Cheap chinese x79 mobos

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Klee

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2016
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I just built a "Machinist" brand M-ATX x79 board. Popped the chipset heat sink off and it has a c602 chipset and Windows 10 activated with a digital license. I never entered a key during or after install. I was a bit surprised since this was a cheap x79 board that was brand new and not an open box or used.
 

wildpig1234

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2016
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I just built a "Machinist" brand M-ATX x79 board. Popped the chipset heat sink off and it has a c602 chipset and Windows 10 activated with a digital license. I never entered a key during or after install. I was a bit surprised since this was a cheap x79 board that was brand new and not an open box or used.
what windows ver? home?
 

Vit K

Member
Feb 23, 2017
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It is called OEM key that usually installed in BIOS/UEFI on chinese boards from Aliexpress, it is probably Windows 7 or Windows 8 key that automatically activates Windows 10. Microsoft not even try anymore with their activation servers, they happy to fetch you personal data using telemetry more, than sell you another copy of Windows.
 

Dukenukemx

New Member
Apr 14, 2021
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Anyone able to get S3 sleep working on one of these? I bought one and when I set the bios to S3 the system won't wake up. I'm using Linux Mint 20, and I think S3 even corrupted my drive. Any particular bios that would help or allow me to overclock my Xeon?

Here's what it looks like.
 

wildpig1234

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2016
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Anyone able to get S3 sleep working on one of these? I bought one and when I set the bios to S3 the system won't wake up. I'm using Linux Mint 20, and I think S3 even corrupted my drive. Any particular bios that would help or allow me to overclock my Xeon?

Here's what it looks like.
The illusive s3 sleep....lol.... we all scream for s3 sleep.... but for some reasons, the oem either find it too hard or costly to implement? or just don't care?

Even with my relatively new 5 month old HP pav 15 15-eh0050wm managed to surreptitiously use S1 connected standby instead of having a proper S3.....

It really sucks doesn't it? We all want true S3 in everything but manufacturers just refuse to give us S3!!!!
 

Dukenukemx

New Member
Apr 14, 2021
9
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The illusive s3 sleep....lol.... we all scream for s3 sleep.... but for some reasons, the oem either find it too hard or costly to implement? or just don't care?

Even with my relatively new 5 month old HP pav 15 15-eh0050wm managed to surreptitiously use S1 connected standby instead of having a proper S3.....

It really sucks doesn't it? We all want true S3 in everything but manufacturers just refuse to give us S3!!!!
I guess it doesn't just effect Linux then? It can at least hibernate right? I haven't tested this yet since I gotta reinstall Mint. What about overclocking an E5 2689 Xeon? Is that possible on this board?
 

Neil Jefferies

New Member
Jun 28, 2019
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neilstechdocs.blogspot.com
E5-26xx Xeons are generally locked so the best you can do for overclocking is maybe tweak BCLK. For overclocking you either want an E5-16xx (or a 2011-3 motherboard with an E5 V3). More information can be found here: Xeon-e5450.ru - Серверные процессоры для игровых и рабочих ПК. Характеристики, обзоры, сравнения и тесты, актуальность.. Sleep/Hibernate has always been problematic on the cheapies - but if you look on here even the bigger names like Supermicro and Gigabyte have had problems with it on occasion - although usually with dual boards.
 
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Dukenukemx

New Member
Apr 14, 2021
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E5-26xx Xeons are generally locked so the best you can do for overclocking is maybe tweak BCLK. For overclocking you either want an E5-16xx (or a 2011-3 motherboard with an E5 V3). More information can be found here: Xeon-e5450.ru - Серверные процессоры для игровых и рабочих ПК. Характеристики, обзоры, сравнения и тесты, актуальность.. Sleep/Hibernate has always been problematic on the cheapies - but if you look on here even the bigger names like Supermicro and Gigabyte have had problems with it on occasion - although usually with dual boards.
Hopefully hibernate isn't a problem. That would suck. I've had problems with brand name motherboards and sleep as well. Is there an improved BIOS for this motherboard?
 

wildpig1234

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2016
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My conclusion after dealing with numerous 2001 v1/2 boards is that if you really want s3 sleep working properly, just avoid cheap chinese x79 boards as well as supermicro.

The best OEM built 2001 single socket computer is the lenovo S30 type 4351 or 4352. It uses a lot of generic components, comes at good price if you can get it for less than $180 on ebay. I have got a few as low as $120. It can handle up to 256GB ddr3 ram using 8x 32GB DDR3. S3 sleep works perfectly. The only negative is that it doesn't work with OEM cpu like the 2696v2 or use LRDIMMs

for dual socket 2001 v2, my recommendation would be lenovo D30. This one will work with oem cpu like 2696 v2. s3 sleep works great
 
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Dukenukemx

New Member
Apr 14, 2021
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Deer god, hiberate doesn't work either. What in Chinese hell have I gotten myself into? I'm gonna contact the guy I bought it from on Alibaba and see if I can get a refund. I'm not dealing with this.
 

wildpig1234

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2016
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Deer god, hiberate doesn't work either. What in Chinese hell have I gotten myself into? I'm gonna contact the guy I bought it from on Alibaba and see if I can get a refund. I'm not dealing with this.
I am sorry to hear that ;(.
If you are in real need of a reliable S3 sleep above everything else, consider my proposal of the lenovo S30.
This thing comes with a very decent gold 600W psu. as well as a good number of onboard SATA.
Make sure you get the 4551/4552 version. otherwise you won't be able to use v2 cpus.
 

Dukenukemx

New Member
Apr 14, 2021
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I am sorry to hear that ;(.
If you are in real need of a reliable S3 sleep above everything else, consider my proposal of the lenovo S30.
This thing comes with a very decent gold 600W psu. as well as a good number of onboard SATA.
Make sure you get the 4551/4552 version. otherwise you won't be able to use v2 cpus.
They seem to be going for $350, which is a lot for a 6 core from 2013. I can build a Ryzen 1600 system for nearly the same price, not including used parts off Ebay. I was experimenting with the Chinese motherboard, so it wasn't something I really needed. 2021 is a dead year when it comes to buying computer parts anyway.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (12nm) 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor ($173.99 @ MemoryC)
Motherboard: ASRock B450 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-2133 CL15 Memory ($42.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA SU635 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $338.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-04-16 16:29 EDT-0400
 

wildpig1234

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2016
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They seem to be going for $350, which is a lot for a 6 core from 2013. I can build a Ryzen 1600 system for nearly the same price, not including used parts off Ebay. I was experimenting with the Chinese motherboard, so it wasn't something I really needed. 2021 is a dead year when it comes to buying computer parts anyway.
Unless you really need to have a large amount of ram (64 - 256GB+) for cheap, I would recommend going with the latest ryzen anytime. the 2001 v1/v2 is pretty a dead end now. Even with dual 2696/2697 v2, you are no faster than 1950X in multicore and significantly slower in single core.
Add to that the fact of older MB with older ports and no new stuffs like nvme on board a lot of time, it's just not really worth it anymore.

I have a lenovo D30 as well as Asus z9ped16. Both can support 512GB ram if I for whatever need to use 512GB ram . I currently have 256GB on them which is really more than i will ever need for anything. But these are becoming ever slower compared to everything else now.
 

Dukenukemx

New Member
Apr 14, 2021
9
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Here's what the seller from Alibaba wrote. Let this be a lesson to others who try to buy one of these motherboards. I asked the seller to supply me a BIOS update that fixed the S3 and hibernate issues. I know he won't.

Shenzhen Lanjing Trading Co. said:
The default of our motherboard is S1 in the BIOS. But customer changed to S3, our product don't support function of S3 sleep or hiberate. We can only support S1 sleep. So we can't accept refund unless the default S1 sleep can't be used. The buyer has used our motherboard & processor for more than one month and we don't sure if they are in good condition right now.
 

DieBlub

Member
Dec 11, 2017
32
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Are there any good alternatives in regards to cheap boards that take DDR3 with these special e5 v3 cpus?