TWO 1.6Ghz Low Voltage Xeons $119

wolfsburged said:
Would these CPUs work in the iWill DP400 board (link )..

The CPUs say socket 604 and the mobo says 603, but from what I've read 604 is just an extra pin for 533fsb, but these are 400fsb, meaning this extra pin would be unnecessary??

I have access to a lot of free RDRAM memory, so this could be attractive, if the CPUs will work.
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From what I have read on the 2CPU forum, yes. but you will have to get a small drill to add the missing hole to the sockets.. (I think that removeing the offending pin is difficult to do without damaging the CPU that is why they drill new holes with a jewlers drill)

from here: http://forums.2cpu.com/showthread.php?threadid=54014&perpage=30&pagenumber=2
see Mutha's post

==>Lazn
 
what are some good heatsinks for these.. would a Volcano 7/8 be too much..?

I'm flip-flopping over if I should invest in these or not.. arggghhh.. I can't decide.. The biggest problem I have with buying these is if I will have an underpowered workstation in 4 years like my 1.2 Tbird is now..
 
I ordered a couple of these. I'm planning on using them to replace my antique celeron 300 server. I want to get an 8 port SATA RAID 5 controller. Anyone know of a good deal on one of these?
 
just got a set for my file server, its gonna be fun to play around with these :)
 
Deal is even hotter now, automatic 5% off at checkout, not ALL that much, but cheaper still. $113.99 with free shipping. Even though I'm extremely tight on money I just might get these to build a server in a couple months.

That is unless you guys think this deal will happen again after they sell out.
 
if your tight on money dont get this combo, your gonna have to shell out at least another $200 for a mainboard. not to mention, if you dont have the proper power supply to push xeon boards your looking at $80 for xeon power supply or $15 for adapter cables. On top of this, your gonna have to spend another $30 or more in heatsinks, since theses dont come with any. in the end, most people will end up spending at least $360+ to try to get this setup going and as much as $430 or so.
 
SpangeMonkee said:
what are some good heatsinks for these.. would a Volcano 7/8 be too much..?
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People seem to be having good success with the copper/aluminum stock intels. The ones in the link on this thread are cheap. Also, you can slap a fan adapter on them.

The biggest problem I have with buying these is if I will have an underpowered workstation in 4 years like my 1.2 Tbird is now..
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Yes, it will be 'underpowered' in 4 years. Welcome to computing. For most things, in several years, these will be fine. My 500MHz Celerons held up well as a server. But the bleeding edge will always be demanding.

That said, a dual CPU system stays potent longer than a single CPU system, especially if you're using lots of processes/multi-threaded applications.
 
Mine arrived yesterday. My PC-DL mobo arrived today. Going to have to wait until at least Monday to start modding a case for it all. As for the HS/Fan..I'm going to go with the stock Intel HS's. Still looking for a good deal on ram though. I'm thinking about going with about..Umm...4 gigs of ram and something along the lines of at least 500gigs in raid.

Phear da penguin!

and yes..I'm going with linux..still deciding on which flavor though.
 
They keep getting more in stock at that place. We must be giving them some great business with all this advertising. ;)
 
Odviously you ppl that think Tyan is the best company for dual CPU's have never heard of a compamy called Supermicro.

Tyan is consumer level. Supermicro is Server level and there is no comparision between the two.

Supermicro is THE Multiprocessor MoBo maker!
 
Kroz said:
Odviously you ppl that think Tyan is the best company for dual CPU's have never heard of a compamy called Supermicro.

Tyan is consumer level. Supermicro is Server level and there is no comparision between the two.

Supermicro is THE Multiprocessor MoBo maker!
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tyan makes great boards but my personal preference for hardcore servers is supermicro.
 
i agree that tyan makes awesome boards, just not 'the best dual mobos'. :)

but tyan boards are cheaper to buy though.
 
I have to say I officially hate whoever started this topic. This is the last thing that I needed with a 2.8 prescott watercooled at 3.4. A [email protected] and a celly [email protected]. I just ordered a pair of these.

My question is that the asus PC-DL board only says it supports 533fsb. Will it support the 400fsb of these little monsters? Or will the gigabyte ga-8ikxr be a better choice with the 875 chipset supporting 400/533/800mhz fsb?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-229R&type=Refurbish

I can't find any review of the gigabyte board and overclocking, and yes I will be overclocking :). Which do you guys think would be better: PC-DL or the gigabyte?

By the way folding@home is teh devil.
 
Timmay!!! said:
My question is that the asus PC-DL board only says it supports 533fsb. Will it support the 400fsb of these little monsters? Or will the gigabyte ga-8ikxr be a better choice with the 875 chipset supporting 400/533/800mhz fsb?
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The PC-DL supports 400 FSB. It also uses the 875.

If you notice, that Gigabyte board...it don't take Xeons. The PC-DL is your best bet. It's the cheapest of the Xeon boards, seems to be highly overclockable (my personal OC results forthcoming), and it seems to be of very high quality. I'm impressed by the board and I see quite a few of them. It comes with some remote server software that is better than some stuff that is quite costly that you pay for that I test at a certain large hardware vendor.
 
The DarkBlade said:
The PC-DL supports 400 FSB. It also uses the 875.

If you notice, that Gigabyte board...it don't take Xeons. The PC-DL is your best bet. It's the cheapest of the Xeon boards, seems to be highly overclockable (my personal OC results forthcoming), and it seems to be of very high quality. I'm impressed by the board and I see quite a few of them. It comes with some remote server software that is better than some stuff that is quite costly that you pay for that I test at a certain large hardware vendor.
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Thanks, I have been researching the PC-DL and I am going to go with it when I get some money. If you do any of the volt mods keep us informed. I am not experienced with that crap and it confuses me.
 
Here's a picture of the 2 I received yesterday.

xeons4.jpg
 
Just got mine. Check them out carefully before you try to put them on a MB. Both of mine had several bent pins.
 
Allaxul said:
Just got mine. Check them out carefully before you try to put them on a MB. Both of mine had several bent pins.
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I'm beginning to think these are system pulls. My CPUs had slight scuffs on the heatspreader. Maybe bladeserver liquidation? This is still a great deal though.
 
The DarkBlade said:
I'm beginning to think these are system pulls. My CPUs had slight scuffs on the heatspreader. Maybe bladeserver liquidation? This is still a great deal though.
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even boxed cpu's then to have a few scuffs on the heatspreaders. i see them all the time, i work for a system builder
 
Do these come in a small box, or something that keeps the pins from getting messed up.
 
Mine weren't boxed at all unless you count the box they were shipped in. They just taped them together with the pins facing out, put them in an anti-static bag and wrapped the whole thing in bubble wrap before dropping it in the box. The bent pins probably happened during this process.

I'll probably order the MB this week. Right now I'm leaning towards the Asus PP-DLW . I like the price on the PC-DL but I need PCI-X slots for the Raid-5 controller I'm planning on getting.

Unless someone suggest something better I'm leaning towards this case .
 
Okay since all you people are so hot on these Xeons here's some links that'll help you in modding your PC-DL motherboard with these chips to allow you for 1.) Higher FSB and 2.) Higher vCore voltages. First up Higher FSB real simple right? Now here's the Vcore voltage Mod another simple modification with no change to the CPU or the board.

Just remember Mod at your own risk! ;)
 
For those wondering about packing and shipping....mine came rubberbanded in a 2-layered CPU tray (top and bottom) that appears to have been broken just for the 2 they sent. See my picture a few posts back. It was bubblewrapped well and sent in an oversized box.
 
Mine arrived in a pair of individually wrapped static baggies in a well padded bubble wrap box with no tray.
 
Allaxul said:
. I like the price on the PC-DL but I need PCI-X slots for the Raid-5 controller I'm planning on getting.
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What kind of RAID-5 system are you setting up? I assume it's one that actually needs the bandwidth afforded by PCI-X?

I might also add that if you're willing to drop 250+ on a case and 280 on a mobo, and PCI-X RAID cards aren't all that expensive...that I'm a little confused why you're settling for these chips? It sounds like you have the budget for some faster ones out of the box.
 
I'm planning on building a Debian file server. I'll have 8 250GB drive on a raid-5 controller. So far I haven't seen any Raid-5 controller that aren't PCI-X. Currently looking at a Highpoint SATA controller. I'm definitely willing to listen to alternate suggestions, though.
 
I like this idea of dual Xeons because building this setup will be different then what I have done before and I think it will be a learning experience. All the systems that I have set up have been single chips with no overclocking, no extra fans etc. Borring.

I would buy this for using in my dormroom for howework, movies, recording shows, rendering. I think it would be a good investment for the next 4 years. Even if I don't get the chips up to 3 ghz (I'm dreaming of 3ghz) anything around 2.5 would be awesome and more power than I really need. This whole setup is still cheaper than a laptop that I don't really need. I'll just buy a really cheap 400-500 dollar one in 2 years which will be nows $1300. And with the extra power, I'll work on curing cancer with Folding@home.
 
Allaxul said:
I'm planning on building a Debian file server. I'll have 8 250GB drive on a raid-5 controller. So far I haven't seen any Raid-5 controller that aren't PCI-X. Currently looking at a Highpoint SATA controller. I'm definitely willing to listen to alternate suggestions, though.
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most pci-x scsi/sata cards will run in a normal pci slot without any issues.
 
Nexx said:
most pci-x scsi/sata cards will run in a normal pci slot without any issues.
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My understanding is that if you're running a raid with more than 3 devices you'll get saturation of the IDE bus which can cause all kinds of problems. It may not be a problem with my implementation but I'd rather spend a bit extra and not have to worry about it. Please correct me if I'm misinformed about this.
 
Allaxul said:
I'm planning on building a Debian file server. I'll have 8 250GB drive on a raid-5 controller. So far I haven't seen any Raid-5 controller that aren't PCI-X.
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Well, 8 250GB drives in a RAID 5 setup? What is it you need *that* much space for? pr0n? And why do you need it as one array? Seriously, I can think of few home users who really need that kind of access and space, unless you're trying to be a fark.com mirror or something. You may want to think long and hard about what you're getting yourself into. And that kind of setup is *not* cheap. If you're going to be spending this kind of money and for what must be a high load server, I think you're better off just getting some better chips to begin with and a stable non-overclockers setup with some remote management functionality.

My understanding is that if you're running a raid with more than 3 devices you'll get saturation of the IDE bus which can cause all kinds of problems. It may not be a problem with my implementation but I'd rather spend a bit extra and not have to worry about it. Please correct me if I'm misinformed about this.
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Yes, that's true. The PC-DL does have the benefit of *two* PCI buses though.
 
My current file server is a Mini-ITX motherboard that I hacked into a $15 tool box from Lowes. It currently has 4 250GB drives in it and 3 of those drives are full. In the last year I've backed up my entire DVD connection to this file server. It works pretty good for serving video to the xbox but there are two major problems:

1. If a drive fails it could take months to recover.
2. We'll probably run out of space within the next year or two.

The bottom line is that I have enough data that it's not feasible to attempt to back it up, so, the next best option I can think of is RAID-5. In addition to storing music and video I'll also be using it as a backup location for the other machines in the house.

So, I've been looking into options for the past several months and finally decided that the best option available is to build a RAID-5 file server. No, I probably don't need a dual processor system and I'm not planning on overclocking. I do, however, want something that will run cool without a lot of active cooling and I thought I'd need something with PCI-X slots to work with an 8-port RAID-5 controller. This seems to fit the bill quite nicely.

Why do I want it in one array? Well, with one 8 drive RAID-5 array I'm only wasting 1/8 of my space on parity. With 2 4 drive RAID-5 arrays I'd be wasting 1/4 of my space. If I was more paitient and was willing to spend $700+ on a 12-port card I'd build 12 drive array but that's just not feasible.

I won't be building this server overnight. I plan on watching for rebates on the drives I want to use (WD 250 GB) and stockpiling them over a period of 3-6 months depending on how lucky I get. What I'm hoping to have when I'm done is a stable, reliable, worry-free file server that will still be useful 5 years from now.
 
Thanks for the information. That MB looks interesting. I'll need to look into it a bit more. I've also looked at surplus server motherboards on EBay and there are interesting possibilities there. They'd be a bit tricky to work with, I think.

I found a roundup on Tom's Hardware of Dual Xeon boards. He seems to favor a Tyan board but the PC-DL wasn't part of the roundup.

Thanks for the heads up on the Seagate drive. If it was 250GB I'd jump on it. I'd really like to get the largest drives I can find for this project, though. the drives will probably be the last item I get and I'll be stockpiling them for months.
 
There''s a Tyan dual socket 603 board (pulls) over at computergeeks.com for
$144.50.

Those seagate drives are also PATA. You might want SATA cabling with 8 drives.

I also have no idea why you would want to get a case with that much bling. You might be able to find a more ugly machine, but one with a couple of redundant PS for that price, and then just stick it in a closet.

Something like this case deal would have been good.
 
GodsMadClown said:
There''s a Tyan dual socket 603 board (pulls) over at computergeeks.com for
$144.50.

Those seagate drives are also PATA. You might want SATA cabling with 8 drives.

I also have no idea why you would want to get a case with that much bling. You might be able to find a more ugly machine, but one with a couple of redundant PS for that price, and then just stick it in a closet.

Something like this case deal would have been good.
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That's a VERY interesting looking motherboard. My main gripes with the Asus MB is that it doesn't have two ethernet ports and it doesn't have onboard video. This Tyan MB solves both of those problems. However, it introduces some new ones.

It says that it doesn't use a standard power supply. I'm not familiar with an EPS 12V power connector... I have no idea how much a power supply for this thing would cost. It's also not in an ATX form factor. It says it fits in most ATX tower cases so the case I had in mind might still work but I'd have to check.

I care nothing for bling. :) Nearly all my computers are plain beige boxes. The only one that isn't a beige box is a black lowes toolbox that I paid $15 for. I buy cases based on functionality. I like cases that are durable and easy to work with. Redundant power supplies aren't really a requirement since this isn't exactly a mission critical application. :)

The only reason I'm considering the Lian Li case is because it's the only one I saw on Newegg that can accomodate 12 internal drives. I haven't really researched the case that much yet but if I see a plain beige one that fits my needs I will grab it.

The Casedge server you mention would be fine except that it doesn't appear to have enough internal drive space. It looks like it would only accomodate 7 internal drives.

I definitely want to stick with SATA on this project. Cabling for 8 PATA drives would be nightmarish even with rounded cables. Also I believe SATA is hot pluggable.

Thanks very much for the leads! That Tyan MB definitely has possibilities and would save me nearly $!50. :) If I can find a case and power supply to work with it I'll probably grab it!
 
Allaxul said:
That's a VERY interesting looking motherboard. My main gripes with the Asus MB is that it doesn't have two ethernet ports and it doesn't have onboard video. This Tyan MB solves both of those problems. However, it introduces some new ones.
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It's 603 pin. These CPUs are 604 pin. You'd have to break a pin, which is a damn shame.

It says that it doesn't use a standard power supply. I'm not familiar with an EPS 12V power connector... I have no idea how much a power supply for this thing would cost. It's also not in an ATX form factor. It says it fits in most ATX tower cases so the case I had in mind might still work but I'd have to check.
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If you're going to be running 8 hard drives off a RAID card...you're gonna need an expensive power supply *anyway*. Think about it, since these drives are RAIDed, they will all be accessed simultaneously, so you have to have enough power to handle the peak on them. If I remember right, the drives alone will pull ~15W apiece. Not to mention that Intel pretty much mandates this whole EPS12V thing for server systems. The modern dual systems that run off ATX12V are really hacks.

Of course, the best thing to do may be to do some modifications and add a 2nd power supply for your drives alone. But in most situations when dealing with a large RAID array like this, it's done with a SCSI external enclosure. But I don't know of any big SATA enclosures. This really sounds like a time for SCSI, but of course it gets much more expensive.

Honestly, if you want something that won't fall to obsoletion in 5 years, spend the extra money and get a Nacona (EMT64) compatible motherboard; something with an upgrade path.
 
I think you're right about the wattage requirement but 15 * 8 is still only 120W. I'm planning on at 500W power supply minimum. I don't think it will be an issue.

Thanks for the heads up about the pin count. That is a bummer...
 
You do have two choices with that board. Either break a pin(not recommended) or drill a small hole in the plastic socket to make the CPU fit. Either way I'd still look at getting a board with a socket that fits like the PC-DL or DH-800, since the older socket 603s may not OC as much as the newer 604 boards.
 
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