Compact Dual E5 Xeon 2690 v3 Build

[skynet]

Build’s Name: Compact Dual CPU

Operating System/ Storage Platform: windows

CPU: dual E5 Xeon 2690 v3 (ES Stepping 1, QEYJ) - ~420$ on ebay

Motherboard: Leaning towards Supermicro MBD-X10DAL-I-O because it's the smallest dual socket board I can find (13"x10"). Any other options I'm overlooking?

Chassis: Unknown so far, smallest case I can find that accommodates everything I need to put in there and doesn't suck. I don't care about aesthetics, as long as it's durable with good air flow and most important compact. Suggestions appreciated.

Drives: Intel 750 or Samsung 950 (via a PCI -> m.2 adapter). I emailed supermicro and they said this will work:

"The mentioned MB supports bootable Nvme.

You just need to change PCIe to UEFI mode (please refer to manual)."

RAM: 128 (32x4 to leave the option for 32x8 for 256gb in the future). I'm a bit shaky on which ram I actually need. technically I'm forced into ddr4 ecc ram? but I hear other ram here also works? as there is no significant performance difference and there is a significant price difference I'd prefer to get the cheaper ram if it's compatible with this board/cpu. Anyone have any tips on which RAM I should get?

Add-in Cards: GTX 970, have one of these laying around. If it takes up too much room I might put in something smaller.

Power Supply: 75ow'ish with 2x CPU connectors, will choose after other components are finalized

Usage Profile: Fritz-like simulation software, general use

Other information… this is my first serious build, I'm a pretty big computer noob and have mostly just crammed to come up with this build

I understand going the value 2670 route is also an option but I will get use out of the extra performance of this build and I like working on a motherboard that I will at least have the option of updating to the latest processors (v4's if not v5's?). I'm expecting about ~40% more performance from this over a dual 2670 build, does that sound about right? raw multi core processing power is always the bottleneck in performance for the software I use


Haven't purchased anything yet, going to start ordering as soon as I get all the parts figured out.

 

[Patrick]

Hopefully this helps: My May 2015 Workstation Build

I am using dual E5-2650 V3's and it is basically silent all in a very compact SC732 chassis.

 

[T_Minus]

Skip the Samsung 950 and go right to the intel 750.
(As someone who's running the 950 in their desktop.)

 

[The Gecko]

Concerning the memory... Go here and click the Tested Memory List link. Generally, I try to stick with SM's tested and approved memory because stability is paramount.

Also, here is a link to a build using the same motherboard that you are considering.

 

[skynet]

Hopefully this helps: My May 2015 Workstation Build

I am using dual E5-2650 V3's and it is basically silent all in a very compact SC732 chassis.

Thanks, I'll study this thread.

That chassis is a monster compared to what I'm hoping to fit this build into...

No dimension on the case should be more than 15" (the motherboard is 12x10). basically the case needs to be able to fit into your carry-on luggage on an airplane. I currently do this regularly with a 14x12x6 case

I haven't actually found a case that holds this motherboard and is of the size I'm looking for yet. Any ideas on really small cases or a resource that does custom cases would be great.

 

[skynet]

Skip the Samsung 950 and go right to the intel 750.
(As someone who's running the 950 in their desktop.)

Seems to be a common point of contention in storage talk... any specific reason you don't like your 950?

 

[skynet]

Concerning the memory... Go here and click the Tested Memory List link. Generally, I try to stick with SM's tested and approved memory because stability is paramount.

Also, here is a link to a build using the same motherboard that you are considering.

Very nice build guide and nice that he's using the board I want to as well. Guess taking the safe route on memory is the best, thanks for the advice.

 

[PigLover]

Skip the Samsung 950 and go right to the intel 750.
(As someone who's running the 950 in their desktop.)

Frankly I'd skip both and go to the enterprise equiv drives. PM863 or S3500. The price is not much higher, the performance will be more consistent and endurance equal or better.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[T_Minus]

Seems to be a common point of contention in storage talk... any specific reason you don't like your 950?

Samsung latency is noticeable at the basic desktop level with the 950 doing certain tasks (ie: multi-tasking). It will be even more noticeable when you're moving a lot of data / rendering / whatever else you're doing at once on your system.

Frankly I'd skip both and go to the enterprise equiv drives. PM863 or S3500. The price is not much higher, the performance will be more consistent and endurance equal or better.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

While I'd agree the rest of the build warrants an enterprise NVME drive, I have to disagree that a S3500 out-performs the Intel 750 NVME drive, especially if you OP the 750 a bit it will be consistent... again, I ditched it for enterprise drive even in my home AIO, but depending on use case i'd go 750 any day over the Samsung NVME, and I run the Samsung NVME in my desktop LOL!!

 

[PigLover]

Fair play to that. Hadn't noticed that he was referring to NVMe.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

 

[Patrick]

Also the P3320 is shipping. We may get time on a system with 24x 2TB P3320's.

Price wise, 2TB P3320 is supposed to be the same as the S3510 new.

 

[T_Minus]

Also the P3320 is shipping. We may get time on a system with 24x 2TB P3320's.

Price wise, 2TB P3320 is supposed to be the same as the S3510 new.

I wonder how those would perform in a VM environment since their mixed workload performance is rated almost exactly the same as a S3710 SATA SSD and writes are worse. They seem to be geared toward read-only or something like 90% read 10% write.

 

[Submariner]

Build’s Name: Compact Dual CPU

Operating System/ Storage Platform: windows

CPU: dual E5 Xeon 2690 v3 (ES Stepping 1, QEYJ) - ~420$ on ebay

Motherboard: Leaning towards Supermicro MBD-X10DAL-I-O because it's the smallest dual socket board I can find (13"x10"). Any other options I'm overlooking?

Chassis: Unknown so far, smallest case I can find that accommodates everything I need to put in there and doesn't suck. I don't care about aesthetics, as long as it's durable with good air flow and most important compact. Suggestions appreciated.

Drives: Intel 750 or Samsung 950 (via a PCI -> m.2 adapter). I emailed supermicro and they said this will work:

"The mentioned MB supports bootable Nvme.

You just need to change PCIe to UEFI mode (please refer to manual)."

RAM: 128 (32x4 to leave the option for 32x8 for 256gb in the future). I'm a bit shaky on which ram I actually need. technically I'm forced into ddr4 ecc ram? but I hear other ram here also works? as there is no significant performance difference and there is a significant price difference I'd prefer to get the cheaper ram if it's compatible with this board/cpu. Anyone have any tips on which RAM I should get?

Add-in Cards: GTX 970, have one of these laying around. If it takes up too much room I might put in something smaller.

Power Supply: 75ow'ish with 2x CPU connectors, will choose after other components are finalized

Usage Profile: Fritz-like simulation software, general use

Other information… this is my first serious build, I'm a pretty big computer noob and have mostly just crammed to come up with this build

I understand going the value 2670 route is also an option but I will get use out of the extra performance of this build and I like working on a motherboard that I will at least have the option of updating to the latest processors (v4's if not v5's?). I'm expecting about ~40% more performance from this over a dual 2670 build, does that sound about right? raw multi core processing power is always the bottleneck in performance for the software I use


Haven't purchased anything yet, going to start ordering as soon as I get all the parts figured out.

Hmmm
Small case forget the 950 Pro ... Hits 100C in 60 secs needs a fan playing on it. Only solution is the Asus Hyper PCIe to M2 ( beautifully built adapter ... Also takes that heat from the Samsung which is right on the connector check heat imaging camera reviews ...
I have the Intel 750 440 GB perfectly built ... Wished I had gone for the 1.2TB ( forget the 800GB its slow ) .
Check if this board fully supports PWM or your fans will go full blast all the time.
I have the SM X10SRA-O
Beautifully built board, runs like lightening when it works! Quardruple check what Rev level PCB board you need. Had a total nightmare, and beware ... SM will treat you like a god if you are Google/Yahoo etc.
BUT if you are an individual ... You are DIRT!!
- close on to 3 months to RMA a defective board.
- closely check the inside of the totally unpadded, unprotected MB retail box. If you see a dented line on the inside. It was made by the MB!! Note the I/O stuff overhangs the edge of the board and these get squashed first. Haveing had 2 like this I am sure they have an overstacking problem.
- check your MB comes with the latest BIOS and ME Firmware , older ones don't update properly.

Finally such a small case!!
I have a huge case with 8x 140mm Noctua fans and they run at 350 rpm so quite quiet.
A small case with 2x CPUs ...... Honestly either you are dreaming or you like sitting next to a jet engine.
Hmm I have the Noctua D15 ... The best ever.... With 2x 140mmx 150mm fans And it keeps each core at 37C but it is HUGE!
Note SM engineers are cretins and put the CPU Socket close to the top x16 Slot - you need that ! Check your systems diagram carefully re Bifuricating slots. I.e. 3x x16 in the real world means 2x x16 and one x8 if you use all 3 PCIe slots!

Finally forget the price , buy from a No Quibble returns/refund reseller.
Supermicro have the worst RMA process you are ever going to find. I was in the computer business for 25 years I know BAD when I see it. This is disgraceful.
NOTE THEIR REPUTATION WAS WON LOOKING AFTER BIG CORPORATES NOT - INDIVIDUAL!

Memory samsung DDR4 ECC is the best. Its not on the list but you can get it confirmed by SM as compliant.

Having said that if it works, it looks well built and clever stuff!
Also check out how many different types of boards they do looks like 100s - thats a problem keeping all up,to spec.

Tip disconnect all drives and just leave the Intel connected to load the OS, or it will spread the OS over 2 drives secretly! Take the second one out and windows wont boot ! Not documented.
Set up as UEFI and NVMe

Back to trying to get my 3rd MB to work ..... Good luck!

 

[skynet]

Thank you Mr. Submarine. Lots of useful tidbits in there that are sure to save me some trouble.

Regarding the case: I am starting to agree with you and the others that are sure to think I'm crazy trying to fit a dual socket setup into micro ATX case equivalent. I'm pretty sure there is nothing on the market that immediately accommodates what I'm looking for so I'll have to either get something modded or mod it myself. I think this can be done but it's going to be VERY tight inside.

I'm starting to think of an alternative of just going a single CPU system. The problem is it's hard to get close to the same power out of a single CPU as what these dual 2690 v3's offer. I could take a gamble and buy one of the stepping 0 2699 v4's (22 core @ 2.1ghz... not sure if it turbos higher or not) but this isn't a risk I am currently that interested in taking. There is little to no information about these chips and it's a very early stepping.

Another option is to go with a slightly bigger case and find a better way to move it around than carry-on luggage. Unfortunately additional checked baggage is usually about ~100$ for international flights (each way) and priority shipping is even worse than that. So I can't think of any better ways to keep the system with me than carry-on. If there is a comparable single chip system that costs more and is a reliable option, I would look into that but I can't find it yet; 2699 v3's don't seem to be much of a thing in the ES market on ebay.

I guess I'll send some modders the build I'm trying to do and see if they laugh in my face or not and take it from there.

 

[Submariner]

I must say I really couldnt understand what your obsession was with the small form. But having seen your airport requirements; and having had a job that meant flying 3 times a week I totally understand! Getting the last flight back on Friday night and feeling just a decent laptop's strap cutting into your shoulder!
Well lets say only the pay cheque made me continue!

What may I ask are you processing with this monster!
In my line, much of the software doesnt even take advantage of more than 6 cores, and above 8 its a pointless improvement. As for dual CPUs, benching some of them actually showed a regression!
The software I used did really need a high clock speed .... Thats what made the difference.

I do see your point though in finding a single processor that gets close.
All I can say is when it ran I was really impressed with the lowly E5 1650 V3, if I had the money it would have been a close call as to whether I would have paid for the E5 1680 v3, yes 8 cores but dropped from 3.8GHz to 3.5GHz.
Supermicro support did say when the E5 Ver 4 comes out then it would work in my board.

What worries me is the amount of cooling needed, the noise level, and the size of these super coolers. Personally whatever the modder says, boy would I want some real concrete, legally enforceable guarrantees!
Honestly I dont see it happening!

It sounds like you know a lot more than me, and have unlimited budget in comparison to mine.
So forgive me for sharing...
What I did see was a massive improvement moving the OS and Programs from a Samsung EVO 850 to the Intel 750 PCIe version. And I only have 2x 16GB ... Should really have 4x to address all four channels. And I bought the 400GB not the 1.2 TB version that is much faster. But my £sss are limited.
If I had your money I would be looking at 2x 1TB 750s. And of course 4x ram sticks.

But then it all depends on what you are doing with this thing.
What shocked me was when my clever friend bench marked this Adobe stuff. He has .... Access to 18 core multiprocessor servers and just switched more and more cores on and more and more CPUs on. He said I really needed a single CPU .... It was faster. And he blamed pre-historic application software!
So do look into that carefully.... As he said its all about the real life experience not the hyperthetical specs.

OK this is my first ever build, but even pushing the technology as I have, has its moments; you really feel alone out there. E.g. Not come across a single poster using an X10SRA-O MB and NVMe PCIe discs!!
So when I hit a Bios upgrade issue, like it updates both the Bios and the ME Firmware, but the ME firmware update wouldn't take properly, if the leap in Bios revisions was too much, and there are no interim Bios updates available etc.
Sure I might be technically dumb, but when it wont load Windows, and support agree I have not done anything wrong and then They get me another Bios update its not a nice place to be.

However if it works this time I will be delighted with the performance.

My last point is things like header cables that come with the case and putting the individual tiny lED cables in awkward spaces ( in a huge E-ATX case ) wow the thought of cramming 2 CPUs in a Micro case ..... Never never never would I attempt that.
Even I had to rotate the D15 cooler 90 degrees to use the too x16 slot (which was essential) ! And that meant 2 more fans to accomodate the change in airflow direction!

Well just my thoughts on my experience