Repurposing a server as a workstation: Beggar's Supercomputer.

[wertciu]

Hi,

Basically I want to build the most powerful workstation possible for under $300. The inspiration for this build comes from this video: $150 gaming mobo/cpu/ram combo. But instead of gaming I would like it to be a fully capable (or as capable as possible) video editing/content creation workstation. Here is what I've got so far:
Motherboard: Supermicro X8DTN+ -$90
CPU: 2X Xeon E5645 -$30 each
RAM: 2X Samsung Registered ECC RAM (listed as compatible on supermicro's website) -$15 each
PSU: EVGA Supernova 750w -$80

The biggest problem with this build was the case, so I'm thinking I'll buy a plastic box and drill my own standoffs, mounts, etc. and build it in that. But then I'm not entirely sure how to connect things like the power button or front panel USB. Also how to secure any pcie cards when they are installed.

Aside from that (my biggest problem), my concerns are the motherboard compatibility with such things as the power supply connectors and BIOS compatibility with the next generation Xeons. Any other advice on this build/idea regarding a case, compatible parts, performance and such would be very helpful. Thanks!

 

[wertciu]

You have 2 issues:

1. Noise.

2. How are you going to fit a rational GPU in that 2U case?

How loud? Have you ever been in a server room? Lots of noise.
It's loud in there. But...it doesn't seem as loud, because of the environment.

In your otherwise quiet living room, it will seem a LOT louder. Not quite hair dryer, but far too loud to be running all the time.

Personally, I would cancel that purchase, and continue the hunt.

I've just looked into canceling it, but its too late, he already got the money and its probably on its way to my house right now.
I've got a closet that I can put my desk right next to, if I put it in there and run the cables to my desk will that improve the audio levels?
As for the GPU (and any other peripherals) the r710 has 2 8 lane pcie slots and two 4 lane pcie. No power connector so I was limited to the low power cards, out of which I've chosen the R7 350 as its on sale at newegg for 50$. It's also gonna need a sound card, so I chose a 10$ generic soundblaster live! card.
No I've never been in a server room or even a single server, but if the noise is below hairdryer it shouldn't be too difficult to muffle the noise somehow.

 

[Rogue Leader]

You have 2 issues:

1. Noise.

2. How are you going to fit a rational GPU in that 2U case?

How loud? Have you ever been in a server room? Lots of noise.
It's loud in there. But...it doesn't seem as loud, because of the environment.

In your otherwise quiet living room, it will seem a LOT louder. Not quite hair dryer, but far too loud to be running all the time.

Personally, I would cancel that purchase, and continue the hunt.

I've just looked into canceling it, but its too late, he already got the money and its probably on its way to my house right now.
I've got a closet that I can put my desk right next to, if I put it in there and run the cables to my desk will that improve the audio levels?
As for the GPU (and any other peripherals) the r710 has 2 8 lane pcie slots and two 4 lane pcie. No power connector so I was limited to the low power cards, out of which I've chosen the R7 350 as its on sale at newegg for 50$. It's also gonna need a sound card, so I chose a 10$ generic soundblaster live! card.
No I've never been in a server room or even a single server, but if the noise is below hairdryer it shouldn't be too difficult to muffle the noise somehow.

I hope you didn't buy either of those yet, because neither one will fit in that case. 2U is half height. Both cards will stick out of the top and you won't be able to close the case, making it even louder.

Tell the guy you don't want it and refuse the shipment from UPS. Take the loss on the shipping and have him refund you.

 

[wertciu]

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If you found a workstation with the same specs and price I would definitely cancel the order immediately, but it sounds too good to be true.

One thing I don't think you guys get is that I'm not going to be upgrading this computer, I just was the absolute best $300 can get right now. As for psu, there are two of them (in case one fails) and they are server grade, so they should last longer as servers are meant to be running 24/7 for years.

How loud is a 2u server with 5 fans? Vacuum cleaner? Hairdryer? Can I use software to tweak the fan speed so it will be quiet at idle and only spin fast when I'm doing cpu-heavy tasks?

The biggest problem right now is definitely the noise, and I'll try to cancel the order today if you think that it will be too big of a problem.

How loud? F-16. And no you can't adjust the fan speeds, most are locked because its designed for an environment where they don't need to be quieter.

While a little more money, these two are ready to go out of the box, the first one even has a good GPU for video editing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z800-WORKSTATION-2x-Xeon-SIX-Core-2-8GH-X5660-24GB-1-16TB-Quadro-4000-6321842/232217361957?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D4f5d8f35380643b8a6858acd932dc02c%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D232210523854

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z800-WORKSTATION-2x-Xeon-Six-Core-2-4Ghz-E5645-16GB-256GB-SSD-6415847-/232210523854?hash=item3610d366ce:g:7cUAAOSwt5hYf6LS

Same dual processor setup as the server you bought, and these are basically plug and play except installing the OS.

Thanks for those links, they look pretty nice, but I cannot cancel the order unfortunately, so not much help anymore.
You can't adjust the fan speed at all? There aren't any power saving features in the BIOS, or you can't use something like speedfan utility?

 

[Rogue Leader]

Thanks for those links, they look pretty nice, but I cannot cancel the order unfortunately, so not much help anymore.
You can't adjust the fan speed at all? There aren't any power saving features in the BIOS, or you can't use something like speedfan utility?

Unlikely. As I said these are designed for an environment where the fans are cranking 24x7. Speedfan rarely works with proprietary boards. Also they are high for a reason, its a hot pair of CPUs with passive coolers in a tight case. You could turn the fans down and they will likely overheat.

 

[wertciu]

You have 2 issues:

1. Noise.

2. How are you going to fit a rational GPU in that 2U case?

How loud? Have you ever been in a server room? Lots of noise.
It's loud in there. But...it doesn't seem as loud, because of the environment.

In your otherwise quiet living room, it will seem a LOT louder. Not quite hair dryer, but far too loud to be running all the time.

Personally, I would cancel that purchase, and continue the hunt.

I've just looked into canceling it, but its too late, he already got the money and its probably on its way to my house right now.
I've got a closet that I can put my desk right next to, if I put it in there and run the cables to my desk will that improve the audio levels?
As for the GPU (and any other peripherals) the r710 has 2 8 lane pcie slots and two 4 lane pcie. No power connector so I was limited to the low power cards, out of which I've chosen the R7 350 as its on sale at newegg for 50$. It's also gonna need a sound card, so I chose a 10$ generic soundblaster live! card.
No I've never been in a server room or even a single server, but if the noise is below hairdryer it shouldn't be too difficult to muffle the noise somehow.

I hope you didn't buy either of those yet, because neither one will fit in that case. 2U is half height. Both cards will stick out of the top and you won't be able to close the case, making it even louder.

Tell the guy you don't want it and refuse the shipment from UPS. Take the loss on the shipping and have him refund you.

Those cards will fit, as the r710 uses risers to place the cards horizontally instead of vertically.
Link to dell's spec sheet: Poweredge R710
Link to professional review with pictures: R710 review with pictures

 

[Slumy__57]

I think there is some over-exaggeration going on here in terms of noise. I work with Poweredge servers similar to the one linked earlier, and the noise level depends on several factors. At full load, I would say it'll be about the same volume as a hairdryer. However, at idle, it shouldn't be that loud, maybe closer to a loud floor fan.

The poweredge is a great deal for a bare bones rig, and in my opinion, would make a decent base to build off of.

 

[wertciu]

I think there is some over-exaggeration going on here in terms of noise. I work with Poweredge servers similar to the one linked earlier, and the noise level depends on several factors. At full load, I would say it'll be about the same volume as a hairdryer. However, at idle, it shouldn't be that loud, maybe closer to a loud floor fan.

The poweredge is a great deal for a bare bones rig, and in my opinion, would make a decent base to build off of.

Thank you! I was finding it hard to believe that a server could be hairdryer level all the time, and having a good expectation of how loud it will be at idle is very helpful. Thanks again.

 

[wertciu]

Thanks for those links, they look pretty nice, but I cannot cancel the order unfortunately, so not much help anymore.
You can't adjust the fan speed at all? There aren't any power saving features in the BIOS, or you can't use something like speedfan utility?

Unlikely. As I said these are designed for an environment where the fans are cranking 24x7. Speedfan rarely works with proprietary boards. Also they are high for a reason, its a hot pair of CPUs with passive coolers in a tight case. You could turn the fans down and they will likely overheat.

Hmm... That makes sense, but there must be some way to turn down the fan speed while at idle right? I'm not going to be using all 12 cores at 100% all the time.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Thanks for those links, they look pretty nice, but I cannot cancel the order unfortunately, so not much help anymore.
You can't adjust the fan speed at all? There aren't any power saving features in the BIOS, or you can't use something like speedfan utility?

Unlikely. As I said these are designed for an environment where the fans are cranking 24x7. Speedfan rarely works with proprietary boards. Also they are high for a reason, its a hot pair of CPUs with passive coolers in a tight case. You could turn the fans down and they will likely overheat.

Hmm... That makes sense, but there must be some way to turn down the fan speed while at idle right? I'm not going to be using all 12 cores at 100% all the time.

I know some other users have tried Speedfan on repurposed workstations ans servers and it didn't work for some reason. However is possible the fans are temp controlled, I may be wrong, so in theory it may be quieter when idling. Still the pitch of the fans is still going to be brutal. There is literally no sound deadening, and the fans are still tiny. I wholeheartedly do not agree with Slummy's post.

 

[Slumy__57]

Yeah, I have no idea about controlling fan speeds through software, but from my experience, most Poweredge servers will regulate fan speed based on temperature. Though in general, I don't find Poweredge servers to be on the loud side. If you want to hear loud server equipment, take a listen to some Dell Compellent storage controllers when they're overheating, now those are some seriously loud machines. Overall, if you are okay with some volume while you are using it (at all, not just when heavily using it), then you should be fine.

 

[wertciu]

Yeah, I have no idea about controlling fan speeds through software, but from my experience, most Poweredge servers will regulate fan speed based on temperature. Though in general, I don't find Poweredge servers to be on the loud side. If you want to hear loud server equipment, take a listen to some Dell Compellent storage controllers when they're overheating, now those are some seriously loud machines. Overall, if you are okay with some volume while you are using it (at all, not just when heavily using it), then you should be fine.

Actually, I just looked up how loud the R710 was on youtube, and compared to most poweredge servers, the r710 is actually fairly quiet! Poweredge noise levels compared to 2950. And yes, the fan speeds do auto adjust to the load.
I think that it will be fine, especially if I put it in my closet.
Thanks again!