Supermicro X11SPM-TPF (10g sfp+) with silver 4110 in SC847 - ~130w power draw!??

[FlashEngineer]

So I've purposely built and swapped my other old systems to this board+cpu gen because it idles very good, this system is my NAS so it's idle like 90% of the time, trying to cut down on power consumption for sake for longer UPS runtime and other factors.

Anyhow, I couldn't believe my eyes when it's running higher power than my Xeon D-1518 board which again runs higher than usual, not sure what is going on. Specs:

SC847 chassis - disconnected rear backplane
X11SPM-TPF
4x 16GB DDR4 ram sticks
LSI9300 HBA card (15w draw)
11x WD HDD (roughly calculated about 50w by disconnecting it and running the system without it)
7x FAN-0127L4 - at about 3000rpm
2x PSU 1200w - I know these have bad efficiency at lower power, but I was checking both wall and IPMI and they sap about 15-18w each
BPN-SAS3-846 backplane

That's it. The 130w is removing HBA+ 11 drives and powering up and it shows that on IPMI output. On the wall it's about 160-165w. From all my readings about this generation cpu and these boards, it should be way lower, like below 50w, unless you are saying my backplane and 7 fans are adding 100watts? I guess I can remove 1-2 fans and see how much power change it is.

Anyone have any idea?

 

[mattventura]

I would expect it to run hotter than the 1518, it's a higher TDP CPU.

Try it with no fans, no backplane, no cards, one DIMM, completely idle CPU.

 

[j_h_o]

Did you have your D-1518 board in this exact chassis with PSU and fans? How many sticks of RAM?

Yes, I'd reduce that down to 1 fan, and 1 stick of RAM.

 

[mattventura]

Also, make sure the backplanes have their power removed, and not just the data cables.

 

[FlashEngineer]

Did you have your D-1518 board in this exact chassis with PSU and fans? How many sticks of RAM?

Yes, I'd reduce that down to 1 fan, and 1 stick of RAM.

Yeah the 1518 was with same RAM and fans/psu. The total wattage was about 25w less. Still overall high, just can't believe fans+backplane cost so much to run?

 

[oneplane]

What do tools like PowerTop say? It's possible some of it just needs reconfiguration.

 

[mattventura]

You can certainly run an 847 without all 7 fans. Especially if you're only running 11 drives, in which case it's basically an oversized 826. The 826 only has 3 80mm fans.

 

[FlashEngineer]

yeah but the chassis airflow might not be good with 3 fans. Either way I've calculated to be minimal - 25w of power which still doesn't account for so much more draw if this board + cpu only draws 30 on idle? I can make sure really true draw by disconnecting everything, but the backplane is hard to disconnect with all those damn molex connectors.

Are we certain x11 + silver 4000 cpu only draws 30 on idle?

 

[BlueFox]

You can certainly run an 847 without all 7 fans. Especially if you're only running 11 drives, in which case it's basically an oversized 826. The 826 only has 3 80mm fans.

Don't think that's a fair comparison. 826 is 2U and has a far different design. If you meant 846, that has 5 fans.

 

[FlashEngineer]

Are there any bios configurations to reduce power on this board? I already set on xigmanas the minimum power consumption mode which forces mostly 800mhz, I don't know what else it could do.

 

[RolloZ170]

too many variables and guessing. 100W (and not the CPU) the mboard will smell like BBQ.

set BIOS to defaults
(maybe Adv. PCIe/PnP - NVME FW source: back to AMI Native to support M.2 boot)
run the board external with std. ATX PSU, install windows 10 only and check the power consumtion on the wall in IDLE.

 

[FlashEngineer]

too many variables and guessing. 100W (and not the CPU) the mboard will smell like BBQ.

set BIOS to defaults
(maybe Adv. PCIe/PnP - NVME FW source: back to AMI Native to support M.2 boot)
run the board external with std. ATX PSU, install windows 10 only and check the power consumption on the wall in IDLE.

I don't have an external PSU, all my servers are supermicro and I can only use those. You're saying the PMBUS and whole PSU setup in their servers is using more power? I know IPMI uses power and you said you had this board so it should factor it in unless you disabled IPMI. I can put in a windows boot drive and see the idle power without anything else connected but using the SC847 chassis and only single PSU.

 

[RolloZ170]

I can put in a windows boot drive and see the idle power without anything else connected but using the SC847 chassis and only single PSU.

you have to know the power requirement of the bare board plus cpu in real IDLE to find the bad boy.
your IPMI sensors show CPU 39C, thats not idle.

 

[RolloZ170]

You're saying the PMBUS and whole PSU setup in their servers is using more power?

i don't know.
your have called this thread "X11spm draws 130W"
it is the easyiest way to check who is the power drawer.
IPMI/BMC chip 3-4watts.

 

[oneplane]

What does powertop say?

 

[RolloZ170]

I already set on xigmanas the minimum power consumption mode which forces mostly 800mhz, I don't know what else it could do.

this means the board can not be the issue. there is nothing under 800 1000mhz.
proof that and look elsewhere for the bad boy.

 

[Rand__]

From all my readings about this generation cpu and these boards, it should be way lower, like below 50w,

I have no idea where u got the idea that a Skylake board only uses 50W.
I usually see 70+ with minimal config.

Supermicro fans usually take a lot as well, 5-10W, add the atrocious efficiency of the 1200W PSUs at ~10% utilization and I dont think u're missing much.

I don't have a X11SPM-TPF but should have an X11SPL or SPI and a 4110. I'll run a test for you with a cheap (inefficient) ATX PSU.

Edit - sorry have to postpone that, couldnt find a narrow cpu bracket atm

 

[mattventura]

To somewhat alleviate the PSU inefficiency at low usage, you can always just run it with only one PSU instead of both.

 

[RolloZ170]

I have no idea where u got the idea that a Skylake board only uses 50W.

i have a intel S2600BPB with Platinum 8176F on my benchtable.
35w-40 Watts on the wall (MSI 850W PSU) in windows 10, 28 cores @8001000mhz(HWinfo) (you have to wait to complete the background services to start) only two FANs - 60mm CPU FAN + 90mm for PCH/NIC heatsinks.

 

[gb00s]

I have no idea where u got the idea that a Skylake board only uses 50W.
I usually see 70+ with minimal config. Supermicro fans usually take a lot as well, 5-10W, add the atrocious efficiency of the 1200W PSUs at ~10% utilization and I dont think u're missing much. I don't have a X11SPM-TPF but should have an X11SPL or SPI and a 4110. I'll run a test for you with a cheap (inefficient) ATX PSU. Edit - sorry have to postpone that, couldnt find a narrow cpu bracket atm

X11SPM-TPF here with W-3245M + 6x16GB 2933 Mhz RAM + Noctua w/2x12cm PWM Fans + NVMe + PWS 501 PSU = 104W .... No PCI or anything, but set to 'Max Performance'' mode in BIOS.