Input on dual Xeon rig

[cytg111]

I got me a couple of cheap E5-2670's (sandy, 8 cores) off ebay, now shopping for the rest of the system.

Any objections to this board, Asus Z9PA-D8?

https://www.asus.com/dk/Commercial-Servers-Workstations/Z9PAD8/

? Picked on basis of being cheapest ...

 

[XavierMace]

That's a super cramped board. I foresee issues getting decent heatsinks to fit. I'm also personally not a fan of only 8 DIMM slots on a server board.

USB3.0 is nice although it doesn't say where it's coming from.

 

[DaveSimmons]

What is your intended use for the system?

What other parts are you planning to buy for it?

 

[XavierMace]

He covered that over in CPU and Overclocking. OP, you might want to copy/paste that info here.

 

[cytg111]

Yea its cramped but I dont have use for the space .

I am planning on

64/128GB DDR3-1600
Some raid-5 array with 6-8TB discs
Some SSD caching?

Rig will be used for virtualization (free ESXi?), running linux servers webserver, database (postgres), different coding envoriments, some windows some linux, a backup server, subversion/mercurial, fileserver, video surveillance etc.

I got these things running on a varity of retired hardware today, old laptops whatnot, looking to consolidate and still have room for the 'next idea' im gonna have..

So no massive GPU or otherwise to crowd up the limited realestate...

 

[XavierMace]

I was referring to heatsinks. A lot of home lab people want to put enthusiast type tower heatsinks on to keep keep them cool without bursting your ear drums. There's no way your going to fit those kinds of heatsinks with the CPU's that close together.

 

[cytg111]

Excellent point. If I were to mount massive heatsinks ala megahelms it would be to keep noise down. Never entered my mind that a 16C system could be .. silent .. but of course it can.. Ill have to ponder on that, if its worth it to me (could go liquid? is that over the top stupid for a server rig? never done liquid before..).
Other than that it IS an OK board is it not? I have trouble finding reviews on it on the net (one youtube review).

(i've msg'ed nalinb from this thread http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2381743 but hes afk since 2014 so..)

 

[XavierMace]

Liquid cooled servers aren't unheard of. The catch is having enough room for radiators to make it worth it.

The first question would be is noise an issue? If it's not, standard server grade heatsinks are dirt cheap.

If you want quiet and you're set on that board, I'd go with either a pair 280mm radiators. Either an AIO setup like the NXZT X61 or a custom loop, and replace the fans with something with a good range. I run Noctua Industrials on mine as they are nearly silent in silent mode but move a buttload of air if you crank them up.

Regarding the board itself. My standing recommendation for people looking to buy server boards is go Supermicro or go home. I've owned Intel, Tyan, and Asus server boards. I'd take Supermicro over any of them. Do the others work? Sure. It's kinda like car shopping. Do you want a beater or a nice ride?

 

[cytg111]

https://www.google.dk/search?q=MBD-...jpPOAhWPJSwKHYQBB7oQ_AUICCgB&biw=1097&bih=824

is of course ~150$ more expensive .. still might be worth it the way you put it .. may have to cancel that other order.. thinking mode..

Also.. to ECC or not? ECC is a 40-50% premium.

 

[XavierMace]

Also keep in mind that Supermicro board is EATX so make sure it would actually fit in the case you are going to put it in. Personally I run ECC memory in my servers as I'm running ZFS and want that little extra safety. Capacity wise, that Supermicro board supports 128Gb or RAM non-ECC so it up to you if you think you will want more than that at some point or want the error correction.

 

[NAC]

Regarding the board - unless you get a separate ASUS "PIKE" board, the motherboard only supports 2 SATA3 and 4 SATA2 drives. So if you want more drives than that, you'll need a separate card driving up cost.

Regarding ram, I would buy used ECC ram, which is pretty cheap. But if you want 64gb or more ram, you'll need to buy 8gb or larger sticks, which are more expensive. So another MB with more ram slots may save money on ram.

Other than that, I'm sure the board is fine. I know there aren't many choices out there anymore. Personally, I'm comfortable with used memory and CPUs, but would rather buy a new motherboard.

Regarding cooling, I have a pair of e2670 chips, one with a 240mm AIO water radiator, and the other has a 120mm AIO water radiator. Both are connected to a fan controller, and it runs pretty quiet and cool enough.