Dual E5-2670 build w/ 16 DIMMs - what motherboard these days?

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5mall5nail5

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Nov 16, 2015
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Hey all - I currently have two geographically disparate labs - on is a 2-node cluster of R710's with about 60TB of shared storage. The other is a single Lenovo TS140 translpanted into a 4U case with an E3-1246v3 and 32GB of RAM with about 40TB of local storage.

I am looking to upgrade the single node as 32GB of RAM is proving to be a bit short. So, I picked up two E5-2670 sr0kx CPUs and have to pick a motherboard. I would like IPMI similar to iDRAC or iLO so dedicated port preferred. Other than that, I just want something stable and not wallet-destroying.

I know dual 2011 boards are not super cheap. What would you all recommend? I don't need on board SATA.

Thanks!
 

wildpig1234

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Aug 22, 2016
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should've check out the natex mb/cpu/mem combo. well, you can still get the s2600cp2j board by itself for $175. but they do have 2x e5-2670, 128gb. s2600cp2j board all for $475-498.
 

5mall5nail5

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Nov 16, 2015
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should've check out the natex mb/cpu/mem combo. well, you can still get the s2600cp2j board by itself for $175. but they do have 2x e5-2670, 128gb. s2600cp2j board all for $475-498.
I would have, except I have a good lead on the memory (I work as a Sr. Sys Engineer at a hosting company). I got the CPUs for $150 shipped for the pair. I thought that board was criticized as having some short comings, though I don't remember what they are/were.

I have two SuperMicro X9DR3-F. I am quite happy with them.

Supermicro | Products | Motherboards | Xeon® Boards | X9DR3-F
Nice - I'll check into that one - thanks!
 

wildpig1234

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Aug 22, 2016
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I would have, except I have a good lead on the memory (I work as a Sr. Sys Engineer at a hosting company). I got the CPUs for $150 shipped for the pair. I thought that board was criticized as having some short comings, though I don't remember what they are/were.
there are a few short coming like pcie slots are downgraded to 2.0 instead of 3.0 by the bios unless you have hardware that intel put on a list. but x8 2.0 have enough bandwidth for most situations anyway. even for gfx card usage, there is neglible hit unless you are running multiple ones in sli. or I guess if you are running very fast pcie ssd.

if you ever want a cheap board that supports sleep decently in windows 10 this is one of the few one. the asrock has trouble with win10. I think supermicro board does ok with sleep and win10 but might have to read around. but supermicro boards are definitely not $175.

how cheap are your rams? under $13/8gb module or under $30/16gb ecc ddr3?
 

Nik-

New Member
Jul 5, 2016
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I am currently also planning to build a dual E5-2670 server. I want dual 10GbE so I found the Supermicro X9DRW-ITPF+. Anyone has experience with that board? They are really cheap so I am wondering what the downside is with them?
 

5mall5nail5

Active Member
Nov 16, 2015
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there are a few short coming like pcie slots are downgraded to 2.0 instead of 3.0 by the bios unless you have hardware that intel put on a list. but x8 2.0 have enough bandwidth for most situations anyway. even for gfx card usage, there is neglible hit unless you are running multiple ones in sli. or I guess if you are running very fast pcie ssd.

if you ever want a cheap board that supports sleep decently in windows 10 this is one of the few one. the asrock has trouble with win10. I think supermicro board does ok with sleep and win10 but might have to read around. but supermicro boards are definitely not $175.

how cheap are your rams? under $13/8gb module or under $30/16gb ecc ddr3?
I am going to be running ESXi 6.0 on this so I don't care much about sleep. Sounds like I should look into the board then. My memory is usually acquired through work... so significantly cheaper than $13/8gb. Much, much cheaper :)

Where are you seeing the s2600cp2j for $175?
 

5mall5nail5

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Nov 16, 2015
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How is reliability with Natex on these S2600CP2J boards? I am thinking of picking one up but won't have all my components for a few months. I see they only have 30 or 60 day warranty or so. Also, what form factor is it?
 

wildpig1234

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Aug 22, 2016
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EEB format like most dual cpu MB...

Most people have no issue so far... mine working like it should be.

Theres not much needed to test it out... just need a psu with dual 8pin cpu/eps plugs. Theres even onboard video so you dont even need a video card... you can connect any cheap sata drive around to test install o/s. You can boot it with just 1 ram module and 1 cpu or even 2 cpu.

Although say OOS , I would still call natex up and ask if they willing or able to cut you a deal on the board only. If not just get the combo and sell cpu and ram. Would still be cheaper than any other board only options...
 
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nk215

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Oct 6, 2015
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I have a Supermicro X9DR3-LN4F+. Just put it in a case last night. Can't say any bad about the board. It's EE-ATX so most case won't support it -- the only down side.

With 24 memory slots. Memory won't be an issue. IPMI, square heatsink (vs. narrow) and onboard SAS (lots of room for datastore).

This build together with my E3-1270v2 will serve all my needs for another 5+ years or so. Together they replaced my dual x5650 (server then converted to ESXi) and a x3470 (NAS) home setup.

I also have a TS140 (t3-4430) ESXi, I often wish that it had a Xeon for PCI passthru.

Edit: S2600CP2J is cheap but does not have IPMI equivalent (even TS140 board has it). That was the reason I never gave it a serious look.
 

5mall5nail5

Active Member
Nov 16, 2015
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EEB format like most dual cpu MB...

Most people have no issue so far... mine working like it should be.

Theres not much needed to test it out... just need a psu with dual 8pin cpu/eps plugs. Theres even onboard video so you dont even need a video card... you can connect any cheap sata drive around to test install o/s. You can boot it with just 1 ram module and 1 cpu or even 2 cpu.
Gotcha - I don't have a cooler for 2011 yet. Still working out the deets on that. I have a Rosewill 4U case that I wish would fit this board but I don't think it supports EEB. Would the Evo 212+ cooler work on this board/cpu combo?
 

wildpig1234

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Aug 22, 2016
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Gotcha - I don't have a cooler for 2011 yet. Still working out the deets on that. I have a Rosewill 4U case that I wish would fit this board but I don't think it supports EEB. Would the Evo 212+ cooler work on this board/cpu combo?
This rosewill case? : Rosewill RSV-L4000 Rosewill RSV-L4000 1.0 mm Thickness 4U Rackmount Server Chassis, Black Metal/Steel from mwave.com

that does support 12x13 in MB so you are good to go. any standard 2011 cpu cooler will work with the board. all i use the cheapest one i could find on newegg for like 22$ and works fine.