Quad G34 Supermicro 4P "Barebones" + 2U case + PSU's $450

pillagenburn

pillagenburn

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/291261628359

not my auction but these seem to be appearing on ebay little by little.

I contacted the seller and offered him $450 shipped (to the other side of the country) for it and he bit, so YMMV but $450 for quad-G34 Opteron with all of that stuff. I didn't end up biting on it because it didn't include all of the heatsinks for it, but I bought another that did...

(just picked one of these supermicro 4P barebones 2U racks from another seller for $525 shipped but it had all of the heatsinks with it).

This seller doesn't have a lot of feedback, so it's a risk, but you end up with a massively powerful server.
 
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Looks to be SFX form factor....whatever that is :) So im gonna go ahead and say no.

Oh... And 8-core 6100 opterons (6128HE's) are going for $15 a piece or less. I plan on loading up with these until the 12 or 16 core stuff gets cheaper.

Oh and newegg has 128gb ddr3 ecc for $212(kicking myself for not buying when it was $190) . Axiom brand which looks like it is probably compatible. Visa checkout for $20 off so i was out the door for $190(instead of $170 had i pulled the trigger sooner).

And you read that right. 128 gigabytes 4x32gig
 
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thing is that case those delta fans are like 747s, modding them is possible but ugh, i had issues trying to splice wires in my dell c6100 and such

wait what 128gb ddr3 for 212??? hmmm
 
I expect the things to sound like a 747 taking off so thats why its going in the basement :)
 
probably going to wait a while before I get too frisky with it... to see what stability etc looks like - thanks for the link though, I'll definitely try it at some point I'm sure!
 
hmm being able to OC is pretty neat I might take a longer look at this

those fucking loud fans though...
 
hah I know, it's a sick deal, and a sick system, and overclockable too

I've got a dual 1366 L5639 system with 72GB of ram so I'm set
 
hmm...pwm fans, didn't see that yet.

16 core opterons are 250 on ebay, that's pretty dang good.

for 1.5k plus cash for ram and stuff could have a 64 thread 2u beast.
 
pillagenburn said:
Oh and newegg has 128gb ddr3 ecc for $212(kicking myself for not buying when it was $190) . Axiom brand which looks like it is probably compatible. Visa checkout for $20 off so i was out the door for $190(instead of $170 had i pulled the trigger sooner).

And you read that right. 128 gigabytes 4x32gig
Click to expand...

It looks like that kit is a less-interesting 12GB. Either way, good luck, and definitely complain if you don't wind up with 128GB of memory.
 
I just scored four 8-core 6128 HE's for $50 shipped so I'm running these until I can buy a bunch of 16-core (or whatever else is cheap... 12 core even). So my entire cost, RAM and all, is $765. For 32-cores + 128 gig RAM + case etc.

Not including hard drives... 2x 240gb SSD's (mirrored array) plus 3-5 3tb drives for RAID-5 or 6

assuming $500-600 in drives... $1200-1300 for a really insane server.
 
Use case is running multiple Media Center Extenders, MCE Buddy for processing recorded TV (comskip etc), handbrake etc etc. MCE Buddy has my current server redlined for hours on end so I figured it's time to upgrade.

The rationale behind this server, specifically, is that any other surplus HP/Dell/IBM in the $500-700 range is going to be dual core, 32gb RAM tops, may require an expander for additional storage capacity, little/no upgrade path etc.
 
i'm running that motherboard (H8QGi-f) in an older SuperMicro SC748 case. It took me around $300 to quiet it down.

$50 for Gelid fan controller
$130 for a used updated 1400w redundant SuperMicro PSU
$120 for two Noctua NH-UD9O A3 (not sure if these would fit in that case)

The new 1400w SuperMicro PSUs are almost completely quiet... the older 1000w units are loud.

After doing the above... the unit is completely suitable for an office environment.

EDIT: i checked out the part # on the 1400w PSUs that the above server comes with... its the quiet one (PWS-1K41F-1R)... so no need for you to purchase that :)

Form factor is SWTX btw.

For folks that don't have an idea of how loud they are in stock configuration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2mxLwwzMBI

after quieting things down (with the above items):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYX_Xccs58Q&list=UU6lnBkg1WUh2iQ4xV_qciBw
 
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sweet, this deal gets better and better...quiet psus are always nice and the fan controller is a great idea.
 
Also, I confirmed with newegg online chat, I made 100,000,000% sure that the 128 gig kit is, in fact, 128 gig despite the reference to a different part number... So I did my due diligence prior to ordering, let's see if Newegg will honor their end (especially with the chat transcript copied and noted that she checked with her supervisor on it).
 
if and when you do receive that 128 kit let us know, I might pick a few up too
 
pillagenburn said:
Also, I confirmed with newegg online chat, I made 100,000,000% sure that the 128 gig kit is, in fact, 128 gig despite the reference to a different part number... So I did my due diligence prior to ordering, let's see if Newegg will honor their end (especially with the chat transcript copied and noted that she checked with her supervisor on it).
Click to expand...
Note also that it's listed as "ECC Unbuffered", rather than ECC registered that's normally associated with larger memory capacity. The H8QGi supports 256GB of unbuffered memory in 32 DIMMs, (i.e., 8GB each) so that memory won't be supported.
gigatexal said:
if and when you do receive that 128 kit let us know, I might pick a few up too
Click to expand...
That said, I don't think anyone actually makes 8GB unbuffered DIMMs, so yeah, by all means let us know. Daddy needs room for more VMs :D
 
it's not the h8qgi it's the H8QG6-F in that 2u box.... still not sure as to the mem compatibility but it's all a gamble :)
 
yeah having 4 32gb sticks would not allow it to benefit from the multi-channel memory banks right? Probably better to fill all the slots with 16gb sticks?
 
gigatexal said:
hmm...pwm fans, didn't see that yet.

16 core opterons are 250 on ebay, that's pretty dang good.

for 1.5k plus cash for ram and stuff could have a 64 thread 2u beast.
Click to expand...

that could be beat by a dual socket 1366 6 core xeon rig for less space, heat , power and money :)... maybe....
 
i mean I do love my 60watt xeons but my dual powersupplies are not 80+ that's sure
 
For best performance you want 4 sticks per processor... i used the blue slots. Filling all 8 sticks per cpu doesn't provide any further performance benefit.

NOTE: If you are running Windows you'll also want to set "Node Interleaving" to Auto (ie enabled) in the BIOS for best performance since most software isn't written to take advantage of the AMD NUMA architecture (ie a thread might allocate working memory on a different processor node than the thread is running on.) i went from mid 15s in CB 11.5 to almost 17 by enabling Node Interleave.

If you are running SSDs... set C1E and Spread Spectrum to disabled... because on this board SSD performance gets screwed up with those enabled.

Hope this helps :)

gigatexal said:
yeah having 4 32gb sticks would not allow it to benefit from the multi-channel memory banks right? Probably better to fill all the slots with 16gb sticks?
Click to expand...
 
Looks to be this board: H8QG6-F. to fit in a 900d you will need to mod the case. It is an swtx. Do note that while you go DANG THATS AWESOME, it is dated technology and the upgrade path is limited.

There is a custom bios tear has made you can find in the DC section that would allow overclocking. You can also use regular ddr3 on these, they do not need ecc ram. If you are going to OC you will need to dump the stock coolers and go much bigger. With some MC ES chips, you can run 3ghz and will draw 1,000w from the wall under load.

if you are looking for something efficient with an upgrade path, this is not it.
 
sc0tty8 said:
Looks to be this board: H8QG6-F. to fit in a 900d you will need to mod the case. It is an swtx. Do note that while you go DANG THATS AWESOME, it is dated technology and the upgrade path is limited.

There is a custom bios tear has made you can find in the DC section that would allow overclocking. You can also use regular ddr3 on these, they do not need ecc ram. If you are going to OC you will need to dump the stock coolers and go much bigger. With some MC ES chips, you can run 3ghz and will draw 1,000w from the wall under load.

if you are looking for something efficient with an upgrade path, this is not it.
Click to expand...

What does this even mean? The board is Opteron 6300 compatible, so that's not exactly dated. G34 is a platform that AMD is currently developing. This post was meant for people that want a 4P 32-64 core opteron box and didn't want to pay $500+ for *JUST* the board (like me). I paid $525 and got board, 2u rack, power supplys AND heatsinks... despite being "dated" technology (though I contend that it isn't really), that's a shitload of potential power for $525. Especially since I'm getting four 8-core CPU's for $50... $50 doesn't even cover half the cost of a single 2011 intel processor.

It's not a socket 2011 Intel board, and no AMD isn't as fast as intel, but have you seen the price of those bastards lately? Even the 1366's. Even "bargain basement" surplus (to the degree that there is any) is ridiculously expensive not to mention the cost of the CPU's which is also nosebleed expensive.

I've seen this exact same story play out for over a decade. Intel is faster than AMD 95% of the time, but it's not worth 3x the cost unless you have a specific need for it (even with the power savings... I'll take the cash i save and put it toward a solar array on the roof of my house).
 
pillagenburn said:
What does this even mean? The board is Opteron 6300 compatible, so that's not exactly dated. G34 is a platform that AMD is currently developing. This post was meant for people that want a 4P 32-64 core opteron box and didn't want to pay $500+ for *JUST* the board (like me). I paid $525 and got board, 2u rack, power supplys AND heatsinks... despite being "dated" technology (though I contend that it isn't really), that's a shitload of potential power for $525. Especially since I'm getting four 8-core CPU's for $50... $50 doesn't even cover half the cost of a single 2011 intel processor.

It's not a socket 2011 Intel board, and no AMD isn't as fast as intel, but have you seen the price of those bastards lately? Even the 1366's. Even "bargain basement" surplus (to the degree that there is any) is ridiculously expensive not to mention the cost of the CPU's which is also nosebleed expensive.

I've seen this exact same story play out for over a decade. Intel is faster than AMD 95% of the time, but it's not worth 3x the cost unless you have a specific need for it (even with the power savings... I'll take the cash i save and put it toward a solar array on the roof of my house).
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OK, you're right, it isn't dated. You'll be able to pop in that 63xx chip and also download some DDR4 for it, and can do SATA 6.0 with a new bios.

I've owned 4 of these boards and know nothing. I'll leave. Carry on.
 
Look, I am not gong to fight with you, if you feel it is a great buy and a great deal, knock yourself out. By all means, do not let me stop you. Have fun.

Your image does show the sata 3.0,not 6. Sure, it has sas/raid, but that is not at all what I pointed out. Two chips have been released this year on a new core. Everything else is 2 years old for 6300. This platform is what 4 years old? The platform is dated and dying, this would not be a platform to invest in with hopes of a huge upgrade path or holding its value.

Do you get a lot of cores? Sure. You'll need to drop some coin on chips to get this to sing. I've not kept up with the prices, but I would imagine for 63xx chips you are looking at $600+ for 4 chips, then you would want 32 sticks of ram, cost will depend on what is out there/costs.

Your budget build you outlined above isn't going to be as fast as you think for your application. Poor choice of hardware IMO as the power costs are going to be noticeable. I think you'd be a lot happier with a single cpu server with one of Intel's current offerings for both performance, less noise, and power efficiency.

In rack mount form, these are going to be LOUD. Even worse under load. They are going to consume A LOT of power. Go for it. Get your hands dirty. Have fun, i really does hope it works out for you. Do at least grab ocng 5 and push those octo MC chips to at least 240.
 
just saw a link on ebay for a 50 buck x5660, that's a beast of a chip.
 
good deal on that for power-performance-price ratio... still not as good performance-price as $50 for quad 8-core Opterons :) even if they are 6100's
 
yeah, i'm not knocking your core play with the opty's but I'd still rather have westermere or better intel xeons, even if they are rather power hungry in the X series, than the opty's for the 50 buck price. Then again, try to find a 4 socket steal like you did on the intel side...hah

any word on your mem sticks? did they show up?
 
This is definitely true.

i just put one of these systems together just to do something different. The thing runs fabulous... the only downside might be power consumption. With 4 Magny Cours ES chips... idle power with 4 cpus (48 cores) and in power saving mode is around 345w. One other downside (if you are a windows user)... having to run Windows Server... that works quite well for the most part aside from the fact of some software not liking the fact you are installing on a "server". Also some games don't run properly with DirectX on Server 2008 R2 as they do under Win 7.

But i must say... other than that... the thing is unlike any other of the home PCs i've ever built for myself :D

sc0tty8 said:
Looks to be this board: H8QG6-F. to fit in a 900d you will need to mod the case. It is an swtx. Do note that while you go DANG THATS AWESOME, it is dated technology and the upgrade path is limited.

There is a custom bios tear has made you can find in the DC section that would allow overclocking. You can also use regular ddr3 on these, they do not need ecc ram. If you are going to OC you will need to dump the stock coolers and go much bigger. With some MC ES chips, you can run 3ghz and will draw 1,000w from the wall under load.

if you are looking for something efficient with an upgrade path, this is not it.
Click to expand...
 
LOL, yeah they have raw power, just not eco/ear friendly. I believe I have a single 6168 somewhere here I'd sell cheaply. 12 core.

You can also mix the chips, as long as they are the same generation. Say, a 6168 and a 6172, for example. This should make populating all 4 sockets cheaper for some. Do note they will all run at the speed of the lowest chip.

The ES chips most will hit 3ghz, you can ask eagle07 about 3.5+ on some IL ES and the death of harbringer :D I think he said it was 1500w from the wall before the magic smoke creeped out.
 
Hi Scotty,

i recently picked up 4 61xx ES chips from another member of this board (very nice guy btw) and i must say.. they run great. i probably will not attempt 3.0 GHz until i get two more Noctua HSF (currently the bottom two run those, and uppers run dynatrons. i do not think the dynatrons will hack 3.0. i am running it in a SuperMicro chassis... but i worry about how hot the voltage regulator in the upper left corner gets with the dynatrons.

Any pointers as to what the best way of mounting the fans with the Noctua UD9s for best cooling?

PS: running past the wattage limit of your wall socket? That is rather insane LOL :)))))
 
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