Building a Xeon Duel socket workstation

[JuanDos]

I've started collecting the bits for building a workstation and need some advise.

I'll be cannibalising some stuff from my current box to save a little money.

Here's a list of the pieces that I have and need to buy.

1- mainboard Asus Z9 PE D8 - Purchased http://uk.asus.com/M...2011/Z9PED8_WS/

2- cpu xeon 2620 x2- Need http://ark.intel.com...0-GTs-Intel-QPI

3- memory registered 4x8gigs-need

4- case something solid-need

5- heatsink x2 something quiet-need

6- 40Gb SSD and a 1Tb harddrive -need

7- power supply -650w cannibalise

8- monitor -cannibalise

9- gpu gtx 550- cannibalise

For the list above these are my concerns.

1- should I have gone for socket 2011

2- can I use just one processor on the mainboard and if so should I buy only one chip now that’s faster for around about the same price of two 2620's and wait for the prices to drop before I buy the second one.

3- I found some registered Kingston memory for around the same price as the sleek looking unbuffered Corsair stuff

4- I would like something that’s solid so it can soak up fan noise, front facing USB ports and any indicators which show the well being of my system would be nice such as CPU temperatures. should I be looking for a horizontal case (see heatsink)

5- heatsink(x2) needs to be big with a big fan attached should I be concerned about them fitting inside a tower, what about supporting brackets connecting to the case itself, these things look a little heavy and I'll be needing two.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Juan

[Erik_JE]

1. Yes

2. Yes, it should work fine with only one cpu. I dont think i would buy Xeons for home usage tho but instead just go with a 3930K. You get A LOT of performance for a lot less. Now you have already bought a dual socket motherboard tho but you could have saved a lot of cash going with single socket and a 3930K from the start.

3. No idea

4. Check out the Fractal Design chassis.

5. No idea, I still got the stock cooler on my i7 2600k and get good temperatures. Also got three 120mm chassi fans tho in my Fractal Design Core 3000 chassi.

[phs_phl]

I put together a dual xeon rig a few years ago. The best option I found (if your case fits them, but if you're using a full size ATX case, I can't imagine you'd have issues) was a pair of Noctua fans. They do a phenomenal job keeping things cool in there, and while I have a solid case, those fans look pretty great (if you're into that).

Edited November 2, 2012 by phs_phl

[lukeiamyourfather]

The first thing I was going to say is don't get the Asus board. Looks like you've already purchased it though. On paper their boards have great features and look very nice. Though their support is terrible. I built a workstation with one of their boards a while back (KFN32-D SLI). When going from dual core to quad core processors it required a BIOS update which was faulty so I sent it in under warranty (they wouldn't honor the advanced replacement they advertise, FYI), they sent back a board with broken memory slots and a missing capacitor, then they sent another one and the BIOS was still faulty. All in all it took almost a year to get a working machine again. Maybe they've improved since then. If you can return it and get something like a Super Micro barebone workstation I think you'd be much better off.

If you stick with it check out Lian-Li enclosures or Super Micro enclosures. Why only 40 GB for the SSD? That's hardly enough for the operating system and applications. If you go with a SSD I'd get at least a few hundred GB or just stick with hard disk for another generation. Good luck with the build.

[N!K]

i have a dual socket Xeon Nehalem setup. 3.2ghz each. and...wellll....DON"T DO IT!! The other dude is right...xeons are not for home use. They are meant for server rooms. They are super fast but they heat up way too fast. They need a large power supply also. I spent alot of money just trying to keep them cool. Even water cooling fails the xeons. The type of memory depends on the procs you have. Check the specs.

[lukeiamyourfather]

i have a dual socket Xeon Nehalem setup. 3.2ghz each. and...wellll....DON"T DO IT!! The other dude is right...xeons are not for home use. They are meant for server rooms. They are super fast but they heat up way too fast. They need a large power supply also. I spent alot of money just trying to keep them cool. Even water cooling fails the xeons. The type of memory depends on the procs you have. Check the specs.

Sure you can use Xeon processors outside of a server room. Though more performance means more power which means more heat. The power difference between a desktop with a gaming card and a dual socket workstation isn't as much as you might think (typically 400-500 watts compared to 500-600 watts). The deterrent for most people is the cost of the components. If the budget can accommodate a dual socket workstation and there's a need for it then it makes sense to do it.

[JuanDos]

'The people have spoken' and so I returned the board, no xeons for me

Seriously though in order to get the most out of the setup I needed to spend way more than I could afford.

So I guess I'll have to start over.

1) mainboard, No idea but single socket

2) Processor i7 3930K

3) memory unbuffered corsair 4x8gigs should be enough

4) harddrive SSD 100gigs + 1Tb

5) monitor dell 2412m Woot

6) Everything else I can take from my current box, but if things start to heat up I'll get a noctua heatsink.

Will post when I find anything interesting.

Thanks Erik_JE and all for the good advice.

Best regards

Juan

[csp]

-For motherboard I think Supermicro is one of the best.

-For memory Kingston are a little cheaper than Corsair.

-Crucial 128GB m4 2.5" SSD is a good choice and a minimum for OS and software and maybe up to 200+ in order to run cache fast but they are expensive as you know.

-For monitor 24” NEC MultiSync EA243WM is also a good professional choice but EIZO are even better but much more expensive .

-For cooling Noctua without doubt.

-For the case consider the Corsair - Obsidian Series® 800D, is big but you can keep it for years as you update your workstation.

Edited November 5, 2012 by cparliaros

[JuanDos]

Thanks for the pointers

I had a look at the supermicro boards that fit a i7-3930k processor and the only compatable one that they list is the MBD-X9SRA all the rest (MBD-X9xxx) are for xeons(single socket) is this right? http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon3000/

Best regards

Juan