Gigabyte R180-F34 1U Server (2011-3) $94-109 + Shipping

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puglife

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Mar 12, 2021
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Most video cards won't fit in this server due to the proximity of the PCI Express full height slots to the DIMM locations. If the card is too long, it won't fit. You'll want a GPU that is geared towards Mini-ITX if you want something to fit - GPU can't be much longer than the actual PCI Express x16 slot itself. About 2-3 inches longer is the limit. I've got Quadros in mine and the server works great with them and PCI Passthrough. 0 issues.

As for power, those ports you mentioned are for GPUs, so if you get a card that requires external power, you can just power it off those.
Thanks I was looking at some of the mini 1050 and 1060's i think they will fit maybe haha might have to do some "mods".


I think this cable will work. Over all been running your bios for over week no reboots on 4 servers running strong. This is great hardware.
 

burkhartbn

New Member
Oct 16, 2020
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Most video cards won't fit in this server due to the proximity of the PCI Express full height slots to the DIMM locations. If the card is too long, it won't fit. You'll want a GPU that is geared towards Mini-ITX if you want something to fit - GPU can't be much longer than the actual PCI Express x16 slot itself. About 2-3 inches longer is the limit. I've got Quadros in mine and the server works great with them and PCI Passthrough. 0 issues.

As for power, those ports you mentioned are for GPUs, so if you get a card that requires external power, you can just power it off those.
I can confirm a Quadro P2200 fits just barely fits.
 
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Zalouma

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Aug 5, 2020
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Running Quadro P1000v2 on these without any issue, doesnt need external power as well and have plenty of room to fit
 
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Firebug24k

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Apr 12, 2017
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Well so far I haven't gotten bifurcation working. I installed a dual NVME card in the single slot riser, which I *think* is slot3 on CPU 1, but it's really hard to tell from the block diagram and the labeling on the board. In any case I tried 4x4x4x4 and 8x8 and neither worked. Maybe this slot doesn't support?

Edit: Disregard, there's a big case of operator (me) error here. Will retest again this afternoon.
 
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Fireworm

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Sep 18, 2019
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Bought one of these guys, finally booted it up, and wow, too loud for me.

DM me if you want this (plus a E5 2630L V3) and we can work something out (shipping from California).
 

Firebug24k

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Apr 12, 2017
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@ptcfast2 Got it! Combination of getting all mixed up on what slot is which and accidentally installing a SATA drive in the NVME card (fits, but certainly doesn't work).

4x4x4x4 works great.
 
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ptcfast2

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Feb 1, 2021
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Bought one of these guys, finally booted it up, and wow, too loud for me.
Did you adjust the fan offset in the MergePoint BMC to -127? That will vastly decrease the noise they make + Energy Efficient performance settings in the BIOS. 1U will always be more noisy, but I'm quite surprised how quiet these are for a 1U.
 
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Firebug24k

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Did you adjust the fan offset in the MergePoint BMC to -127? That will vastly decrease the noise they make + Energy Efficient performance settings in the BIOS. 1U will always be more noisy, but I'm quite surprised how quiet these are for a 1U.
They're quiet on idle but WOW if you load all cores on both CPU to 100% for a bit... I ended up making a custom 1U watercooling setup to run mine.
 

ptcfast2

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Feb 1, 2021
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They're quiet on idle but WOW if you load all cores on both CPU to 100% for a bit... I ended up making a custom 1U watercooling setup to run mine.
Depends on the TDP of the processor, which is why I run Xeon 2630Ls at the moment. 1U is never going to super silent so if a 1U can accomplish a low "idle" level of white noise, it's a winner. Usually you're pretty much locked out of modifying any fan curve related configuration on most servers so as far as these go, with proper config they can be pretty quiet compared to other 1U boxes.

Of course when certain thermal values are hit (or if you have a fan failure), no matter the offset the server will spin those fans up to max and they will be super freaking loud. If you're after low noise the best thing you can do is run low TDP processors or run processors with way more horsepower than you usually need as it will keep temps down due to lower total utilization.

Also I do recommend that if you don't have a spare fan or two around, you pick one up on eBay. The moment a fan fails on these servers all fans will go to 100% until it is replaced. Normal behavior for servers, but these will scream like banshees and I doubt you want that around for a few days while a replacement fan makes it way to you through the mail.
 

Firebug24k

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Apr 12, 2017
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Good advice on the fans, thanks. I'm running dual 2660V3 so they do make quite a bit of heat under load. I love these for the compact power and the price though, don't get me wrong!

Any idea on what sort of cable you need to use that "mini" PCIE connector on the board? It's like physically half the size of a "real one".
 

RayNelson

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Feb 8, 2020
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Did you adjust the fan offset in the MergePoint BMC to -127? That will vastly decrease the noise they make + Energy Efficient performance settings in the BIOS. 1U will always be more noisy, but I'm quite surprised how quiet these are for a 1U.
I adjusted the fans in the BMC to -127. I’m running some E5-2620v3 and a quad of 8tb SAS drives. It’s quieter than my desktop PC. Occasionally I hear the fans ramp up when I hit the network share it’s providing (FreeNAS) but otherwise it’s virtually inaudible. I had feared that it was going to be a screaming machine like the 2u SuperMicro in my rack or the 12 bay disk shelf it’s plugged into. I’m very pleased with its quietness.
 
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Zalouma

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Aug 5, 2020
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Does anyone happen to have R13 bios? I had some servers came with it and I upgraded it, didnt had a chance to backup the rom, now I need it.. Would be great if someone still have it and can share the bios

Thanks again
 

Zalouma

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Aug 5, 2020
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Nevermind i got it, I have uploaded 10 version of bios for this server not available on Gigabyte site and incase someone would ever need it


Enjoy
 

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ptcfast2

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Feb 1, 2021
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can i combine 32gb ddr4 modules with 16 gb modules on this board?
As long as they are identical (minus the size) it should work, but it's not recommended in general for servers. Even Supermicro, the most lenient of the bunch, recommends against it.
 

puglife

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Mar 12, 2021
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Thanks thats the penguin version or Gigabyte? I am looking for penguin one. I will try that one and see if it works
Sorry im not sure I didn't even know there was two version of this. All I looked to see is if it was r13 before flashing to ptcfast2 bios.
 
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ptcfast2

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Feb 1, 2021
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Thanks thats the penguin version or Gigabyte? I am looking for penguin one. I will try that one and see if it works
For what it's worth, I asked Penguin directly about BIOS stuff a few weeks ago (if they developed their own past what Gigabyte offers). They said they use the same BIOS Gigabyte provides. They just change the logo for branding purposes. :rolleyes:
 
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Firebug24k

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Apr 12, 2017
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I forget if I posted this already, but I can confirm 4x4x4x4 bifurcation works in all 16x slots w/your modified BIOS. Never did figure out what that other weird half size PCIE connector is that's next to the actual full size slots, though.
 
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