Help needed to build DIY 12 core Windows PC

[DJ Meyer]

DJ Meyer, did you get to mess with any hackintosh stuff yet? I have a thread on reduser with a workstation I built, but slow performance with MacOS. Seems to be a lack of chipset drivers.

Congrats on machine. It would be cool to see a Cinebench CPU result if you had a chance. I got 24.5 on the CPU section with a proper windows 7 install.

No, using windows 7. First Cinebench run was 26.64. Still tuning.

 

[Joseph S.]

Sounds like it's running better than mine. I have the 2960 CPU's but I think the supermicro board isn't set right with the factory bios. Can't tune it. Asus is WAY better for that stuff.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the 2960 CPU's burst to 3.8GHz, which is why it was a bit more pricey than the rest. Sucks that I had no luck with MacOS.

Enjoy it man

 

[Joseph S.]

Ha, that CPU you got is better.

Turbo frequency on E5-2690:
3800 MHz (1 core)
3600 MHz (2 or 3 cores)
3400 MHz (4 or 5 cores)
3300 MHz (6 or more cores)


Turbo frequency on E5-2687W
3800 MHz (1 core)
3600 MHz (2 or 3 cores)
3500 MHz (4 or 5 cores)
3400 MHz (6 or more cores)

 

[DJ Meyer]

Sounds like it's running better than mine. I have the 2960 CPU's but I think the supermicro board isn't set right with the factory bios. Can't tune it. Asus is WAY better for that stuff.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the 2960 CPU's burst to 3.8GHz, which is why it was a bit more pricey than the rest. Sucks that I had no luck with MacOS.

I still find it odd that they'd price the 2690 higher, but they're capitalizing on the "highest performance within 135W TDP" crowd which is mostly the server market.

The main difference is the 31 vs 29 multiplier and the 150W vs 135W TDP.

24.5 sounds about right for Cinebench on the 2690. Keep in mind I'm running the BCLK boosted a bit.

 

[Joseph S.]

That's great. Lucky you get to do ANYTHING in your BIOS. Supermicro is just locked down to the max.

The only difference I found was this core stepping and 135W vs 150W. Not sure what that is, but I have less (lol). I guess they figure the price on wattage because everything else is the same.

Core stepping 2687WS:
C0 (QB7R)
C1 (SR0GX)
C2 (SR0KG)

Core stepping 2690:
C1 (SR0HA)
C2 (SR0L0)

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Ha, that CPU you got is better.

Turbo frequency on E5-2690:
3800 MHz (1 core)
3600 MHz (2 or 3 cores)
3400 MHz (4 or 5 cores)
3300 MHz (6 or more cores)


Turbo frequency on E5-2687W
3800 MHz (1 core)
3600 MHz (2 or 3 cores)
3500 MHz (4 or 5 cores)
3400 MHz (6 or more cores)

Yeah, the 2687W's are "better" and a bit cheaper. Unfortunately, they suck more power and are harder to keep cool under full load. Under minor loads and without engaging turbo, they actually run about 5 degrees cooler than the E5-2690s. HP only sells the z820 workstation with the 2687W's if you buy the liquid cooling option.

My HP Z820 gets delivered tuesday according to FedEx, I'll be at NAB. It is equipped with dual 2687W's. I also have a pair of the 2687W's sitting here waiting for the other workstation parts I've ordered. I'll probably order another pair of them, I was planning on doing the other system as dual 2690s, but other than the 15W per CPU savings and sightly cooler temps under full load, I can't come up with a good reason to go with the 2690s.


Micron hasn't shipped my RAM yet. They are having trouble filling orders as it's slowly trickling off the production line. Still not in a big hurry. But I did find out that the CoolerMaster liquid system I have is not going to be compatible with the sockets on the SuperMicro board. So now I'm figuring out what to do there.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I've been hearing lots of complaints about the ASUS Z9PE motherboards. Know a few people who've received DOA units, there's a report of a double-DOA after RMA with the board on Newegg. Personally, I haven't been an ASUS motherboard fan for a rather long time, they let me down big once... Back in the day of building a few dual AMD Opteron workstations and I have a hard time considering anything from them. Had a similar experience with Tyan and so did several others at one point about 8 years ago and they've kinda lost their status in the world of server motherboards. Supermicro do lock down their BIOS with few features. But they're boards are well made and solid performers. Overclocking is fine for tweakers and people with time to micro-manage a system. For larger installations or shipping systems to client locations or whatnot, I go for the Supermicro board every time.

The upcoming EVGA SR-X dual E5 motherboard looks interesting and if it holds up to the SR-2, it could be a winner. But they made some curious choices on that board with the PCIe slots and RAM configuration. Kinda strange.