8 Core 3 GHz SFF with 8GB RAM

[DaveB]

I just built a new 8-Core SFF setup in a Lian Li PC-V350B SFF Case. The motherboard is the Supermicro X7DCA-L Micro ATX San Clemente (5100) chipset one that there's a thread about in the 2CPU SFF forum. Since it's a little oversized (10" x 10"), I had to hack saw a 3/8" x 1" high notch in one side at the back for the it to fit (4th image). It's covered up by the back panel of the motherboard tray so you can't see it. The CPUs are a pair of quad core E5340 ES Clovertowns, tape modded to 3 GHz @ 1333 FSB. It has 12GB (6 x 2GB) DDR2-667 Reg/ECC (no FB-DIMMs required for 5100 chipset) RAM. The video card is an eVGA 9800 GX2 1GB Dual GPU which just fits. The hardest part being the 6-pin and 8-pin PCI-e connectors at the top which scrape along the hard drive bay during installation. One in there's plenty of room for them behind the hard drive bay though once installed.

The Lian Li comes with dual 120mm inlet fans at the front which are right next to the Xeons, providing fresh cool air for the HS/Fans. A couple of slot coolers do a nice job of clearing out any heat from either side of the 9800 GX2 although it does have a fan between the two cards that exhausts heat out the back also. The power supply is an Antec Earth Watts 650W which comes with the 6-pin and 8-pin PCI-e power connectors that the 9800 GX2 needs. Runs sweet, not loud at all. The Cinebench run is with the 9600 GT I originally set up up with and the temps are with the box closed up.

Here are some photos!

http://i35.tinypic.com/j5lglv.jpg

Right side view
http://i37.tinypic.com/141jhwj.jpg

Left side view from the back
http://i35.tinypic.com/f1xk61.jpg

Hack saw cutout at the rear
http://i33.tinypic.com/1jn2iu.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/kesmtk.jpg

http://i36.tinypic.com/14ec7z4.jpg

[JamesXP]

thats crazy!

temps?

[Valk]

thats pretty cool, but watercool it and ill be impressed =) will have to look into that mobo though. my v300 could use 8 cores ha ha.

[ghost_recon88]

Craziness :drool: Throw a better card in there as you mentioned and you'd be pwning people left and right at LAN parties.

[DaveB]

thats crazy!

temps?
Just a quick screen shot at idle with box closed. BIOS set at workstation fan speed profile.

http://i36.tinypic.com/14ec7z4.jpg

[nd4spdbh2]

That is one hell of a lil box that packs a fuggin MAJOR punch.... what kinda load temps you got going with the side pannels on :eek:

[DaveB]

Dunno. It has dual 120mm intake fans about one inch from the Xeon Heatsinks. But I only have retail Socket 771 Intel HS/Fans to put in there now. It could fit a small 4 to 5-inch tall tower heatsink if I could find something.

[ghost_recon88]

Just a quick screen shot at idle. BIOS set at workstation fan speed profile.

http://i36.tinypic.com/2zpqft5.jpg

You didn't happen to pick those chips up from eBay really recently did you?

[ou_phidelt]

Dunno. It has dual 120mm intake fans about one inch from the Xeon Heatsinks. But I only have retail Socket 771 Intel HS/Fans to put in there now. It could fit a small 4 to 5-inch tall tower heatsink if I could find something.

I am not sure of the exact measurements off hand but you may want to look into a pair of Scyte Mini Ninja's.

That is nice little rendering machine. Who says you need a big workstation to do serious work!

[ChinStrap]

hmmm, what do you plan on using this cpu monster for? :)

[jamesgig]

in your cinebench system summary, it states that you are running a 32bit os. Is this a wrong reading as otherwise you will only be able to use about 3.3gb of your 8gb.

[Spion]

That's pretty sweet. If you could squeeze a GTX280 or 4870X2 in there you'd have quite the lan cube :)

[chawks2]

Impressive, most impressive.

http://www.chawks2.com/images/Vader.Filter.jpg

[White_Pawn]

does it have any crossfire or SLI options?

Otherwise... it is time for a 4870X2!

[Niku-Sama]

Dunno. It has dual 120mm intake fans about one inch from the Xeon Heatsinks. But I only have retail Socket 771 Intel HS/Fans to put in there now. It could fit a small 4 to 5-inch tall tower heatsink if I could find something.

mini ninja?

[Blazing fire]

@chawks. What's that?

[Clockwork_Apple]

Very impressive build, cooling could become an issue though. With the side panels on, and a higher end graphics card in there you wont be getting great temps, but when you've got 8 cores, 8GB of RAM and a highend card, who cares? :beer:

Chawks, that's my all time favourite motivational, always makes me laugh.

[DaveB]

in your cinebench system summary, it states that you are running a 32bit os. Is this a wrong reading as otherwise you will only be able to use about 3.3gb of your 8gb.

As I stated in the original post:

I still have to hook some things up and install Win XP 64 sometime this weekend and button it up. :beer:

It will likely score around 20,000 under Win XP 64.

[DaveB]

(as you call that laptop)
:confused: Where did I call it a laptop?

[JamesXP]

Spambot.. >.>

[DaveB]

Here's the Cinebench run under Win XP 64. Around 20,000 as expected.

http://i35.tinypic.com/kesmtk.jpg

[White_Pawn]

So what are you going to do with your personal super computer? :santa:

[SniperXX]

Geez that thing is badass!

[Nuerotik]

that thing is awesome alot of power in a tiny box

[jmh547]

So what are you going to do with your personal super computer? :santa:

Besides heat your entire house.

[DaveB]

Here's a photo with it closed up with temp readings (profile now set at Server with fans temperature controlled).

http://i35.tinypic.com/j5lglv.jpg

http://i36.tinypic.com/14ec7z4.jpg

3DMark06 Result under Win XP 32-bit
Your Score: 12422 3DMarks
Date: Oct 11, 2008 14:25 CDT
Project ID:8498356
Validity
Hardware details
General information
Operating system Microsoft Windows XP
System type 32-bit
Motherboard man Supermicro
Motherboard model X7DCA-L
Hard drive model MAXTOR STM3200820AS
Memory 3328 MB
Slot 1 2048 MB
Slot 2 2048 MB
Slot 3 2048 MB
Slot 4 2048 MB
Processor information
Processor Intel Core 2 Quad
Processor clock 3000 MHz
Physical / logical processors 2 / 8
Multicore 4 Processor Cores
FSB Unknown
Display information
Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Graphics vendor Nvidia Corp
Graphics memory 512.0
Core clock 0.0
Memory clock 0.0
Driver name NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Driver version 6.14.11.7416
Driver status WHQL - Not FM Approved
Linked disp adap No
Result details
Benchmark settings
Program Version 3DMark06 Revision 1 Build 0
Resolution 1280x1024
Full Screen Anti-Aliasing None
Texture Filtering Optimal
Vertex Shader Profile 3_0
Pixel Shader Profile 3_0
Force Full Precision No
Disable Post-processing No
Force Software Vertex Shaders No
Force Software FP Filtering No
Disable Harware Shadow Mapping No
Colour Mipmaps No
Repeat Count Off
Fixed Framerate Off
Main test results
3DMark Score 12422 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 4924
SM 3.0 Score 4612
CPU Score 6524
Test Results
Graphics Tests
1 - Return to Proxycon 39.44 FPS
2 - Firefly Forest 42.63 FPS
CPU Tests
CPU1 - Red Valley 2.35 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley 2.9 FPS
HDR Tests
1 - Canyon (SM 3.0) 42.72 FPS
2 - Deep Freeze (SM 3.0) 49.52 FPS

[DaveB]

Craziness :drool: Throw a better card in there as you mentioned and you'd be pwning people left and right at LAN parties.

No LAN parties but I did up the memory to 12GB and threw in an eVGA 9800 GX2 1GB dual GPU card. :screwy: The 9800 GX2 just fit and an initial 3DMark06 run came in at 16,126. I figured that 8 CPUs needed at least 2 GPUs. :shrug:

[Gomeler]

Impressive power density there. I've always wanted a dual-socket board, keep putting it off. Maybe Nehalem will permit me to get one.. maybe.