12-core Xeon engineering workstation build

[8BitZ80]

Original VRM fans are out and I've replaced them with the larger Noctua NF-A6x25 PWM fan that I've just sat on top of the CPU heatsink. Even with the Low Noise Adapter the fan spins a bit too fast at 2300rpm, but it will cool the VRMs just fine and be far more reliable than the original ones.

The white plate that held the original fans on the heatsink is actually painted metal and the screws are decent quality. It's just the tiny VRM fans themselves that suck. They seem to be unbranded 25mm four pole jobs with no speed measuring capabilities and most likely basic sleeve bearings. They say 7000rpm at 12V although I have a hard time believing they actually reach those speeds because they're both quieter than the Noctua.

 

[8BitZ80]

I moved the Hyper T4 to another project and replaced it with my Deepcool Ice Edge Mini dual heatpipe cooler. Load temperatures have gone from 55C up to 72C, so it's running quite a bit hotter and the fan is louder but it's still under control. I wouldn't go any smaller though. The Noctua 60mm fan does a good job of keeping the VRM heatsink temperature cool at 58C.

 

[Zyll Goliat]

I did a CPU-Z run on the first page (post #19), but here's a re-run from just now:

View attachment 192205

Performance has gone down a little bit although I've seen better numbers recently. It might be because I've got Spectre/Meltdown protection enabled right now. Cinebench R15 still performs good at around 1713cb multi core and 128cb single core.

Nice build!!!...I have Xeon 2697 V2(X79-12c/24t) and it's OC (Via bclk) so now all cores works on 3,45Ghz + turbo goes up to 4Ghz the benchmarking results are close to yours maybe just a bit better....I am also using it sometimes for gaming and ATM I paired this CPU with the R9 Fury and everything works like a charm....

 

[oldwalltree]

I moved the Hyper T4 to another project and replaced it with my Deepcool Ice Edge Mini dual heatpipe cooler. Load temperatures have gone from 55C up to 72C, so it's running quite a bit hotter and the fan is louder but it's still under control. I wouldn't go any smaller though. The Noctua 60mm fan does a good job of keeping the VRM heatsink temperature cool at 58C.

View attachment 197616

Your 60mm makes me appreciate my built in VRM fan on my x299. But i love xeon builds anyway!

 

[8BitZ80]

Nice build!!!...I have Xeon 2697 V2(X79-12c/24t) and it's OC (Via bclk) so now all cores works on 3,45Ghz + turbo goes up to 4Ghz the benchmarking results are close to yours maybe just a bit better....I am also using it sometimes for gaming and ATM I paired this CPU with the R9 Fury and everything works like a charm....

I'm impressed with it. It's quite costly compared to a Ryzen Zen 2 or something, but having all those cores means you never run out of multi-tasking ability.

Your 60mm makes me appreciate my built in VRM fan on my x299. But i love xeon builds anyway!

Yeah it's not ideal, but it's relatively quiet and being a Noctua fan it won't die any time soon. I tried different methods of attachment but in the end I just left it there sitting on the heatsink and it doesn't rattle around or anything.

 

[Zyll Goliat]

I'm impressed with it. It's quite costly compared to a Ryzen Zen 2 or something, but having all those cores means you never run out of multi-tasking ability.



Yeah it's not ideal, but it's relatively quiet and being a Noctua fan it won't die any time soon. I tried different methods of attachment but in the end I just left it there sitting on the heatsink and it doesn't rattle around or anything.

Well yeah to be honest I choose this setup over the first-gen Ryzen.....I did some detail testing with Xeon 2697 V2 and also Xeon 2650 V2 if you want you can check that HERE .....Personally I will go for the turbo-hack on X99 with that I believe that you could get probably around 5%-10% overall better performance with that Xeon 2678 V3....

 

[8BitZ80]

New CPU cooling solution. This is also a Chinese product just like the Huananzhi motherboard, it's a Snowman M-X6 90mm dual tower cooler with six heatpipes and dual fans that I got for US$25. It's the first Snowman cooler I've tried and I actually really like it. Even when the dual fans are running at full speed they're quieter than some of the single 120mm fans I have. Temperatures on the 2678 V3 are down around 48C to 52C after multiple Cinebench runs. Performs better and quieter than the Hyper T4.