Evga SR-2 with 1 processor?

[HAL9000]

Hey Guys,
I'm thinking of buying an Evga SR-2 and I was wondering can I put a single CPU in it, then at a later date when I get some more money together add the second?
Thanks in advance.

 

[3DVagabond]

Should be fine, AFAIK. I'd check with EVGA to be certain. I'm pretty sure it does though.

Next concern,,, What case are you planning on using? Again, AFAIK, Mountain Mods are the only ones who make cases that the board fits right into. There are 2 Lian Li cases that will hold it but with modifications.

 

[HAL9000]

Should be fine, AFAIK. I'd check with EVGA to be certain. I'm pretty sure it does though.

Next concern,,, What case are you planning on using? Again, AFAIK, Mountain Mods are the only ones who make cases that the board fits right into. There are 2 Lian Li cases that will hold it but with modifications.

That I was not aware of, Let the research commence!

 

[theAnimal]

One CPU will work.

 

[hennessy1]

Here's a list of compatible cases
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=238992

 

[heymrdj]

Also remember the board uses the the 5000 series xeon server chipset. This means that only the memory slots with a populated processor slot will work, and if i remember correctly, i'm pretty sure I'm right when I say, only certain PCI slots will work. One processor's QPI is connected to one series, and the other is connected to the other series. At least I'm pretty sure it's that way on the server boards...

 

[hennessy1]

Also remember the board uses the the 5000 series xeon server chipset. This means that only the memory slots with a populated processor slot will work, and if i remember correctly, i'm pretty sure I'm right when I say, only certain PCI slots will work. One processor's QPI is connected to one series, and the other is connected to the other series. At least I'm pretty sure it's that way on the server boards...

Would this still apply because this board has the nf200 chips in it allowing to give all the bandwidth to the pcie slots? Meaning they would still be active regardless of the # of cpu's installed?

 

[heymrdj]

Would this still apply because this board has the nf200 chips in it allowing to give all the bandwidth to the pcie slots? Meaning they would still be active regardless of the # of cpu's installed?

Looking into it I'm not sure really. The board only takes Dual QPI Xeons, IE 5500 and 5600 series Westmere and Nahalem processors (I believe Nahalem-EP to be specific). One QPI points to the Northbridge, the other to the second processor slot. Now reasoning tells me the NB can't operate at 100% efficiency without both QPI channels going into for maximum bandwidth, especially when chewing through 48 lanes of graphics cards. So it would stand, to me anyways, that in the end, one of thos nf200 chipsets might not be activated if only partial amounts of the NB is activated by having half the QPI bandwidth alloted.

What I was judging is that almost every server mainboard has two of those intel 5520 NB's. This board isn't the case, it's a single Intel 5520 NB linked to two NF200's. I'm not sure the full route of this other than SLI latentcy is induced by the QPI link between two Intel 5520's. But your handwidth certainly isn't going to be maxed out with a single link there to feed both those processors. In fact in reading, if the slots are populated, they'll all run at only 8x. Slots 4, 6, 7 I believe *always* run 8x on that board. And reading forums this system does indeed seem to have bandwidth issues when it comes to heavy cards like a set of 6 GTX 480's. I'm going to try to get a block diagram for the board, maybe something will make sense.

 

[SkopjeMKD]

Avoid the cheapest Xeons, some of them can't work in Dual-CPU enviroments, many have made that mistake 😛

 

[heymrdj]

Avoid the cheapest Xeons, some of them can't work in Dual-CPU enviroments, many have made that mistake 😛

All the 5000's will work with this 5000 chipset as they are all Dual QPI Dual CPU Ready. Xeon 3000's and Core I7 processors will not work.

 

[heymrdj]

Alright I found the manual, the bible of the SR-2 http://www.evga.com/support/manuals/...70-WS-W555.pdf

Reading it, it's fairly clear all slots *will work* with just one CPU. The whole system, thanks to the single 5520 NB, is strapped to 8GB/s of PCI-e bandwidth. This will work for most folding applications where only GPU-GPU communications occur heavily, but some applications apparently will have issues with that constrained bandwidth. It is *not* recommended to use a hardware RAID card with more than 2GPU's as oddities can occur with the constrained bandwidth.

 

[Jdawg84]

I honestly see no point in buying the SR-2 if only running one processor. Save your money and just buy a Classified instead with a Gulftown.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

I honestly see no point in buying the SR-2 if only running one processor. Save your money and just buy a Classified instead with a Gulftown.

The fairly obvious reason was already stated... that is to add a second processor at a later date.

However your suggestion is not without merit... worth the OP considering.

Though locally Gulftowns are expensive ($950 for the i7 970 🙁)

You sure do love your DP neckarb... 😉

 

[Jdawg84]

The fairly obvious reason was already stated... that is to add a second processor at a later date.

However your suggestion is not without merit... worth the OP considering.

Though locally Gulftowns are expensive ($950 for the i7 970 🙁)

You sure do love your DP neckarb... 😉

I only speak from experience because i had considered going with the SR-2 with a pair of 5620's but in the end the price of the cases you need to buy to even run the SR-2 is a total waste.

SR-2 - 589.99
Pair of 5620's - 768.00
12GB of DDR3 2000 - 299.99
Case - 200-300 dollars

OR

980X - 999.99
X58 3 Way SLI - 359.99
6GB DDR3 2000 - 149.99

Go with the 980X instead. You'll be A LOT happier

 

[HAL9000]

I only speak from experience because i had considered going with the SR-2 with a pair of 5620's but in the end the price of the cases you need to buy to even run the SR-2 is a total waste.

SR-2 - 589.99
Pair of 5620's - 768.00
12GB of DDR3 2000 - 299.99
Case - 200-300 dollars

OR

980X - 999.99
X58 3 Way SLI - 359.99
6GB DDR3 2000 - 149.99

Go with the 980X instead. You'll be A LOT happier

I know, i was thinking along similar lines, But as someone mentioned earlier I sure do love DP 🙂

 

[heymrdj]

I know, i was thinking along similar lines, But as someone mentioned earlier I sure do love DP 🙂

*snicker snicker*

Yes I love dual processor systems too. A single set up for hard humber crunching or extreme performance would never do to me. I'm hoping my next rig will be a dual quad core or dual 6 core xeon setup with at least 8-12GB of ram and SLI'd current gen cards 😀. Then the gf looks at me...:'(

 

[HAL9000]

*snicker snicker*

Yes I love dual processor systems too. A single set up for hard humber crunching or extreme performance would never do to me. I'm hoping my next rig will be a dual quad core or dual 6 core xeon setup with at least 8-12GB of ram and SLI'd current gen cards 😀. Then the gf looks at me...:'(

I just ensure my GF's out of the room when I'm looking at DP's 😉 😀