Potential Deal: 2 x Dual 2011 nodes @$199, Quanta Openrack

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svt3391

Member
Feb 11, 2016
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MWP said:
Thanks to everyone who replied about my Wiwynn Win 7 issue earlier--finally got windows 7 installed. Not even sure why I was having issues but loading from an official 5 year old windows 7 cd using an "amazon basics" usb cd drive plugged into the inside usb port did the trick.

One more question: has anyone figured out how to disable the staggered boot delay feature on the Wiwynn? With just a few of these, that feature is not really needed. I see some jumpers around the fans on the front of the power interconnect boards. Wonder if those control that?
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I found for Windows thumb drive it needs to be booted from the internal USB. For Linux based OS (that includes VMWare) both the internal and external ports work.

I think the internal port is designed to be the "booting" port, while the external port maybe for keyboard/mouse combo. NorCalm confirmed the same thing IIRC.
 
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grfxlab

Member
Apr 6, 2016
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novegg4 said:
Were you able to find the way to set the quanta's bios up to the maximum performance matching your supermicro rig? Please share your solution.
Click to expand...
Yes. good question. Here are a few things I discovered.

The bios on the Quanta system when shipped was F03_3A07.

All the things needed are under the advanced tab in the bios.

First I enabled the show hidden options. Then go into the CPU configuration make sure hyper-threading is enabled, and active processor cores set to all.

I read in the F03A manual that you can enable the Turbo mode only after selecting custom for the cpu power profile, so the next thing is go into the CPU power management configuration.

With show hidden options enabled you can now set the Max CPU Speed. default is 255 but the description says max of 26, 27 for turbo mode. I set it to 32. (the spec from Intel is 33 for a single core).

for power technology set it to custom. EIST=enabled, Turbo Mode=enabled, Energy performance = Performance.

set the Factory long duration power limit to 115w (intel spec.)
set long duration maintained to 10 seconds (intel spec)
short duration power limit 140w (intel spec 1.2-1.3x TDP)
short duration maintained to 6ms (1-10 is bios suggestion)

After setting these I was able to get all cores to run at constant turbo mode at 3.0ghz.

I was very happy with these results. For us it resulted in a 20% gain in performance. An image that rendered in 51 minutes with default settings now rendered in 40.5. The max total CPU power use was 112w and the fans kicked in when the cpu temps got to 90c and cooled them down to 84-86 for CPU 1 and 74-76 for CPU 0. CPU 1 always runs 10 degrees hotter since it is in line with air flow from the other CPU.

AFTER doing all this I wanted to test the long term usefulness by installing windows server 2012 V2 and windows 10......they did not install. So....I flashed the bios to F03C3A07 and the ME. after doing that some of the settings in the bios changed and the default values were more like what I used. I tested renderings and got the same performance (40.5 min render) although the turbo mode was now 2.93 ghz. The big difference was......

After flashing the bios to F03C3A07 I could install windows 10 pro and windows server 2012 V2.

I hope all that helps.
 
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novegg4

Member
Nov 23, 2013
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grfxlab said:
Yes. good question. Here are a few things I discovered.

The bios on the Quanta system when shipped was F03_3A07.

All the things needed are under the advanced tab in the bios.

First I enabled the show hidden options. Then go into the CPU configuration make sure hyper-threading is enabled, and active processor cores set to all.

I read in the F03A manual that you can enable the Turbo mode only after selecting custom for the cpu power profile, so the next thing is go into the CPU power management configuration.

With show hidden options enabled you can now set the Max CPU Speed. default is 255 but the description says max of 26, 27 for turbo mode. I set it to 32. (the spec from Intel is 33 for a single core).

for power technology set it to custom. EIST=enabled, Turbo Mode=enabled, Energy performance = Performance.

set the Factory long duration power limit to 115w (intel spec.)
set long duration maintained to 10 seconds (intel spec)
short duration power limit 140w (intel spec 1.2-1.3x TDP)
short duration maintained to 6ms (1-10 is bios suggestion)

After setting these I was able to get all cores to run at constant turbo mode at 3.0ghz.

I was very happy with these results. For us it resulted in a 20% gain in performance. An image that rendered in 51 minutes with default settings now rendered in 40.5. The max total CPU power use was 112w and the fans kicked in when the cpu temps got to 90c and cooled them down to 84-86 for CPU 1 and 74-76 for CPU 0. CPU 1 always runs 10 degrees hotter since it is in line with air flow from the other CPU.

AFTER doing all this I wanted to test the long term usefulness by installing windows server 2012 V2 and windows 10......they did not install. So....I flashed the bios to F03C3A07 and the ME. after doing that some of the settings in the bios changed and the default values were more like what I used. I tested renderings and got the same performance (40.5 min render) although the turbo mode was now 2.93 ghz. The big difference was......

After flashing the bios to F03C3A07 I could install windows 10 pro and windows server 2012 V2.

I hope all that helps.
Click to expand...

Great recap, thank you very much.
Do you mind to share the bios download links?
 
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grfxlab

Member
Apr 6, 2016
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novegg4 said:
Great recap, thank you very much.
Do you mind to share the bios download links?
Click to expand...
The bios, drivers (windows and Linux) can be downloaded for the Quanta system here. Please note this is not the exact system but is a compatible motherboard. (download the bios and read the release notes to verify if you want.) I wonder if it would work on a Wiwynn? The mobo bios chip is supposed to be replaceable...might be worth trying for someone who needs windows.

Download Center

The system is considered an F03B motherboard.

A better manual with bios settings and descriptions can be found here...

QUANTA RACKGO X SERIES F03A TECHNICAL MANUAL Pdf Download.

This manual is for a different model so although the bios looks the same the rest of the manual is partially usable. i.e. the info about IPMI and remote KVM do not apply to the windmill boards we have. Other info may or may not apply directly but is very similar.

Hope it helps.
 
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grfxlab

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Apr 6, 2016
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Fyi, the new bios sets the long duration and short duration power limit to 115w. Although the turbo frequency suffers a bit, my overall performance is identical.
 
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ArcyneTheFirst

New Member
Jan 22, 2016
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The FW0C Is the one I used(see earlier in the thread) but inline to make it easier for folks.

The readme for FW0C bios specifically calls out added compatibility with FW0B.

R

Sent from mTalk
 
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grfxlab

Member
Apr 6, 2016
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The Fo3C is the model to use. After unzipping the bios file the readme text states it works with the Fo3B motherboard.
 
smithse79

smithse79

Active Member
Sep 17, 2014
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I've been running a quanta for almost 2 months now. Only one node but I'm very pleased with it. I'll probably light up the other node this weekend
 
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grfxlab

Member
Apr 6, 2016
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DonJon said:
I have booted from both USB ports. Go to USB settings in BIOS and set both ports to Enable. One of them is set to Auto detect by default that may be the cause.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Default for the quanta with original bios set usb1 to enabled and usb2 to disabled. After flahing bios option for setting each independantly was removed but the new default was enabled. Also check for legacy support.
 
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Awesomesauce

Member
Apr 20, 2016
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Does anyone know if the Quanta version from esionic comes with heatsinks and plastic shroud?

Their pic does not show the heatsinks. But someone on here bought one from them..

Please let me know
 
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Awesomesauce

Member
Apr 20, 2016
77
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How did you guys get the Wiwynn version for 199? The listing price is 279

Anyone know a version that comes with 10gbe rj45 base card? I've seen others got some with 10gbe but i assume those are sfp ?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
S

svt3391

Member
Feb 11, 2016
113
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Awesomesauce said:
How did you guys get the Wiwynn version for 199? The listing price is 279

Anyone know a version that comes with 10gbe rj45 base card? I've seen others got some with 10gbe but i assume those are sfp ?

Thanks
Click to expand...
NorCalm is local to the seller. Originally the SV7210 was listed as $229 + $49/$59 shipping. He offered to buy 2 at $199 and seller accepted. And he went to pick them up. That's awesome deal for him.
 
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Awesomesauce

Member
Apr 20, 2016
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Does pxe work with the 10gbe sfp card comes with this server?

I actually never used pxe with 10gbe sfp card before. Any info is welcome
 
smithse79

smithse79

Active Member
Sep 17, 2014
206
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Awesomesauce said:
Does pxe work with the 10gbe sfp card comes with this server?

I actually never used pxe with 10gbe sfp card before. Any info is welcome
Click to expand...
I have a quanta with the 10Gb Mezzanine card. The computer definitely wants to PXE to the 10Gb. I'm not even sure that it will PXE the 1GB link.
 
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novegg4

Member
Nov 23, 2013
44
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8
Could someone help please - what is P/N of the Quanta's Windmill midplane power distribution board?
 
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