Cheap Dual LGA 2011 Rig - Dual E5-2670 Xeons, 16 Cores/32 Threads @ 3 to 3.3 GHz

I got tired of waiting for Zen and picked up some cheap used server parts to play with. Bought an open box Corsair Carbide Clear 400C case at Microcenter for $40 which although advertised for E-ATX only had 3 of the appropriate mounting holes for the Intel motherboard. So I had to use some imagination to get it installed but all is well. It has dual E5-2670 8 Core/16 Thread Sandy Bridge-E Xeons and 32GB DDR3-1333 Registered/ECC RAM. CPU Cooling is supplied by a pair of Cooler Master Hyper 212s with the CPU2 fan mounted on the back side in a pull configuration. Doing that provided extra separation between the two heatsinks that reduced CPU2's max temp by 5C so both run at 65C under 32 thread 100% load. Used some Noctua PWM NA-RC7 Low Noise Adapters to slow the fans down and keep everything nice and quiet. The PSU is a Supermicro 665W server supply I've had for several years powering my previous X79 and X99 builds. Stuck in my mini GTX 1060, a $15 USB 3.0 card and hooked up my USB Sound "Card" to complete the system. A photo of dubious quality is provided for you viewing below.

that looks like it could be a lot of fun. I've thought about building a dual socket unit just for laughs.

not a lot of room in there for much is there? Is there any overclock-ability with those motherboards?

The case has 3 SSD mounts behind the motherboard tray and there is a HD/SSD rack behind the cover at the bottom. No overclocking, the motherboard BIOS is pretty basic except for server functions. The CPUs are fast enough and would get really hot if you OC'd them.

Out of curiosity man how much would something like that generally cost for the mobo and cpu's? I had an opportunity to buy an i7 3960x Sandy Bridge E cpu for 120$ looks in great shape and I'm highly considering it just for the fun.

How much was the mobo? To me that is the biggest limiting factor in a cheap build of this type. All the ones I can find are stupidly priced (single or dual socket) that I can build a v3 system for similar system total amount.

The Intel S2600CP2J mobo and 2 x E5-2670s can be purchased for $308 plus shipping. I picked up 32GB DDR3-1333 (8 x 4GB) for $44 shipped on eBay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cheap-Clo...RAM-Rack-1U-/122147917321?hash=item1c70954e09

Because of this thread, I found and put in an offer for the above and it is hopefully making its way to me by the new year, or shortly after. US$ 392 as listed, I offered $380 which was accepted. I know the 2650 are slower, but it'll do for some fun. Only drawback of this specific system is lack of PCIe slots so it will be a pure CPU compute box to add to my pile. I also have a fair chance of sneaking into a rack at work... the dirt cheap 2670 processors seem to have dried up over here though, going for about double what they were at their pricing bottom. I'll start a new thread once it arrives.

I read a thread by about another guy who bought a similar 1U server and then cut holes in the top to put in quieter tower heatsinks. You still have all those threads with the 2650s so enjoy!

DaveB said:

I read a thread by about another guy who bought a similar 1U server and then cut holes in the top to put in quieter tower heatsinks. You still have all those threads with the 2650s so enjoy!

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After arrival and performing basic tests, yes, I think the first thing I'll do will be something about the noise. I've already thought about disabling the tiny fans and putting something else on top of the CPU heatsinks, if nothing else really needs cooling. According to the description this particular server doesn't come with a top, as it uses the base of the one above it and save a bit of cost that way... so even to run it at stock I'd need to cover it.

DaveB said:

The Intel S2600CP2J mobo and 2 x E5-2670s can be purchased for $308 plus shipping. I picked up 32GB DDR3-1333 (8 x 4GB) for $44 shipped on eBay.

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i found one for basically $428 shipped with 2 E5-2670's and 64gb ram. still debating it but i do want more horsepower than the e3 1230v2 i have now.

I would be curious how this stacked up against my single low speed 2350v4. I know power wise it is a giant gain, but performance has me wondering.

Depends on program. In general it will be about ~15% faster at the same frequency while your CPU has slower cores so it will be still like comparing 12 to 16 cores. In programs which can't use all cores or additional instructions even single 2670 can be faster but in most others two 8 cores will perform better just because of more threads. There are too many "if" and you won't know till you actually test it but I think that older 16 cores will be faster.