Question Is this PC worth building?

[BrutalHero]

Hi,

I have in my hands a HP Z8 G4 Motherboard with 2 Xeon Gold 6128 3.4ghz CPUS and 2 RTX 5000 Graphics cards and around 400 gb of DDR4 Ram..

I am only missing the case to setup everything together, which will cost me around 500 euro.

My Question: Is it worth paying the 500 euro to make this setup or it's better off selling all the parts individually and buying an I9 9900k with an RTX 3080.

Computer Usage : Game Development (Unreal Engine 5, Unity) Photoshop, Blender , Gaming and normal daily tasks.

 

[DavidM012]

Also depends if you can keep it going. If it goes wrong in a month or two months or 3 months you have no means of repairing say, the motherboard unless you're a whizz with a multimeter. Horses throw a shoe and need trimming.

To do so would mean it should have an economic purpose and serve that purpose well. I'm wondering why it was let go by the previous owner it may not fit the market anymore. If they upgraded and cast it off it might've been for a technical reason that would make it harder to sell.

 

[Karadjgne]

That's always a possibility with any 2nd hand equipment. There's no guarantee. For all Op knows, the board has dropped several ram slots or the IMC in one of the Xeons took a long walk off a short pier. OP cannot know the current functionality of the pc if it's not complete and tested. So do you invest in completing the pc, or sell the parts as is and hope the next buyer gets a working product?

A gamble either way.

 

[DavidM012]

Either that or 3d biz folk are too savvy.

 

[BrutalHero]

Not sli, Windows 10/11 and is mgpu based (multi-gpu) and DirectX 12 native which uses both cards simultaneously, but independently of each other, on the same project, basically doing what the 2x cpus do. That allows doubling of the vram etc as both cards can be brought to bear, added. With sli, that was simultaneous but only in the sense that each card only did half the work on a frame, so vram was not added. That's a benefit when using higher resolutions or more vram intensive applications.

The Quadro RTX's are workhorse gpus, the mainstream RTX are racehorse gpus. They each have benefits and drawbacks depending on application.

With the H8 pc, Op could easily run several VM's and run several different renders/compiles simultaneously, and not affect time used much at all if looking for comparisons after changes, whereas with a more traditional gaming setup, that would be far more restricted or take much longer to do, being limited by a single cpu/gpu.

Thanks for explaining everything better.

 

[BrutalHero]

Also depends if you can keep it going. If it goes wrong in a month or two months or 3 months you have no means of repairing say, the motherboard unless you're a whizz with a multimeter. Horses throw a shoe and need trimming.

To do so would mean it should have an economic purpose and serve that purpose well. I'm wondering why it was let go by the previous owner it may not fit the market anymore. If they upgraded and cast it off it might've been for a technical reason that would make it harder to sell.

I am lucky enough that I was given 2 motherboards with 2x xeon gold 6128 , so I have 2 motherboards and 4 cpus in total.

Even if something fails I can just do a quick hot swap but I've never had a PC fail on me .

 

[Vic 40]

So you got the internal components for free?

If that is the case (no pun) maybe more see it like do i want to pay $500 for a complete pc with these kind of specs. Knowing that the case+psu are $500 as i read from the thread. Think the pc as a whole is worth that all day.

 

[DavidM012]

I've never had a workstation die on me! All my old pc's faded into obsolescence before they had any hardware fault. So if you keep it a while the value will decline.

Because you'll be handling the memory a lot because there's so much of it, then take the extra precaution of a grounded anti static mat and wrist strap for your workbench. It will take a while to sort out the dimms.

Fair bit of work to troubleshoot & it would be disappointing if both boards had a fault 4 cpus to try and 24 dimms could drive you nuts if you're trying to trace a fault but if you can manage it, seems like a good score.

 

[BrutalHero]

So you got the internal components for free?

If that is the case (no pun) maybe more see it like do i want to pay $500 for a complete pc with these kind of specs. Knowing that the case+psu are $500 as i read from the thread. Think the pc as a whole is worth that all day.

Oh, thats my fault for not making it more clear.

All the parts listed above have been given to me for free ,

So in total I have

2 Motherboards
3 GPUS ( 2 RTX 5000 , 1 Nvidia quadro 5000p)
4 Intel Xeon Gold 6128 CPUS
30 16gb , 3200mhz ram sticks
and like 3TB of M.2 SSD , 12TB of HDD.

So my only investment would be the case and power supply which I found for 400 euro now!

 

[DavidM012]

Maintenance and service guide

A memory module is not installed in the DIMM1 or XMM1 socket. Ensure that a memory module is installed in the DIMM1 or XMM1 socket on the system board. This socket must be populated with a memory module. Memory module is not the correct type or speed grade for the system or the new memory module is not seated properly. Replace module with the correct industry-standard device for the computer. On some models, ECC and non-ECC memory modules cannot be mixed.

So you have to identify your dimms for compatibility and there's a heap of manuals for it. Looks like it's meant to be serviced by an HP technician so be really careful.

 

[DavidM012]

You haven't mentioned anything about the cpu coolers. You'll need those installed to simply switch it on. And the thermal paste. You'll need more than an 8g tube of mx 2 to sort through 4 cpus.

 

[DavidM012]

https://www.coolerguys.com/collections/intel-xeon-platinum-lga-3647

big ol' lumps there.

 

[BrutalHero]

https://www.coolerguys.com/collections/intel-xeon-platinum-lga-3647

big ol' lumps there.

Thanks for the link,

The motherboard I received have the stock coolers on , I am not sure if I can upgrade them to better ones.
Depends on the temps that I will be getting, I will probably have the case with psu within the next week so I will be able to test everything out .

 

[DavidM012]

The 6128s are 115w tdp while the platinums are 205w. The stock coolers should be adequate. Not too much experience with the workstation to be sure. No temp. benchmarks on a search of 6128's with a stock cooler. Because it's not mainstream.

$40 each might be overkill but they are surprisingly inexpensive for what they are. The stock coolers are probably ok. My search didn't throw up anything else so it's the only option if you want excessive cooling. The case will likely have good airflow design and built in fans and you can add more fans probably but you have to check it's all working.

Since the maintenance routine is a little more intensive than your average pc. Should be straightforward to add more fans but there again simply might not be any convenient nooks to attach them. The case will have some bays for fans and probably a few optional extras. Hopefully.

 

[Karadjgne]

I've yet to meet the cpu cooler where changing fans for something better was not possible. There's always more specialty fans, like 38mm deep vs standard 25mm, that have much higher cfm/so outputs, could even use server grade Deltas if you needed to and had a power source equipped to do so.

There's very little that can't be done with a cooler and fan, just depends on how creative you can be.

I've seen ppl using AIO's on those workstations, even seen a back-to-back linked dual rad design using 6x fans (push-pull/push-pull) on 2x 240mm rads, pump block on each cpu, linked together in a single loop.

There are ways. 😂

 

[DavidM012]

But not cheaply. The extraneous costs to merely test if it's working are building up. The thermal paste, the nv link bridge, the case, the anti static mat and band, all the work to simply assemble it and determine if the dimms are matched to it.

The 6128s aren't the highest tier cpu in the range and the lumps of metal heatsink are $40 each. Hopefully they'd fit in the case, should do but still have to look at the dimensions to be sure.

And to determine if the stock heatsinks are adequate there's a good few hours of monitoring and stress testing to go into it, supposing the assembly goes smoothly.

 

[Karadjgne]

The thermal paste, the nv link bridge, the case, the anti static mat and band,

Dont need any of that except the thermal paste, which is $10 or less.
You'd not SLI those cards, so absolutely no need nor requirement for the bridge, mgpu does not use one.
Build the pc on a box first, assuming you have the psu.
Op got the parts for free. He could spend the cash and time to see if he can make 1 or possibly both work, at which point the resale value of either just the parts or a fully working machine far exceeds any cash put into it.

The only way Op could lose out on this deal is if there's no possibility of either motherboard/cpus functioning. At which point resale value of most/all the ram, case, psu will go a long way to any monetary recoupment.

 

[DavidM012]

mgpu is AMD and the Quadros are nVidia. Static discharges are rare ok but it's all expensive gear so be careful and have the precautionary grounding strap and it's going to be handled a lot on the workbench with 30 dimms to try 4 cpus 2 motherboards and 3 gpus and switching out the CPUs is a lot of thermal paste on the larger than a typical lga 3647 so they're going to be pasted a couple of times over too. So maybe 50g's of some basic paste would be cheap (with some left over) rather than copious amounts of top of the range thermal grizzly or something. They ship in tubes of 5g or something? What's 50g of reasonable middle of the road paste? More than $10.

 

[Vic 40]

Build the pc on a box first, assuming you have the psu.

From what i could find does it seems to have some kind of slot-in psu, no cables attached, the (cables) are part of the case afaik so testing outside of the case doesn't seem an option

Op got the parts for free. He could spend the cash and time to see if he can make 1 or possibly both work, at which point the resale value of either just the parts or a fully working machine far exceeds any cash put into it.

My thoughts as well.

I will probably have the case with psu within the next week so I will be able to test everything out .

Think a working pc of this kind for really just €400 is a very good deal. Hope all does work together properly.

 

[BrutalHero]

From what i could find does it seems to have some kind of slot-in psu, no cables attached, the (cables) are part of the case afaik so testing outside of the case doesn't seem an option



My thoughts as well.



Think a working pc of this kind for really just €400 is a very good deal. Hope all does work together properly.

Yep, the PSU is like a module that goes with the case , otherwise I wouldn't bother with finding the original case for it ,.

Yeah I believe the value it will bring is much much better than 400 euro so I will take the hit with the case.

mgpu is AMD and the Quadros are nVidia. Static discharges are rare ok but it's all expensive gear so be careful and have the precautionary grounding strap and it's going to be handled a lot on the workbench with 30 dimms to try 4 cpus 2 motherboards and 3 gpus and switching out the CPUs is a lot of thermal paste on the larger than a typical lga 3647 so they're going to be pasted a couple of times over too. So maybe 50g's of some basic paste would be cheap (with some left over) rather than copious amounts of top of the range thermal grizzly or something. They ship in tubes of 5g or something? What's 50g of reasonable middle of the road paste? More than $10.

I will make sure to buy a lot of thermal paste , as I will try to hotswap all the cpus to see if they are all in working condition 😀 , I will probably also change the thermal paste on the GPUS .

Dont need any of that except the thermal paste, which is $10 or less.
You'd not SLI those cards, so absolutely no need nor requirement for the bridge, mgpu does not use one.
Build the pc on a box first, assuming you have the psu.
Op got the parts for free. He could spend the cash and time to see if he can make 1 or possibly both work, at which point the resale value of either just the parts or a fully working machine far exceeds any cash put into it.

The only way Op could lose out on this deal is if there's no possibility of either motherboard/cpus functioning. At which point resale value of most/all the ram, case, psu will go a long way to any monetary recoupment.

Any reason to not sli those cards? Won't that give me any benefits?

As for the Power Supply unfortunately it's not possible to try a normal power supply as the original is modular.

I agree with you , there is almost no chance of losing out on this deal.

 

[DavidM012]

I didn't tell anyone to hotswap cpus! I prefer to power off and drain the power when changing a cpu. Why'd you think they can hotswap?

The only thing I've heard of hotswapping is hard drives that are designed to in server racks or desktop caddies.

Nvlink isn't really sli architecture. The bridge must do something in order to exist. This is outside my pc experience.

NVLink is a wire-based hardware connection between GPU devices that allows multiple graphics cards to share their available memory. This is significant for GPU rendering, since it allows more memory to be used for large scenes, that otherwise would not fit on a single device.

Forget about hotswapping anything and power off when changing cpus and gpus and drives. Never heard of hotswapping cpus.

 

[DavidM012]

also try to keep the steps in order. Discovering the gpus is ahead of simply assembling the machine and installing the dimms.

 

[DavidM012]

Looked in the manuals again and saw, don't know how relevant it is, that the power supply pulls 15amps and is meant for an office environment and to get the full power of the power supply it should be used in conjunction with a ups.

So now I'm starting to wonder if you'll even be able to switch it on by a domestic ring mains.

 

[DavidM012]

Power consumption and cooling considerations An HP workstation might require more power than the typical office environment can supply.

• An 1125W fully loaded configuration might draw up to 15A of 110V power, leaving no power for other accessories. A typical office has several 15A circuits.
• A 1450W fully loaded configuration might draw up to 20A of 110V power, leaving no power for other accessories.
• An office air conditioning system must accommodate the extra heat generated by fully loaded workstation configurations.
• Some environments might have power quality problems that prevent the reliable use of high-end workstation configurations. Possible problems include power failure, voltage sag, voltage surge, voltage spike, brownout, line noise, frequency variation, and switching transient and harmonic distortion.
• If your workstation is powered from a >200V source and you meet the HP configuration guidelines, you will not need an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to achieve maximum power output.

Link to search of power supply

Pulls up the Site guide. Looks like HP doesn't allow direct links to their site. There are two variants of the power supply the 1125w which pulls 15a version and a 1450w version that pulls 20a.

It's a roaring furnace that you need even strong air conditioning to ventilate. Possible problems include brownout. So you press the power switch and the lights go out down the block.

 

[BrutalHero]

Power consumption and cooling considerations An HP workstation might require more power than the typical office environment can supply.

• An 1125W fully loaded configuration might draw up to 15A of 110V power, leaving no power for other accessories. A typical office has several 15A circuits.
• A 1450W fully loaded configuration might draw up to 20A of 110V power, leaving no power for other accessories.
• An office air conditioning system must accommodate the extra heat generated by fully loaded workstation configurations.
• Some environments might have power quality problems that prevent the reliable use of high-end workstation configurations. Possible problems include power failure, voltage sag, voltage surge, voltage spike, brownout, line noise, frequency variation, and switching transient and harmonic distortion.
• If your workstation is powered from a >200V source and you meet the HP configuration guidelines, you will not need an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to achieve maximum power output.

Link to search of power supply

Pulls up the Site guide. Looks like HP doesn't allow direct links to their site. There are two variants of the power supply the 1125w which pulls 15a version and a 1450w version that pulls 20a.

It's a roaring furnace that you need even strong air conditioning to ventilate. Possible problems include brownout. So you press the power switch and the lights go out down the block.

Sorry for being inactive for a few days,

I received my case today and I assembled the pc!

Everything seems to be working although I have 1 hiccup.

There is an Admin password and I am not sure on how to get past it.

I will probably just format with fresh windows but I was hoping to do some testing before that.

 

[DavidM012]

Yes you should just freshly install windows unless you fancy rummaging around what data's on it but I'll leave that to you. Eg. Install windows on a different drive since you have a few of them and nose around.

I'm amazed it works. So download hwmonitor, hwinfo, cpu-z and gpu-z for your basic monitoring utilities. So you can monitor temps and read system if you will need it. Might be worth having a kill-a-watt meter on the socket that determines the power draw with this rather unusual rig so you can monitor power usage. Just so you have an idea of what it's using and how it behaves under load and idle and so on.