My Latest 8-core Project

[Uranium-235]

Originally Posted by mariushm

Even ECC RAM is not that special, as some AMD chipsets support it on regular motherboards.

its the am2/3 processors themselfs that support ECC, but only asus boards have the option to enable it

One of the main things that server boards i've seen that gives advantages over regular boards is the onboard management software. Turn one off/on flash bios and some will let you even kvm it remotely.

aside from that, I put the hardware quality up there for some of them with gigabyte, some, like supermicro are even better

[shovenose]

My $0.02:
Quality servers are an investment. A good one.
Junky "servers" are a big pain in a @$$...

That said, I don't need 100% uptime for a Minecraft server or whatever else I choose to stick in my closet. I only have one "server" that needs to be up 100% of the time, and that's a gutted HP case with a re-capped ancient 250W SPI/FSP power supply that I probably recapped the bulged Cheapo Teapo with a Fuhjyuu... running an old 40GB seagate IDE hard drive I think came from the "bad sector" pile at work... LOL! Total price? Less than $50... Are you wondering what that server does? it runs my entire network, firewall, router, dhcp server, port forwarder, ad blocker, content filter, etc... if that thing goes down I'm screwed. But it's better than spending thousands of dollars on premium server equipment to run a silly little home network...

However, I wouldn't run my business on that thing. If I had something like BCN it would be spread across 4 of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16859102487 in different datacenters across the US... why? Because in the end of the day, uptime and reliability and speed DO matter.

THE SHORT VERSION: personally I'm glad to hear Topcat is putting server-grade hardware to good use rather than using entry-level ECS motherboards and Deer power supplies in Badcaps.net servers!

[Topcat]

woohoo....processors should be here tomorrow!

[Topcat]

Just a few teasers while I wait for the RAM to get here....

yea, thats a big board!!


The money shot!!


Other crap...

[ratdude747]

What about the coolers?

didn't you have a bunch of gx280 coolers that you could zip tie fans to? or are those screwy?

[Topcat]

I have a couple of choices for permanent ones...but for testing purposes, I just use the bench coolers.

New thing I learned, FB DDR2 is keyed different than ECC DDR2.... I have some ECC DDR2 667MHz that I figured would be ok to test the board...nope. Won't even fit the slot. Fully buffered DDR2 uses a slot of its own apparently.....I never knew that. I did fire it with no RAM in it...and it beeped memory codes at me.....obviously...but it is a good sign. That tells me the board is alive...

[Uranium-235]

unless the traces to the memory/memory slots themselfs are bad. then you wasted $$$ on some cpus

[Topcat]

Originally Posted by Uranium-235

unless the traces to the memory/memory slots themselfs are bad. then you wasted $$$ on some cpus

How do you figure>? Umm, did you read the above post at all?

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by Topcat

I have a couple of choices for permanent ones...but for testing purposes, I just use the bench coolers.

New thing I learned, FB DDR2 is keyed different than ECC DDR2.... I have some ECC DDR2 667MHz that I figured would be ok to test the board...nope. Won't even fit the slot. Fully buffered DDR2 uses a slot of its own apparently.....I never knew that. I did fire it with no RAM in it...and it beeped memory codes at me.....obviously...but it is a good sign. That tells me the board is alive...

Let me guess, the RAM you need is pricey?

[Uranium-235]

you fired it up with no ram. if the traces are bad it will still get memory beeps with ram in it.

[Topcat]

^
I'm confused, it did exactly what it was supposed to do.....beeped at me telling me there's a memory problem....lol... No RAM is a memory problem!

Originally Posted by ratdude747

Let me guess, the RAM you need is pricey?

It wasn't that bad. I tracked some down, got 16gb of it for 130 bucks.

[Uranium-235]

yes and if the traces or memory slots are bad. you'll get your memory, put it in, and it will still beep, and you'd spend 130+cpus for nothing

sorry, i'm a pessimist. as a habit I never spend that much money on anything till I know it works. I've also had computers boot fine but had wierd stability issues later. but then again, I doubt that thing can take just one cpu, so you would have to buy both to see if it works.

[shovenose]

Originally Posted by Uranium-235

yes and if the traces or memory slots are bad. you'll get your memory, put it in, and it will still beep, and you'd spend 130+cpus for nothing

sorry, i'm a pessimist. as a habit I never spend that much money on anything till I know it works. I've also had computers boot fine but had wierd stability issues later. but then again, I doubt that thing can take just one cpu, so you would have to buy both to see if it works.

If the thing doesn't work he can sell the parts

[Topcat]

Originally Posted by Uranium-235

yes and if the traces or memory slots are bad. you'll get your memory, put it in, and it will still beep, and you'd spend 130+cpus for nothing

sorry, i'm a pessimist. as a habit I never spend that much money on anything till I know it works. I've also had computers boot fine but had wierd stability issues later. but then again, I doubt that thing can take just one cpu, so you would have to buy both to see if it works.

I don't follow you at all... There was no RAM in it......so umm, no...it wasn't going to run...

...but I'll lay a $50 on the table that it works.... When the RAM gets here, I'll post pics of it running. If it were some crap board (an Asus for example), I too would be a pessimist.....but this is the holy grail of motherboards.....SUPERMICRO!!! So, bet??

[Uranium-235]

yes and imagine you get your ram and it still beeps, what could cause that?

but yeah its probably good. I've just seen stranger things happen

[c_hegge]

^
The board is brand new. It's unlikely to be dead.

[Uranium-235]

^ there is more chance of a board being dead brand new then used (with the exception of certain obvious brands)

[Topcat]

Originally Posted by Uranium-235

^ there is more chance of a board being dead brand new then used (with the exception of certain obvious brands)

I've been building Supermicro systems for over a decade....of the many dozens I've built, I've never pulled a new one out of the box and had it be DOA.

Are you sure you don't want to take this bet?! You just seem dead set (no pun intended) that this board wont work...

[Uranium-235]

no i'm not to the point of betting. I'm just saying 'expect the worst when its least convenient'

[Topcat]

^
I wish ya took the bet!! The memory showed up, and it lit right off.