Supermicro M12SWA-TF compatibility, cooler and PSU.

[caroline!]

Looking to upgrade my PC, clearly AM4 is dead for my use case as there's no way to get enough PCIe slots for all the cards I have to install. So my plan is to SELL my current mobo+CPU and cooler and go for something beefier. I don't even game so it's not like I'm looking to get higher framerates or FPS, I'll be building a workstation for intensive GPU computing loads with multiple cards, and also a ton of storage so I'll add two more SATA cards I already have.

The board I'm planning to get is, as the title states, a Supermicro, however I have some doubts about the power supply it requires.
It needs 2 additional 8-pin connectors even if the cards already have their own auxiliary power apparently.

To provide adequate power supply to the motherboard, be sure to connect the 24-pin ATX PWR and the 8-pin PWR connectors (JPW2, JPW3 and JPW4) to the power supply. Failure to do so may void the manufacturer warranty on your power supply and motherboard.

I've seen a board like that once but it only required one additional connector near the expansion slots.

For installing multiple GPU cards, it is required to connect the 8-pin connectors (JPW2, JPW3 and JPW4) to the power supply. Please refer to the tables below.

And there's a table with different card configurations. The one I'm interested in requires all of the connectors to be plugged in.

What kind of PSU does this thing need? Mine won't be enough that's for sure, it's only 700W.

The mobo alone will take two cables, and each card needs 8+6 pins, and I'll use 4 cards. That's 4 more cables for a total of 6, I'm counting only 4 because I can use the pigtails on each one, cards use less than 200W each.
Would 1200W be enough for all of that? is there any PSU that comes with all the cables I need?

Before the idea comes up, no, I can't build two smaller computers and do distributed computing. And for the storage it has to be local because my network sucks, technically 10Mbps top but with the wiring I have... even though I'm using spinning drives it's just not possible.

-------

One more thing. The CPU. I browsed NewEgg and Amazon for the 5945WX but it's simply not there unless in prebuilts, is that a prebuilt chip only? There's the 5955WX but it has more cores and I kinda don't need those, not to mention it's also more expensive.

The Dark Rock Pro 4 I have won't fit the sWRX8/SP3 socket, so I'll need a new one, I don't want an AIO (unreliable in the long term) or custom loop (that's really out of the budget) so it's got to be air. What would work for this? I'll probably replace the stock fans for a pair of Delta anyway.

-------

For the SATA cards I'll have to use riser ribbons because the GPUs get in the way. Or maybe I'll get a pair of m.2 to SATA adapters, yeah that's probably better. You can imagine the mess of cables inside, but I put performance over looks so nps, 12 drives and 3 ODDs, the case can easily take more drives but I'd have to sacrifice the graphics cards.

There are higher end boards out there but they're over a grand each, and that's simply too much. Budget is $2000 for everything because I won't have to make a trip myself this time, plane tickets are expensive you know. Of course the less I spend the better.

-------

TL;DR , I need a PSU and a cooler.

 

[Helper]

What on purgatory are you doing with 3 ODDs?

This PC sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, spinning drives and these specs? Cold or hot data... ugh.

If you're really buying this stuff though, you need a good cooler. An air cooler will barely cope with the CPUs you're speaking of. Maybe something like an Eisbaer Extreme, that would be workhorse of an AIO. It uses a D5 so the pump is not likely to die on you out of the blue... and get a big boy PSU. Depending on your region, PSUs vary in price a lot so I can't make a straight recommendation there when it comes to 1000W plus.

 

[Avlin]

What you need is a proper corsair hx1500i

for the cooler an Artic Freezer 4U SP3

 

[caroline!]

What on purgatory are you doing with 3 ODDs?

I work with DVDs a lot, reading and burning all kinds of videos. Sometimes I have to burn multiple discs at once so a single drive isn't enough, there's 3 bays in my case, and I have 3 drives so I might as well use them.
They're still a reliable form of easily storing and sharing data when you learn the average internet connection speed is barely over 2 Mbps.

This PC sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, spinning drives and these specs? Cold or hot data... ugh.

Wait until you know it'll be hooked to a CRT screen, LOL.
Not sure why but both hot and some cold backups, having multiple small disks was cheaper for me than getting few 4/8TB models. Lots of servers still use HDDs, and I don't really need crazy fast speeds except in the OS drive that'll be an SSD.

If you're really buying this stuff though, you need a good cooler. An air cooler will barely cope with the CPUs you're speaking of.

an Artic Freezer 4U SP3

How come something so small and relatively cheap claims to have a 300W cooling potential? Are there any benchmarks of this cooler? I won't max out the CPU at all as the load will burden the graphics cards instead.

 

[mplayerMuPDF]

Looking to upgrade my PC, clearly AM4 is dead for my use case as there's no way to get enough PCIe slots for all the cards I have to install. So my plan is to SELL my current mobo+CPU and cooler and go for something beefier. I don't even game so it's not like I'm looking to get higher framerates or FPS, I'll be building a workstation for intensive GPU computing loads with multiple cards, and also a ton of storage so I'll add two more SATA cards I already have.

The board I'm planning to get is, as the title states, a Supermicro, however I have some doubts about the power supply it requires.
It needs 2 additional 8-pin connectors even if the cards already have their own auxiliary power apparently.

I've seen a board like that once but it only required one additional connector near the expansion slots.

And there's a table with different card configurations. The one I'm interested in requires all of the connectors to be plugged in.

What kind of PSU does this thing need? Mine won't be enough that's for sure, it's only 700W.

The mobo alone will take two cables, and each card needs 8+6 pins, and I'll use 4 cards. That's 4 more cables for a total of 6, I'm counting only 4 because I can use the pigtails on each one, cards use less than 200W each.
Would 1200W be enough for all of that? is there any PSU that comes with all the cables I need?

Before the idea comes up, no, I can't build two smaller computers and do distributed computing. And for the storage it has to be local because my network sucks, technically 10Mbps top but with the wiring I have... even though I'm using spinning drives it's just not possible.

-------

One more thing. The CPU. I browsed NewEgg and Amazon for the 5945WX but it's simply not there unless in prebuilts, is that a prebuilt chip only? There's the 5955WX but it has more cores and I kinda don't need those, not to mention it's also more expensive.

The Dark Rock Pro 4 I have won't fit the sWRX8/SP3 socket, so I'll need a new one, I don't want an AIO (unreliable in the long term) or custom loop (that's really out of the budget) so it's got to be air. What would work for this? I'll probably replace the stock fans for a pair of Delta anyway.

-------

For the SATA cards I'll have to use riser ribbons because the GPUs get in the way. Or maybe I'll get a pair of m.2 to SATA adapters, yeah that's probably better. You can imagine the mess of cables inside, but I put performance over looks so nps, 12 drives and 3 ODDs, the case can easily take more drives but I'd have to sacrifice the graphics cards.

There are higher end boards out there but they're over a grand each, and that's simply too much. Budget is $2000 for everything because I won't have to make a trip myself this time, plane tickets are expensive you know. Of course the less I spend the better.

-------

TL;DR , I need a PSU and a cooler.

Have you considered just buying a couple years old server or workstation and using that as a base for your build? That would eliminate any worries about the PSU and it may even be cheaper in your region than sourcing all those parts from the US. You could also consider putting the ODDs in another case but still connecting them to the motherboard and PSU in the first case or just having the ODDs in another desktop (other specs don't matter; right next to your main system) and connecting that directly with an ethernet cable to your main system (you can transfer the data with scp or rsync; no router required). Another option would be getting external USB 3.0 5.25" ODD enclosures such as the OWC Mercury Pro for at least 2 of your ODDs in case you can only fit 1 ODD in your system (either due to case or motherboard/SATA port limitations). There are a lot of plans you can come up with but you may have to get a bit creative.

 

[Toothless]

Could probably go with a little older dual socket Xeon, like the V4 Broadwell line. Tons of PCI, memory bandwidth, and sometimes very cost effective.

 

[caroline!]

Have you considered just buying a couple years old server or workstation and using that as a base for your build? That would eliminate any worries about the PSU and it may even be cheaper in your region than sourcing all those parts from the US. You could also consider putting the ODDs in another case but still connecting them to the motherboard and PSU in the first case or just having the ODDs in another desktop (other specs don't matter; right next to your main system) and connecting that directly with an ethernet cable to your main system (you can transfer the data with scp or rsync; no router required). Another option would be getting external USB 3.0 5.25" ODD enclosures such as the OWC Mercury Pro for at least 2 of your ODDs in case you can only fit 1 ODD in your system (either due to case or motherboard/SATA port limitations). There are a lot of plans you can come up with but you may have to get a bit creative.

I doubt you can ship whole workstations over air mail or carrying them as luggage though. Trust me when I say it's not cheaper, I couldn't even find those parts where I live, let alone import them.
A friend from the US is coming over for the xmas holidays and he can bring me the parts I just have to wire him the money next week.

I already have a big full tower case, a Corsair 760T I bought used not so long ago, and the DVD drives are in my computer right now, so that won't really be a problem, the m.2 adapters will be used for them and also hard drives because the mobo only has 4 ports, I wish it had more but manufacturers go with the trends. The rsync idea is interesting, I might use it for something else.

Could probably go with a little older dual socket Xeon, like the V4 Broadwell line. Tons of PCI, memory bandwidth, and sometimes very cost effective.

Lots of PCIe slots too? but it's 2 chips, that means 2 coolers. And the boards tend to have weird I/O placements AFAIK, not compatible with ATX cases.

 

[mplayerMuPDF]

I work with DVDs a lot, reading and burning all kinds of videos. Sometimes I have to burn multiple discs at once so a single drive isn't enough, there's 3 bays in my case, and I have 3 drives so I might as well use them.
They're still a reliable form of easily storing and sharing data when you learn the average internet connection speed is barely over 2 Mbps.

What discs/MIDs do you use and are available in your location?

Wait until you know it'll be hooked to a CRT screen, LOL.

You really cannot find even a cheap old 19" 1280x1024 or 1680x1050 LCD monitor where you live?

I doubt you can ship whole workstations over air mail or carrying them as luggage though. Trust me when I say it's not cheaper, I couldn't even find those parts where I live, let alone import them.
A friend from the US is coming over for the xmas holidays and he can bring me the parts I just have to wire him the money next week.

I mean, honestly I cannot imagine carrying an expensive ATX motherboard (especially workstation/server/HEDT class, which I imagine may arouse suspicion with some country's customs), PSU and additional parts as luggage on a plane but that's just me.

 

[Toothless]

I doubt you can ship whole workstations over air mail or carrying them as luggage though. Trust me when I say it's not cheaper, I couldn't even find those parts where I live, let alone import them.
A friend from the US is coming over for the xmas holidays and he can bring me the parts I just have to wire him the money next week.

I already have a big full tower case, a Corsair 760T I bought used not so long ago, and the DVD drives are in my computer right now, so that won't really be a problem, the m.2 adapters will be used for them and also hard drives because the mobo only has 4 ports, I wish it had more but manufacturers go with the trends. The rsync idea is interesting, I might use it for something else.


Lots of PCIe slots too? but it's 2 chips, that means 2 coolers. And the boards tend to have weird I/O placements AFAIK, not compatible with ATX cases.

My dual 2698v4 is ATX.

Yeah, blurry pic I know. It's standard ATX and can be stuck in any normal case. Only thing is the two EPS power needed and that's it.

X10DAL-i | Motherboards | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.

X10D, X10DA, X10DAL, X10DAL-i

www.supermicro.com

 

[Avlin]

for the cooler Artic Freezer SP3 check online reviews

 

[caroline!]

for the cooler Artic Freezer SP3 check online reviews

I really liked that motherboard but my wallet says no.

The cooler is def bigger than I thought, it's also cheap so that's a pro, and unpainted which is another pro at least for me.
What worries me are the fans, I hope they can be replaced with something else and normal retention clips if something fails, I'd love a pair of Delta thicc bois in there.

My dual 2698v4 is ATX.

Yeah, blurry pic I know. It's standard ATX and can be stuck in any normal case. Only thing is the two EPS power needed and that's it.

X10DAL-i | Motherboards | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.

X10D, X10DA, X10DAL, X10DAL-i

www.supermicro.com

Sick rig man I love it

 

[Toothless]

I really liked that motherboard but my wallet says no.

The cooler is def bigger than I thought, it's also cheap so that's a pro, and unpainted which is another pro at least for me.
What worries me are the fans, I hope they can be replaced with something else and normal retention clips if something fails, I'd love a pair of Delta thicc bois in there.

Sick rig man I love it

Cooler comes with extra normal clips for normal fans. The slim is nice though.

You can typically do single socket if needed. 2698v4 chips have 40 PCI lanes per chip and I ran it on a normal Gigabyte X99 board. Sure the clock speed isn't a lot but its 20 cores per chip so it'll feed GPUs all day. DDR4 2400mhz is pretty cheap to find too.

GA-X99-UD4P I believe is what I used, and did 128GB just fine too.

 

[caroline!]

Cooler comes with extra normal clips for normal fans. The slim is nice though.

You can typically do single socket if needed. 2698v4 chips have 40 PCI lanes per chip and I ran it on a normal Gigabyte X99 board. Sure the clock speed isn't a lot but its 20 cores per chip so it'll feed GPUs all day. DDR4 2400mhz is pretty cheap to find too.

GA-X99-UD4P I believe is what I used, and did 128GB just fine too.

That's order of magnitudes cheaper. But it's ebay and I have no idea how that works since I'm not from the US, it says the seller is in Texas, can he ship anywhere or do you have to live in Texas? It'd have to be shipped to Montana.

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SUPERMICRO X10DRL-I INTEL C612 CHIPSET DUAL XEON LGA2011-3 DDR4 ATX MOTHERBOARD | eBay

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The Supermicro C612 board is nice too but it comes with closed X4 slots and all my cards are X16 and the guy is in Canada.

 

[Toothless]

I'd look out for a x99 Asus or MSI, and see if there are a good amount of slots on them. Also a 6900knis an 8 core that sits around Ryzen 1800x level.

Anything socket 2011-3 you'll be going backwards on single thread but if you're looking for lanes on a budget with a possibility of many cores, this would be it.

 

[caroline!]

I'd look out for a x99 Asus or MSI, and see if there are a good amount of slots on them. Also a 6900knis an 8 core that sits around Ryzen 1800x level.

Anything socket 2011-3 you'll be going backwards on single thread but if you're looking for lanes on a budget with a possibility of many cores, this would be it.

Thanks.
I've looked for X99 but they all come with 4 slots max and some with a single additional X1 slot

The Supermicro X10DRG-Q is perfect but the form factor is proprietary so f.... me. It has a lot of SATA ports, properly spaced X16 slots. The X10DAL-I is fine too but needs ECC memory. Then there's the weird dual socket X99s but they're all from China and take 1+ month to ship to the US.

Between all those I'd go for the X10DAL-I, the double Xeons and throw in some memory.
Memory: https://www.ebay.com/itm/225257430357

Since you're using one, can ALL of the SATA ports be used at the same time or do I need to setup RAID for some? Asking because some are orange while others white and it looks like you've put the cables all in different port groups like the first two are together but the rest are spaced.

Also would these risers work? https://www.ebay.com/itm/264804533328

The good thing is that I can get 2011-3 coolers locally and cheap so at least that won't be a problem.

 

[Bones]

That's order of magnitudes cheaper. But it's ebay and I have no idea how that works since I'm not from the US, it says the seller is in Texas, can he ship anywhere or do you have to live in Texas? It'd have to be shipped to Montana.

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SUPERMICRO X10DRL-I INTEL C612 CHIPSET DUAL XEON LGA2011-3 DDR4 ATX MOTHERBOARD | eBay

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The Supermicro C612 board is nice too but it comes with closed X4 slots and all my cards are X16 and the guy is in Canada.

Usually if you check the terms of shipping it will say where it would ship to and where it would not as this screenie shows.



If shipping internationally and your country is listed then you're probrably OK, but it's still a good ideal to ask the seller about that before buying, including any additional costs of shipping it to where you are.
Also note what is stated as price of shipping may also be impacted by the usual crap about customs and so on.

I will say though if they are serious about selling they'll work with you on it - Can't hurt to ask and see what they have to say about it.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

It sounds like what you need is something like a dell poweredge tower. Server in ATX form factor.

 

[Toothless]

Thanks.
I've looked for X99 but they all come with 4 slots max and some with a single additional X1 slot

The Supermicro X10DRG-Q is perfect but the form factor is proprietary so f.... me. It has a lot of SATA ports, properly spaced X16 slots. The X10DAL-I is fine too but needs ECC memory. Then there's the weird dual socket X99s but they're all from China and take 1+ month to ship to the US.

Between all those I'd go for the X10DAL-I, the double Xeons and throw in some memory.
Memory: https://www.ebay.com/itm/225257430357

Since you're using one, can ALL of the SATA ports be used at the same time or do I need to setup RAID for some? Asking because some are orange while others white and it looks like you've put the cables all in different port groups like the first two are together but the rest are spaced.

Also would these risers work? https://www.ebay.com/itm/264804533328

The good thing is that I can get 2011-3 coolers locally and cheap so at least that won't be a problem.

I'm using four or five of the slots perfectly fine, no raid stuff needed. I spaced since those are locking SATA cables and I got fat fingers.

How many PCIx16 are you needing?

 

[shovenose]

It sounds like what you need is something like a dell poweredge tower. Server in ATX form factor.

This, plus used workstations are a decent value compared to buying a proper server grade motherboard and big enough power supply yourself.

 

[Toothless]

This, plus used workstations are a decent value compared to buying a proper server grade motherboard and big enough power supply yourself.

It depends if you value being able to use your own parts that are usually universal compared to OEM.

 

[mplayerMuPDF]

It depends if you value being able to use your own parts that are usually universal compared to OEM.

I agree but with OP's budget they would be able to buy a quite new workstation/server and then it is less of a problem, in my opinion.

 

[Toothless]

I agree but with OP's budget they would be able to buy a quite new workstation/server and then it is less of a problem, in my opinion.

But will that workstation PSU or power board have enough connectors for their GPU needs? That's one big thing with those workstations is lack of certain things normal consumer things have.

Like I'm doing four GPUs on my open bench for BOINC and have four 8-pin and two 8+8 (okay it's 6+2 but who cares) for GPUs. I know that not all Dell workstations will have that many connectors.

 

[caroline!]

Usually if you check the terms of shipping it will say where it would ship to and where it would not as this screenie shows.

View attachment 273600

If shipping internationally and your country is listed then you're probrably OK, but it's still a good ideal to ask the seller about that before buying, including any additional costs of shipping it to where you are.
Also note what is stated as price of shipping may also be impacted by the usual crap about customs and so on.

I will say though if they are serious about selling they'll work with you on it - Can't hurt to ask and see what they have to say about it.

My country is never listed on any sites, you know sanctions and stuff, the US doesn't like commies, I don't either but you know how it is. Also import taxes are so ridiculous even if you can get something in here it'd cost you 3x the original price, it's never worth.

I'm using four or five of the slots perfectly fine, no raid stuff needed. I spaced since those are locking SATA cables and I got fat fingers.

How many PCIx16 are you needing?

Exactly 4 slots. The DRG-Q has them, and the spacing, but it won't fit in any normal full tower case.

But will that workstation PSU or power board have enough connectors for their GPU needs? That's one big thing with those workstations is lack of certain things normal consumer things have.

Like I'm doing four GPUs on my open bench for BOINC and have four 8-pin and two 8+8 (okay it's 6+2 but who cares) for GPUs. I know that not all Dell workstations will have that many connectors.

I don't consider prebuilt workstations because of proprietary form factors, power supplies and weird cooling.
What are you using to handle 4 GPUs?

 

[Toothless]

My country is never listed on any sites, you know sanctions and stuff, the US doesn't like commies, I don't either but you know how it is. Also import taxes are so ridiculous even if you can get something in here it'd cost you 3x the original price, it's never worth.


Exactly 4 slots. The DRG-Q has them, and the spacing, but it won't fit in any normal full tower case.

I don't consider prebuilt workstations because of proprietary form factors, power supplies and weird cooling.
What are you using to handle 4 GPUs?

Some EVGA 1300w on a X79 Classified.

 

[caroline!]

Ok, this is the end. After hours of browsing listings and reading specsheets I'll be going with the og plan of the M12, found an used unlocked threadripper 3945 for half the price of a new 5955.

The M12 board is more flexible in terms of memory as it supports "normal" 2400MHz sticks that aren't a pain in the a.... to find and I already have on my computer, has the right amount of full-length slots and no weird form factor. Plus the Dark Power Pro 12 1500 PSU (not much of a difference in price with the Corsair unit), and the Freezer cooler which I can source locally, I'll most likely undervolt and underclock the CPU anyway.