My Latest 8-core Project

[Topcat]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

Now that Gentlemen, is how we do that!!



Until the 43" 4K ultrasharp comes out, bugs chased, and price drops, this will do just fine!!

[momaka]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

Looky what may be on the horizon...and everyone wonders why I wanted a GPU with multiple displayports....I could really grow to like a pair of these!!

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2016/05/del...itor-unveiled/

That is a pretty impressive display.

... but I think I will stick to 1024x768 on my 19" and 21" CRTs (occasionally, I bump it up to 1280x960 if really needed ). I just hate squinting at small text and graphics. 4k on a 43" screen should have more or less similar DPI/PPI as 1200/1080p on a 22". That's not too small, I guess, but I'll stick to what I am used to, though - large grainy text

Next up... maybe try to use a 40" CRT TV for a 640x480 (480p) picture. Oh joy!

[ratdude747]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

I'm doing this upgrade in two phases. The first phase will consist of the CPU's, memory, and GPU upgrades, this way it can all be tested. After that, I'll swap out the drives, RAID controller, and reinstall the OS. The GPU came Saturday, all I'm waiting on is the processors.

Looky what may be on the horizon...and everyone wonders why I wanted a GPU with multiple displayports....I could really grow to like a pair of these!!

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2016/05/del...itor-unveiled/

Holy $%^&! That's massive.. and I thought your 30" was huge. But where will you get the desk space?

[Topcat]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

I'm doing this upgrade in two phases. The first phase will consist of the CPU's, memory, and GPU upgrades, this way it can all be tested. After that, I'll swap out the drives, RAID controller, and reinstall the OS. The GPU came Saturday, all I'm waiting on is the processors.

Looky what may be on the horizon...and everyone wonders why I wanted a GPU with multiple displayports....I could really grow to like a pair of these!!

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2016/05/del...itor-unveiled/

[ratdude747]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

Got Windows 10 on this one, but I don't dare do anything on it that requires me to log on anywhere. It's mainly for the bathroom, for watching Starcraft II replays, and the odd game of John Kasich-style Fruit Ninja.

I had 10 on an later tablet, which I returned as it was finicky. 10 was easily configured into a 7-like state (classic shell for the win) but nuking pre-installed apps was a pain (required powershell) and even after that they'd get re-installed upon automatic (required) updates. No thanks

There's got to be some sort of factory-installed spyware on the thing that can't be eliminated, because the odd command propmpt pops out from nowhere and disappears immediately every now and then.

Could be a pre-installed audio driver app or something. Did you check all processes for all users in task manager?

Yes, Windows 7 is nice... Was great on the laptop, up until a month or so ago when a "security" update added rudimentary H26x decoding to IE11 and Youtube would no longer automatically prefer the flash player... The trick is to enable "enterprise mode" in IE11... But then Youtube runs in IE8 mode, which isn't pretty.

...and that's why I don't use IE. Just my preference, that's all.

USB3 is in fact supported in XP, just not the Intel variant.

Until a few weeks ago the only USB3 I had WAS Intel (three laptops in a row with 7 series chipsets). Not exactly fixable with an add-in card, and series 6 (and older) based laptops with Renesas chips are kinda rare, larger Precisions like my M6600 (work provided laptop) is an exception. I did fry the chip in it though (I'm on a spare until it comes back repaired). Shame, as renesas is the new NEC (and why I was sure to get a renesas card for my new workstation).

Thery're also making incredible progress with the >4GB memory patches for XP 32. It takes a bit of tinkering with the drivers (replacing the odd .sys file with the Server 2003 counterpart, but it does work... Wouldn't do it personally though.

I do have a "less-tinkering" fix for you:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...&postcount=247

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...&postcount=159

That's what I do on my two Xeon Gallatin rigs. I run 7 x86 on them but the trick also works for XP, as I did that for the XP install on my Dell Latitude D630 (I wanted all 4GB of RAM to use, and the little bit was perfect as a high-speed self-clearing temp folder). If your rig doesn't support x64, you will need to manually enable PAE (don't use the batch file in the second link's .zip, I wrote it for 7, not XP). The only downside is that it only is good for 8GB, as the internal cap is at 4095MB for paging allocations. That leaves around 800MB unallocated, which I use for my temp folder. Beyond that (more than 8GB installed) it will exist as a PAE ramdisk but unusable as memory (or virtual memory) and thus is only good for volatile high-speed storage.

[Topcat]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

I was a Win7 hater until SP1. After that, I warmed up to it nicely, as it functions beautiful. Add classicshell + Aero, and a few tweaks, its every bit as productive as XP....with the aero eyecandy. I do not update it beyond SP1, save for a couple standalone updates, and then I completely disable the entier WUS. MSSE still updates the definitions with WUS off, so I call it good there. Critical data is backed up to drives that are stored in a fireproof safe, so if me going unpatched beyond SP1 causes an explosion on my LAN, so be it....reload the machines and move on.

The memory came today. I didn't install it yet, I'll wait for the GPU. I also picked up a pair of X5492's (SLBBD) 3.4GHz/1600FSB, the fastest the board can take. I want to see how they do temp-wise and power-wise. The heatsinks are massive hunks of Dynatron coolers with high speed PWM fans.....so if the CPU's get hot to the point it gets those fans spinning up becoming loud and obnoxious, I'll probably go back to my E5472's....but time will tell there. They will be running at their default speeds, I don't overclock critical machines, not to mention Supermicro boards aren't gamer boards....and they are not overclock-friendly.

[mockingbird]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

Yeah, the windows 8 Tablet I ran for a while was pretty slick. Even with only 1GB of RAM, once I swapped start menus, re-configured the desktop, and installed ModernMix, it was 85% like 7 and the 15% different was a net gain for tablets (compared to windows 7, which is meh on tablets, the on-screen keyboard is a downgrade IMHO as the writing input is a gimmick). It was nearly as portable as my S4 but especially when combined with a bluetooth keyboard almost as productive as my laptops. Great for times when you don't want to (or can't) lug a laptop. No replacement for my Latitude E6430, but very usable nevertheless.

Got Windows 10 on this one, but I don't dare do anything on it that requires me to log on anywhere. It's mainly for the bathroom, for watching Starcraft II replays, and the odd game of John Kasich-style Fruit Ninja.

There's got to be some sort of factory-installed spyware on the thing that can't be eliminated, because the odd command propmpt pops out from nowhere and disappears immediately every now and then.

Fixed that for ya . I'll agree to disagree on that one. I've found windows 7 to be a nice upgrade from 7... XP is great on old hardware but the software support is so much better with 7, as is modern driver availability... I know that Intel's XP support for their newer chipsets is patchy (no USB 3.0 at least).

Yes, Windows 7 is nice... Was great on the laptop, up until a month or so ago when a "security" update added rudimentary H26x decoding to IE11 and Youtube would no longer automatically prefer the flash player... The trick is to enable "enterprise mode" in IE11... But then Youtube runs in IE8 mode, which isn't pretty.

USB3 is in fact supported in XP, just not the Intel variant. Thery're also making incredible progress with the >4GB memory patches for XP 32. It takes a bit of tinkering with the drivers (replacing the odd .sys file with the Server 2003 counterpart, but it does work... Wouldn't do it personally though.

Now all we need is a DX10+ hack for XP, and coupled with the security updates until 2019, and you've got a full-fledged, modern OS.

[ratdude747]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

Flash it onto that spare eprom I have you with the board and send it with that enlight case... I'll give it a whirl!

Will do... Crap, I forgot to send that rig! Half the problem is that I didn't find a box for it before I left for Tennessee. While I have my main rig open for service next week I'll swap the EPROMs, re-flash, and send you one of them. (Hopefully I can find my flash drive, although I may have a backup and even so it was an easy SLIC job).

Ah, pardon me, I meant to say Intel there...

I was going to say... IIRC the X series has unlocked multipliers, which is probably why the listed power is higher.

You'd be amazed at the processing power of the small tablets these days... Someone gave me a "ChuWi" VI8 tablet... Pretty impressed with the speed. And Microsoft is finally releasing a plugin API for Edge Browser, so I can finally get AdBlock installed on the thing...

Yeah, the windows 8 Tablet I ran for a while was pretty slick. Even with only 1GB of RAM, once I swapped start menus, re-configured the desktop, and installed ModernMix, it was 85% like 7 and the 15% different was a net gain for tablets (compared to windows 7, which is meh on tablets, the on-screen keyboard is a downgrade IMHO as the writing input is a gimmick). It was nearly as portable as my S4 but especially when combined with a bluetooth keyboard almost as productive as my laptops. Great for times when you don't want to (or can't) lug a laptop. No replacement for my Latitude E6430, but very usable nevertheless.

Yea... Once you start wandering into Desktop territory for Office use, you start having to justify anything past windows 7, but I don't want to bore you with that argument again, my friend

Fixed that for ya . I'll agree to disagree on that one. I've found windows 7 to be a nice upgrade from 7... XP is great on old hardware but the software support is so much better with 7, as is modern driver availability... I know that Intel's XP support for their newer chipsets is patchy (no USB 3.0 at least).

[mockingbird]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

Microsoft lie? I couldn't imagine that! /sarcasm

Thanks for the tip, I never really looked that deeply into it, but you've got me thinking now. I plan on running this machine into the ground (going to use it until its a museum piece), so I'm thinking along the lines of *might as well max it out*...

Ah, pardon me, I meant to say Intel there...

You'd be amazed at the processing power of the small tablets these days... Someone gave me a "ChuWi" VI8 tablet... Pretty impressed with the speed. And Microsoft is finally releasing a plugin API for Edge Browser, so I can finally get AdBlock installed on the thing...

Yea... Once you start wandering into Desktop territory for Office use, you start having to justify anything past XP, but I don't want to bore you with that argument again, my friend

[Topcat]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

If you want I can hook you up with a tested and know working SLIC BIOS (what I'm running) and matching certificate swap kit (for stock 7 images). I know you'll use that BS loader but I'd be a bad friend if I didn't offer.

7 runs like a champ on mine, you'll love it.

Flash it onto that spare eprom I have you with the board and send it with that enlight case... I'll give it a whirl!

[ratdude747]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

LOL...I didn't even know what that silly proprietary slot was for, and never really looked...yup, you get top billing for that one. The card I got was a new one, which came with the supermicro miniSAS cables that have the enclosure control wiring built in, which will work nifty with the SC743 chassis.

Yeah, I missed that point when I was shopping around for mine, which was a $40 used one. I had to order special cables anyway (since my chassis isn't hotswap) so the factory cables would have been wasted (I have a couple mini-SAS to mini-SAS cables sitting for that matter). Speaking of which, my cables came in... but I won't be home until Wednesday night (in western TN right now, work related).

I have the fastest e-series processors that will work in this board. the 3.4GHz (X5492) is a 150w chip versus the more efficient 3GHz (E5472) which is an 80w chip.

Same here, who would have though

The 64GB of memory was about 100 bucks....but I'll have to give up Server 2008 STD....as its memory limit for the standard edition is 32gb...so I'll run with W7 Ultimate.

If you want I can hook you up with a tested and know working SLIC BIOS (what I'm running) and matching certificate swap kit (for stock 7 images). I know you'll use that BS loader but I'd be a bad friend if I didn't offer.

7 runs like a champ on mine, you'll love it.

[Topcat]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

Don't worry about the wattage ratings on the 771 Xeons... I've read that Microsoft significantly exaggerated the ratings on these chips, and the thing is more likely to pull 80W-90W at full load. The 80W-120W versions pull between 50W-80W.

Heck, even my old Pentium D was hotter than a quad core E5420.

Microsoft lie? I couldn't imagine that! /sarcasm

Thanks for the tip, I never really looked that deeply into it, but you've got me thinking now. I plan on running this machine into the ground (going to use it until its a museum piece), so I'm thinking along the lines of *might as well max it out*...

[mockingbird]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

I have the fastest e-series processors that will work in this board. the 3.4GHz (X5492) is a 150w chip versus the more efficient 3GHz (E5472) which is an 80w chip. The 64GB of memory was about 100 bucks....but I'll have to give up Server 2008 STD....as its memory limit for the standard edition is 32gb...so I'll run with W7 Ultimate.

Don't worry about the wattage ratings on the 771 Xeons... I've read that Microsoft significantly exaggerated the ratings on these chips, and the thing is more likely to pull 80W-90W at full load. The 80W-120W versions pull between 50W-80W.

Heck, even my old Pentium D was hotter than a quad core E5420.

[Topcat]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

The things Topcat does to keep one step ahead of me when it comes to workstation builds

The RAID card was my idea, but my current board/CPUs (and RAM before the upgrade) is clone of what's in this thread... so in a way both of our workstation upgrades are combined efforts to one degree or another. Long live Socket 771!

LOL...I didn't even know what that silly proprietary slot was for, and never really looked...yup, you get top billing for that one. The card I got was a new one, which came with the supermicro miniSAS cables that have the enclosure control wiring built in, which will work nifty with the SC743 chassis.

I have the fastest e-series processors that will work in this board. the 3.4GHz (X5492) is a 150w chip versus the more efficient 3GHz (E5472) which is an 80w chip. The 64GB of memory was about 100 bucks....but I'll have to give up Server 2008 STD....as its memory limit for the standard edition is 32gb...so I'll run with W7 Ultimate.

[mockingbird]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

Well, the HD3450 cards are cheap anyways... but if you care about it, you might want to put a fan on or near it. Doesn't need to move much air really. Typically, a low-current (0.1 to 0.16 Amps) 80 mm fan from a cheap PSU hooked on 5V will be absolutely silent. It won't move much air, but if you put it on or near the card, it can drop the card's temperatures by as much as 20C.
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...9&postcount=31

By the way, are you playing CS online? And if so, which one - 1.6, CSS, CS:GO? I imagine the 3450 won't handle that last one too well.
Hope I don't derail this thread too much with this question

Yea this card is sitting in a very old Enlight case with a vacuum condition (don't remember the correct terminology, but it's when there isn't enough intake area on the case, and the fans are choked for air).

Still, that sounds like a worthwhile endeavour... Right now it's at 45C idle and doesn't climb much higher than that even under load.

Yea, it's CS 1.6.

The good games go on the quad-core gaming machine with the Radeon 7770. It's a trash-picked Vostro 420 that came with a stock Core2Quad Q9650. Got 3 771 E5450 (ten bucks a piece, local buy. Couldn't resist), might just sell the Q9650 on eBay and mod the CPU or motherboard for the Vostro. (in 775 systems, you can either dremel the chip, or cut off parts of the socket on the motherboard. Only need to mod the BIOS then to include the microcode).

The 7770 was a replacement for an XFX 4890 that had a lifetime warranty.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

I guess that just shows how outdated I've become.
It's been a few good years of being out of the hardware "loop".

thats okay. i dont care for "modern" and "recent" crap too. doesnt ever last long compared to the good ol' stuff anyway. i just check around occasionally to see what the kids/boys are getting these days and then laughing at the tdp and heat produced by these things and all the corner cutting.

[ratdude747]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

The things Topcat does to keep one step ahead of me when it comes to workstation builds

The RAID card was my idea, but my current board/CPUs (and RAM before the upgrade) is clone of what's in this thread... so in a way both of our workstation upgrades are combined efforts to one degree or another. Long live Socket 771!

[momaka]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

With RAM as cheap as it is today (~$30 for new 8GB sticks, even less for used), it is easy to throw in a ton of RAM even if you don't really need it.

I guess that just shows how outdated I've become.
It's been a few good years of being out of the hardware "loop".

[dmill89]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

Gotta love your builds - throwing in GB worth of memory as if it's MB really.
I don't think I have that much total even if I added up every RAM module in all of my junky PCs and laptops (some 11 desktop PCs, 7 spare desktop motherboards, and 2 moving-size boxes full of old Pentium II/3 laptops).

With RAM as cheap as it is today (~$30 for new 8GB sticks, even less for used), it is easy to throw in a ton of RAM even if you don't really need it. My desktop has 32GB and my Laptop 16GB (can also support 32GB if I decide to upgrade), while I really don't need more than 8GB, but with RAM as cheap as it is I figured why not.

[momaka]

Re: My Latest 8-core Project

There's 64GB of memory on the way, the most the board supports.

Gotta love your builds - throwing in GB worth of memory as if it's MB really.
I don't think I have that much total even if I added up every RAM module in all of my junky PCs and laptops (some 11 desktop PCs, 7 spare desktop motherboards, and 2 moving-size boxes full of old Pentium II/3 laptops).

I also bought a nvidia quadro NVS 510 2GB GPU, as the 9600GT is quite a relic.....and the reason I selected that, it has 4x v1.2 displayports (v1.2 supports 4k stuff for future expandability).

As old as the 9600GT might be, it is actually still classes above the Quadro NVS 510 when it comes to raw performance - that is, gaming performance to be exact. Of course, if you don't game... then yes, a low-end modern GPU is probably a better option for you. Moreover, nVidia Quadro GPUs are meant for workstations (and especially CAD/CAM), so even more reason for you to get that, since you build.... well, workstations .

Still using a passively cooled Radeon 3450, just for the odd Counterstrike game now and again.

Well, the HD3450 cards are cheap anyways... but if you care about it, you might want to put a fan on or near it. Doesn't need to move much air really. Typically, a low-current (0.1 to 0.16 Amps) 80 mm fan from a cheap PSU hooked on 5V will be absolutely silent. It won't move much air, but if you put it on or near the card, it can drop the card's temperatures by as much as 20C.
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...9&postcount=31

By the way, are you playing CS online? And if so, which one - 1.6, CSS, CS:GO? I imagine the 3450 won't handle that last one too well.
Hope I don't derail this thread too much with this question