E5-2678v3 - $90

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BeTeP

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2019
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Why would they? The chips keep selling at the asking price. On top of it the stock might be running out/low.
 

e97

Active Member
Jun 3, 2015
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Has anyone tried the all core turbo mod on the 2678v3 on Linux? I'm going to go for it tomorrow, ~10% more speed with no additional heat or power consumption looks like a no brainer.
Its a synthetic benchmark but Geekbench v4 shows E5-2678v3 All core turbo about doubles multi-threaded performance vs stock

but damn do these older xeon's suck power vs modern 7nm chips!!!
My dual E5-2670 sucks down 250w, replaced with EPYC 7302P system draws 150w!

and E5-2678v3 vs Ryzen 3900X ($400 at microcenter!!) bit more than 1/3 reduction in power consumption!!
 
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kjboughton

Member
Dec 7, 2017
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Hi, I am the author of v3x4 and perhaps can answer any questions anyone may have regarding the Xeon v3 All-Core Turbo workaround.

For dual CPU configs, I would recommend C3 Enabled and C6 Disabled for maximum performance.
Microcode of choice (for me) is 0x27.
 

TrumanHW

Active Member
Sep 16, 2018
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IIRC, it should reduce the idle consumption. I was looking try this last year when I saw the thread on AnandTech. I wasn’t sure if the 2u cooling is enough for the full turbo for dual procs and did not venture any further. @Marsh has been using the all-core turbo unlock.
As in you have a liquid cooled 2u computer..? They look rare -- though I'd think it'd be cheaper for big server farms to run water pumps than ACs... you know, have radiators outside and a water-circuit. But then again, the resistance to push the water might approach the energy required to run a compressor ...


Do I read correctly that some of you are editing the micro-code on some of these Xeons to induce turbo across more cores..??
Wild!
 

TrumanHW

Active Member
Sep 16, 2018
253
34
28
Hi, I am the author of v3x4 and perhaps can answer any questions anyone may have regarding the Xeon v3 All-Core Turbo workaround.

For dual CPU configs, I would recommend C3 Enabled and C6 Disabled for maximum performance.
Microcode of choice (for me) is 0x27.
How do you edit the microcode in the CPU..? Is this something in some manufactures bios..?

I've never even heard of this. Also -- how much of a difference do you notice...?

Do you liquid cool your servers..? If so, pictures? :-D
 

kjboughton

Member
Dec 7, 2017
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How do you edit the microcode in the CPU..? Is this something in some manufactures bios..?

I've never even heard of this. Also -- how much of a difference do you notice...?

Do you liquid cool your servers..? If so, pictures? :-D
Not edit, remove. And even that is not a proper description. Every (Intel) processor comes with a base microcode instantiated in hardware. As the processor matures in design (and even beyond) there may be discovered necessity to make changes. These changes are incorporated by Microcode Patch Revision level release for hot-patching at boot (by BIOS/UEFI) or at OS load (Windows, for example, does this).

A μcode patch comprises bug fixes and other "improvements" and are typically not fully described in their effect.

Preventing the BIOS from patching μcode on boot allows for a unique opportunity for v3 Xeon -- before patched the CPU is entirely available to be programmed and limits for multipliers, power, voltage, time constants, etc. can be modified or entirely overridden. (Thanks Intel. We appreciate your incompetency in Quality Assurance.) This is limited to CPUIDs 306F2h, 306F3h, and 306F4h only.

Once programming is complete (via EFI driver), the correct μcode patch can be applied (manually or automatically by the OS); however, once programmed no changes can be made and the override values stick.

Through accomplishment of this mod, depending on CPU, you can enjoy as much as about a 20% increase in CPU processing capabilities. Of course, power will be substantially increased.

I do not liquid cool my (racked) servers but I have been liquid cooling my workstations for nearly 20 years now.
 
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nthu9280

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2016
1,628
498
83
San Antonio, TX
Hi, I am the author of v3x4 and perhaps can answer any questions anyone may have regarding the Xeon v3 All-Core Turbo workaround.

For dual CPU configs, I would recommend C3 Enabled and C6 Disabled for maximum performance.
Microcode of choice (for me) is 0x27.
Welcome to the STH community and thank you for the offer to help. I believe you have the files on github repo.

I have couple of variants of Supermicro single socket boards. X10SRA & X10SRH with V3 CPUs.
I recall vaguely reading that lack of heatsink on the VRM, SM boards are not preferred. Also, by the time I saw the thread, some of the links to to download the required tools did not work and I did not pursue any further.
I’ll restart the project in the next few days and seek your help.
 

kjboughton

Member
Dec 7, 2017
30
12
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Welcome to the STH community and thank you for the offer to help. I believe you have the files on github repo.

I have couple of variants of Supermicro single socket boards. X10SRA & X10SRH with V3 CPUs.
I recall vaguely reading that lack of heatsink on the VRM, SM boards are not preferred. Also, by the time I saw the thread, some of the links to to download the required tools did not work and I did not pursue any further.
I’ll restart the project in the next few days and seek your help.
Very well and thank you for the welcome.

The cool thing about my driver is that it is completely configurable and so you can further limit the increase in demand to an acceptable load.

Processors are like engines. They are simple air pumps. The more air/fuel (voltage/current) you add the more work is performed (and must be rejected as waste, like heat). Limitations are entirely due inherent material property limits and can all theoretically scale to the moon and beyond.

Voltage and current are the same "thing" just viewed from reciprocal aspects. I won't get into further detail as to what voltage and current are as this usually results in gasps and pearls clutched in horror.
 
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JanCerny

Member
Nov 25, 2017
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Czech Republic
Do you liquid cool your servers..? If so, pictures? :-D
There is also more professional solution from Alphacool:



You can buy cheap AiO solution from Asetek like this. But it has a high failure rate due to mixing metals (aluminum and copper), definitely not recommend that:
 

JB8967

New Member
Oct 24, 2020
1
0
1
Currently running E5-2678V3 on HuananZhi X99-TF with 32GB desktop DDR3 RAM (Mushkin Redline 4x8GB 1866Mhz, Quad channel). I performed turbounlock by removing microcode in BIOS using Miyconst tutorial (see his Youtube channel for an excellent and detailed tutorial/guide and link to all tools). CPU cost $85 on eBay, X99TF cost $100 on AliExpress. All core turbo unlock resulted in 3.3Ghz all 12C/24t. Temps remain below 60C on SNOWMAN 120mm dual fan 6 pipe air cooler in Prime95 (v.26.6). Cinebench R15=1825; R20=3912.

Currently, AliEx offers package deals: E5-2678v3 +X99TF + 32GB REEC 1600 DDR3 for $250.
Tight timings preferred over highest frequency.
There are a handful of X99 motherboards that support DDR3: HuananZhi X99TF (4 dedicated slots DDR3 OR 4 dedicated slots DDR4) or HuananZhi X99T8 (8slots DDR3). Both are quad channel up to 1866Mhz on DDR3. For DDR4 it is max 2400Mhz. The other variants like the HuanaZhi X99F8 and JingSha X99D8 are DDR4 only, to my recollection.

IMO, very good quality; tops for a chinese motherboard and you would be hard pressed to see difference with name brand mid-level board.
2 x NVME m.2 + one m.2 for wifi/bt card. NVME bootable OS.
Depending on where in the world, the landed costs for this setup are very compelling. For places like USA, probably better to stay with Ryzen, given its compelling landed costs and price/performance.
 

Sable

Active Horse
Oct 19, 2016
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Currently running E5-2678V3 on HuananZhi X99-TF with 32GB desktop DDR3 RAM (Mushkin Redline 4x8GB 1866Mhz, Quad channel). I performed turbounlock by removing microcode in BIOS using Miyconst tutorial (see his Youtube channel for an excellent and detailed tutorial/guide and link to all tools). CPU cost $85 on eBay, X99TF cost $100 on AliExpress. All core turbo unlock resulted in 3.3Ghz all 12C/24t. Temps remain below 60C on SNOWMAN 120mm dual fan 6 pipe air cooler in Prime95 (v.26.6). Cinebench R15=1825; R20=3912.

Currently, AliEx offers package deals: E5-2678v3 +X99TF + 32GB REEC 1600 DDR3 for $250.
Tight timings preferred over highest frequency.
There are a handful of X99 motherboards that support DDR3: HuananZhi X99TF (4 dedicated slots DDR3 OR 4 dedicated slots DDR4) or HuananZhi X99T8 (8slots DDR3). Both are quad channel up to 1866Mhz on DDR3. For DDR4 it is max 2400Mhz. The other variants like the HuanaZhi X99F8 and JingSha X99D8 are DDR4 only, to my recollection.

IMO, very good quality; tops for a chinese motherboard and you would be hard pressed to see difference with name brand mid-level board.
2 x NVME m.2 + one m.2 for wifi/bt card. NVME bootable OS.
Depending on where in the world, the landed costs for this setup are very compelling. For places like USA, probably better to stay with Ryzen, given its compelling landed costs and price/performance.
I have a few of these combo's extra with up to 128GB DDR3. If anyone needs for a good price send me a PM.