Please help with crazy build. C612 + dual Xeon e5-26XX v4 + nonECC memory

[Konstantin357]

Please help with compatibility question on this strange build.
First of all, I really want to build something crazy, just because. So reasons why I chose this hardware:

- it is compatible with win 7/8 (quite important, I want to be able to run older games)

- used CPUs of this generation are relatively cheap and quite powerful

- I can buy one CPU and other later (not a big deal but still nice option)

So my idea is to buy some big dual socket motherboard with C612 chipset, like those:
https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=EP2C612 WS#Specifications
https://www.gigabyte.com/Server-Motherboard/MW70-3S0-rev-10#sp
Then take one low core count CPU for single thread performance and one with higher core count, more or less like those:
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/92983/intel-xeon-processor-e5-2637-v4-15m-cache-3-50-ghz.html
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/91767/intel-xeon-processor-e5-2650-v4-30m-cache-2-20-ghz.html
And there are few concernes.
Is there anything that I already got wrong? Like compatibility or usability issues.

And other one is RAM. Yes, I can read specs and see that those motherboards support only ECC RAM. But is there anyone who actually tried to put regular DDR4 into one? It really did not work, or manufacturers are just pushing us to buy cooler and more expensive RAM? I will be happy for sure to buy and use cheaper plain DDR4.
Will be grateful for any feedback.
And I am not in hurry, only planing for now. Just want to know in advance if my idea is viable or I missed something important and really should just grab i7-6900K (and use 00 part as representation of how many 69's a had).

[NunoLava1998]

Pretty sure you have to pair the exact same CPU, so a E5-2637 V4 with a E5-2637 V4 or a E5-2650 V4 with a E5-2650 V4

[Electronics Wizardy]

4 minutes ago, Konstantin357 said:

Then take one low core count CPU for single thread performance and one with higher core count, more or less like those:

You can't mix cpus

 

4 minutes ago, Konstantin357 said:

And other one is RAM. Yes, I can read specs and see that those motherboards support only ECC RAM. But is there anyone who actually tried to put regular DDR4 into one? It really did not work, or manufacturers are just pushing us to buy cooler and more expensive RAM? I will be happy for sure to buy and use cheaper plain DDR4.

might as well run resisted, its not much more expensive. but it will often work with non ecc unbuffered ddr4.

 

 

Id just get a single threadripper, should be faster than these cpus and about the same cost, and none of the dual socket issues.

 

7 minutes ago, Konstantin357 said:

it is compatible with win 7/8 (quite important, I want to be able to run older games)

Why not run a vm with a gpu for win 7 and 8 use? You can run win 7 vms on new hardware just fine and will get almost native performance.

[NunoLava1998]

With the EP2C612 WS ASRock you linked, with only one CPU you'll miss out on 4 RAM slots, and PCIe slots 1, 3 and 4.

The GigaByte one has a stupdenously complicated manual for what features each CPU provides.

[jj9987]

4 minutes ago, NunoLava1998 said:

Pretty sure you have to pair the exact same CPU, so a E5-2637 V4 with a E5-2637 V4 or a E5-2650 V4 with a E5-2650 V4

Correct. Must have identical CPUs on the board.

 

For Windows 7, you would need Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise to have support for two physical processors.

For Windows 8, Pro supports a maximum of 2 physical CPUs and the standard version of Windows 8 just one.
You will need to look into driver support as well though for the motherboards.

 

Or just go Threadripper. Or Ryzen. Or Intel. For gaming, these Xeons are not the best, but they are okay. Depends how much performance you want/need.

[Konstantin357]

Actually first candidate was this ASUS, just could not enter their site at a moment.
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z10PED16_WS/overview/
Pro versions of Windows are not a problem.

I knew that Xeons are not best for gaming, but also intended to use this PC as workstation and for some virtualization, so more or less optimal use case.
Tried VM for games, some worked perfectly, some were real pain. So will prefer hardware support.

Sure Threadripper is good and all, and I am not full time Intel fanboy... But Intel is just my comfort zone, so AMD is not an option.
But identical CPUs kind of kill the idea. Maybe will think about some middle ground one, like
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/92979/intel-xeon-processor-e5-2667-v4-25m-cache-3-20-ghz.html

Or will just build regular desktop. Not as cool, but at least not as complicated.

Thanks for answers, really helped.

[Electronics Wizardy]

21 minutes ago, Konstantin357 said:

Actually first candidate was this ASUS, just could not enter their site at a moment.
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/Z10PED16_WS/overview/
Pro versions of Windows are not a problem.

I knew that Xeons are not best for gaming, but also intended to use this PC as workstation and for some virtualization, so more or less optimal use case.
Tried VM for games, some worked perfectly, some were real pain. So will prefer hardware support.

Sure Threadripper is good and all, and I am not full time Intel fanboy... But Intel is just my comfort zone, so AMD is not an option.
But identical CPUs kind of kill the idea. Maybe will think about some middle ground one, like
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/92979/intel-xeon-processor-e5-2667-v4-25m-cache-3-20-ghz.html

Or will just build regular desktop. Not as cool, but at least not as complicated.

Thanks for answers, really helped.

how cheap are you getting those cpus for? Something like a 2700x or a 9900k will be faster for most uses and probalby cheaper.

 

How is intel your comfort zone? they really work the same and you won't notice the difference.

 

What are you doing in vms, they normally don't need much cpu power.

 

What issue did you have with vms? Did you do passthrough? what hypervisor?

 

Id really suggest running the host on win10 or some other modern os, not win 7 or win 8 as there getting older and missing on many new features and security.

[Konstantin357]

There are used E5 2667 v4 on aliexpress.com for 260 USD, or even for 150 on ebay.com. How trustworthy it is is topic for another research, but there are options to look into.
About Intel... It is really not something rational. Just want my main PC to be Intel. (not main - no problem, recommendation for others - no problem, my own main PC - I am picky )
On VMs... right now not much. But plan to use as highly specialized workspace if I need to.

I used VMWare Workstation/Player. I know about KVM and other stuff, just not sure if I want to go so deep.

And also I have no problems having 10 and 8 installed on different drives and switching between them when I need to, just want to have this option.

And I fully understand that what I am planing is not optimal considering the price. I just want to get THE WIN 7/8 MACHINE, that will for some time be my main PC, and later will be just that, while I will move on to something other.

[Electronics Wizardy]

39 minutes ago, Konstantin357 said:

There are used E5 2667 v4 on aliexpress.com for 260 USD, or even for 150 on ebay.com. How trustworthy it is is topic for another research, but there are options to look into.

those are normally es cpus, so they often have features missing compared to retail chips. At that price id peprsonally just get a threadripper.

 

39 minutes ago, Konstantin357 said:

About Intel... It is really not something rational. Just want my main PC to be Intel. (not main - no problem, recommendation for others - no problem, my own main PC - I am picky )

Really, you won't notice a difference, forget the brand, just get what works best.

 

39 minutes ago, Konstantin357 said:

used VMWare Workstation/Player. I know about KVM and other stuff, just not sure if I want to go so deep.

Id use hyper-v on windows, its the most supported on windows.

 

40 minutes ago, Konstantin357 said:

I just want to get THE WIN 7/8 MACHINE, that will for some time be my main PC,

You can do this on threadripper/x299 if you really want, but really not much runs on 7 but not 10, and in that case, just use a vm with gpu passthrough.

 

 

[Konstantin357]

19 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

those are normally es cpus

The more you know... And I wondered why it looks to good to be true. Guess it answers.

Looks like original idea just is not viable after all.

20 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Really, you won't notice a difference, forget the brand, just get what works best.

Guess I would say same thing if someone asks me, but for me having some particular hardware if just part of fun.

Now need to try hyper-v and see how it will work for me.

Probably will go with 6900K or 9900K, depending on how much I will want to overspend or tinker.

Thanks, that was really helpful.