Building 2x quadcore xeon, need help

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Faldaani

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
195
Hello

Thinking about building a 2x quad core xeon system, but I am a bit confused about the different xeon models...

The server is primarily going to be used as a file server (ARC-1280ML + ARC-1220) and while developing .NET applications (VS2008, MS SQL Server).

This is the current list of parts:
2x Intel Xeon E5410 Quad Core, 2.33ghz S-771
1x Supermicro X7DCL-3
2x Kingston4GB DDR2-667 ECC KIT - KVR667D2S4P5K2/4G

What is the difference between a E5410 and E5345, and why does the E5345 cost twice as much?

End goal is 8gb ram or so, 2x quad cores, a board with IPMI support and at least 2 PCI-e 8x slots. If anyone have any suggestions as to make it cheaper than this list they'd be most welcome.

I am a total noob when it comes to Xeon, so if there are any pitfalls or something... that'd be nice to know too =)
 
The E5410 has 12mb cache and is a 45nm processor. The E5345 has 2x 4mb cache and is a 65nm processor. Other than that I really see no difference. The E5410 is newer, should be more energy efficient, and has more cache.
 
So its cheaper because its a newer part, with a more efficient manufacturing process...

Do you think I'll notice any improvement going from Q6600 to 2x E5410 when it comes to compiling and such?

Whats the noise level of your average stock Xeon HSF? I've noticed that there are exactly 0 aftermarket coolers for S771 here in Europe.

Also, will the configuration I posted above actually work?
 
the e5345 is twice as expensive because it is one of the fastest chips in the 53xx series. the 5410 is one of the slowest chips in the 54xx series. there are a couple architectural differences between the 53xx series and 54xx series... it is kind of like comparing q6xxx to q9xxx in consumer chips. the difference is kind of small, but you should definitely check with the manufacturer to confirm that the motherboard supports the 54xx series.

a very quick way to reduce your cost would be to buy 5320's and pin mod them to 1333 fsb for 2.33ghz. google something like "overclock mac pro pin mod." that'll save you about 200 euros since the 5320s are the slowest retail 53xx series chip (a 5310 exists, but is only available to oems).

the stock coolers that come with the 53xx series are a bit noisy. they're copper and heavy with a small whiny fan, although it is pwm so it's quiet most of the time. the 54xx heatsinks appear to be much bigger and made out of aluminum with a larger fan. you can see a picture of them in that blackbird worklog thread. the stock coolers are fine for the most part, probably not even that noisy since the chips don't get too hot - most of them can be ran passively in a 1u environment.

if you want to go with an aftermarket cooler, i'd suggest buying thermalright / noctua coolers and then buying the 771 adapter. they're about $8 a piece in the states, don't know how much they are in europe. if you go to the thermalright website, you can find the adapter on their accessories page. there you can find a listing of heatsinks that the adapter is compatible with.
 
Thanks for the info.

Is the distance between sockets standardized? Seems to be a pretty close fit using the standard heatsinks.. not even sure that 2x thermalright hr-01x will fit?

Now I just need to figure out if its worth it...
 
yeah it is standardized. the heatsinks screw directly into the case, so it would be impossible for case makers to accommodate all the different motherboard layouts if it wasn't standardized.

it's a bit of a tight fit, which is part of the reason why there aren't that many aftermarket coolers out there. but i'm running 2x tru90s in my setup right now, so it's not impossible to fit cooler sin there. if you check the sticky up top, some guy has two waterblocks on a dual 771 rig.
 
If anyone is thinking of making a purchase choice between two pairs of similarly-speced 45 and 65nm Xeon processors, don't bother with the Clovertowns. I have systems that are running both generations and the Harpertowns series are clearly superior. They run much cooler, perform quite a bit better clock for clock and are comparably cheaper. In certain applications like F@H, the Harpertowns are much faster because of their optimized core architecture. If your board supports the 45nm chips, I would pass over the Clovertowns unless you see a deal that is impossible ignore.
 
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