RAM Check on Xeon Silver Build

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JDM

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Jun 25, 2016
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Build’s Name: Xeon Scaleable/NVME/(Optane?) Proxmox Build
Operating System/ Storage Platform: Proxmox (Debian)
CPU: Intel Xeon Silver 4114
Motherboard: Supermicro X11SPH-nCTPF
Chassis: Supermicro SC216
Drives: 128GB Intel 600p (Hypervisor OS); 2 x (900p Optane or P3520 NVME)? for VM's OS; 24 x 250GB 2.5" for VM Bulk Store
RAM: 96GB (6 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 ECC (starting with 64GB until year end)
Power Supply: 2 x Supermicro PWS-501P-1R 80Plus Platinum
Other Bits: Rack Rails

Usage Profile: Host VMs for home services and as test bed for some occupational skills development

Hey All

So this build is getting ready to come together. Almost all the parts are here (the CPU/Motherboard just arrived at my local sort facility, so they get to sit 2 miles from my house until Monday...sigh).

Two parts are still up in the air, the first being the SSDs that will host the VM OS disks. It's either going to be a pair of Intel DC P3520 SSDs or a pair of the rumored Intel 900p "Enthusiast" Optane AICs that are said to be announced late October. Not worried about that decision, I'm going to see where price/availability lands on the Optane and make the call. The other is the memory. I'm grabbing the max speed the Xeon Silver will support and getting a DIMM for each channel for best bandwidth, I wanted to make sure the DIMMs I'm looking to pull the trigger on are compatible (restocking fees pack quite a punch with RAM prices these days). The two I'm stuck between are linked below. Not sure if there's a benefit of one over the other, Supermicro's Certified list looks at DDR4-2666 as that's the max the board would support if a Gold/Platinum were put on it, so I unfortunately can't just go straight off of it. Any thoughts are appreciated!

Supermicro MEM-DR416L-CV01-ER24 DDR4

Samsung M393A2G40DB1-CRC DDR4

I'll post some build updates/pics too once this starts getting assembled.
 

K D

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Xeon Silver 4114 and X11SPL-F board have taken pretty much any DDR4 Ram I've installed (both 2133 and 2400) including Supermicro
MEM-DR416L-CV02-EU24
 

Patrick

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And a little trick, usually 2400 RAM, if you have a Gold/ Plat, can hit 2666

;)
 
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JDM

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Xeon Silver 4114 and X11SPL-F board have taken pretty much any DDR4 Ram I've installed (both 2133 and 2400) including Supermicro
MEM-DR416L-CV02-EU24
Thanks, that sounds encouraging! I'll go ahead and pick up the Supermicro sticks I linked to since they're a bit cheaper and in stock.

@Patrick Thanks for the tip! Hopefully I can get an upgrade at some point, good to have that tidbit in my back pocket :)
 

K D

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Xeon Silver 4114 and X11SPL-F board have taken pretty much any DDR4 Ram I've installed (both 2133 and 2400) including Supermicro
MEM-DR416L-CV02-EU24
I apologize. I quoted the wrong part number above. I had looked at the wrong invoice. MEM-DR416L-CV02-EU24 is unbuffered RAM for E3 systems. I'll try to get the part number from the system and post later today.

To amend my statement :
Xeon Silver 4114 and X11SPL-F board have taken pretty much any registered DDR4 Ram I've installed (both 2133 and 2400)
 

JDM

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I apologize. I quoted the wrong part number above. I had looked at the wrong invoice. MEM-DR416L-CV02-EU24 is unbuffered RAM for E3 systems. I'll try to get the part number from the system and post later today.

To amend my statement :
Xeon Silver 4114 and X11SPL-F board have taken pretty much any registered DDR4 Ram I've installed (both 2133 and 2400)
Thanks for the amendment/update! You ever find that part number? Just curious as I'm probably ordering this in the morning, if not no worries.
 

JDM

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So I got RAM in today and things seem to be fine in that regard, however I'm not able to boot from the M.2 PCIe x 4 slot on the X11SPH-nCTPF. Was able to see the Intel 600p disk to update its firmware and to install CentOS 7 onto (for testing, waiting for Proxmox 5.1 to drop here soon...and since I'm waiting on SSDs anyway...). I've put the M.2 PCIe x 4 slot into EFI under the Advanced > PCIe xxxx menu and rebooted to no avail. Using UEFI boot only or dual, neither way shows it as an option. I have this working on my Xeon D boards, surprised it's harder on the X11 Scaleable boards (to think I was crazy enough to think it'd be enabled by default). Running BIOS 1.0 (what came with it, but also seems to be the latest).

@Patrick You have any luck booting from M.2 with your 10Gb copper version?

UPDATE: Nevermind, had to install the OS with M.2 slot in EFI (not just change it afterward, also had to toggle between Vendor Firmware and AMI Native)...order of operations realllly matters
 
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Caleb

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Nov 16, 2015
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How is the machine performing? I am about to build a very similar setup....


This will all go in a Supermicro SC847 case. Any recommendations or concerns regarding the above build?

Thanks!

 

bitrot

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Don’t buy the Xeon Silver 4112, it’s a rather pointless SKU. The Xeon Silver 4110 which costs roughly the same is considerably better value for the money. All Xeon Silvers are maxed out at 3GHz in turbo mode, so you won’t even have the advantage of fewer, but higher clocked cores. The 4112 makes no sense.

The Silver 4114 has the best performance / price / energy consumption ratio of all Xeon Silver models from my observation. Hence I bought it myself and a Silver 4108 for my backup system, another great value SKU. The 4110 is very good, too.
 
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Caleb

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Don’t buy the Xeon Silver 4112, it’s a rather pointless SKU. The Xeon Silver 4110 which costs roughly the same is considerably better value for the money. All Xeon Silvers are maxed out at 3GHz in turbo mode, so you won’t even have the advantage of fewer, but higher clocked cores. The 4112 makes no sense.

The Silver 4114 has the best performance / price / energy consumption ratio of all Xeon Silver models from my observation. Hence I bought it myself and a Silver 4108 for my backup system, another great value SKU. The 4110 is very good, too.
Great advice! Was not aware of the information you provided. Placed the order this AM for the 4110. Thank you!
 

JDM

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How is the machine performing? I am about to build a very similar setup....

This will all go in a Supermicro SC847 case. Any recommendations or concerns regarding the above build?

Thanks!
@bitrot Gave good advice on the CPU, otherwise what you gave looks good. I haven't gotten to building the VMs this machine will host. I'm simultaneously overhauling my network to Ubiquiti (long time coming) and am getting all that stuff straightened out here first before I begin spinning up VMs, gotta have a solid foundation. I posted some benchmarks of the Intel 900p disks I put in this machine on another thread here in this forum. Hopefully I'll have some VMs built here by end of weekend, but we'll see how much my work schedule allows for this week.
 

Caleb

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@bitrot Gave good advice on the CPU, otherwise what you gave looks good. I haven't gotten to building the VMs this machine will host. I'm simultaneously overhauling my network to Ubiquiti (long time coming) and am getting all that stuff straightened out here first before I begin spinning up VMs, gotta have a solid foundation. I posted some benchmarks of the Intel 900p disks I put in this machine on another thread here in this forum. Hopefully I'll have some VMs built here by end of weekend, but we'll see how much my work schedule allows for this week.
Switching to Ubiquiti? Unifi or Edge line?
 

JDM

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Switching to Ubiquiti? Unifi or Edge line?
This is a home project, I'm using the Unifi line. A major upgrade from my Apple Airport Extreme AC, which to its credit has served me well for 4 years and been rock solid, but was severely limiting as I'm now running 10Gb :) Just got a house and wiring it up with network cable, now using 2 AC Pro's, a USG-Pro, and a US-48 switch (will be adding the US-16-XG soon for more SFP+ connectivity soon).
 
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bitrot

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The Supermicro SC847 chassis of yours only allows 2U heatsinks. I use the Supermicro socket 3647 2U active heatsink (SNK-P0068APS4) myself in a SC826 2U chassis, but have replaced the stock fan with a quieter Noctua 60mm fan - with great results. Others have had good results with the Dynatron B5 cooler. That's basically the two choices you have when it comes to active 2U socket 3647 coolers, at least as far as I am aware of.

I also purchased the Supermicro 4U socket 3647 (SNK-P0070APS4) heatsink for an upcoming project of mine, but that one won't fit into your SC847 chassis.
 
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K D

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I would recommend the Dynatron B5 over the Supermicro.

I have both and prefer the Dynatron. It's quieter, cheaper and has the same performance.
 

maia

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Sorry to somewhat hijack the thread, but regarding socket 3647 HSFs:

What about the Dynatron B11 for a tower/5U chassis? (in a X11SPL-F) Does anyone have any experience? Would it be better than both the Supermicro SNK-P0070APS4 and Dynatron B5?

EDIT: Also, I've emailed Noctua as their solution for socket 3647 should be out in late 2017... Let's see if they reply.
 

bitrot

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The Dynatron B11 3U cooler has a 80mm fan, the Supermicro SNK-P0070APS4 4U cooler a 92mm one and hence can run at lower RPM. It's also larger and likely heavier. For a 4U chassis, I'd go with the Supermicro, hence I bought it myself for my SC846.

I have replaced the stock fan with a Noctua one (old habit), it's easier to do than with the 2U cooler even.
 
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