Newest CPU/motherboard combo that supports DDR3 Rdimms

[Chris Beasley]

Hi

Sorry if the title is not entirely accurate, wasn't sure how to word it. Here in New Zealand, memory is extremely expensive and the USD/NZD exchange rate isn't so favourable at present. I currently have a homelab consisting of Dell R710s with each unit running 64GB DDR3 Rdimms.

I'm considering upgrading them but I do not want to change the memory due to the cost and wondered what the latest cpu/motherboard combo would be that supports DDR3 Rdimms... I'm looking for best bang for buck basically... The L5630s run at around 25% load on each machine so I'm not a heavy CPU user but memory is close to maxed on all of them. The dells pull around 110w each with a single cpu, 64gb ram ssds and HDDs when running ESXi and vSAN. I'd ideally like to be lower but understand that the nature of rdimm motherboards that is unlikely without switching to DDR4 based stuff like Ryzen/epyc or the new intel e3 replacements.

I'd prefer to use Supermicro as I have 4u rackmount chassis not in use but would tolerate asrock rack, asus etc. if the cost was cheaper; the dells where cheap but I prefer
'whiteboxing' for flexibility.

So, from the collective experience here, what is the best and newest combo that supports DDR3 rdimms within a rough power envelope of 100-120w.

Many thanks,

Chris

 

[Evan]

Supermicro X9SRI-F or something like that, with say a single e5-2680v2 (10 nice fast cores), can also use many of the smaller v2 cpu’s.

While it’s a good step up I am not sure how much less power it would use. I have a feeling it would not be a lot less but maybe others have a better feeling on that. (Not be a lot less compared to the initial outlay for new system)

Also look around ddr4 has dropped a lot in the last couple of months but probably better to buy now as there was a power failure in a large fab this quarter that could mean supply is not as plentiful for a few months again.

 

[kapone]

My test nodes run a Tyan S7067 motherboard with dual E5-2650 v2s with 64GB RAM, a couple of fans and a single SSD, with a single 10gb Nic connected.

They idle at ~80w. That's with dual CPUs mind you.

The 1366 platform was and is a lot more power hungry than the 2011 platform (especially with Ivy Bridge CPUs). The difference between a dual Ivy Bridge setup and an equivalent absolute latest CPU/Motherboard/RAM combo is actually not that much of a difference.

 

[Markess]

....The 1366 platform was and is a lot more power hungry than the 2011 platform (especially with Ivy Bridge CPUs). The difference between a dual Ivy Bridge setup and an equivalent absolute latest CPU/Motherboard/RAM combo is actually not that much of a difference.

@kapone makes a good point. The Westmere EP was a pretty power efficient CPU at idle, and the L5630's you have are thermally capped at 40 watts TDP, so even when your servers ramp up, the CPUs don't draw a lot of power or generate a lot of heat to dissipate. BUT, the platform chipset for that generation isn't very energy efficient, especially the dual processor 5000 series in your Dell R710s. The chipsets in your servers probably account for more of the power draw at idle than your CPUs do.

By comparison, the Ivy Bridge Xeons (probably the fastest/newest generation you can easily use with DDR3 RDIMMs) are also energy efficient at idle, but also have a pretty energy efficient chipset as well. So a switch to Ivy Bridge should result in both a faster and somewhat more energy efficient system.

I recently worked on a Dell R620 with a single E5-2640 v2 CPU, 16GB RAM, and two SSDs mirrored running Ubuntu Server. Idle was pretty low, around 60 watts. The E5-2640 v2 has more than twice the performance of the L5630 according to Passsmark Benchmarks. A single E5-2650 v2, like the ones @kapone is using in dual socket configuration, has more than 3x the performance:

PassMark - CPU Comparison Intel Xeon E5-2640 v2 vs Intel Xeon L5630 vs Intel Xeon E5-2650 v2

My own home ESXi server is an X9DRT-F with dual E5-2628l v2, 64GB RAM, dual 10GB Nic, 3x3.5 drives, an SSD, and a couple DVD drives. Idle is ~90-95 watts.

Generally, for readily available CPUs and motherboards, the newest generation you can use is Ivy Bridge E5 (E5-14xx v2, E5-24xx v2, E5-16xx v2, E5-26xx v2, and E5-46xx v2)

Ivy Bridge E7 v2 (E7-48xx v2, and E7-88xx v2) are usually cheap on eBay, and also work with DDR3 RDIMMs. But, the motherboards use a unique socket (LGA 2011-1) and are hard to come by.

There are some Haswell-EP E5-26xx v3 Xeons (the generation following Ivy Bridge) that can work with DDR3 RDIMMs, but the motherboards for them seem to be very hard to find as well.

If I messed any of this up, somebody please correct me.

 

[e97]

Found an X99 motherboard with 8 DDR3 slots but CPU support is limited to a few E5-26XXv3 CPUs.

Seller says it should fully support the rest next month:

 

[BeTeP]

About a year ago when I was researching inexpensive upgrade paths for my LGA2011 systems - I decided that Haswell-E (Xeon E5 v3) + registered DDR3 was not a viable option. While it looked promising on paper - the motherboards were simply not available.

There are older threads with similar questions like
https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...3-motherboards-for-haswell-e-with-ddr3.19001/

Even if our Chinese friends would finally be able to deliver on this promise (I still have my doubts) - it might be a little bit too late. The DDR4 prices have fallen enough for me to bite the bullet.


So my advice to @Chris Beasley - just stick with Ivy Bridge-EP for as long as you can.

 

[e97]

Considering the same since I already have lots of DDR3 and C602/X79 systems but I need more than 4 DIMM slots!

The Chinese motherboards have some quirks : https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/cheap-chinese-x79-mobos.15278/ and they also have some nice features like overclocking.


The X99-AD3 has reviews saying DDR3 works and mentioned by some forum members: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...3-139-sr20z-2-5ghz-12-core.24970/#post-231738

华南金牌官网

Like @BeTeP said, DDR4 has greatly dropped in price. DDR3 is still cheaper, especially if you already have it.

eBay 2019-07-11:
16GB RDIMM DDR3 1866 ~ $25
16GB RDIMM DDR4 2666 ~ $50

Don't forget to consider power consumption and performance, a modern AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (65W) beats my dual E5-2670 (2x 115W) in single and multi threaded benchmarks with 70% less TDP.

16GB DDR4 ECC UDIMM ~ $100 new

If its suitable for your needs (don't need tons of RAM or not building a Hackintosh, or whatever) a new B450 and 3700X with ECC UDIMM would be similarly priced vs a 5+ year old used enterprise Intel Xeon V3 system.

Plus don't forget about security vulnerabilities, Spectre/Meltdown/etc. if its internet connected