Dual CPU Workstation/Server Help Please

[warath]

I'm wanting to put together a good, but not crazy, workstation/server with dual processors. I've unfortunatly not had alot of time to keep up with the latest hardware like i use to, so am looking for your "expert" opinions please.

Primary Uses:
- VMWare server for multi platform testing.
- File Server
- Media Compression/Rendering

Criteria:
1) SCSII Controler (on board or card)
2) Quiet as possible (36db 'ish)
3) Dual CPU & cooler's
4) 2-4Gig of RAM
5) Mid-range pricing (meaning money is an object, but don't want cheapy-cheapy )
6) ATX form (fiting my Lan-Li PC-70 case http://www.techcraft.com/show_product1fcc.html)


Links to the products you recommend would be very helpful and appriciated!

Thank you!

 

[ribbon13]

6 is NOT going to happen.

Any dual board worth it's salt is going to be EATX/SSI 12"x13"

 

[warath]

ok, then i guess, recommend a Case and PSU as well

 

[ribbon13]

I'd reccomend getting the S2895UA2NRF and S2895A2NRF from AxentMicro. Actually make it just the 'U' version. It has dual U320 SCSI onboard.

Best deal on opterons is the 244

I wouldn't reccomend anything other than a PC Power & Cooling Turbo-cool 510 AG. K8WE has the same form factor and power connectors as the K8W. QVL here

512mb $94 Corsair CM72SD512RLP-3200
1024mb $203 Corsair CM72SD1024RLP-3200

You want want just 2GB of ram, get four of the 512MB sticks. You could get two of the 1GB sticks on CPU0, and two of the 512MB sticks on CPU1 for 3GBs, or two of the 1GB sticks on each cpu for 4GB

For a chassis, I'd suggest a ($227) Lian-Li PC-V2000B or a ($130) Enlight EN-8950B00.

 

[dicecca112]

ha no. Try the NCCH-DL.

If I were you I'd go with either Low Voltage Xeons or Noconas. Grab some cheap SCSI Drives, and an adaptec 39160 and have fun.

 

[ribbon13]

I considered that board when I said 'worth its salt' but here ya go -> Asus info here

Violates #2 though.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Dual Opterons is the only reasonable choice.

I've managed to fit an EATX motherboard in a midtower, but it wasn't particularly fun.

 

[warath]

I'm not a huge fan of Tyan; since I have an MPX that just been a world of trouble (2xRMA, and lots of other 'little' issues).
Thought I would still prefer to go AMD :-/

 

[ribbon13]

Well, the MSI dual 940 board is an option. But it will instantly void the warranty on one of the CPUs. I have the board I'm reccomending and I haven't had any problems that I couldn't resolve (it's engineering sample too).

Review of the K8WE
MSI vs Tyan

 

[warath]

What you reccomend sound great, thanks. Is this the exact list of parts you have?
Also a bit of a noob question: on the Tyan board, i'm guessing that the PCI-E slots will take the a PCI-E video card, since I don't see an onboard one?

Thanks again!

 

[ShadowBlade]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Dual Opterons is the only reasonable choice.

I've managed to fit an EATX motherboard in a midtower, but it wasn't particularly fun.

Look into coolermaster CM stacker....10 5.25" bays, fits microATX, ATX, BTX, EATX and anything smaller...lots of cool bells&whistles

 

[ribbon13]

Yes they do. You can pick up a cheapy $60 do-fer. Or if you occasionally game you could get a 6600GT for $200.

 

[warath]

Humm... is the RAID only for the SATA controler? Or does the SCSI also have Raid? Doesn't look like it from my reading on tyan.

 

[ribbon13]

The LSI supports RAID 0,1,0+1,10

 

[dicecca112]

I considered that board when I said 'worth its salt' but here ya go -> Asus info here

Violates #2 though.

No offense but your wrong, it fits fine in my Antec slk3000-b. Opterons are not viable. Their chipsets are quirky at best. Xeon would be more viable because the have future proofing, DDR2 and PCI-E.

 

[ribbon13]

WTF are you smoking? The board I reccomended is the only board on the market with true dual x16 PCIe! And DDR2 is a waste of money.

Quirky? I've been running duallies on the K8W, K8WE, and K8SRE blades for a while now and they're anything but unstable. The first K8SRE engineering sample I got has been crunching SETI for 106 days straight now.

 

[TerryMathews]

Originally posted by: warath
I'm wanting to put together a good, but not crazy, workstation/server with dual processors. I've unfortunatly not had alot of time to keep up with the latest hardware like i use to, so am looking for your "expert" opinions please.

Primary Uses:
- VMWare server for multi platform testing.
- File Server
- Media Compression/Rendering

Criteria:
1) SCSII Controler (on board or card)
2) Quiet as possible (36db 'ish)
3) Dual CPU & cooler's
4) 2-4Gig of RAM
5) Mid-range pricing (meaning money is an object, but don't want cheapy-cheapy )
6) ATX form (fiting my Lan-Li PC-70 case http://www.techcraft.com/show_product1fcc.html)
Thank you!

Basically, IMO you're not going to hit all 6. If you're using this for home, my recommendation is to dig up a pair of 1.6LV D1 Xeons if they're still available and an NCCH-DL. With a few very simple modifications, you'll be able to hit 3.2-3.3 GHz per processor. There are various cooling solutions available, 36db might be pushing it but you should be able to get into the ballpark.

The NCCH-DL is an i875-based motherboard with a pair of PCI-X slots (perfect for your SCSI card). It won't be able to use registered memory like most Xeon boards (not necessairly a bad thing), but you'll get the same blistering performance that the i875 is known for - the 1.6LV Xeons are Prestonia core, which is basically Northwood.

If the 1.6LV Xeons are still available on eBay, you'll be looking at roughly $400 USD for the motherboard and both processors, which is a performance/dollar ratio that is untouchable by any other combination Intel or AMD.

EDIT: The NCCH-DL will fit in your case choice, but you'll probably have to install processors, half the heatsink mounting, and RAM before installing in the case and remove the mobo from the case before removing those components.

 

[aka1nas]

That new abit wn-2s+ looks mighty nice if you want dual opterons and the possibility of doing other things with it like gaming. It's the only dual opteron board that doesn't required registered RAM.

http://forums.2cpu.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60572

Edit: Nevermind it looks this board is now not going to available for retail

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
WTF are you smoking? The board I reccomended is the only board on the market with true dual x16 PCIe! And DDR2 is a waste of money.

Quirky? I've been running duallies on the K8W, K8WE, and K8SRE blades for a while now and they're anything but unstable. The first K8SRE engineering sample I got has been crunching SETI for 106 days straight now.

I agree completely with ribbon here. I has my duallie runnin 2xF@H for over 5 months without powering down, and had ZERO bad unit ends and problems. And they will handle the new dual-core cpu's with just a bios flash. That isn;t going to happen on the Intel platform.... And DDR2 is definitely a waste of money. And with Hypertransport, duallies with dual-core are going to rape a dual Intel dual-core due to bandwidth problems, we can see that today on an 8x platform using Opterons.

 

[warath]

I gota say, I'm in love with the prospect of dual Opterons, specially if they are as stable as you guys are claiming!
Now I just need a client to pay for it cuz with everything I want its looking to be about $5,000US, which isn't too bad for a dual cpu workstation/server imo.

 

[nip2655]

Hi, ribbon. Since you seem to be the resident K8WE expert and don't seem to mind helping, I would like to pose a quick question or two.

This is what I would like to purchase for my company's engineering workstation needs. We will be running dual-boot between XP SP2 and XP 64:

(1) K8WE
(2) Opteron 246s
(2) Thermaltake A1838s
(1) ATI FireGL V5000
(2) WD 74GB Raptor SATA HDD (RAID 0)
(2) 16X Dual-layer DVD+RW
(1) CoolerMaster CM Stacker Case

I haven't decided on a power supply yet, but I don't think I will have any problems with that. Are there any glaring problems with the above configuration?

My primary question is this: I would like to run 8GB or RAM in the machine using (8) Corsair CM72SD1024RLP-3200 modules. Is this a good idea? If not, why?

I can really benefit from the extra RAM as we use some proprietary apps that are going to be re-compiled for Win64 within the next couple of weeks. They will be compiled to take advantage of 64-bit's extended memory addressing ability, so the 2GB (or 3GB with boot switch) limit under 32-bit doesn't apply to my scenario.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: dicecca112

I considered that board when I said 'worth its salt' but here ya go -> Asus info here

Violates #2 though.

No offense but your wrong, it fits fine in my Antec slk3000-b. Opterons are not viable. Their chipsets are quirky at best. Xeon would be more viable because the have future proofing, DDR2 and PCI-E.

Which is exactly why HP and Sun both have enterprise product lines based on AMD CPU's, right? :roll:

 

[biostud]

wouldn't it be an idea to get an Opteron 265, 270 or 275 and only use one of the sockets on a dual board.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: nip2655
(2) WD 74GB Raptor SATA HDD (RAID 0)

I guess you have a central server for working projects. Otherwise RAID 0 might not be a good idea.

 

[nip2655]

Absolutely. With multiple Gigabit interfaces. The machine above is purely a workhorse. I may eventually slap some 15K U320s in it, but for now, I need to get it up and running. The situation is complicated by the fact I am in Norway working on these projects and parts are WAY expensive over here. If I buy some SCSI drives, I will bring them back with me on the plane on my next visit Stateside, as we would pay twice their cost in the States here in Norway.

Thanks for the concern, though.