Another 4P budget build

Project "POWAH"

Meet project POWAH. This is my first attempt at getting back into folding after a number of years off. I just couldn't resist the pure power/$ available in these servers.

Here are the details:
Motherboard: Supermicro H8QGi+-F $663.13
Processors: 4x Opteron 6128s $100/ea (ebay, from seller microtechcomp, just made an offer and he accepted it.)
Memory: G.Skill ripjaws 8gb, 4x2gb, DDR3 1333, CAS7 $239.96
Heatsinks: 4x CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ total $95 from Amazon (the price is up to $25.39 now, but they were $23.75 when I bought them.)
Power supply: AX750 $75 (bought here on the forums)

Total $1473.09

Will post some pictures later but I am leaving for a business trip very early tomorrow morning, so I probably won't get any chance to play with it until this weekend. At least it looks good sitting in my living room!

I didn't end up using the server case, so I took the pictures out. Right now it is sitting in my basement being a very good space heater.

After a couple days of leaving it stock, I spent some time reviewing the overclocking instructions here. My little 6128's have been running for most of the week at 2.3Ghz. I just upped them to 2.4 tonight to see how they will do. I have no intent on frying anything, but relatively free performance is always good.

Pictures are available on some of the following pages.

There might be a project "Mo Powah" coming soon...

Grats! It would be EPIC if you got a photo op with the UPS guy! These things wouldn't happen with out the men and women in uniform (Them postal peeps that is ) running logistics on our behalf! LOL!

Everything's coming together - and those are great prices!

Nice!

We must have pic's of the parts...we are like vampires its how we survive!

Congrats on the new build Posi Don!

man yall are killing me with the budget builds... I want to build one so bad but i just moved and funds dont allow for it right now

Thanks. Don't worry, I will post some pics tonight.

dfonda said:

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This is probably my favorite smiley of all time! Let's see it!

pics posted at first post. All I have to say is this motherboard is HUGE!

Great pics. What's the case?

Some kind of 4U rack mount... oooo, I really like the look of the black ram.

Where's the PSU going?

The case is a norco that a friend of mine from work gave me. I am going to mount the psu up front in one of the drive bays. The ram is actually blue on the sides but the heat spreaders are black. I don't know if this case will work with the heatsinks though.

harlam357 said:

Some kind of 4U rack mount... oooo, I really like the look of the black ram.

Where's the PSU going?

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Good eyes H! I didnt realize the slots were populated, I thought they were black slots. I can see you furtively sneaking ideas for your next rig...

Next 4P (if any) is a ways out... however, these $1500 builds you guys are doing is quite appetizing compared to what I dolled out for my 4x12 core build.

Now my question to Posidon... is the RAM actually running at 1333MHz CL7. Since that is the XMP timing I'm curious if it defaults to something looser like CL8.

I have the same ram, and seen it was looser timings somthing like 9-9-9, but at 1333... I havent looked in the BIOS yet to see what it does, but I see a setting for DRAM Timings and RAM stuff, can I change the timings "settings" or is that along the lines of flashing ram, and using 3rd party programs to hack it? Is there anything in the Stock BIOS that I can do (aside from Numa enabled/Interleaving disabled)...

Dont mean to jack the thread... but it is right in line with your set up

harlam357 said:

Next 4P (if any) is a ways out... however, these $1500 builds you guys are doing is quite appetizing compared to what I dolled out for my 4x12 core build.

Now my question to Posidon... is the RAM actually running at 1333MHz CL7. Since that is the XMP timing I'm curious if it defaults to something looser like CL8.

Click to expand...

I was just going by what newegg said the speeds were.

You can look in the BIOS and see the actual speeds the RAM is running. Typically, without XMP capabilities (which is an Intel only thing), a motherboard will default to the JEDEC programmed timings for that speed, which is 1333MHz. These JEDEC timings are almost always looser than the XMP profile. At least I've never seen JEDEC timings that matched XMP timings.

It's really simple to check it out... just pop into the BIOS the next time you reboot. I can't tell you specifically where to look but I didn't have a difficult time finding it.

I will do that when it is assembled. Most of the parts are back in the box until this weekend. Even then, I am not sure how much I will be able to play with it.

Great looking build, looking for a job now so I can be part of the budget 4P club, I hope there is champagne and olives!

Well it doesn't look like I am going to be able to use that 4u rack afterall. The heatsinks are just too tall. At least this way I can install it in my entertainment center.

Just got back from the second trip to the hardware store. Should have some install pics up later today. Can't wait to start playing with this.