Clarifying the X9SCL, CPU and ECC ram compatiblity

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lpallard

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
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Hey guys,

I am trying to understand if this combination will work, and this is confusing:

Supermicro X9SCL (Supermicro | Products | Motherboards | Xeon® Boards | X9SCL)
CPU Intel i3 3240 (Intel® Core™ i3-3240 Processor (3M Cache, 3.40 GHz) Specifications)
Ram (not decided yet).

The issue is that the Supermicro's website clearly states
  • 4x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM sockets
  • Supports up to 32 GB DDR3 ECC Un-Buffered memory (UDIMM)
  • 1333/1600MHz*** ECC DDR3 SDRAM 72-bit, 240-pin gold-plated DIMMs
So it appears as if this board will take ONLY ECC memory. Is that correct?

But also states:

Single socket H2 (LGA 1155) supports Intel® Xeon® E3-1200 & E3-1200 v2 series, 2nd and 3rd Gen Core i3 processors***, Pentium, Celeron

I am about to pair this board with a i3 3240 CPU which according to Intel's ARK page does NOT support ECC, but newer i3 editions do support ECC.

So do I absolutely need ECC memory with this motherboard?

Will the i3 3240 work with ECC memory?

I have found references where people seems to use this particular motherboard with the same CPU but all seems to run ECC ram.. I just need to know from someone's experience if this going to work.
 
lpallard

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
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Thanks Marsh for replying. I popped the i3 3240 CPU in the X9SCL with a stick of 8GB of KVR16E11K4/32 and booted up.

I get no video, and after about 10 seconds, I hear 4 identical beeps.

The motherboard manual does not mention anything with 4 beeps. All that is says is the following:

BIOS Error Beep Codes

1 beep = Refresh - Circuits have been reset. (Ready to power up)
5 short beeps + 1 long beep = Memory error (No memory detected in the system)
8 beeps = Display memory read/write error (Video adapter missing or with faulty memory)

??? Weird no?
 
lpallard

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
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Just tried moving the stick around, same issue. Tried another stick, same issue. Tried with a stick of Corsair XMS3 memory (regular desktop RAM, not registered, Non-ECC) and of course same issue...

I even tried with a E3-1220v2... Same issue. Whats going on?
 
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lpallard

lpallard

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Aug 17, 2013
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Marsh, please take a look back at my posts 4 & 5

The motherboard doesnt post at all...
 
M

Marsh

Moderator
May 12, 2013
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Couple of guesses.
try 2 sticks of ram for dual channel operation.
Stupid question, did you plug in the 8pin EPS 12v connector to the system board?
 
lpallard

lpallard

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Aug 17, 2013
276
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I already tried 2 sticks of RAM... Same problem, beeps 4 times

Yes, the 8pin EPS 12v connector is plugged in ;)

I think I have an idea of whats going on... Motherboard must be running BIOS 1.1 which does NOT support DDR3-1600 which is the type of RAM I am trying with it... The supermicro page says

BIOS rev. 2.0 or above is needed to support new E3-1200 v2 CPUs, which supports PCI-E 3.0 & DDR3 1600
Click to expand...
Should I try to get a stick of ECC DDR3-1066 / 1333 or an older i3 CPU?
 
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lpallard

lpallard

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Aug 17, 2013
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That's also what led me to believe that the ram was not supported. It's 4 short beeps.

I think I'm gonna get a stick of cheap ddr3 1066 (hell just 1gb would be sufficient) then try it.

I just hope the CPU is supported by the current BIOS otherwise I will need an older lga1155 chip just to flash the BIOS and it's been already expensive enough....
 
cheezehead

cheezehead

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Sep 23, 2012
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I'm running a single 4GB DDR3 ECC UDIMM (not registered) in mine without any issues. This will not work with REG ECC memory nor will it work with regular desktop memory. Also, support for ivybridge parts is via a BIOS update...if your not running a new enough BIOS rev it won't post with ivybridge parts.
 
J

JeffroMart

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Jun 27, 2014
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I've got some X9XCL-F boards, and I've been using KVR16E11/8I sticks without issue, however they are on E3v1/E3v2 based procs.
 
lpallard

lpallard

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Aug 17, 2013
276
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cheezehead said:
I'm running a single 4GB DDR3 ECC UDIMM (not registered) in mine without any issues. This will not work with REG ECC memory nor will it work with regular desktop memory. Also, support for ivybridge parts is via a BIOS update...if your not running a new enough BIOS rev it won't post with ivybridge parts.
Click to expand...
Yeah I think this is my problem. Both CPUs I tried (i3 3240 and e3-1220v2) are ivy bridge based.

I ordered a cheap stick of ddr3 1333 off of eBay but now apparently I need a cheap CPU to update the BIOS....

Which chip do you recommend? Price is crucial...
 
cheezehead

cheezehead

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Sep 23, 2012
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I ended up picking up a G620T for cheap on ebay, ran the bios update in and ended up sticking with it due to lower power consumption and it was powerful enough for a firewall.
 
lpallard

lpallard

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Aug 17, 2013
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Theres a Celeron G440 on fleebay for cheap, I think this might actually work to update the bios on this damn X9SCL. I would pair it with a stick of samsung ddr3-1333 ECC unbuffered.

Would that work? The G440 is Sandy Bridge based so I think this would allow me at least to POST and boot to flash the BIOS?
 
cheezehead

cheezehead

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Sep 23, 2012
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Midwest, US
lpallard said:
Theres a Celeron G440 on fleebay for cheap, I think this might actually work to update the bios on this damn X9SCL. I would pair it with a stick of samsung ddr3-1333 ECC unbuffered.

Would that work? The G440 is Sandy Bridge based so I think this would allow me at least to POST and boot to flash the BIOS?
Click to expand...
Should work fine.
 
lpallard

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
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OK got the Celeron CPU and single stick of Samsung DDR3-1066 ECC ram. Plugged both in the X9SCL and this is interesting. With this memory and CPU, the motherboard wont POST. The green LED on the motherboard is lit up, but nothing on the VGA and no beeps.

I removed the stick of memory since it was easier than removing the CPU, and tried to boot and see if the motherboard would produce a memory error (no memory more or less), which it did: 5 short beeps + 1 long beep. According to Supermicro's support, this is empty memory banks error which makes sense.

Now I am wondering if this memory is compatible with the X9SCL. This is a samsung M391B5773CH0-YH9. Normally I would expect the motherboard simply to beep if the memory was incompatible/unsupported but not Posting at all??? Nothing on the video display, and keyboard LED's are not lit up ..
 
P

pricklypunter

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Nov 10, 2015
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The RAM you are using, M391B5773CH0-YH9, is not on the compatibility list, that doesn't necessarily mean it won't work in that board though, it may well do so, but it's untested for reliability.

I have seen at least 1 ebay listing today for an X9SCL mainboard with a couple of these fitted, so I guess it works for the seller in that board all else being equal. If using a single DIMM though, it should be fitted in slot2a irc, so make sure that's where you have it located. As for the not beeping etc, it's pretty common to find a mainboard just does nada when RAM that it doesn't like is fitted, so I wouldn't get my hopes up that the board will be able to tell you that you have the wrong RAM :)

Here's the link to that board: Serverbundle Supermicro X9SCL+ -F, Xeon E3-1230, 4GB ECC RAM, µATX, IPMI
 
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