New homelab build - E5-2630L v2 vs Xeon D-1528

[k0nf1gt]

Hello STH,

I'm a longtime lurker and finally posting to get your opinions on my next build. I currently have about 128GB of DDR3 1066 ECC RAM being used in my existing homelab that I would like to repurpose in the new build. Right now I'm using Xeon 5639L's and am looking at going to E5-2630L v2's for my next build. I'm wondering if I should just get over buying new DDR4 and look at the Xeon-D platform? I want 10GBE SFP+ in this build so this is what I've been looking at so far for hardware:

E5-2630L v2 Build

(3) Nodes

I'm thinking i'll be around $750 per node so let's say $2250 for the overall compute upgrade.

High level specs:

Single socket LGA 2011 Motherboard ATX form factor (maybe x79 chipset but likely C602)
Repurpose DDR3 ECC RAM from current homelab
Dual Port 10GBE SFP+ NIC (What NIC's are you guys using lately?)
Repurpose PSU's from current homelab

Xeon-D Build

(3) Nodes

Specs:

Supermicro E200-8D
32GB DDR4 ECC RAM

Probably going to be looking at close to $3700 overall due to DDR4 RAM.

In your opinion is it worth it? I know the form factor is convenient but not at that premium. I will also have less RAM in the cluster.

Also, has anyone used the Cisco N3K-C3064PQ-10GE? If so how is power draw and noise?

Thanks in advance!

 

[K D]

The Xeon D builds definitely save a lot of power. The 1528 idles at around 45watts with m.2 and 2 SSDS and all 4 ram sticks used. I haven't run any heavy workloads on them so can't speak about performance. I am using it in a supermicro 826 with an expander backplane and a 1200w psu. So with a e200 case it should be even lower.

Keep in mind that it has only one pcie x16. People have been able to use it for 2 pciex8 slots with a bifurcation capable riser. But you would have to get a chassis that can support using a pcie riser. You cannot use expansion cards in the e200. So if you need any expansion cards or envision needing them in the future then plan accordingly.

 

[msg7086]

Xeon-D is still not quite cheap, and so are those memory sticks. I'd personally go for DDR3 platform. The power consumption is not that huge -- I've got some single E5-2640v1 servers that idle at ~55w with a spinning drive and 4 memory sticks, and peak at 130w.