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Intel Xeon W3520

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scharfshutze009

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I have an MSI Big Bang X-Power motherboard in my HTPC that I would like to swap or upgrade depending on what you consider this to be to an Intel Xeon W3550 to support more than 24GB of RAM. The problem is that the Intel specification archives state the Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type) is 24GB. Does that mean that the maximum amount of supported memory is 24GB regardless if its ECC or Non-ECC though because what if I need more than 24GB someday. Currently the board a has 12GB of OCZ Reaper and is using an Intel Core i7 980 processor. Finding a perfect board tor this HTPC has been difficult to because most of the new 2011 boards are XL-ATX especially the Big Bang X-Power II and they have on board sound, which is a problem because I don't want anyone who messes with the audio connection to confuse the onboard sound for the sound card I have installed for the HTPC.

My Current HTPC specs are as follows:

My Core i7 HTPC Computer Specs
-Motherboard: MSI Big Bang-XPower LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
-Memory: OCZ Reaper Edition 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3RPR1333C9LV12GK x 2
-Processor: Intel Core i7-980 Gulftown 3.33GHz LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80613I7980
-Video Card: EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
-Sound Card: Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card
-TV Card: Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner w/ IR Remote PCI-E x 1
-HD Recorder Card: Hauppauge Colossus - Record your high definition video gameplay and TV programs by H.264 for resolution up to 1080i, PCI-Express x1 Interface
Harddrive - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (bare drive) - OEM
-Blue-ray Writer: LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback iHBS212-08 LightScribe Support
-Power Supply: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
-Case: Silverstone Tek Crown Series Aluminum ATX Media Center/HTPC Case with 2X USB 2.0 Front Ports, Black (CW02B-MXR-USB2.0)
-CPU Cooler: CORSAIR Hydro Series H80 (CWCH80) High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
 
On lga1366 24GB is specified for non xeon processors because at the time of production 4GB dimms were the largest unbuffered DDR3 dimms in production. I have heard quite a few stories of users using 8GB dimms with these CPUs / boards so that does not mean that 8GB dimms will not work.

The Intel Xeon W3550 officially supported 16GB REG ECC so in that configuration you could have 96GB of ram or 192 GB if you used 32GB REG ECC dimms.
 
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drescherjm said:
On lga1366 24GB is specified for non xeon processors because at the time of production 4GB dimms were the largest unbuffered DDR3 dimms in production. I have heard quite a few stories of users using 8GB dimms with these CPUs / boards so that does not mean that 8GB dimms will not work.

The Intel Xeon W3550 officially supported 16GB REG ECC so in that configuration you could have 96GB of ram or 192 GB if you used 32GB REG ECC dimms.
Click to expand...

Then what your saying is I could install more than 24GB with the Core i7 980, like up to 48 GB non-ecc. With the Xeon I could install up 48 GB with six 8 GB ECC DIMMS, 96 GB with 16 GB ECC DIMMS, and 192 GB with 32 GB ECC DIMMS. If it was necessary do you think I could install up to 384 GB with 64 GB ECC DIMMS because at that point and even beyond 48 GB of Non-ECC or ECC it might be time for a new computer because of the cost of the RAM. However, as I stated finding a board for this case that didn't have onboard sound is difficult.
 
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Yes that was basically what I was saying. Although for > 24 GB there is no compatibility guaranty. Check the memory subforum this has been discussed..

With the Xeon I could install up 48 GB with six 8 GB ECC DIMMS, 96 GB with 16 GB ECC DIMMS, and 192 GB with 32 GB ECC DIMMS.
Click to expand...

The 16GB+ modules will be registered ECC. Although I do not believe you will find unbuffered 16GB dimms yet.
 
What kind of HTPC runs a 130W six-core Gulftown and a 250W Fermi GPU ?

I lol.
 
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drescherjm said:
Yes that was basically what I was saying. Although for > 24 GB there is no compatibility guaranty. Check the memory subforum this has been discussed..



The 16GB+ modules will be registered ECC. Although I do not believe you will find unbuffered 16GB dimms yet.
Click to expand...

I found a similar disscussion on the EVGA SR2 serverboard and it says were I can find 16 GB ECC DIMMs and 32 GB DIMMs. I don't believe there is such a thing as 64 GB DIMMS now that I think about it because 32 GB x 12 is 384, which is the most I've seen a dual socket 1366 board claim to support. Thanks for your help I think my issue has been resolved and I will definitely consider this when upgrading the processor and memory because I want to retire the OCZ reaper anyway, since its not an official 12 GB kit.
 
Mine does because I'm very demanding and I want to be able to do just about anything I should be aloud to do with a computer from an HTPC.
 
Why do you want to go to a W3550? That is a quad core cpu and you currently have a 6 core cpu. I believe from your post you may want to use ECC ram? Otherwise what reason do you have to go to a Xeon? If you are looking for a 6 core xeon you should either get the X5680 or the W3680 as they are pretty much the same as the 980 but have ECC support and a couple of other "xeon" features
 
By the time you need more than 24gb of ram in a HTPC you are going to need a new build anyways. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
ssnyder28 said:
Why do you want to go to a W3550? That is a quad core cpu and you currently have a 6 core cpu. I believe from your post you may want to use ECC ram? Otherwise what reason do you have to go to a Xeon? If you are looking for a 6 core xeon you should either get the X5680 or the W3680 as they are pretty much the same as the 980 but have ECC support and a couple of other "xeon" features
Click to expand...

I know its a quad core now that I looked into it again, but ECC is better than Non-ECC if it fails because the system will still boot and the good sticks of ECC will still register from what I experienced with the 12 GB of Kingston ECC I used in my Asus Z8PE-D12X motherboard. Also as I'm going to say to another reply about by the time I'll need more than 24 GB I probably need a new system that statement is probably right because if I want to use any operating system that requires UEFI bios then the motherboard I'm currently using will be a problem particularly for SteamOS.
 
Kardonxt said:
By the time you need more than 24gb of ram in a HTPC you are going to need a new build anyways. I wouldn't worry about it.
Click to expand...

Your right I probably will need a new system that statement is probably right because if I want to use any operating system that requires UEFI bios then the motherboard I'm currently using will be a problem particularly for SteamOS.
 
Then why not get a hex-core xeon then? Sell the 980 for like $350 and buy a comparable Xeon (X5670) for $225.
 
ssnyder28 said:
Then why not get a hex-core xeon then? Sell the 980 for like $350 and buy a comparable Xeon (X5670) for $225.
Click to expand...

The reason is because this motherboard only supports one Xeon processor, which is the Xeon W3520 and not the W3550 as originally stated in error.
 
scharfshutze009 said:
The reason is because this motherboard only supports one Xeon processor, which is the Xeon W3520 and not the W3550 as originally stated in error.
Click to expand...

yikes....that would suck to have a motherboard that doesn't support a hexacore
 
Why on earth do you need a Xeon and ECC RAM in a HTPC? I'm guessing you aren't using this as a file server with only 1.5TB of storage.
 
primetime said:
yikes....that would suck to have a motherboard that doesn't support a hexacore
Click to expand...

Yep your right and the board uses the X58 chipset, so there's no chance of it supporting ECC memory either. It doesn't need ECC memory anyway because it's not a server or a workstation. Also getting a board that would support ECC in it just doesn't seem possible because their all larger that ATX. Another thing is that even if I attempted to use ECC in it the board would only recognize one stick at a time and would lock up the system if more than one was used. If I'm mistaken about the ECC support then oh well I don't think I want to try it unless someone can convince the support is there because I'm not bricking or locking of the system just to find out. I'm satisfied with it's intended purpose at the moment as well, which is a DVR, Optical Disc Movie player, Preamp, and Gaming PC if not more.
 
atrance5 said:
What kind of HTPC runs a 130W six-core Gulftown and a 250W Fermi GPU ?

I lol.
Click to expand...

I'm running nearly the same config for my HTPC actually. It used to be my desktop machine, but I built a new one. Makes a good media server, runs every game or emulator I toss at it, etc. Sure I could do something a bit more efficient, but why when this thing is so capable and would otherwise be doing nothing? Mine's a W3540 Bloomfield though, with 24GB ECC, and a 660Ti.
 

Overcoming the 4 GB DIMM limit on the HP Workstation Z400​


Hello everyone,

After intensive research and practical testing, I would like to share an important piece of information that may be of interest to many of you: The widespread assumption that the HP Workstation Z400 has a DIMM RAM limit of 4 GB per module can be broken with the right memory.
I have successfully installed the G.Skill DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 (2x 8 GB) dual kit (model: F3-1600C11D-16GIS, AEGIS, INTEL XMP), and the system recognises the 8 GB per module without any problems. This means that, contrary to previous reports, the Z400 is capable of addressing more than 4 GB per DIMM when using non-ECC RAM.
With this upgrade, I was able to increase my total RAM capacity to 32GB (and soon to be 48GB), which has provided a significant performance boost when running multiple game servers on this machine.

If anyone has similar plans, I highly recommend this memory!
 
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