SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DAH+-O CPU compatability

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houkouonchi

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I decided to upgrade my system and today I ordered this supermicro board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182176

I initially ordered it with a Xeon W3520 but changed it to a Xeon E5530 which is almost twice as expensive and only 2.4 Ghz vs 2.66 Ghz. I do believe I wouldn't be able to go dual CPU with the W3520 but will it really not work with this board (at all)? From the manual the only thing I could see was support for the Xeon 5500 series of CPU's and I didn't want to take the chance on the W3520.

Anyone use this board or chipset and know if a W3520 cpu would work in it?
 
Well big D'oh! Newegg listed the motherboard as an Extended ATX (EATX) but its eactlly an EEATX (Enhanced Extended ATX) which looks like its 1.6 inches or so higher which means it won't fit in my norco RPC-4020 case =(. It looks like instead I am going to go with the MBD-X8DTH-iF-O:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182175&cm_re=X8DTH-_-13-182-175-_-Product

Unfortunately the thing doesn't have full-lane x16 slots. I wish there was a regular EATX version of the above case that just had 12 DIMM slots instead of 18 and had the same PCI-Express layout as the one I was originally planning on getting.
 
According to Intel the 3500 series only works with the X58 chipset; if you want to use a 5000 or 5500 series motherboard you'll need to use the corresponding CPUs.

What PCIe complement do you actually need? SuperMicro does have some 5520-based EATX motherboards with 2xPCIe x16.
 
keenan said:
According to Intel the 3500 series only works with the X58 chipset; if you want to use a 5000 or 5500 series motherboard you'll need to use the corresponding CPUs.

What PCIe complement do you actually need? SuperMicro does have some 5520-based EATX motherboards with 2xPCIe x16.
Click to expand...

Right now I have a geforce gtx 260 (x16) and ARC-1280ML (x8) and sound blaster xi-fi (x1). I just wanted to get a mobo that had atleast two x16 slots incase I needed them but x8 isn't the end of the world. Unfortunately the very few supermicro boards I found whcih had two x16 slots also had a lot of PCI slots which I didn't really want. The first board I was looking at was perfect (which is now sitting on my couch) but it unfortunately won't fit in my case =(
 
I have a Supermicro X8DAH+-O in a Cooler Master HAF 932 case, with 2x x5550 + 2x Noctua NH U12 and 6x 4Go Hindix Reg ECC 1333 Mhz.

It's awesome ;)

++
 
I ended up getting the MBD-X8DTH-iF-O and so far its been great =)

Code: 
root@sabayonx86-64: 06:54 PM :/# cat /proc/cpuinfo  | grep -i model\ name
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5530  @ 2.40GHz
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5530  @ 2.40GHz
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5530  @ 2.40GHz
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5530  @ 2.40GHz
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5530  @ 2.40GHz
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5530  @ 2.40GHz
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5530  @ 2.40GHz
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           E5530  @ 2.40GHz

Code: 
root@sabayonx86-64: 06:54 PM :/# free -m
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:         24156       2691      21464          0          1       1497
-/+ buffers/cache:       1192      22963
Swap:            0          0          0

It fit perfectly in my norco 4020 case with all holes in the mobo able to be screwed in.

Currently running a single CPU setup but probably will upgrade to dual CPU sometime in the near future.

After some reasearch I found out going from PCI-E 1.0 to 2.0 doesn't really increase performance very much with todays graphic cards and since my video card supports PCI-E 2.0 and all the slots are 2.0 my vid card should have x16 1.0 equivelent bandwidth even with only 8 lanes since its 2.0.

Although not really needed in my situation the IPMI was an added bonus as it means I can have complete control of my system remotely (since I am running linux). The SOL via IPMI works great (I can see the system post, the boot menu, kernel loading and everything.
 
on my Board Turbo is working : with 2 x5550 @ 2,67 stock, it boosts @ 2,999 Ghz.

++
 
Aw. damnit!

I got my x5570's (ES) today and I cant use turbo mode, PQI is locked to 5.866GT and memory to 1066mhz. :(

EDIT: or go to windows, I get Checking NVRAM. :(
 
Last edited:
LOCO LAPTOP said:
I get Checking NVRAM. :(
Click to expand...

Here is your solution. Call / Email SuperMicro Tech Support.

Have them e-mail you the first bios version for your board. (Version 1.0)
That will allow your ES processor to work on that board.

You will need to have a *working* cpu to flash the bios. (Any CPU that does not cause the "Checking NVRAM issue"
Turbo Mode on the early ES does not work at full load and the early bios *fix* will make the turbo more even more squirly, recommend disable of that feature.
The QPI should not be affected, you can set that manunally in the BIOS if not being set correctly after the bios fix.

Newer Bios from Supermicro has code to support westmere and is causing issue with processors missing cpu information (ES mostly)
 
No luck. I think it has to do with the 5520 chipset (works on 5500 just fine) and the early ES that I have.
 
Figured it out.


Supermicro removed the older cpu microcodes on the newer bios. :mad:

Good news is if anyone wants all the CPU to work get a ASUS Z8PE-D12X, I saw all the CPU microcodes on the lastest bios.

Bad news I have to some how add the CPU microcodes to the 1.0C bios. :(
 


I have modified the 1.0c Bios to have the other microcodes on it. I can say it works out great! If anyone want this version PM me and I will gladly give it to you. :)
 
I've got a pair of E5520's in my X8DTH-6F.... my board is a VERY VERY VERY early board (ordered a sample board in early may.. hehehe. so early, it has no serial number sticker, and internal serial number is listed as 0123456789.... as well as the option ROM for the 6Gb/s SAS controller says "BETA BIOS for demonstration use only, etc...)

Few issues with it and the build though:
A: I can't force QPI faster than 5.86.
B: it doesn't have overclocking options.
C: I don't know if turbo works..... (Most likely does on the board, but isn't currently due to OSX issues... just no way to prove if it does or not in OSX)
D: No OSX drivers for the LSI 2008 6Gb/s SAS2 controller.....OR the 82566 dualport NIC (So I just threw in my AOC-USAS-L8i 1068e based card and an 82571 dualport x4 NIC .. no big deal though, although I would like to move the SAS card and NIC to another machine at some point....)

Overall, a great board.. Wish I could at least force QPI higher and force DDR1333 though.
 
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