Cost effective way to get on EPYC

[dhodgson]

LGA 2011 systems from Dell/HP/Supermicro/etc. have been widely and cheaply available on ebay for a decade now, but it's time to upgrade.

So what's everybody looking at on the used market for Epyc systems?

• I see some supermicro CPU/Mobo/RAM combos (some from china, some in the US)
• Dell has the 7425 and 7525 that seem promising
• HPE has their Gen10+ v2 line (but I can't get an idea for pricing without calling a wholesaler/refurb)
• Gigabyte and ASRock have some good motherboard options too, and full DIY is an option for me, but doesn't seem as cost effective. Plus, it's nice having a chassis that's designed for the motherboard going in it.

I could get a combo for ~$1200 with a 7001 CPU and then grab an 846 chassis for another $400 which seems pretty promising, but it seems like all the NVMe backplanes from supermicro are for their 2U chassis (not a deal breaker, but would be nice).

Ebay has some Dell 7425 options for under $2k but I don't know if they'll support 7002 or 7003. xByte will sell me a refurb'd 7525 for under $4k and I do believe that supports 7003.

There's also a supermicro A+ server with a naples CPU, but I can't tell if it has the rev2.0 board that supports 7002.


Most of my systems are 2600v2 or similar (one v4), so even 7001 would be a solid upgrade if I'm getting16-24 cores per socket minimum. What I've really been itching for is big multi-thread performance and PCIe flexibility (lots of lanes with bifurcation).

 

[mattventura]

I could get a combo for ~$1200 with a 7001 CPU and then grab an 846 chassis for another $400 which seems pretty promising, but it seems like all the NVMe backplanes from supermicro are for their 2U chassis (not a deal breaker, but would be nice).

Sadly, you've kind of hit the nail on the head there. There is an 8x NVMe backplane for the 846, but it's very hard to find and you'll likely be paying $400+ if you can even find it. Also not aware of a rear NVMe option for the 846, only SAS/SATA. You'd probably be better off just using carrier cards at that point.

Do you have a particular use case for the 846 over the 826 or 847?

 

[drdepasquale]

Second generation EPYC 7002 offers the best bang for your buck with full PCIe 4.0 and DDR4 3200 compatibility. It is a platform that is modern enough for the heavy workloads of today and available at an afforable price on the secondary market. The motherboards and servers designed for second generation EPYC are far more refined and improved over the first generation since that was AMD's initial re-entry into the server market.

 

[bugacha]

LGA 2011 systems from Dell/HP/Supermicro/etc. have been widely and cheaply available on ebay for a decade now, but it's time to upgrade.

So what's everybody looking at on the used market for Epyc systems?

• I see some supermicro CPU/Mobo/RAM combos (some from china, some in the US)
• Dell has the 7425 and 7525 that seem promising
• HPE has their Gen10+ v2 line (but I can't get an idea for pricing without calling a wholesaler/refurb)
• Gigabyte and ASRock have some good motherboard options too, and full DIY is an option for me, but doesn't seem as cost effective. Plus, it's nice having a chassis that's designed for the motherboard going in it.

I could get a combo for ~$1200 with a 7001 CPU and then grab an 846 chassis for another $400 which seems pretty promising, but it seems like all the NVMe backplanes from supermicro are for their 2U chassis (not a deal breaker, but would be nice).

Ebay has some Dell 7425 options for under $2k but I don't know if they'll support 7002 or 7003. xByte will sell me a refurb'd 7525 for under $4k and I do believe that supports 7003.

There's also a supermicro A+ server with a naples CPU, but I can't tell if it has the rev2.0 board that supports 7002.


Most of my systems are 2600v2 or similar (one v4), so even 7001 would be a solid upgrade if I'm getting16-24 cores per socket minimum. What I've really been itching for is big multi-thread performance and PCIe flexibility (lots of lanes with bifurcation).

PM @Tugm4470
He can sell you 7002/7003 combos with MB and memory for very decent price
He has ebay shop with same name too

 

[dhodgson]

Sadly, you've kind of hit the nail on the head there. There is an 8x NVMe backplane for the 846, but it's very hard to find and you'll likely be paying $400+ if you can even find it. Also not aware of a rear NVMe option for the 846, only SAS/SATA. You'd probably be better off just using carrier cards at that point.

Do you have a particular use case for the 846 over the 826 or 847?

The combos I've seen come with larger heatsinks which wouldn't fit in a 2U space. I can always install smaller ones, but it's also nice to have space for full-height (or larger, desktop GPUs maybe?) PCIe cards. Also, noise is a concern and bigger chassis = bigger fans which can run more quietly.

I've been looking at the AS-2023 and AS-2024 systems though, specifically the models with risers that support full-height cards. 12x 3.5" bays is plenty for me, and I think I'd rather have a separate disk shelf if I find myself needing more.

Second generation EPYC 7002 offers the best bang for your buck with full PCIe 4.0 and DDR4 3200 compatibility. It is a platform that is modern enough for the heavy workloads of today and available at an afforable price on the secondary market. The motherboards and servers designed for second generation EPYC are far more refined and improved over the first generation since that was AMD's initial re-entry into the server market.

I think I've more or less settled on the 7502, assuming the ~$200 listings are legit. My concern at this point is the board and chassis. It seems the H11 rev2 boards support the 7002 and DDR4 3200, but only PCIe 3.0. Other than PCIe 4.0, are the H12 boards that much better? The difference in pricing seems pretty steep from what I can find.

PM @Tugm4470
He can sell you 7002/7003 combos with MB and memory for very decent price
He has ebay shop with same name too

I'll take note of that, thanks!

 

[Iaroslav]

I've hardly found H12DSU MoBo (fits in almost any Ultra chassis), 2x7742, but anyway using PCI-e 3.0 NVMe, so just found H11 based complete chassis with NVMe backplane for $500, and keep H12 for Gen3 EPYCs I will buy when they become affordable. Real pain is Gen4 PCI-e backplanes and cabling if you really need these

 

[drdepasquale]

The H12 motherboards are much better, especially Supermicro

 

[seany]

7302P + H12SSL-i Is probably the best bang for the buck if you don't want to fiddle with anything. You'll end up spending more on ram if you want to really have big numbers.

 

[Greg_E]

If you have room, 4u chassis give lots of options down the road. Fans being a big one which leads to lower noise operation.

 

[dhodgson]

I've hardly found H12DSU MoBo (fits in almost any Ultra chassis), 2x7742, but anyway using PCI-e 3.0 NVMe, so just found H11 based complete chassis with NVMe backplane for $500, and keep H12 for Gen3 EPYCs I will buy when they become affordable. Real pain is Gen4 PCI-e backplanes and cabling if you really need these

What's the model on that chassis? $500 sounds like a hell of a deal for a chassis with mobo and backplane.

 

[Iaroslav]

What's the model on that chassis? $500 sounds like a hell of a deal for a chassis with mobo and backplane.

Sorry, was a bit off
I was very lucky to get AS-1123US-TR4, but any chassis you like with H11DSU will work, not a problem if a chassis comes without NVMe backplane - easily retrievable.
Just be careful with MoBo rev if you want it to work with Gen2 CPUs