So I was looking at this. Seems like it could be a pretty nice deal actually. Comparing it to the Intel R2312GL4GS.
$1,100 (list price with BO)
$130 (CPUs)
$300 (RAM 24x8GB)
$100 (RAID Card, maybe a bit more. Think it has 512MB RAM)
-----------
$570
If you can BO for ~$900 ($200 off list) you would be getting the barebones machine for ~$370, comparable to the Intel R2312GL4GS. Obviously if you don't need the CPU/RAM/RAID then it's less appealing unless you want to can resell them. Personally I'd prefer to drop the RAID card and get something else. I know MrRackable is pretty prevalent on ebay, anyone know how willing he is to changing listings (remove the RAID card) and how flexible he is with BO's?
Compared to the Intel, this is what I see as the advantages.
- Same backplane (3xSFF8087) but can be swapped for an expander model cheap.
- More RAM slots (24 vs 16)
- Well known SC826 chassis
- Standard MB size so lots of options (including X10 boards) while Intel is proprietary
- No SATA ports locked behind upgrade keys
- For those with SM gear already, same management tools
- I BELIEVE you get more overall PCI 3.0 lanes (The Intel uses 2 x24 superslots feeding two riser cards with 3 x8 PCI-E slots. So total you get 48 in some mixture. The Supermico has 4 x16, 1 x8, and 1x4 for a total of 76. All the slots on the SuperMicro are directly on the MB, no riser cards. Due to that the supermicro only takes low profile full length cards, while the Intel does allow for some full height full length cards (if that is important).