Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

Bought a pair of GPUs for $61 shipped:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201216302114

Looks beefy for GT's... either really good cooling or these are nicer than advertised.

I was going to upgrade anyway... worst case, I go back to the 9500 controller. could be a lot worse.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

Updates:

-the GPUs that came in are NOT 9800 GTs... but 250 GTS's. Wahoo! Yup, beefier than described (it's what they pictured even).
-Still have the IRQ issue... either it's just bad luck (newer 2nd GPUs default to the same as the 3ware 9550sx and neither gives a useable alternative) or this:
-One of the KZG's has bulged... so it's on blocks until I get it recapped (around 40 caps no less, this is a BEAST).

I've though about trying an adaptec card but looking on ebay and their site, I'm confused... many have cache but no BBU and adaptec says some have flash... I see that the SATA I 2610's are dirt cheap but I take it they're junk... for that I could move the battery out of the 9550 to my spare 9500 (has a BBU with the dead battery cell removed).

Anybody know if there are IRQ settings for 3ware cards? I'll check my 9500 in my other rig... this is stupid... fucking IRQs.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

Updates:

-The bios WAS indeed being gay... as I did NOT have the latest BIOS... in fact, the latest one addressed an issue with code 12's and the 8800... which the 250 GTS is essentially the same thing (OC'd and die shrunk a few times, same G92 core). I was able to SLIC it successfully too... and the GPUs work. Yay!
-Recap was successful...
-One of the HDD's decided to be a prick and bomb a SATA connector (same one as before... I was able to kludge it into working again but pending what that pin actually does, I may be looking for either another WD 740 or a set of 4 newer drives (I have a SATA II capable card now )

here's a benchmark with the new GPU's (SLI enabled) and new RAID card:



compared to the previous:



The smaller HDD space is due to the partitioning (as I'm copying and tweaking over an arch install from one of my laptops, for a dualboot) and obiously novabench marked me down for it. The GPU setup is a lot better though!

I may take pics later in the week; the wiring will need cleaned up again.

BTW, getting the BIOS flashed took hours, I ended up jury rigging a PATA optical to git r done. I also had a jury rigged floppy drive... as my USB drive wasn't bootable and winphlash, unlike last time, was not agreeing with the files.

Other than the HDD, I don't see much else needing upgrades... maybe new coolers, but so far my modded stock ones have been cutting it. However, it is a socket 940 and IIRC AMD still uses the same cooling clip format... any upgrade would be for noise reduction...

Oh, and ditching my lame folded up flex-bridge for the SLI would be nice... I wonder if tyan still has those for sale (they were NOT included with the board, they actually were sold separately, pricks).

The PSU is also a bit skimpy for what I'm running... but I'm not going to fix what isn't broke (unless i get a >600W PSU with the right connectors for cheap).

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

Yup, the bridges are cheap:

http://www.antarespro.com/1891968-it...08d314d309d317

(another place matched them on price).

Sounds like tyan liquidated them... the other place was a computer builder for the gov't and the like, which makes me think they had surplus leftover from an assload of tyan builds. What sucks is neither had USPS shipping... so $11 (or $18 in the other case) to ship a $3.45 part... still bought one.

Who would have thought?

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

Arch is a fail on this one... as nvidia's blob driver has shitty SLI support... only 1 monitor! One!

Twinview isn't even a choice...

Damn my luck.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

Found out the bad pin on the one drive was a ground... so for now it will work but I will want to swap it eventually.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

Fixed the linux issue; apparently Mosiac DOES work... and for those who are wondering, here's my xorg.conf:

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 340.58 (buildmeister@swio-display-x86-rhel47-09) Fri Oct 31 17:40:05 PDT 2014

# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings: version 340.58 (buildmeister@swio-display-x86-rhel47-09) Fri Oct 31 17:39:45 PDT 2014

Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier   "Layout0"
  Screen   0 "Screen0" 0 0
  InputDevice  "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
  InputDevice  "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
  Option     "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

  # generated from default
  Identifier   "Mouse0"
  Driver     "mouse"
  Option     "Protocol" "auto"
  Option     "Device" "/dev/psaux"
  Option     "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
  Option     "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

  # generated from default
  Identifier   "Keyboard0"
  Driver     "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"

  # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
  Identifier   "Monitor0"
  VendorName   "Unknown"
  ModelName   "DELL 1703FP"
  HorizSync    30.0 - 80.0
  VertRefresh   56.0 - 76.0
  Option     "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
  Identifier   "Device0"
  Driver     "nvidia"
  VendorName   "NVIDIA Corporation"
  BoardName   "GeForce GTS 250"
  BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
EndSection


Section "Screen"
  Identifier   "Screen0"
  Device     "Device0"
  Monitor    "Monitor0"
  DefaultDepth  24
  Option     "Stereo" "0"
  Option     "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
  Option     "MultiGPU" "Off"
  Option     "BaseMosaic" "On"
  Option     "SLI" "AFR"
  Option     "MetaModes" "GPU-0.DFP-0: 1280x1024+0+0, GPU-0.DFP-1: 1280x1024+1280+0"
  SubSection   "Display"
    Depth    24
  EndSubSection
EndSection

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

The "upgraded" SLI bridge came in... so I did some cable management and decided to take a fresh batch of pics:



Yes, I'm using my basement stairs as a showroom... and yes the intake is dusty; it doesn't stay clean for long, I got rid of the worst of the bunnies awhile back.

The current set of Removable drives:



Complete with a BD-ROM that's been crossflashed (it had some BS HP firmware, it's actually an LG with a less-blingy bezel). See previous posts for why I had to flash it; in short it wasn't agreeing with the nforce SATA controller but the LG firmware does.

The back of the unit:



...as no photo shoot is complete without a butt shot!

Actually, one can see that all but one of the slots is occupied. That one isn't used by my mobo and a lot of SM cases don't even have it as a fillable position since most server/workstation boards have so much onboard fun crammed in that there simply isn't board/trace routing space for the uppermost slot to even exist. Mine had a spot for a slot but it wasn't populated (some oddball slot, not PCI,PCI-X, or PCIe).

Some guts:



As before, red sata cables everywhere, 6 in total. The main change from last time is the cards:



Which includes two beefier GPUs (more in a sec), the ATSC/QAM card from last time, and an upgraded AMCC (Aka LSI aka 3ware) 9550SX-4LP. Unlike the previous 9500s, which ran at 66MHz, this bad boy runs the full 133MHz, hence the moved slot positions. In addition to presumably more Cache and SMART support, I also get a 10-12MB/s data rate increase. Puts my 9500s to shame.

The upgraded GPUs:



These are a pair of Geforce 250 GTS's that were sold to me as 9800 GT's... IIRC it was like $23 a pop, these being NOS. Normally I wouldn't have done such beefy 2-slot cards; these were designed to be run that close (as they can be triple SLI'd) which is evident by the angled fans and the notch in the plastic housing (breathing space). Not too noisy either (hard to say if they or the CPU coolers are louder at idle, even under load they don't ramp up much).

What's cool (and fortunate) is that the 250 is a rebadged 9800 GTS+ which in turn is a die shrunk and slightly overclocked 8800GTS... Sounds lame... but considering that the final BIOS update addressed an issue with 8800's Code 12ing (sound familiar?), this more or less makes this the most recent card to be known to work on the platform... although I could see even newer cards perhaps working. I do know that it runs well...

After determining that I did not in fact have FB DIMMs but just plain unbuffered ECC ones, my PSU is just barely enough to power everything (the suggested was 608W, I have a 600W, with 550W calculated being used).

Also, having the right SLI bridge is nice... I didn't like having a folded up flexible bridge; this one fits perfectly.

Nice Build?

[shovenose]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

Who suggested 608? Such a random number. Using one of those stupid online calculators?
that PSU is probably fine...

Pics don't load btw :'(

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

since I had to reload my browser when writing the post I bet the pics got erased awhile after I posted them. I'd fix it if I still had mod powers... but I don't, so there isn't jack I can do other than reload them (which I will in a bit).

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

funny, they show up on the computer I uploaded them on... WTF?

(they didn't on my laptop)

edit- must be hosts thing or caching... as they aren't show as attached to the post. I'll re-upload them to this post.

[Sparkey55]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

You could use some grills on those cpu fans otherwise bye-bye fan blades if wires got snagged.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

You could use some grills on those cpu fans otherwise bye-bye fan blades if wires got snagged.

I know, But since I'm probably going to put in a pair of cooler master TX3's (or some other quieter cooler), no sense in spending money on that now.

Also, the cabling is maybe 0.75" away (in a thick and somewhat stiff bundle), the picture's lack of a 3rd dimension doesn't show that. Very low danger

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

Made another change... I swapped the TV tuner (which wasn't seeing much use) for a modified Creative X-Fi SB0770 (recapped and dell header swapped for intel HDA) due to my new speakers w/o volume control (it used an inline remote control which I do not have) picking up tons of noise from the onboard. Also, the case's AC'97 header isn't true AC'97; HDA works much better. I'll miss the tuner but hey, I wasn't using it, and eventually I may use it in some sort of HTPC or the like.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

I swapped the coolers awhile back, and finalized the setup last night:



Those are Cooler Master TX3's with added fan grilles.

Before I was running them turned 90 degrees with the front cooler's fan moved to the back and flipped as I didn't have enough HDD clearance with the fan in the front. While it did cool OK, it looked funny and I wasn't happy with the result. This I think works well as the fans are still blowing in the correct direction. They only run at 1600RPM and are very quiet (the only fan at all audible is from the GPUs).

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

BBQ'd a CPU today

One the new coolers came undone. RIP CPU1. While moving CPU2 to CPU1's position got it to boot, with half my RAM, half my USB/gigiabit ports, and one GPU non-usable, I'm considering it out of service until I can get 2 working CPUs.

One the bright side, I now have an excuse to get some faster CPUs. There is one faster model that will work (the 2.8GHz Opteron x2 290, which my old K8W's weren't compatible with), and unless they are really expensive, I'll nab two of those and upgrade it. Otherwise I'll get another 285 to replace the dead one.

Apparently AMD still didn't have thermal throttling by the time the opteron came out. The athlon XP didn't and they liked to fry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y39D4529FM4

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

Well shit.

These have gotten a bit scarce (the dual core ones that is). The 290 sells for $120 a pair , although that was for two NOS ones still in box (no other US listings, china had singles for $80 a pop ).

However, there still is another way to go. There also were only two listings for the 285, and both happen to be a better version. For some reason AMD originally released a stepping that was 95W TDP. That is what my old ones were. They later came out with a stepping that was only 85W TDP. That's what the two listings are for. Not much different, but 20W (between two CPUs) is 20W.

So, one was single CPUs for $20 shipped, the other was $30 for a pair. To avoid mixing steppings, I'm going to go for the pair:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MATCHED-SET-...0AAOSwS7hW~-Nk

I'm not the keenest on the background in the picture (static?), but return shipping is cheap enough that I feel OK taking a slight risk.

[dmill89]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

However, there still is another way to go. There also were only two listings for the 285, and both happen to be a better version. For some reason AMD originally released a stepping that was 95W TDP. That is what my old ones were. They later came out with a stepping that was only 85W TDP. That's what the two listings are for. Not much different, but 20W (between two CPUs) is 20W.

True, there is some savings, but 170W (combined) for slightly less performance than a single 53W Haswell Pentium still hurts. If power in your area is cheap it may not matter, but if power in your area is expensive (it is where I live), the power savings alone would pay for newer/more efficient hardware pretty quickly (especially once you factor in the video cards as well, as a single R7-360 or gtx 750 will outperform the old 250 GTSs while using a fraction of the power).

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

True, there is some savings, but 170W (combined) for slightly less performance than a single 53W Haswell Pentium still hurts. If power in your area is cheap it may not matter, but if power in your area is expensive (it is where I live), the power savings alone would pay for newer/more efficient hardware pretty quickly (especially once you factor in the video cards as well, as a single R7-360 or gtx 750 will outperform the old 250 GTSs while using a fraction of the power).

You already know my answer (if not, look in this thread and my others, it's been brought up many times before). That's an old discussion that I'm not going to restart. My point was more of a "hey look, a fringe benefit", not "look at me I'm using no energy!"

[shovenose]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V3.5

True, there is some savings, but 170W (combined) for slightly less performance than a single 53W Haswell Pentium still hurts. If power in your area is cheap it may not matter, but if power in your area is expensive (it is where I live), the power savings alone would pay for newer/more efficient hardware pretty quickly (especially once you factor in the video cards as well, as a single R7-360 or gtx 750 will outperform the old 250 GTSs while using a fraction of the power).

Don't bother mentioning that. He'll just go on about the old stuff is "higher quality" than that "new crap"... in other words, I wholeheartedly agree.

Edit: lol, I posted a tad too late.