Intel Xeon E5-2670 Deal and Price Tracking

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Stereodude

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Feb 21, 2016
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Not sure if anyone brought up this before, but just want to let everyone who is interested in converting a Dell T5600 to a dual E5-2670 workstation know that the 635W power supply comes with T5600 single cpu workstation is not enough to power dual E5-2670. You will have to have a 825w power supply. Some 2x quad core T5600 also equipped with the 635w PSU so be careful. The 825W power supply alone is about $300.00 on eBay. T5600 won't take a generic PSU due to its special design.
Not that I'm doubting you, but how can that be? My dual E5-2670 system's max consumption from the wall is like 385W running Prime95 (blend) with 1 SSD, 2 7200RPM HDDs, 64gB of RAM (8x8gB), a low end PCIe graphics card (GeForce GT720). A decent 500W supply should have no problems running it.
 
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rubylaser

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Jan 4, 2013
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Not that I'm doubting you, but how can that be? My dual E5-2670 system's max consumption from the wall is like 385W running Prime95 (blend) with 1 SSD, 2 7200RPM HDDs, 64gB of RAM (8x8gB), a low end PCIe graphics card (GeForce GT720). A decent 500W supply should have no problems running it.
+1. I have a dual e5-2670 setup as well with (24) spinning disks (mix of 7200/5900/5400RPM). I don't get anywhere close to 500 watts with all the disks spinning and both CPU's transcoding video.
 

marcoi

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Apr 6, 2013
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I jump onto the bandwagon and ordered Intel S2600CP Motherboard w/ Dual E5-2670 SR0KX , 128GB Ram from Natex. Now I'm working on getting deal from eBay for the other parts. :)

Does anyone with the P4216XXMHGR Server Chassis have idle and load numbers running esxi?
 

workingnonstop

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Feb 24, 2016
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Just as a price point, picked up 2x e5-2660's (SR0KK) yesterday for $57/ea shipped via OBO. This chip has been mentioned in this thread a couple of times... marginally slower than the e5-2670, 95W TDP vs 115W. I think it's all a binning game, but want to see if it impacts temps in my setup to swap them.
 

dstanding

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Jan 27, 2015
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Not that I'm doubting you, but how can that be? My dual E5-2670 system's max consumption from the wall is like 385W running Prime95 (blend) with 1 SSD, 2 7200RPM HDDs, 64gB of RAM (8x8gB), a low end PCIe graphics card (GeForce GT720). A decent 500W supply should have no problems running it.
2 things I can think of. First, inrush current can be considerably more than TDP so power consumption at startup will be greater than at 100% load, if only for a second. Second, the board may be designed to identify components installed and limit power to a % of the PSU's actual output...as in if a 500W PSU is installed, the board may call anything over 75% of rated power dangerous for constant load. Numbers are pulled out my backside, of course.
 

Patrick

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Just as a price point, picked up 2x e5-2660's (SR0KK) yesterday for $57/ea shipped via OBO. This chip has been mentioned in this thread a couple of times... marginally slower than the e5-2670, 95W TDP vs 115W. I think it's all a binning game, but want to see if it impacts temps in my setup to swap them.
I actually think these are better for the 4-in-2U node systems. 20w may not seem like much but x8 CPUs gets you 160w less CPU TDP and is also much easier for the shared cooling to keep cool.
 

workingnonstop

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Feb 24, 2016
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+1. I have a dual e5-2670 setup as well with (24) spinning disks (mix of 7200/5900/5400RPM). I don't get anywhere close to 500 watts with all the disks spinning and both CPU's transcoding video.
You're really making me rethink my PSU choice. This thread over at Freenas forums made me want to err on the side of larger, but your max draw seems lower than I would've feared. What PSU are you using? Thank you.

I actually think these are better for the 4-in-2U node systems. 20w may not seem like much but x8 CPUs gets you 160w less CPU TDP and is also much easier for the shared cooling to keep cool.
I'm throwing into an HTPC chassis for this build, but hoping that same logic applies!
 

josh

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Oct 21, 2013
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Anyone has recommendations for a desktop board? Thinking of putting some of my spare E5s for a new desktop.
 

Stereodude

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Feb 21, 2016
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Just as a price point, picked up 2x e5-2660's (SR0KK) yesterday for $57/ea shipped via OBO. This chip has been mentioned in this thread a couple of times... marginally slower than the e5-2670, 95W TDP vs 115W. I think it's all a binning game, but want to see if it impacts temps in my setup to swap them.
You'll save ~40W or so in a dual processor system. The TDP is ultimately enforced by the motherboard and sets how much power the CPU can draw.

You're really making me rethink my PSU choice. This thread over at Freenas forums made me want to err on the side of larger, but your max draw seems lower than I would've feared. What PSU are you using? Thank you.
Well, generally speaking it's hard to go too large, but if your system has a very light draw you could end up using a large supply where it's inefficient. However, a dual CPU E5 system doesn't have what would be considered a very light draw, even at idle unless you're look at a 1000+W supply.

Anyone has recommendations for a desktop board? Thinking of putting some of my spare E5s for a new desktop.
Supermicro X9SRA or ASRock Rack EPC602D8A. Both are still available from Newegg. Otherwise get into a bidding war on eBay for a used x79 board. Those two options aren't as expensive as you might think at a system level since they can use the cheap registered ECC DIMMs that are all over eBay whereas an x79 board needs standard unregistered DIMMs that cost more, a lot more if you want unregistered ECC DIMMs.

I went with a Supermicro X9SRA myself and am now fighting with the fan thresholds. The 140mm fans I'm using spin too slowly in the motherboard's opinion so it gets stuck in a an endless "pumping" cycle of hitting them with 100% PWM when they run to slow until they speed up enough, then thermal control takes over, they spin down, they run to slow, get hit with 100% PWM, etc. I'm in the process of building a small hardware solution to the problem because Supermicro likes to keep things in the BIOS very sparse. If you're using fans that stay above 800RPM (I think) you should be okay.
 

marv

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Apr 2, 2015
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Anyone has recommendations for a desktop board? Thinking of putting some of my spare E5s for a new desktop.
I bought used GA-X79-UP4. S3 is not working :(, board just power loops after wakeup. Read lot of posts regarding this also on other gigabyte x79 boards, but no solution.
 

josh

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Oct 21, 2013
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Those two options aren't as expensive as you might think at a system level since they can use the cheap registered ECC DIMMs that are all over eBay whereas an x79 board needs standard unregistered DIMMs that cost more, a lot more if you want unregistered ECC DIMMs.
I was planning on using my current desktop RAMs. Anyone tried overclocking on server boards?
 

4004

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Feb 8, 2016
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I went with a Supermicro X9SRA myself and am now fighting with the fan thresholds.
Same board here, but quiet here. CPU fan is the CM Hyper Evo 120mm & BIOS fan profile is Standard.

The other 3 fans are 3 pin, but run at fixed speeds. The noisy fans get 5v the quiet ones 7v.

Picture is of a 5V adapter (stock is 12V, Yellow & Black). Molex.jpg
5V, Red & Black.
7V, Yellow goes to Red & Red goes to Black.
There are solutions, like fans with H/M/L switches from fleabay (Modifying existing is easy).

Hope that helps.

 
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Stereodude

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Feb 21, 2016
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I was planning on using my current desktop RAMs. Anyone tried overclocking on server boards?
They can't overclock. E5 v1 CPUs basically don't overclock. At most you can adjust BCLK a few MHz (assuming you have a motherboard that lets you change it). Supposedly the E5 V2 CPUs (Ivy Bridge-E) do a little better.

Hope that helps.
I want to maintain full PWM control from the motherboard of the fans, so I have a very different solution in mind. Basically I'm going to intercept the tachometer signals coming back from the fans and scale them up so the motherboard thinks they're running faster than they are, and leaves them alone to run under PWM control.
 

workingnonstop

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Feb 24, 2016
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Well, generally speaking it's hard to go too large, but if your system has a very light draw you could end up using a large supply where it's inefficient. However, a dual CPU E5 system doesn't have what would be considered a very light draw, even at idle unless you're look at a 1000+W supply.
My original plan was a 1000W PSU, now contemplating a 850W unit because it's physically smaller than the 1000W unit and helps with airflow a bit. I was debating shrinking even more, but think I'll stick with the 850W just so I don't have to ever worry about it. It's only a ~$20 difference between 850W and 750W, which in context of the total system cost, is de minimis.
 

JayG30

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Feb 23, 2015
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Not that I'm doubting you, but how can that be? My dual E5-2670 system's max consumption from the wall is like 385W running Prime95 (blend) with 1 SSD, 2 7200RPM HDDs, 64gB of RAM (8x8gB), a low end PCIe graphics card (GeForce GT720). A decent 500W supply should have no problems running it.
2 things I can think of. First, inrush current can be considerably more than TDP so power consumption at startup will be greater than at 100% load, if only for a second. Second, the board may be designed to identify components installed and limit power to a % of the PSU's actual output...as in if a 500W PSU is installed, the board may call anything over 75% of rated power dangerous for constant load. Numbers are pulled out my backside, of course.
No experience with the system in question but, I've ran into a similar situation with a Dell R710 server. Initially has a single CPU and redundant 570W PSU's. Installed DUAL X5650 CPU's. On boot the system would warn that it would operate in an reduced performance mode because of the CPU's. The potential amount of wattage they COULD draw requires you to install 870W PSU's (even says so in the manual). Even though the system never saw that type of wattage.
 

Stereodude

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Feb 21, 2016
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No experience with the system in question but, I've ran into a similar situation with a Dell R710 server. Initially has a single CPU and redundant 570W PSU's. Installed DUAL X5650 CPU's. On boot the system would warn that it would operate in an reduced performance mode because of the CPU's. The potential amount of wattage they COULD draw requires you to install 870W PSU's (even says so in the manual). Even though the system never saw that type of wattage.
You just gotta love Dell's hardcoded attempts to dip their hands into your pockets and liberate more of your money from you.
 

Hrast

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Oct 5, 2013
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You just gotta love Dell's hardcoded attempts to dip their hands into your pockets and liberate more of your money from you.
Dell doesn't build equipment for the secondary market (no one does). They build stuff to reduce support costs. If I drop two higher wattage CPUs in a system, they'd rather fail to boot the system with a clear error message than deal with an angry customer(s) with random problems that are almost impossible to track down. Having worked on that side of the fence, I would too. If the up-rated power supplies are "too expensive", maybe someone's reach exceeded their grasp to begin with.
 

Luke Pulaski

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Mar 16, 2016
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Not that I'm doubting you, but how can that be? My dual E5-2670 system's max consumption from the wall is like 385W running Prime95 (blend) with 1 SSD, 2 7200RPM HDDs, 64gB of RAM (8x8gB), a low end PCIe graphics card (GeForce GT720). A decent 500W supply should have no problems running it.
Not sure why, but that's what the message reads at boot up. Once the computer started I also check the system to see how may cpu are there, only 16 cores. So either only half of each CPU or only one CPU is working. I found a used 825w Dell PSU for another $120.00. Still waiting, will see.