SuperMicro X10SRH-CLN4F build from hell.

[Swiz]

Thought this saga was over? He's baaaaaaack!

After setting up my computer and running CPU-Z I noticed the processor was being detected as an E5-1603 V4 instead of an E5-2697 V4. I thought "This is strange, but obviously it's wrong and I can prove that by going back into BIOS". Well, the SuperMicro board is indeed detecting this new CPU as an E5-1603 V4, not an E5-2697 V4. My memory is also running at 2133, which is the max of the E5-1603 V4, instead of 2400. I've never encountered this before. Re-flashing the BIOS/BMC made no difference.

Now I'm investigating whether or not I received a counterfeit CPU. This processor was sold and fulfilled by Amazon.com (FBA). It was in an Intel retail box that was factory sealed. All the numbers seem to match between the box and the CPU. I followed this article: fmadio | Checking scammers for counterfeit Intel CPU`s

However, there is one thing that is bothering me and I hope one of you will be able to help me with it. I noticed in one of the CPU corners on the top, the glue that connects the heat spreader to the PCB seems to run over a bit. It looks quite sloppy for Intel and I don't remember seeing anything like this before. It's hard to see it in both pictures, but I posted them anyways. I hope one of you can compare it to your E5 processors and tell me if you notice the same thing or not.

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

 

[Rand__]

Have you run Support for Intel® Processor Identification Utility ?

 

[Swiz]

Yes, it identifies it as an Intel Xeon E5-1603 v4 @ 2.80GHz. (4 Threads/4 Cores). Even though it was sold and fulfilled by Amazon, this has to be a counterfeit. It's hard to believe, because everything matches up between the packaging and the labeling on the CPU. It appeared to be factory sealed with the traditional tape you would expect. Unbelievable.

 

[Patrick]

Sounds like this: Jim Thompson on Twitter (caution language but if you expand, there are pictures and more on Twitter)

 

[Swiz]

Wow, unbelievable, it identifies as the same one! The scary part is that mine was sold and fulfilled by Amazon. The retail box was perfectly sealed with factory tape and all. This makes me wonder who Amazon uses for its source. Clearly it's not Intel. It looks like I've been scammed, but at least I know I'm not the only one now. Thanks!

 

[takeshi14121990]

If you're getting to web IPMI login that should show you BIOS and firmware versions

 

[Patrick]

@Swiz - who was it sold by? If not Amazon as a seller, these can be troublesome.

 

[Swiz]

Amazon was the seller. I did not use a third party seller on their site, because I wanted to play it safe. So much for that.

 

[verbat1m]

I just wanted to chime in about how much help this thread has been to me. I was actually trying to do the exact same thing as Swiz, with the exact same symptoms.

I ended up keeping the E5-2696 v4 processors (I was trying to build two systems), and bailing on the SM boards. I tried two of the X10SRH-CLN4F mentioned in this thread as well as two X10SRL-F boards, no dice, and no help from SM support. The IPMI on all four boards indicated they had BIOS Rev 2.a.

I picked up two ASUS Z10PE-D16 motherboards, both of which booted right up, and the processors were identified by the motherboards, Windows, and CPU-Z as E5-2696 v4s. I also took macro photography of the visual ID on the PCB of the processor and compared the serial number to the lid, which matched on both, so the processors are genuine (or incredibly good fakes?) I do have to wonder if the SM boards whitelist their compatible processors, as the E5-2696 v4 seems to be the OEM workstation variant of the E5-2699 v4, but I was out of patience with SM and the ASUS boards just flat worked (complete with a nifty POST card style display on the board to see what was going on).

One of my sticks of RAM was actually bad once I got this far, but everything else is running happily now.

Anyway... thanks again for this thread, sorry about the build woes, Swiz!