraded the bios and it didn't add the support.
 
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