Building a 32-Thread Xeon Monster for Less Than A Haswell-E Core i7

[satindemon4u]

Anyone else spot this today? Is there any downside to this? I was pretty blown away and really wanna give it a go lol.

http://www.techspot.com/review/1155-affordable-dual-xeon-pc/

 

[Sasqui]

Anyone else spot this today? Is there any downside to this? I was pretty blown away and really wanna give it a go lol.

http://www.techspot.com/review/1155-affordable-dual-xeon-pc/

A true diamond in the rough! That's sick, I want one for crunching. Have you really seen the chip for $70 as they say???

 

[csatahajos]

I'm running a very similar config for two years now, with the MoBo being an Asus Z9PE. I've managed to snatch a pair of ES E5 26xx Xeon's off e-bay, they are 8 core ones with 25MB L3 and both are unlocked, so they can go up to 4Ghz. the whole setup cost me like 2k and it still runs circles around everything except maybe in heavy multithread vs the newest v4 Xeons.

So it is highly recommended, and you can get the v2s for not much more than the v1s the article mention.

Some pics for those interested:

 

[satindemon4u]

A true diamond in the rough! That's sick, I want one for crunching. Have you really seen the chip for $70 as they say???

First result on ebay!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SR0KX-INTEL...330127?hash=item41a1e9d3cf:g:IckAAOSwzhVWrZBO

For the v2 like csatahajos mentioned you are looking at a hike...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...489644?hash=item210c31792c:g:uLwAAOSw9uFW8y54

I'm running a very similar config for two years now, with the MoBo being an Asus Z9PE. I've managed to snatch a pair of ES E5 26xx Xeon's off e-bay, they are 8 core ones with 25MB L3 and both are unlocked, so they can go up to 4Ghz. the whole setup cost me like 2k and it still runs circles around everything except maybe in heavy multithread vs the newest v4 Xeons.

So it is highly recommended, and you can get the v2s for not much more than the v1s the article mention.

That is awesome man! My question now is, how is this build for gaming? I mean I can only assume that's not what it is meant for of course, but how does it play out?

 

[csatahajos]

BTW one example of a sub $75 one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...692369?hash=item2ee9e67d91:g:tDYAAOSwSHZWc7wR

 

[Sasqui]

That is awesome man! My question now is, how is this build for gaming? I mean I can only assume that's not what it is meant for of course, but how does it play out?

I have no doubt any game that takes advantage of MT will love this beast!

 

[little cat]

Flash in the pan ! Mixing old and new parts .

new Xeon E5 2670 $1488
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80621e52670
Edit :
even discontinued

 

[Sasqui]

BTW one example of a sub $75 one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-...692369?hash=item2ee9e67d91:g:tDYAAOSwSHZWc7wR

What about other server board alternatives? The one in the article looked like it was $700+ refurbed.

 

[newtekie1]

A true diamond in the rough! That's sick, I want one for crunching. Have you really seen the chip for $70 as they say???

The chip can be had for around the $70 range. However, the motherboard is a different story. I haven't been able to find a dual-2011 motherboard for cheap like they did. The model they said they used is going for $500+ from anywhere reputable. Even if you go to ebay, dual-2011 C602 motherboards sell for $400+.

Then there is finding a case to fit said motherboard. You can't just slap them in any ol' case. An eATX case is necessary, which is more money still.

I have no doubt any game that takes advantage of MT will love this beast!

Which isn't many games. And since there is no overclocking on these boards, your stuck with the rather low clock speed of the Xeons. I wouldn't exactly say this would be good for gaming. In fact, it wouldn't be good for most uses. The only area this would be good would be workloads that love multi-threading. It would make a good cheap workstation, or crunching machine, but not a good everyday computer.

 

[cdawall]

Same idea as what I did for this. I ended up with a pair of ES 12 core chips for $40 a pop IIRC.

I have gotten these as high as 4.6ghz on air and have waterblocks for them.

 

[satindemon4u]

This video actually offers a pretty nice insight. The guy compares this setup with the i7 and to my surprise the results aren't quite what you might be expecting. It seems the race is a little closer than one might think...

 

[csatahajos]

Originally I built it for rendering (World of Warships anyone?) but nowadays I'm msotly game on it while other tasks are running on it with a 980Ti. I would say it is not better or worse in that regard to an i7-5960X (friend of mine has it with same VGA). Probably with the 5960 you can go higher than 4.0Ghz and get some extra FPS but in multi thread this thing is a beast (gets 2200 points in Cinebench R15 at base clock - 2.8 Ghz). If you have the money I can only encourage you. The only downside of this is that it is a little bit pickey with the memory, so better go with something really widely know (I have Kingston HyperX. Some more exclusive RAM manufacturer's kits might not work well (besides it is limted to 1866Mhz anyway).

Other downside of course is that you need to cool down two 120W+ CPU so you gonna probably need watercooling or a very big case with lots for vents.

On the PSU front I had an AX1200 now upgraded to AX1500i but even at full load it does not draw more than 600W - the only reason I went for such a big PSU is that it can run in zero fan mode all the time which is important as the back side of my case does not have a vent hole for the PSU fan.

The chip can be had for around the $70 range. However, the motherboard is a different story. I haven't been able to find a dual-2011 motherboard for cheap like they did. The model they said they used is going for $500+ from anywhere reputable. Even if you go to ebay, dual-2011 C602 motherboards sell for $400+.

Then there is finding a case to fit said motherboard. You can't just slap them in any ol' case. An eATX case is necessary, which is more money still.



Which isn't many games. And since there is no overclocking on these boards, your stuck with the rather low clock speed of the Xeons. I wouldn't exactly say this would be good for gaming. In fact, it wouldn't be good for most uses. The only area this would be good would be workloads that love multi-threading. It would make a good cheap workstation, or crunching machine, but not a good everyday computer.

Actually the boards allow for overclocking (although minimal) but the real problem is the retail Xeon's have locked multis (exactly to prevent these chips to offer competition to i7s later on). I was fortunate enough to snatch a pair of engineering samples which have open multis and thus allow overclocking, but I agree they are rather difficult to come by today.

As for the mobo, it is true that probably it is the single most expensive part of the build, but if you compare to current X99 boards then the difference is not that big actually or even sometimes they go for less.

 

[newtekie1]

Actually the boards allow for overclocking (although minimal) but the real problem is the retail Xeon's have locked multis (exactly to prevent these chips to offer competition to i7s later on). I was fortunate enough to snatch a pair of engineering samples which have open multis and thus allow overclocking, but I agree they are rather difficult to come by today.

As for the mobo, it is true that probably it is the single most expensive part of the build, but if you compare to current X99 boards then the difference is not that big actually or even sometimes they go for less.

I can go to Newegg right now and get an X99 motherboard for $150. I couldn't find a C602 dual-2011 motherboard for under $400 on ebay. That's a pretty big difference.

 

[csatahajos]

I can go to Newegg right now and get an X99 motherboard for $150. I couldn't find a C602 dual-2011 motherboard for under $400 on ebay. That's a pretty big difference.

I think you are missing the point here. I never argued that you can get an X99 board for less than the C602s, I just said that with comparable fit-out the price difference is not that big that would not justify such a build's low cost (relative) compared to an i7 5960X (gaming aside).

Edit: -though it is a far cry from the Z9PE here is one for sub $400.

 

[yogurt_21]

* shrugs* seems easier to me to just buy an older server
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/172017657587?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

then you get everything at once. If you still want to swap for 8 cores then ok 140$ more via separate purchases. This way you've got the board, the case, the cpu's, the memory, the raid controller, the backplane, the hot swaps, etc.

no muss no fuss.

 

[Sasqui]

* shrugs* seems easier to me to just buy an older server
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/172017657587?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

then you get everything at once. If you still want to swap for 8 cores then ok 140$ more via separate purchases. This way you've got the board, the case, the cpu's, the memory, the raid controller, the backplane, the hot swaps, etc.

no muss no fuss.

$1,999, yikes.

E5-2670 engineering sample (supposedly unlocked) and an X79 board can be had for about $500. Goto a E5-2670 V2 version and you've got 20 threads.

Finding a good MB is the hardest part. I did find an ASUS X79 for less than $200 on eBay, but it only supports the V3 chip with 24 threads, ...the chip is over $300

 

[Disparia]

In the same vein Tek Syndicate recently did a video about upgrading a pre-2013 Mac Pro. Couple jobs ago I had one as a workstation (bootcamped) and would have loved to drop in a couple cheap six-cores. Especially since it was one of the weaker configurations, 2 x 2-core IIRC.

 

[yogurt_21]

$1,999, yikes.

E5-2670 engineering sample (supposedly unlocked) and an X79 board can be had for about $500. Goto a E5-2670 V2 version and you've got 20 threads.

Finding a good MB is the hardest part. I did find an ASUS X79 for less than $200 on eBay, but it only supports the V3 chip with 24 threads, ...the chip is over $300

dual cpu board so not apples to apples. Not to mention you still need a case, dual power supply, raid controller, backplane, hot swaps, etc. Not to mention there's a lower clocked one going for 1200$. The rig in the OP was much more than 2 grand if you built it yourself.

 

[Sasqui]

dual cpu board so not apples to apples. Not to mention you still need a case, dual power supply, raid controller, backplane, hot swaps, etc. Not to mention there's a lower clocked one going for 1200$. The rig in the OP was much more than 2 grand if you built it yourself.

True... To keep it more simple, I was setting my sights on a 20 or 24 thread monster (single CPU, overclockable), so yea not really a comparison. I'm interested in a project mainly for crunching.

 

[yogurt_21]

when the next gen comes out it should be much easier to hit the thread count. Right now the v4s are out but the v3 cpu's remain very much in demand. As soon as the next gen hits you'll see 12 cores be more affordable, not to mention 14 and 16. the 18 core ones are still currently 3-6 grand so I don't see those coming down into reasonable any time soon. But a 12 core is like 400$ currently that could easily drop to 200 or less in the next year or so.

 

[Ahhzz]

A true diamond in the rough! That's sick, I want one for crunching. Have you really seen the chip for $70 as they say???

I just want one....

 

[Aquinus]

Finding a good MB is the hardest part. I did find an ASUS X79 for less than $200 on eBay, but it only supports the V3 chip with 24 threads, ...the chip is over $300

Since when did X79 support Haswell-EP chips?
V3 chips require skt2011-3.

I would take dual E5-2670s over my 3820 any day though. I would gladly give up a little bit of single threaded performance for 4 times as many threads but, the thing is that it's only rare occasions that I would utilize that kind of CPU power so, it's almost a waste which is why I don't. However, if my 2011 setup got relegated to gateway/vm host server duty, I would consider putting a singular 2670 in instead of the 3820.

Edit: Hmmm, if I can get a 2670 for 75 dollars, I might buy one just to try it out. If it don't like it, I'm sure someone here at TPU could make good use out of it. If I do like it, I'm sure someone here at TPU could make good use out of my 3820.

@Sasqui: They are on fleabay for 65-100. 75 seems to be a median price.

 

[Sasqui]

Since when did X79 support Haswell-EP chips?
V3 chips require skt2011-3

I was on Asus support / CPU support for a rampage board. If I have time later will share links

 

[ChristTheGreat]

I know 3 guys that did this. I would have done it, but since some of them, the CPU came with a C1 (VT-D broken), I didn't has I am running ESXi and using VT-D for passthrought.

Newegg (canada) got a few board with C602 (if I remember well), brand new, 400 to 500$ board, it's cheap for a setup like this. (I surely want one, one day ) but for now, my E3-1231 v3 will do the job xD

 

[Aquinus]

I know 3 guys that did this. I would have done it, but since some of them, the CPU came with a C1 (VT-D broken), I didn't has I am running ESXi and using VT-D for passthrought.

Newegg (canada) got a few board with C602 (if I remember well), brand new, 400 to 500$ board, it's cheap for a setup like this. (I surely want one, one day ) but for now, my E3-1231 v3 will do the job xD

Just check the part number before buying it. The first one I came across on Fleabay was a C2 and it was only something like 62 USD + 12USD shipping. I'm teetering on the edge of getting one.