Question Opteron 6300 Series Dual-Socket Build 'Mr. Stupid' - Build Log

[burninatortech4]

Opteron 6300 Series Dual-Socket Build Log - "Mr. Stupid" - Introduction

I've been teleworking for the last 3 months and have started to have a build itch. I've been wanting to experiment with used server hardware for the last few years because:

1) I'd like to learn more about Virtual Machines/Video Encoding/ and Networking
2) it's often extremely cheap (not necessarily on your power bill!)
3) wanted a hobby style build opportunity to share with my semi-retired Dad. He has extensive carpentry skills and we both agreed we'd like to experiment making a case from wood.

.....and I didn't have the time to start a project until COVID-19 rolled around. All of my experience building computers is with consumer hardware. This should be interesting...



So with some disposable income in my pocket ($400 budget for the entire system) I started searching my local Craigslist and eBay and found a used Supermicro H8DGU-F (proprietary form factor) for free with 2x Opteron 6168 (125W TDP Magny-Cours 12-core).
A dual socket G34 server motherboard with 16 DDR3 Ram slots! For free?! Not bad. The board was filthy so I spent a half hour cleaning it with alcohol.

Here is the result:



I also removed the AMD SR5670 heatsink and cleaned it up. I've been told this part in particular can get very hot (the chip to the upper left of the SATA ports).

Doing some basic research on performance - it looks like these Opteron 6168's (45nm process) were not amazing even when they were new in 2010/2011. Both of these processors in tandem get a multi thread Passmark score of 7741/691 (multi/single score respectively) .
Compare that with my daily driver Ryzen 7 2700x score of 17589/2443. So two 115W TDP (lets pretend for a moment that TDP = power use - I'm fully aware that's not the case) 12 core processors are only 44% as fast one 2700x in multi core,and in single core it's far worse, while using 120% of the power. CPU's have come a long way in the last 9 years!

The G34 socket maxes out at the Opteron 6386 SE (halo product) but those are far too expensive for a project like this (I'd also like to keep the TDP down). The board, indeed all G34 parts, is also limited to SATA II and USB 2.0 (more on that later).
I was able to find 2x Opteron 6366 HE processors (85W TDP) for $9.99 each on eBay. These are the "high efficiency" 16 "core" parts of the Piledriver generation. These are stupid slow too (there's a pattern developing here) but for less power use offer a Passmark score of 9658/783 (multi/single score respectively).

Now for the rest of the parts. Here's what I found on eBay and have purchased (with prices):

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

[*] Custom: Supermicro 560W 80+ Gold Power Supply PWS-563-1H Server PSU (Purchased For $46.80)
[*] Custom: SUPERMICRO RSC R2UU-3E8G / SB111002712 RISER CARD (Purchased For $20.79)
[*] Custom: SuperMicro H8DGU-F Dual Socket G34 MotherBoard (Purchased For $0)
[*] Custom: AMD Opteron 6366 HE (Purchased For $9.99)
[*] Custom: AMD Opteron 6366 HE (Purchased For $9.99)

[*] Custom: G34 Mounting Pegs (Purchased For $5.20)
[*] Custom: G34 Mounting Pegs (Purchased For $5.20)
[*] Custom: AMD Wraith Prism (Purchased) - already own
[*] Custom: AMD Wraith Prism (Purchased) - already own
[*] Thermal Compound: ARCTIC MX-4 2019 Edition 4 g Thermal Paste (Purchased For $9.85)

[*] Memory: Samsung 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) Registered DDR3-1866 Memory (Purchased For $21.21)
[*] Memory: Samsung 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) Registered DDR3-1866 Memory (Purchased For $21.21)
[*] Memory: Samsung 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) Registered DDR3-1866 Memory (Purchased For $21.21)
[*] Memory: Samsung 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) Registered DDR3-1866 Memory (Purchased For $21.21)
[*] Memory: Samsung 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) Registered DDR3-1866 Memory (Purchased For $21.21)
[*] Memory: Samsung 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) Registered DDR3-1866 Memory (Purchased For $21.21)
[*] Memory: Samsung 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) Registered DDR3-1866 Memory (Purchased For $21.21)
[*] Memory: Samsung 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) Registered DDR3-1866 Memory (Purchased For $21.21)

[*] Storage: Samsung 750 EVO 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $28.60)
[*] Video Card: AMD FirePro W4100 2 GB Video Card (Purchased For $36.39)

[*] Case Fan: Fractal Design FD-FAN-SSR2-40 4.34 CFM 40 mm Fan (Purchased For $15.18)
[*] Case Fan: Fractal Design GP12-WT 52.3 CFM 120 mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00) - already own
[*] Case Fan: Fractal Design GP12-WT 52.3 CFM 120 mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00) - already own
[*] Case Fan: Fractal Design GP12-WT 52.3 CFM 120 mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00) - already own
Total: $357.67

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

So slightly under budget. I went with 8x DDR3 sticks because I wanted to ensure that each processor has access to the full quad-channel bandwidth. These processors are already slow - no sense gimping them even more.

There were some parts that I only realized I needed after digging into the H8DGU-F's manual. In order to have usable PCI-e I needed to buy a SUPERMICRO RSC R2UU-3E8G breakout daughter board.



This interesting board turns the PCI-e 2.0 x16, x4, and x1 slots laid out in a proprietary orientation on the motherboard into standard right angle physical x16 slots (electrically they're x8).

The rest of the parts are in the mail. I'm going to end this first post to make subsequent posts easier to read. Stay tuned.

Future sections
1) Other parts arriving
2) Assembly
3) Wooden case design
4) Wooden case construction
5) Final assembly and tests

 

[burninatortech4]

1) Other parts arriving

Some more parts arrived!


64GB (8x 8GB) DDR3 1866mhz Registered ECC Memory - Samsung. I spent some time on eBay trying to find sticks with the same timings.



Opteron 6366 HE, looks good, wait....

The seller sent me the wrong second processor! Hiccup #1 The 6344 is a 12 core Piledriver part. This will not do! Not to worry, the seller responded quickly and a new 6366 HE is on the way for free. Does anyone need a 6344?

______________________________________________________________________________________________



Normal Supermicro 560w power supply. Looks good... wait...



That's a 20-pin ATX connector - not a 24-pin as I expected. Hiccup #2 I didn't notice this when I picked up the motherboard. I'm off to find a 20-pin male to 24-pin female adapter on eBay. For now we can just let the last 4 pins hang off the right edge of the connector.

 

[JWade]

i have debated on getting a chinese single socket g34 board with only two dimm slots, to make a cheap multi core workstation, havent been able to find any workstations that use g34

 

[burninatortech4]

i have debated on getting a chinese single socket g34 board with only two dimm slots, to make a cheap multi core workstation, havent been able to find any workstations that use g34

Stay away from that Jingsha board. I messed around with one and the two DIMM slots aren't wired for dual channel. Each silicon die gets one DIMM of bandwidth only (single channel verified in HWinfo).

They could have sent the two DIMM's of bandwidth to one of the dies for dual channel leaving the other die to fetch bandwidth across the other (maybe there's a technical limitation there?) but they didn't. Each die gets one DIMM only.

So you effectively have your quad-channel processor knee-capped to a single channel configuration. These chips are already relatively slow and running them on that board moves their performance into the horrendous category.

I purchased the board in my post because I want to see how these chips do in a proper PER socket quad-channel configuration with 1866mhz DDR3.

See this review for more info about the Jingsha G34 board, avoid it at all costs:

Testing old 16 core Opteron 6386 SE on a Jingsha X89 motherboard

How does 16 cores from 2012 compares to 2019 processors?

rk.edu.pl

[Edit 6/1/2020 for clarity]

 

[JWade]

thanks

 

[burninatortech4]

Mounted a 50mm FD fan to the northbridge heatsink. Still waiting on the GPU and some adapters before I test boot.

 

[burninatortech4]

1) Parts arriving continued

All of the parts have arrived.

AMD FirePro W4100 (mostly just for video out)
Samsung 750 EVO Boot Drive
Syba SD-PEX50055 SATA III and USB 3.0 expansion card. Our motherboard is limited to SATA II and USB 2.0.

Lets get these thrown in the system and try a test boot.

 

[burninatortech4]

2) Assembly

All of our parts are connected. Our GPU and USB/SATA card are attached to the proprietary daughter-board at a 90 angle. I have them propped up temporarily to keep the sag at bay.



We'll throw on some 120mm fractal design case fans as a temporary cooling solution.



Test Boot

We ended up not being able to boot with the 2x 6366HE's. The boards default BIOS limits us to 6100 series Opterons. Fortunately for us, a quick swap to the Opteron 6168's that came with the board allowed us to install a Piledriver Opteron 6300 compatible BIOS.

We are also unable to boot from the SATA III / USB 3.0 card. Probably a driver issue. We'll roll with SATA II for now.

 

[burninatortech4]

I was just offered a new job and will be moving soon. I'm going to delay the wooden case design part of this and get on with the benchmarks using our cardboard box case.

Benchmarks


Geekbench 5



Cinebench R20



System Power Consumption (Cinebench R20)