Dell PowerEdge C8220 Build and Questions

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thomasz

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Oct 2, 2016
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Hi @drabadue it's me again! I am glad to tell you that I solved that CPU overheating problem. It was all because I didn't install the heatsink correctly... Stupid mistake. Now the entire machine is healthy and vivid!

Your progress is encouraging! Look forward to seeing more cool results from you!
 

Silvio

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Mar 20, 2017
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Thomasz, lots of time and love there :) The cable length looks suspiciously precise, you built them yourself? Where did you source the connectors?

EDIT: Lazy me, this was already mentioned on post 142, custom cables. Neat!
 
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drabadue

Active Member
Sep 15, 2016
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Hi @drabadue it's me again! I am glad to tell you that I solved that CPU overheating problem. It was all because I didn't install the heatsink correctly... Stupid mistake. Now the entire machine is healthy and vivid!

Your progress is encouraging! Look forward to seeing more cool results from you!
@thomasz - I am glad you fixed the overheating CPU. I am curious how the E5-2680's perform. If you get a chance to run Cinebench or Passmark, I would like to compare our results.



Quick sneak peek before the build starts. Currently building a cpu fan controller and waiting for the step up. Case under construction.

Sorry for the potato quality.





@drabadue
@MumbleFysh - Looks good so far! Hopefully your next post in this thread will be a running dual CPU computer!


Let me update a few pictures of my WarpDrv, with focus on cable management. DIY is a lot of fun! Hope you all enjoying building your super computer!

View attachment 4974

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@thomasz - As others have stated, looks very clean. I intend to do something similar once I get everything in my case.




Speaking of case, I have decided to make my own custom case. Everything I tried with a pre-made case just wasn't working out, so I have decided to make my own. More pictures and updates will follow.

I would like to thank @thomasz for the help with the GPGPU riser. He told me which one he was using, so I went ahead and tried one in my setup. It is just barely too short to fit with 1U heat sinks. However, I plan to run dual Corsiar H60's, and the pumps are slightly shorter than the 1U heat sinks - so it should work. The best part about Dell risers for this board, is that they move the PCIe slot rearward, so that it lines up with the rest of the IO panel.

I bought this one on eBay. Unfortunately they do not have any more for sale. Dell Part number GKYGX. I also managed to find the C8220X Front GPGPU Riser part number. I believe it is a tad bit higher, as it is specifically made for the front GPGPU to set above the 1U heat sinks. I believe its part number is YK8R5/FVXWX.

Here are a few pictures of the GKYGX that I am running.







And below are pictures of it in action on my machine with a GTX 980Ti (which is no small graphics card).






Notice the PCIe riser is offset inward. The I/O panel and the GPU panel line up.


I wish the riser was just a hair taller. Below you can see how the 1U heat sinks don't quite work out.



Note that the whole graphics card is leaning with the rear of the card up higher. This is due to the cpu heat sink being just a little too tall.

In the inward PCIe slot, the GPU almost sits centered over the CPU.



If I only ran 8 sticks of ram instead of 16 (which will be the plan), I can gain a little room side to side as well. So once the Corsair H60's are installed, and half the ram is taken out, I will be well off.


Another thing worth mentioning is that the card sits directly above the SATA and mini SAS connectors. A 90 degree cable will have to be used in order to plug into the board.





And I will need to build supports to hold such a large card in place. For now, I have tested it with the card's backplate resting on the 1U heat sink. I plan to make custom brackets to hold the GPU in place, as well as to support the PCIe card in the slot.


For reference, here are links to the C8220X front GPGPU riser cards. You can see in the pictures that they are a bit taller.

Dell Riser Card YK8R5| Newport Computers | Newport Computers

Dell Riser Card FVXWX| Newport Computers | Newport Computers


Those are also the cheapest prices I have found around. If anyone purchases one, let me know how they fit and how the customer service was.
 
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MumbleFysh

New Member
Mar 3, 2017
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Let me update a few pictures of my WarpDrv, with focus on cable management. DIY is a lot of fun! Hope you all enjoying building your super computer!

View attachment 4974

View attachment 4969
View attachment 4970
View attachment 4971
View attachment 4972
View attachment 4973
@thomasz - I am glad you fixed the overheating CPU. I am curious how the E5-2680's perform. If you get a chance to run Cinebench or Passmark, I would like to compare our results.





@MumbleFysh - Looks good so far! Hopefully your next post in this thread will be a running dual CPU computer!




@thomasz - As others have stated, looks very clean. I intend to do something similar once I get everything in my case.




Speaking of case, I have decided to make my own custom case. Everything I tried with a pre-made case just wasn't working out, so I have decided to make my own. More pictures and updates will follow.

I would like to thank @thomasz for the help with the GPGPU riser. He told me which one he was using, so I went ahead and tried one in my setup. It is just barely too short to fit with 1U heat sinks. However, I plan to run dual Corsiar H60's, and the pumps are slightly shorter than the 1U heat sinks - so it should work. The best part about Dell risers for this board, is that they move the PCIe slot rearward, so that it lines up with the rest of the IO panel.

I bought this one on eBay. Unfortunately they do not have any more for sale. Dell Part number GKYGX. I also managed to find the C8220X Front GPGPU Riser part number. I believe it is a tad bit higher, as it is specifically made for the front GPGPU to set above the 1U heat sinks. I believe its part number is YK8R5/FVXWX.

Here are a few pictures of the GKYGX that I am running.







And below are pictures of it in action on my machine with a GTX 980Ti (which is no small graphics card).






Notice the PCIe riser is offset inward. The I/O panel and the GPU panel line up.


I wish the riser was just a hair taller. Below you can see how the 1U heat sinks don't quite work out.



Note that the whole graphics card is leaning with the rear of the card up higher. This is due to the cpu heat sink being just a little too tall.

In the inward PCIe slot, the GPU almost sits centered over the CPU.



If I only ran 8 sticks of ram instead of 16 (which will be the plan), I can gain a little room side to side as well. So once the Corsair H60's are installed, and half the ram is taken out, I will be well off.


Another thing worth mentioning is that the card sits directly above the SATA and mini SAS connectors. A 90 degree cable will have to be used in order to plug into the board.





And I will need to build supports to hold such a large card in place. For now, I have tested it with the card's backplate resting on the 1U heat sink. I plan to make custom brackets to hold the GPU in place, as well as to support the PCIe card in the slot.


For reference, here are links to the C8220X front GPGPU riser cards. You can see in the pictures that they are a bit taller.

Dell Riser Card YK8R5| Newport Computers | Newport Computers

Dell Riser Card FVXWX| Newport Computers | Newport Computers


Those are also the cheapest prices I have found around. If anyone purchases one, let me know how they fit and how the customer service was.
These are some of the cleanest looking builds I've seen in a while, this is exactly why I wanted to use this board. Great job guys!

I've got my temporary fan controller up and going, gonna start throwing the case together.
 
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Limoneverde

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Mar 29, 2017
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Hello everybody!
I write from Italy, and I have just bought a C6220 mainboard P/N 0HYFFG REV:A00 BIOS REV:V.1.0.14, with 2 sata port near pci-e2 slots (not on the back), for a workstation project.

First of all many compliments to all of you for your results and infos! I have read all of your posts but I have the following questions:
- amazon power cable from 24+8pi to 18pin is not available for shipping in Italy, do you know other ebay/ecommerce international sellers? (SOLVED WITH EYE BOOT!)
- for the stand-by function, which is the scheme connection on the front panel connector for the green cable? (I do not understand the white elliptical cable picture)
- for the sata ports is it ok for my board the front panel connector jumper setting made by Wictar? if not which is the solution for sata drives? (pci-e sata card? which model?)
-@thomasz: which sata/sas connection/cable have you used?
- for the GPU is it possible to connect directly the card in the pci-e slots without a riser card? which one is better to use? (pci-e#1,pci-e#2 or the back pci-e?)
Thanks in advance for your help!!!
 
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drabadue

Active Member
Sep 15, 2016
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@Limoneverde - welcome to the thread.

I don't think we have tried a C6220 board without the rear SATA ports yet. So I am not sure if your onboard ports will work or not.

It looks like you got the patch cable figured out. I just searched C6100 patch cable and the correct one usually pops up to go from ATX power supply to this board.

When it comes to PCIe slots, use whichever one you can get the graphics card in. The problem I usually had with the x16 slots was that the GPU was too long and it interfered with the ram slots. I have been able to get it plugged in, but didn't leave it that way. I am using a riser in the front x16 slot. I have also played with the gpgpu cable for the c8220, and it works with some cards, yet doesn't work with others. I still haven't figured out why yet.

In order to get the board to power up, and get the standby feature to work, you need a +12v standby. The ATX power supplies have a 5v standby. So if you use an ATX power supply, you will need a DC to DC booster to get 12v standby. You also need to jump the pins in the front panel to get the board to power on. I made a quick write up for that back on page 4 I believe. It's got a picture of the front panel connector and the pin wire colors.

We haven't found a jumper yet to allow the SATA ports to work on the C8220. The board wictar got working was actually a 7200. I'm not sure it's the same. You can try the jumper and see what happens, but be careful. You could burn the board if it's not correct.

Keep us updated on your progress.
 
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Limoneverde

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Mar 29, 2017
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@drabadue: thanks for your quick reply!
I have ordered the power supply patch cable, I have understood the +12v standby issue, so in the front connector will go the "power on pin" from atx power supply and a permanent jumper (the small white rounded cable in the thomasz pictures?) to the adjacent pin, then use the power-on button to switch on the board, correct?
I am waiting for the cpus(2x e5-2640)/ram(8x8gb DDR 3 ECC SAMSUNG PC10600 1333mhz)/cooling fans(2x ARCTIC ALPINE 20 PLUS CO 2011) and I want to test my old GTX480 modded into a quadro6000 card.
The problem will be the sata/sas ports... in case of not success, which could be the best solution? buy the interposer HD card, a sas mezzanine/pci-e dell raid card, or a generic pci-e sata card?
I will keep you updated!
thanks again!
 
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drabadue

Active Member
Sep 15, 2016
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@Limoneverde - refer to the picture below for information on the front panel connections.





Note the purple box surrounding two pins. These are the pins that need to be connected to get the board to fire up. These are the pins that @thomasz has the white curly wire going to. The pin outlined with the blue box is the PS_ON pin. Connect it to the ATX power supply green wire (pin 16 below, PS-ON).





For both pinouts, make sure you note the orientation of the locating notch.


Below is the link to the C8220 hard drive interposer board. I am not sure if the C8220 board will work in the C6220. I know the two boards are layed out differently, so I am not sure if it will work, but I ASSUME it would.

BRAND NEW GENUINE Dell Poweredge C8220X Blade Backplane Hdd Sas/Sata 2X2.5 3W8K4 | eBay


Now, something to keep in mind with this interposer board, is that it makes the motherboard a few inches longer. I am not sure what your plans are for putting this in a case, but adding extra length to the board makes it that much harder.

If you decide to use a PCIe to sata card, any of them should work. I haven't experienced any myself, but I imagine they would work. Once again, from a case standpoint, the PCIe slots are not in an optimal position for a case. When you plug a PCIe card into the x16 slots, the card will stick out past the I/O panel. If you look at the 90 degree riser card mentioned in the posts above, you can see that it is offset inward, to shift the card so it is inline with the I/O panel.
 
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Limoneverde

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Mar 29, 2017
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@drabadue: you are great! thanks again!

I will build a wood dedicated case, so I can manage the extra length in a good way, generally a pci-e sata card is small and you can also take off the metal bracket, I will decide after testing it.
I do not understand why the on-board sas/sata ports do not work, maybe other jumper setting on the board or bmc setup...in another thread I have read: "The SAS port on the motherboard is weird, it's more of like a passthrough, if you notice on the C6220 node, it has no interposer unlike the C6100 node which has the node connected to a small daughterboard that has SATA ports on it. The node connector 'passes through' the connections. This is inherently one of the big flaws with the system and why you're limited to only 2 SATA3 and 4 SATA2 speeds."
 

drabadue

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Sep 15, 2016
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@Limoneverde - even taking the bracket off, you will still have the card stick out past the I/O panel in the x16 slots. It all depends on your case and how you make it.

I will hopefully have more updated pictures of my case tonight. I have made a lot of progress on it. My plans are to 3D print some brackets to hold the hard drives, power supply, and graphics card in place. Hopefully my 3D printer arrives soon, so I can get started on that.

I think the quote you posted is correct. The only reason I have found why Dell did this was for cable management. So you wouldn't have to run the SATA and mini SAS cables from the front of the board (mezzanine card) to the rear. I don't think there is a jumper to enable them, but if you figure something out, please let us know. I have a C8220 board that I am not using simply because I cant have the added length of the interposer board.
 

drabadue

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Sep 15, 2016
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@Limoneverde - Get your patch cable and try the SATA ports. We haven't tried a C6220 with only 2 ports yet. The C6220 I have has 4 ports on it, and the front onboard ports work, The C8220's with only the 2 SATA ports, dont seem to be working.

Maybe the C6220 with only 2 SATA ports will work as is. Try it and see. After you power it on, see if they show up in BIOS.
 

Limoneverde

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Mar 29, 2017
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so the sas/sata onboard ports could have 2 "modes":
1) passthrough the i/o hdd signals when it is installed an optional raid card
2) use the intel c602 i/o signals as standard stand alone sata ports
 

Limoneverde

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Mar 29, 2017
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@drabadue: I wil try and keep you updated, thanks again!
I have just verified that my board has 2 PCI-E G3 (and not g2) slots in the front so it could be a C6220 II system
 
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drabadue

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Sep 15, 2016
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so the sas/sata onboard ports could have 2 "modes":
1) passthrough the i/o hdd signals when it is installed an optional raid card
2) use the intel c602 i/o signals as standard stand alone sata ports
If they do have 2 modes, and we figure out how to activate them so we can use them, that would be great!


@drabadue: I wil try and keep you updated, thanks again!
I have just verified that my board has 2 PCI-E G3 (and not g2) slots in the front so it could be a C6220 II system
I have read this about the PCIe Gen2 and Gen3 slots between the C6220 and C6220II. I am not sure if that is a sure fire way of knowing the difference. Are you reading what is printed on the board? I assumed that the C6220 II had the 2 extra sata ports near the rear, similar to how the C8220 V1.1/V1.2 have them and the V1.0 does not.

I wish there was a clear cut way to know. With the C8220, we found board part numbers in the user manual that distinguishes the difference.

On the C6220, we weren't able to find that literature. It would be nice to have a part number list for all the C6220 boards, and which are version II.
 

Limoneverde

New Member
Mar 29, 2017
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@drabadue: on the board I have the DP/N 0W6W6G
the strange thing is that in the tech manual of c6220II there is a board picture without rear sata slots, and a drawing with them!
there is a comparison table where the c6220 has pcie gen2 slots and c622oII in comparison has gen3 for all slots
for sure the rear sata slots are INPUT slots (always reading the manual) and the front are the OUTPUT, so I think that there is no way to attach a sata drive directly to rear slots (if someone has done this please let us know)
I will give you more infos when I will switch on (hopefully) the board
bye!
 

drabadue

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Sep 15, 2016
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@limonverde - the W6W6G is a C8220 V1.0 board. It is the same board as my first one. I am almost certian you will need a hard drive interposer board to make it work. You will know a lot more once you boot too bios. The board model is on the first page of the BIOS.
 
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drabadue

Active Member
Sep 15, 2016
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I've made a little progress with my home made case. I am making it out of 15mm openbeam extrusion bought on Amazon. The length of the beams are 540mm long, which is just longer than the board. The width of the beams are almost the same as the width of the board to make the standoffs line up. I am using 34mm standoffs and maker beam corner cubes to hold the board in place. I plan to put the hard drives under the board, and the power supply above the rear of the board, similar to thomasz. You can see the GPU and the GPU riser in the pictures. Eventually I will 3d print supports and use plexiglass or acrylic to close the skeleton. The entire structure is held together by M3 screws.

Forgive the missing upright beams. I have not cut them yet.









 
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