Need help building a dual xeon e5-2670

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NinjadGuy

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Jan 11, 2017
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Hi, I have 2 i7 6700 and 1 i7 3770k.
I'm looking to expand and thought a dual xeon would be better for my needs.
I have no prior knowledge of workstation build, so based my build on this with few tweaks:
Building a 32-Thread Xeon Monster PC for Less Than the Price of a Flagship Core i7

CPU: Dual e5-2670

MB: Asrock Rack EP2C602

FANS: 2x Nocuta NH-U14S

RAM: G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 1600Mhz CL9 Kit 48gb (6x8gb), or do i need 8 sticks?

PSU: Corsair 850rx 850w

SSD: Samsung 750 250B

CASE: Corsair 300R

GPU: Sapphire HD5450

OS: Windows server 2012 R2
 
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Patrick

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8 sticks would be preferable so you fill all four memory channels of each CPU with a DIMM. You may want to just look at server RDIMMs if you do not already have the RAM. You usually have fewer issues with RDIMMs in dual Xeon systems and have the ability to get to larger memory capacities.

I would likely swap that PSU if you have not already purchased it. Finishing up the first post on why,. That should be live in the next three hours. I am a big fan of the Seasonic PSUs and becoming more of a fan of the EVGA G3 series due to @Patriot
 

NinjadGuy

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Jan 11, 2017
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I haven't purchased anything yet, the only thing I own is 2x8gb sticks and the GPU.

I actually have 3 seasonic PSUs on my other comps, I'm a fan as well.
What do you say about SeaSonic 850W 80+ Gold X-850 SS-850KM for this build?
Should I get SeaSonic 850W 80+ Bronze M12II for $50 less?

Thanks.
 

fractal

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Jun 7, 2016
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What makes you think a dual 2670 is better for you than your 6700's?

You get more, slower cores and more memory for a LOT more electricity. Can the applications you regularly run make use of multiple cores? Many desktop / workstation applications benefit from higher single thread performance more than they do more cores. Intel markets their server chips with lots of slower cores and their workstation chips with fewer, faster cores.

I am not sure what you plan on doing with a m.2 drive with that motherboard.
 
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NinjadGuy

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Jan 11, 2017
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Yeah the applications I run benefit from multiple cores.
I talked to someone that has a dual xeon 2670 setup and its seems to be very effective for him for the same purpose.
From the calculations I did (according to the data I got from him), I'd need 2.67 x i7 6700 to run the same thing he is able to run on his dual xeon 2670.
Keep in mind I'm running on 90%-100% CPU usage about 12 hours a day.
What do you mean by a LOT more electricity? he is using a 600w PSU for his dual setup, how can it be that much more?

About the m.2, my bad, I found later that the MB doesn't support it.
Thanks for pointing it out though, things like that are the reason I posted it here.

Memeory: is it crucial to use RDIMM for a dual xeon setup?
 

Aestr

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Oct 22, 2014
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What do you mean by a LOT more electricity? he is using a 600w PSU for his dual setup, how can it be that much more?
Dual 2670's will pull a lot closer to that 600W limit under load than a single i7 6700.


Memeory: is it crucial to use RDIMM for a dual xeon setup?
There's not a lot of reasons not to. You can still find used 8GB RDIMMs as low at $10-13 a piece.
 

Patriot

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Apr 18, 2011
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Seasonic and Superflower are the two best brands on the market. EVGA uses the Superflower platform for the G2 and G3 series. Seasonic has had a solid platform that was unseated by Superflower ~3yrs ago. However after 6 years of the same platform Seasonic finally refreshed with the prime platform and took the lead again. That said, they both remain excellent choices and the g2/g3 are 80plus gold, and the primes are titanium and demand a 50% premium.

If you just have to have titanium, prime it is, otherwise the g3 is better than everything short of the prime. If you need more than 1000w... Other than the corsair 1500i being damn near perfect (Flextronics odm), I don't know of much else in that range.
 
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NinjadGuy

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Dual 2670's will pull a lot closer to that 600W limit under load than a single i7 6700.

There's not a lot of reasons not to. You can still find used 8GB RDIMMs as low at $10-13 a piece.
Ya but I'd need at least 2 computers with i7 6700 to match the dual xeon performance, so in the end it's worth it.
As for the RDIMM, my options are a bit limited since I will need to have it shipped to Israel, can't really find used sticks.
How is this: New Samsung 64GB 8x8GB PC3-8500R DDR3-1066Mhz ECC REG RDIMM Server Memory 2Rx4 | eBay

Seasonic and Superflower are the two best brands on the market. EVGA uses the Superflower platform for the G2 and G3 series. Seasonic has had a solid platform that was unseated by Superflower ~3yrs ago. However after 6 years of the same platform Seasonic finally refreshed with the prime platform and took the lead again. That said, they both remain excellent choices and the g2/g3 are 80plus gold, and the primes are titanium and demand a 50% premium.

If you just have to have titanium, prime it is, otherwise the g3 is better than everything short of the prime. If you need more than 1000w... Other than the corsair 1500i being damn near perfect (Flextronics odm), I don't know of much else in that range.
Ya i'm not looking for such high end PSU, I decided to go with a 750w-850w.
Heard good things about the EVGA, unfortunately combining the shipping cost it's a bit pricey.
Thinking about SeaSonic 750w G-750 as I can buy it off a local store here, what do you think?

Thanks for the help guys, I only have experience with building my own desktop pc.
Any information that you can give me will be very helpful.
 

Bill1950

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Aug 12, 2016
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It appears that your use is not a server. Why are you considering loading a server operating system? Would Windows 7 Ult or Window 10 Pro be more useful?
 

Dave_B

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Dec 7, 2016
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Ya but I'd need at least 2 computers with i7 6700 to match the dual xeon performance, so in the end it's worth it.
As for the RDIMM, my options are a bit limited since I will need to have it shipped to Israel, can't really find used sticks.
How is this: New Samsung 64GB 8x8GB PC3-8500R DDR3-1066Mhz ECC REG RDIMM Server Memory 2Rx4 | eBay

Ya i'm not looking for such high end PSU, I decided to go with a 750w-850w.
Heard good things about the EVGA, unfortunately combining the shipping cost it's a bit pricey.
Thinking about SeaSonic 750w G-750 as I can buy it off a local store here, what do you think?

Thanks for the help guys, I only have experience with building my own desktop pc.
Any information that you can give me will be very helpful.
You need a PSU with two 8-pin +12V EPS connectors, one for each CPU. That Seasonic only has one. You're not running an old fashioned server with multiple high powered spinner SCSI drives, so your total power draw will not be near 600W. I'm only using SSDs in my dual E5-2670, and if I needed more storage all I would get would be one 4TB spinner, so no high power draw there. I'm using a Supermicro 665W PSU I picked up for $35 a few years back at Microcenter.

The Intel motherboard I'm using needs 0.5A on the -12V line to boot up, don't know if yours does, but the 750W Modular EVGA PSU meets that requirement and also has the two 8-pin +12V EPS connectors. Newegg has the EVGA 750 BQ 110-BQ-0750-V1 80+ BRONZE 750W Semi Modular for $70 and it will do the job just fine.

As far as RAM goes, I went for Samsung DDR3-1333 which was very cheap on eBay. I paid $44 shipped for 8 x 4GB (32GB Total).

For cooling, I'm using a pair of inexpensive Cooler Master Hyper 212s.
 

fractal

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Jun 7, 2016
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I gotta say, if I were buying dual E5-2670v1 today I would be hard pressed to beat the prices of a S2600CP2J with processor and maybe memory from natex. 175 for the motherboard, 75 each for the cpu's. This beats eBay across the board. Memory prices look competitive as well. So, if you have your heart set on a dual lga2011 that is limited by ddr3 memory, then give it a look.

Though, as I said before, I would be more likely to consider something else for a workstation. LGA2011v3 if I had the money. Single socket with workstation cpu if I did not. But each person has different requirements so you have to make your own choices.
 

NinjadGuy

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Jan 11, 2017
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It appears that your use is not a server. Why are you considering loading a server operating system? Would Windows 7 Ult or Window 10 Pro be more useful?
You're right, forgot to edit it, I would go for Win7 Ult.

You need a PSU with two 8-pin +12V EPS connectors, one for each CPU. That Seasonic only has one. You're not running an old fashioned server with multiple high powered spinner SCSI drives, so your total power draw will not be near 600W. I'm only using SSDs in my dual E5-2670, and if I needed more storage all I would get would be one 4TB spinner, so no high power draw there. I'm using a Supermicro 665W PSU I picked up for $35 a few years back at Microcenter.

The Intel motherboard I'm using needs 0.5A on the -12V line to boot up, don't know if yours does, but the 750W Modular EVGA PSU meets that requirement and also has the two 8-pin +12V EPS connectors. Newegg has the EVGA 750 BQ 110-BQ-0750-V1 80+ BRONZE 750W Semi Modular for $70 and it will do the job just fine.

As far as RAM goes, I went for Samsung DDR3-1333 which was very cheap on eBay. I paid $44 shipped for 8 x 4GB (32GB Total).

For cooling, I'm using a pair of inexpensive Cooler Master Hyper 212s.
I see, so as long as I only use the dual CPU and 1 SSD I should be fine with 600w.
Found the same RAM for $50, shipping included. (add 17% VAT to it)
This is very appealing indeed. Unfortunately, Newegg doesn't ship to my country.
I definitely would go for something like that if I could.

I gotta say, if I were buying dual E5-2670v1 today I would be hard pressed to beat the prices of a S2600CP2J with processor and maybe memory from natex. 175 for the motherboard, 75 each for the cpu's. This beats eBay across the board. Memory prices look competitive as well. So, if you have your heart set on a dual lga2011 that is limited by ddr3 memory, then give it a look.

Though, as I said before, I would be more likely to consider something else for a workstation. LGA2011v3 if I had the money. Single socket with workstation cpu if I did not. But each person has different requirements so you have to make your own choices.
Everything is so much more expensive for me though, as the shipping from US to Israel isn't that cheap (and there's taxes as well).
I would look for a LGA2011v3 dual xeon if I had this option, but I can't seem to find a non ES version from the Chinese sellers.

Anyway, after discussing this with a friend, including shipping and taxes I'd have to pay, it seems like it's not worth it.
Especially due to the fact that there is no market for dual xeon here if I decide to resell it.
At least I can resell the i7 6700 to people as a gaming computer if I decide to stop doing what im doing.
The dual xeon would cost me around $1600 and 2x i7 6700 around $900 each.

I'm gonna go with a i7 6700/7700 (maybe i7 5820k) for my next build even though dual xeon would be much better for my needs.
Maybe next time my brother in law goes to visit his brother in the US I'll ask him to buy the hardware for me.

Thank you everyone for your help, I appreciate it!
 

Dave_B

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Dec 7, 2016
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You're right, forgot to edit it, I would go for Win7 Ult.

I see, so as long as I only use the dual CPU and 1 SSD I should be fine with 600w.
Found the same RAM for $50, shipping included. (add 17% VAT to it)
This is very appealing indeed. Unfortunately, Newegg doesn't ship to my country.
I definitely would go for something like that if I could.
No you could put in a lot more than that. Nothing is more exaggerated in Tech forums than PSU specs. For example, a few years back I ran a Supermicro mATX dual LGA 771 setup at 2.66 GHz with 24GB DDR2-667, an SSD, a few spinners and a Video card off of an Enermax 270W SFX PSU. Old school commericial servers have over-spec'd PSUs to allow for using high powered SCSI drives in large RAID arrays which isn't relavant today for home users. A few years back I ran another Supermicro mATX dual LGA 771 setup at 3.2 GHz with a dual-GPU nVidia 9800 GX2 high powered video card off of a cheap 500W PSU with 42A on the +12V line. Anyway too bad you can't get the nice deals we can here in the US on these used server parts. My entire Intel dual LGA motherboard with 2 x E5-2670s and 32GB DDR3-1333 Reg/ECC cost less than that single i7 6700 costs. And BTW, you should probably go with an i7-6800 Broadwell 6 core/12 thread X99 rather than the i7 6700/i7 7700.
 

NinjadGuy

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Jan 11, 2017
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I see, well nice to know that in case I do get the chance to buy stuff off US.
Well I thought about it... i7 6700 would cost me around $930, i7 7700 $1000, and i7 6800k around $1650.
Is it worth it?
 

Dave_B

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Dec 7, 2016
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I don't know where you are located but can't make sense of those prices even assuming they are for an entire system. I can't comprehend why the i7 6800K is $650 to $720 more. At my local Microcenter store here in Virginia, the CPU prices are:
i7-6700 - $280 (plus $30 off motherboard purchase)
i7-7700 - $300 (plus $30 off motherboard purchase)
i7-6800K - $380 (plus $30 off motherboard purchase)

So only $100 more for an LGA 2011 V3 CPU. Everything else should cost about the same. Add $200 for 32GB DDR4, $200 for a decent motherboard, $150 for a 256GB SSD, $50 for a PSU, $50 for a case, $50 for a cheap GPU and that adds $700 on top of the CPU prices. Unless you go cheap and get a $100 LGA 1151 motherboard, total system prices would be within $100 here (22% more for LGA 2011 V3). If you get a $100 LGA 1151 motherboard, you can expand the price difference to $200 (34% more). So I can't see how the i7 6800K setup could be $700 more than a Skylake i7 6700 setup (77% more).

Just for an example of motherboard pricing here, the cheapest X99 in stock at Microcenter is the ASRock X99 Extreme4 LGA 2011-3 ATX for $160 after rebate. An Asus Prime Z270-AR LGA 1151 ATX is the same price, while the previous version, the Asus Z170-AR LGA 1151 ATX is only $5 cheaper. All are similarly equipped except for the X99 having 8 DIMM slots vs. 4 DIMM slots for the LGA 1151's.
 

NinjadGuy

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Jan 11, 2017
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Yeah you'd be surprised...
Also the components variety isn't that great, especially for anything other than a i5 or i7 4 cores gaming computer.
I'm forced to buy a Motherboard for $400 because that's the cheapest X99 I could find.

CPU: i7 6800k - $590 (i7 6700 is around $400)
Cooling: Noctua NH-D14 - $85
MB: Asus-X99-A II - $400
RAM: G.Skill Value DDR4 2400MHZ 15CL 32 GB (4x8) - $250
GPU: R5 230 - $50
SSD: Intel 540s 120GB - $85
PSU: Seasonic G-650 - $130
CASE: Corsair 300R - $100

Also includes a DVD drive for like $25.
you get a little discount for buying the whole PC parts from them, and that's the cheapest store I could find.

total price: $1620 (after the discount).
 

Patriot

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Apr 18, 2011
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Yeah I saw one for $99 on Amazon, but doesn't ship to Israel.
Cheapest I found on eBay was $175 including shipping and VAT.


*Add 17% VAT to that.
Ah... ok.
Well Seasonic isn't ever bad... just the non-prime line is a 6yr old platform and is outclassed by the g2 platform, the G3 extends that lead. If you can find a g2 for close to the seasonic I would do that.