Intel Xeon E5-2670 Deal and Price Tracking

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thorin

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Aug 30, 2016
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Anyone still following 2670-80-90 and got any price updates related to this?

I just saw this: Intel Xeon E5-2670 (#583-0657) 2.6GHz (3.3GHz Turbo) 20MB 8GT/s SR0KX Server CPU

Been following it for a while now and it seems it's a wide range, while we're now going lower. So looks like we're back at 65 USD for 2670 C2.

I'm contemplating going up to 80 or 90, but not interested in paying premiums, so was especially wondering about what Nanotech mentioned, 80s for 60.
 

supernoman

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Sep 1, 2016
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I recently picked up a Lenovo S30 with E5-2609. I was looking to upgrade the proc. Would the E5-2670 or E5-2680 work in this server?
 

thorin

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The E5-2680 prices seem to still be somewhat higher than the E5-2670. The 2690 price is still at a high premium and in my opinion the premium is not worth it for a 2680 or even a 2690. If you can get by with a 2670 for now I would recommend so. Then when V2 Xeon prices drop you can pick those up and get better clock speeds and more cores.
Yes, looks like 2690 is out of the picture.

So you know what the premium for 2680 is? See alot of 70 priced at the same as 80s.
 

supernoman

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Sep 1, 2016
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Yes, looks like 2690 is out of the picture.

So you know what the premium for 2680 is? See alot of 70 priced at the same as 80s.
Based on esiso ebay pricing, 79 for 2670 and 106 for 2680. I found another seller today that accepted 80 for 2680 so I went with that. I definitely would have gone with the 2670 for 55-60 range but esiso countered with 77 so I didn't bother.
 

JayG30

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Feb 23, 2015
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Have RAM prices gone up?
I purchase that Nanya RAM (8x8GB) for $85... $10.63/8GB... $1.33/1GB.
I'm not seeing prices like that anywhere now.
 

thorin

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Aug 30, 2016
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No idea, feel that RAM fluctuates worse than currency :)

Also worth mentioning that any deal on eBay can be thrown out on the 2670 since Natex are running these out for $65 a pop.
 

BackupProphet

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And some of us is still waiting for further price drop. I'm not willing to spend 5x more than LGA 1366 when I have no use case that can defend that investment yet. I believe that jumping from E5 v1 to v2 and v3 will take even longer time as the differences and benefits are getting more and more marginal.
 
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pc-tecky

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Yeah!! I finally got the Natex combo deal and put it together. :D I've processed so much information reading and re-reading what I read 6-months ago that it's all turning into mush. I was hoping to find a post that consolidated most of the issues with solutions presented as an "easier to follow guide." Searching with the right terms is its own art form. (A lot of misses before a solid hit.) And so now I have more questions.

I'm curious about the C600 SAS and SATA upgrade keys. Is getting any of the Intel C600 upgrade keys really worthwhile? Would the SAS8R5 key allow SAS and SATA drives or only SAS drives? Obviously, the SATA8? C600 key would only permit SATA drives. I was briefly thinking the C600 key could be used with drives to host ESXi itself. I plan to use the SAS HBA cards (flashed to IT mode) that I have for use with the VMs as needed.

I have a brief 20 seconds of bliss somewhere near the end of the BMC update process. And this post with its list of steps mentioned using the SYSCFG /rfs (restores factory settings) and SYSCFG/rBMC (reset BMC) commands (used back to back or you risk getting odd behavior) with Intel's "Save and Restore System Configuration utility (syscfg)" yielded maybe 2 minutes of bliss when invoked.

I've tried running the FRUSDR update process only to have it fail for some FRU header mismatch to the FRU system and related file. Is there a fix for this? I didn't get many options presented when running the FRUSDR update to select which fan headers to use or which fan ramping method, but it detected the Intel P4000M (4216XXMHGR) chassis as non-redundant fan chassis (yes, the one with 2x 120mm fans, 16x 2.5" drive bays, and two 750 W PSUs). I just read the post about Forcing FRUSDR Update. Question @DavidVermillion : where did the S2600CP.fru file come from?

I Googled for "Intel S2600CP" and got these links: Downloads for Intel Server Board S2600CP Family, the Intel CS2600CP/P4000M Quick Start Guide, and the Intel S2600CP/P4000M Service Guide.

Starting to make a dent - maybe?!? :confused:
 

epicurean

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Sep 29, 2014
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I have both the RKSAS8 andn the SATA8 keys, and was hoping to use them to passthrough the entire controller to Napp It in ESXI. Have been unsuccessful so far as the controllers wants to map itself above the 4GB ram range and thus this is not doable.
Intel support was unhelpful
 

jwegman

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Mar 6, 2016
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@pc-tecky
it detected the Intel P4000M (4216XXMHGR) chassis as non-redundant fan chassis (yes, the one with 2x 120mm fans, 16x 2.5" drive bays, and two 750 W PSUs). I just read the post about Forcing FRUSDR Update. Question @DavidVermillion : where did the S2600CP.fru file come from?
You hadn't disclosed what chase you were using; are you actually using 4216XXMHGR or raising a question as to why your chassis is being detected as one? If so, what fan headers do you have FAN1 and FAN2 plugged into? If it's correctly detecting the chassis as 4216XXMHGR, then I presume the SYS FAN1 and SYS FAN2 headers (they are color coded) were used (as they should be).

Make sure that whenever the system is powered up, that the top cover is on so that the chassis intrusion detection switch is closed (or tape the switch itself closed). Otherwise that forces the BMC to spin the fans at 100%

Also make sure that the BIOS Fan PWM Offset is 0 (zero), otherwise that'll add the offset value to the base signal to the fans. My first 2600cp2 from natex was 100.

What is the SEL (system event log) telling you? Any Errors?
 

pc-tecky

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May 1, 2013
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Yes, the Intel 4216XXMHGR Chassis, with the top cover in place because of the intrusion switch. I read the quick install guide and portions of the technical service guide prior to assembly. Using SYS_FAN headers 1 & 2. Hmm.. BIOS fan PWM now set to 0 (was 15, and prior was 100) and rebooted system. SEL?? Well, I have the option to clear the system event log. I feel a little stupid for asking where and how to access the SEL?

Well, well.. that's very interesting. :confused: I now have a very quiet system. :D I only had to run "FRUSDR /fru s2600cp.fru" that I happen to just now see on the root of the USB drive used to flash the system with the other day. Where was that at yesterday? :mad::mad::mad: Whatever it was, it's very nice now that it's very quiet and I can think again with this box on (for now). :cool: We'll see what happens once ESXi is installed and running some VMs.

I was starting to get worried that I'd have to build my own anechoic chamber. Those big fancy multi-million dollar anechoic chambers for testing electronics and automobiles are SOOO nice. You can think very clearly because there are no distracting noises anywhere near you so much that you can barely hear yourself breath, and that's with the side door open. Oh, and I was so getting ready to use the credit card too. I found the 1/4" x 4'x 8' rolls of rubber-foam-like sheets [dB3 or dB-Bloc] ($60) and sound-proofing batting [either/both stone wool ($50) or/and recycled denim (~$8/roll or a box of 6 for $36)]) materials to build my own chamber via the local home improvement stores with some plywood and screws or nails. Although the need for air flow channels quickly becomes a concern and a design issue to over come.

My conclusion (a few hours later):

UEFI/EFI has some command line/shell elements similar to Linux - very nice.
hint: "ls" and DOS "dir" do the same thing to list file in the current directory
hint: [TAB] completes the file name that you started, but it's kinda dumb and jumps to the first file option that matches (i.e. Upd + [TAB] and Upd + [TAB] + [TAB] -> both go to UpdateBIOS when you wanted say UpdateFRUSDR)

1. Download your version choice of firmwares (BIOS/BMC/ME/FRUSDR) from Downloads for Intel Server Board S2600CP Family. Expand for more options as firmwares from something like 1.02.0003 up through 2.06.0002 are available to download.

2. Download Intel's "Save and Restore System Configuration utility (syscfg)"

3. With a clean FAT32 (so EFI can read it) USB drive (some say under 4GB - I used an old 1GB), Extract both downloads: firmwares to root (drive_letter:\) and the syscfg to separate folder (or to root -- but I didn't try this) with your choice of OS (on another computer of course).

4. With USB drive now in S2600CP server, Power the server on.
-- a: auto detection should run the combo firmwares update script (step 5)
--b. if you have the "Shell>" prompt, try "map-r"
--c. "fso:\" (or "cd fs0:\")
--d. ?? try "startup.nsh"?? Or use "ls" to find the script you want to run.

5. Let the automatic firmwares update script run or run the individual firmware update scripts

6. If you have issues with FRUSDR failing to update, then try running:
-- a. "SYSCFG /rfs" -- resets to factory settings
-- b. "SYSCFG/rBMC" --resets BMC to use with restored factory settings
--c. Running step 6.a. and then step 6.b. prevents strange behavior -- or just reboot the system say 3 minutes later (be sure to allow the BMC to fully reboot) after the fans ramp up again
--d. then run "FRUSDR /fru s2600.fru" (as it should be on the root of USB drive)

7. reboot (strongly encouraged)

8. rerun UpdateFRUSDR (especial after new fans, relocated fans, new drive cages (8x 3.5" vs 8x or 16x 2.5"), etc)

I hope this helps somebody else as it wasn't very clear to me when I started digging for answers yesterday morning until a few hours ago (~10:15pm).

Hmm... still need to figure out where and how to access the SEL - is the the Error Log page within BIOS or via something else?

@jwegman - Your comments were right on queue with what I had been doing and thinking so as to double check my work and eliminate those factors. Thanks.
 
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Boddy

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Thanks @pc-tecky for your informative and detailed post. It will come in very handy when I set up my 4216XXMHGR. Cheers :)
 

jwegman

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@pc-tecky

Glad you got it working and didn't need to resort to the anechoic chamber :)

To answer the question on how to access the SEL (system error log), that's available via the (built in) BMC Web console or via IPMI. Either way, you need to adjust the Bios -> System Management -> BMC, and setup a network interface and enable a user.

I've done a few of these builds thus far, and none of them had needed anything more than allowing the BIOS UEFI update package's Startup.nsh to run through the BIOS, ME, BMC, FRU/SDR updates. Then boot into the BIOS settings and reset to Defaults, then sanity check the Fan PWM Offset value (make sure it's zero).

From my experience, your instructions over complicate matters and I think it's prudent to clarify that people should follow the Intel instructions for running the BIOS, ME, BMC, and FRUSDR updates first...

In my experience, the stock Intel scripts had been good at detecting the motherboard model, and correctly calling the proper .fru file (vs you manually invoking the frusdr tool and calling the .fru file directly) then perhaps if they have issues, see your tips for using the syscfg tool...

However I highly suspect that your entire issue (after initially running through the BIOS, ME, BMC, and FRUSDR updates) was that you most likely hadn't gone into the BIOS settings and reset to default; thus leaving the Fan PWM Offset to an elevated value resulting in higher than default fan RPM.
 

ecosse

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Jul 2, 2013
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And some of us is still waiting for further price drop. I'm not willing to spend 5x more than LGA 1366 when I have no use case that can defend that investment yet. I believe that jumping from E5 v1 to v2 and v3 will take even longer time as the differences and benefits are getting more and more marginal.
I agree with this. I've only updated my infrastructure because of limited RAM slots on my LGA 1366 platform but certainly for my requirement its not been the greatest investment!
 

Jeffreykmc

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Sep 9, 2016
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Hey guys! I pulled the trigger on the setup from Natex.us a few months ago but just got around to setting it up now. However, it won't boot.

I've got it hooked up to a Rosewill glacier 850w PSU and get green status lights when it's all hooked up. However, when I press power, I get a quick beep and then that's it. It has two CPUs installed with 8x8GB ECC installed, all from natex. What could I be missing? It has literally just the PSU hookups, CPU and memory. No HDs, fans etc.

Any advice?
 
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Fritz

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Make sure the heatsinks are making good contact and there is thermal grease on the CPU's. Any problems in this area will cause an instant thermal shutdown.