Dual E5-2687W Workstation Build / CPU Benchmarks

[niko084]

So after a little debate this system has been built!

I'll be posting some pictures, information and benchmark results.

2x Corsair H90 (push/pull configuration)
2x Intel E5-2687W 3.1ghz / 8 core Xeon
Asus Z9PE-D8 WS
32GB DDR3
2TB WD Black
64GB Sandisk SSD (SSD Cache)
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
NZXT Switch 810
Asus GTX650 (needed support for dual 2560x1600)

***
I must say the case is a delight to work with, it feels a little cheap here and there but they did a good job. The H90s wouldn't mount perfectly but I easily managed to pinch the top panel of the case between the fan and radiator. I decided to do a push/pull as this system will be utilized, 100% cpu usage across all cores for 30+ days at a time and was previously warned that the VRM's may overheat. So, the fans are intake setup to blow directly across the VRM heatsinks and the rear fan does a fine job at expelling the warm air. Under prime95 fully heat soaked, no core hit 60c.

The extra 140mm fans used were the Arctic Cooling F14-PWM, I have the F12's on my coolit currently and really like how quiet they are and pretty good at least in a push/pull configuration.

I could not get the cpu's to hold 3.5ghz all cores active, however they do hold 3.1ghz perfectly well.

Pretty snappy machine!

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Cant wait to see it.

 

[Sinzia]

Ooooooh, I'm a sucker for 2P/4P builds.

 

[Aquinus]

What kind of work are you planning on doing on that rig?

 

[niko084]

What kind of work are you planning on doing on that rig?

It will be used to run Ansys Fluent.

At some point I will be setting up a Linux cluster for it.


***
Now I need a job in the HPC field, this stuff is fun!

 

[niko084]

Added pics!

 

[Maban]

What was the reasoning behind getting the ASUS Z9PE-D8 WS? There are cheaper/smaller/more DIMMs/SAS/blahblahblah dual 2011 options out there.

 

[niko084]

Me and Asus have a long history of working together, I've had incredibly low failure rates with Asus boards over the last 15+ years. It's a solid board with solid windows 7 drivers, supports SSD caching, there maybe a need to add Tesla or Phi cards at a later time.

Mainly because Asus is my go to company when I need something I really need to trust to maintain it's stability. Not to say others (SuperMicro perhaps?) are not great boards, they often have worse support (if any) for desktop OS (more mainstream for servers) and not quite as many features.

PS: my gf thinks your puppy avatar is *cute*.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Me and Asus have a long history of working together, I've had incredibly low failure rates with Asus boards over the last 15+ years. It's a solid board with solid windows 7 drivers, supports SSD caching, there maybe a need to add Tesla or Phi cards at a later time.

Mainly because Asus is my go to company when I need something I really need to trust to maintain it's stability. Not to say others (SuperMicro perhaps?) are not great boards, they often have worse support (if any) for desktop OS (more mainstream for servers) and not quite as many features.

PS: my gf thinks your puppy avatar is *cute*.

I have to agree, I have had some awesome Asus boards, 560fsb capable P5b-dlx for one. I have never had a bad Asus board, so guess what my next board brand will be?

 

[Maban]

Me and Asus have a long history of working together, I've had incredibly low failure rates with Asus boards over the last 15+ years. It's a solid board with solid windows 7 drivers, supports SSD caching, there maybe a need to add Tesla or Phi cards at a later time.

Mainly because Asus is my go to company when I need something I really need to trust to maintain it's stability. Not to say others (SuperMicro perhaps?) are not great boards, they often have worse support (if any) for desktop OS (more mainstream for servers) and not quite as many features.

PS: my gf thinks your puppy avatar is *cute*.

Computer Hardware, Motherboards, Server Motherboa...

There are three other dual 2011 ASUS options on Newegg. All of them are significantly cheaper than the Z9PE-D8 WS.

 

[niko084]

Computer Hardware, Motherboards, Server Motherboa...

There are three other dual 2011 ASUS options on Newegg. All of them are significantly cheaper than the Z9PE-D8 WS.

Sub-par chipset/vrm cooling, not workstation oriented, lacking features. (SSD cache, SLI, PHI compatability *uncertain if this is an issue but the WS claims it*, various other things)

Those boards are primarily light duty server oriented, servers do not run such high cpu loads for extended periods of time (generally). Those would be great options for other purposes I feel.

There is a big difference is building a fast system for general use and building a fast system that will be a working horse, if one lockup occurs you could be starting the project over, that can lead to in excess of 30 days lost time, devastating to a business (can cost an entire project).

No chances over a few hundred bucks (why it has a WD Black as well)

 

[Aquinus]

If you're looking at HPC and you're a programmer, I recommend giving Clojure a look. It's a functional language based with emphasis on immutable data and concurrency. I've been learning it myself and I highly recommend giving it a look.

 

[radrok]

The more I look at the 2P Intel LGA 2011 platform the more I rage at Intel.

An SR-2 with a couple of X568x LGA 1366 CPUs overclocked to 4,4-4,5 GHz could easily reach the same performance, atleast in Cinebench r11.5.

Imagine if those new 8core Xeons were overclockable

 

[niko084]

Imagine if those new 8core Xeons were overclockable

If they were... That system would have been built a long time ago!

I completely relate, however also understand to a minor extent.