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Author Topic: Idle Questions about Xeon  (Read 12593 times)

Offline Fivestar Crashtest

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Idle Questions about Xeon
« on: 24 Feb 2007, 12:13:39 am »
I have seen Opteron guys talking about not filling all the sockets on their server boards and adding them as they could afford them.

So can you run a socket 771 board with just one socket filled and add another processor later?
All your base are belong to us!  You have no chance to survive, make your time!

Offline Simon

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Re: Idle Questions about Xeon
« Reply #1 on: 24 Feb 2007, 09:51:31 am »
Hi Pam,

sure you can! It's not required that you fill all sockets.

My dad's Xeon server came with one CPU installed but an empty socket for a second one - as do many 2 socket systems. Should work fine.

HTH,
Simon.

Offline Fivestar Crashtest

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Re: Idle Questions about Xeon
« Reply #2 on: 24 Feb 2007, 02:35:18 pm »
Thanks, Simon.

I made a shopping list for a dual 5310 with 4Gig memory and it came to under $2000.  Not including drives or case, but I have drives.  I guess I'd have to get a case that could take E-ATX.  A dual 5310 was at No. 22 at Seti last night. 

Then I thought, what if I could do  a single  5320 and half the ram and add another processor and the rest of the ram later?  And then I thought, what if I did a single 5355?(over $1200 for just the processor)!  And then I saw the QX6700 was down to $970, and I already have a board that can take that.  Maybe the price will drop a little more when the 45 nm processors come out in a few months.

I guess it might be safer to stick with equipment that doesn't need fb-dimms.  That stuff is pricey!  I thought, well, I must want to fill every slot, so I can get quad channel and I was picking the cheapest brand, and still coming up with $600 worth of ram.  And what if one or two sticks was bad?  That would be so frustrating. 

Thanks for helping me think this over. ;)

Pam




All your base are belong to us!  You have no chance to survive, make your time!

Offline Simon

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Re: Idle Questions about Xeon
« Reply #3 on: 24 Feb 2007, 02:44:45 pm »
Pam,

I recommend a different route.

It still involves Xeons, but I'd advise you not to invest in DP ones unless you're after top spot in the rankings ;)

Why, you ask? There are single-socket quad-core S775 Xeons that fit in consumer motherboards and overclock better than the QX6700 - specifically, they can run higher FSB frequencies. AFAIK, they're also competitively priced, and the cost offset between a DP server class motherboard and a consumer/enthusiast single-socket one is pretty large. You can easily stuff 4 GB into those, as well. By the way, I'm thinking this will not be just a cruncher, since you stuffed it full of RAM it would not really need (for S@H, anyway :)).

The RAM will also be much cheaper, or for the same price, you could get stuff that's a lot quicker (DDR2-800 or 1066/1200 vs. FB-DDR2-667 or even slower).
I'll dig up a CPU model number for you.

<edit>
And this would be it -
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL9UP - Xeon 3220 UP. Priced below a QX6700, also runs at 2.4 GHz vs. 2.66 for the QX, but as I said, it's very overclockable. Get a robust after-market cooling solution and a quality OC-friendly motherboard for the price difference; you will be glad you did. People have reached 3.4 GHz with this processor pretty easily, and with sky-high FSBs, which make them fly.

This review may also be of interest to you.
</edit>

HTH,
Simon.
« Last Edit: 24 Feb 2007, 02:58:07 pm by Simon »

Offline Fivestar Crashtest

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Re: Idle Questions about Xeon
« Reply #4 on: 24 Feb 2007, 06:33:44 pm »
Simon:

Thanks, Simon, that is very sane advice.  That 3220 is going to be some cruncher! 

I've been laboring under the assumption that one needs 512 mb/core, so that's why I said 4 Gig for the dual quad.  Is that overkill?

Regards,

Pam

All your base are belong to us!  You have no chance to survive, make your time!

Offline Simon

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Re: Idle Questions about Xeon
« Reply #5 on: 24 Feb 2007, 06:42:07 pm »
Depends on what you want to do with it; for S@H crunching, you don't really need a lot of memory (28-65 MB/running task), for other projects, more RAM may be very beneficient.

It really is a question of purpose and budget. For dedicated S@H crunching, I'd go with 2x512MB sticks of as-quick-as-possible RAM, it'll be enough by far. Quality over quantity, memory bandwidth is important.

OTOH, 512MB/core for a workstation (not a dedicated cruncher) will yield good results, unless you want to do video editing/compositing or 3D rendering with large scenes. Then I'd consider 1GB/core.

Regards,
Simon.
« Last Edit: 24 Feb 2007, 06:44:50 pm by Simon »

rgathright

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Re: Idle Questions about Xeon
« Reply #6 on: 28 Mar 2007, 10:24:30 am »
To revitalize your curiousity about Socket 771 Xeons... the 5310 series of chips is hitting new price lows currently. 
$352 for the 1.6Ghz Quad Core.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117112

Remember these cpus are easily overclocked to 1333FSB.  Here is the 2CPU.com forum thread discussing how to do this.
http://forums.2cpu.com/showthread.php?t=77937

After you hit 2.0Ghz... you should be able to hit 2.4Ghz on air.

Offline Fivestar Crashtest

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Re: Idle Questions about Xeon
« Reply #7 on: 29 Mar 2007, 09:25:31 pm »
Gee, a 5310 is at #15 today at Seti running STOCK!

SUPERMICRO MBD-X7DAL-E-O Dual Socket 771 Intel 5000X ATX Server Motherboard - Retail
In Stock   $389.99         $389.99
   

ENERMAX Liberty ELT620AWT ATX12V 620W Power Supply - Retail
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate
   $169.99    -$20.00 Instant      $149.99
   

Intel Xeon E5310 Clovertown 1.6GHz Socket 771 Active or 1U Processor Model BX80563E5310A - Retail
In Stock
   $352.00         $704.00
   
CORSAIR 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 FB-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) ECC Fully Buffered Server Memory Model CM72FB1024-667 - Retail

 In Stock
   $134.99         $539.96
Subtotal:    $1,783.94

I read a review somewhere that 620 W was plenty to run two of these processors.  I think if I built this, the poorest performer in the farm would have to go and that would be the FX-60.  The the drives and video card and Tsunami dream  case the FX-60 are in now would go to this.  I guess if I got rid of the newest Core 2 duo, I'd could use the Liberty I have on it now....

 I know, I know, better single socket Xeons that overclock better are just around the corner.  Cheaper ram and motherboards.  No scary pin mods.  Fit on my Bad Axe 2 with a bios update.  Why isn't NewEgg selling my Xeon 3210's?   I've never heard of any of the merchants that are selling them now.

Happy Crunching,

Pam
All your base are belong to us!  You have no chance to survive, make your time!

 

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