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Starting a Xeon Budget Build! Need help!

zeiler
By zeiler
in New Builds and Planning
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Hey guys,

in relation to Linus' new video where he speaks of a budget gamer rig using old Intel Xeon's with FSB, I thought I'd take a look at how the prices are here in the UK.

 

A few hours later and I've ordered 2x X5450's at a total of £24. Now that is a steal!

 

Now, my next problem is the motherboard. I'd really prefer to have something that fits in an ATX form factor, but I'm consistently finding that those are more expensive (fewer on the market) and they rarely support the 54xx series, only supporting 51xx, 52xx, 53xx.

 

Getting an eATX server board is ofcourse an option, but how on earth am I going to mount that anywhere? Are there any not-obnoxiously sized cases supporting eATX out there? I am really looking for the system to be as compact as the whole thing will allow.

 

I found some boards that were running SSI CEB, which is identical to ATX in size, but again - those boards were quite expensive.

 

Any ideas for cheap, usable ATX/CEB boards?

Any ideas for a case that supports / can be modded to support eATX boards without being too big?

 

Thanks!

 

// Zeiler

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I'm not good with computers that much. Are the server motherboard mounting spots the same as an eatx?

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Just my thought, but instead of mounting with screws, is it possible to "vice" the motherboard to the case itself?

 

By "vice" i mean clamping it down and gluing the clamp onto the case. Then just getting a appropriately sized case shall do the trick.

 

A clip would be suitable for this. A large paper holder, similar to this (https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=paper+holder+clip&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9vrLo_7zJAhVJHY4KHfe9D7QQ_AUIBygB&biw=956&bih=957#imgrc=MlD9DzTy-isAhM%3A) but significantly bigger and having insulation between them in the form of maybe rubber.

 

Then on the bottom of the board use rubber as a post as a standoff.

 

xD Just my crazy ghetto idea. I find drilling holes in particle boards to be extremely inelegant.

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I'm not good with computers that much. Are the server motherboard mounting spots the same as an eatx?

Very few do. The motherboard are usually designed for 1U or 2U chassis and have got custom mounting holes.

See my blog for amusing encounters from IT workplace: http://linustechtips.com/main/blog/585-life-of-a-techie/

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I don't know how to quote someone but okay. Make a custom motherboard tray from wood or something with the server board screwed in. Then put the board with your super awesome custom wooden motherboard tray into a case that fits. Eh I'm not smart but I like using zip ties, duct tape, hot glue and whatever stupid thing I can find (lol) to do everything basically.

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I don't know how to quote someone but okay. Make a custom motherboard tray from wood or something with the server board screwed in. Then put the board with your super awesome custom wooden motherboard tray into a case that fits. Eh I'm not smart but I like using zip ties, duct tape, hot glue and whatever stupid thing I can find (lol) to do everything basically.

 

This sounds pretty legit, but also like a lot of work lol. And I mean, the case would have to be huge to accomodate a big piece of wood haha.

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You got those cpus for a steal!

Looking for dual 771 motherboards in an ATX form factor these days is becoming a lot harder at the right price (some can be over $300 USD!) - so it might be worth getting an eATX board instead. And as you pointed out how eATX is quite a bit larger (you'd not be able to turn another case into one that'd fit an eATX without loosing places to mount hdds etc due to the length of the board) - you can find eAtx cases - often full tower cases are able to hold eATX (but yes they are quite large cases); or you could as others have suggested, make a case or something out of plywood, mdf, plexiglass etc... 

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Honestly think I may have found the perfect board for this build:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Supermicro-X7DCL-3-Motherboard-Supports-Intel-Xeon-64Bit-CPU-P-N-MBD-X7DCL-3-B-/201269199299?hash=item2edc9441c3:g:cCcAAOSwk5FUvqux

 

Only small concern is the fact that it's a PCI-E 1.0 x8 port, but for my GTX 770 that should be fine.

 

Argh, shoot! If you look closely at the board you can see that the 24pin power connector is positioned where the GPU would be sticking out. The board itself is only 10" that way, and my GTX 770 is 10.2" long which means it would be hitting the 24pin connector. I wonder if I would be able to jam it in anyway...

$_57.JPG

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Honestly think I may have found the perfect board for this build:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Supermicro-X7DCL-3-Motherboard-Supports-Intel-Xeon-64Bit-CPU-P-N-MBD-X7DCL-3-B-/201269199299?hash=item2edc9441c3:g:cCcAAOSwk5FUvqux

 

Only small concern is the fact that it's a PCI-E 1.0 x8 port, but for my GTX 770 that should be fine.

Looking at the board, it is DDR2 and only has SATA2 so if you were looking at an SSD that'd slow it quite a bit. In regards to the GPU- it wouldn't actually fit into the x8 connector!

About the GPU hitting the 24pin connector - it won't even fit into the board as I said haha - I should've looked more closely at the ports :S

Edited by comicalsans
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Looking at the board, it is DDR2 and only has SATA2 so if you were looking at an SSD that'd slow it quite a bit. Otherwise that's not all too bad. In regards to the GPU- it wouldn't actually fit into the x8 connector!

About the GPU hitting the 24pin connector - its on the other side of the board totally, all the gpu would cover is the SATA ports!

 

Holy moses you're right! I thought the blue and black connectors were the 24pin connector (and the... alternate 24 pin connector.. I dunno, haha)! What are those for then? Frontpanel IO?

Also, there is a heatsink in the way of the GPU, but surely I could take a saw to that...

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Holy moses you're right! I thought the blue and black connectors were the 24pin connector (and the... alternate 24 pin connector.. I dunno, haha)! What are those for then? Frontpanel IO?

Also, there is a heatsink in the way of the GPU, but surely I could take a saw to that...

The black and blue ports are actually old PATA/IDE Hard drive ports, you don't see them on anything new these days.

But as I'd said before - you won't be able to use the GPU in this board as it only has 8x pcie slots (the long slot on the left of the pic in black is actually an IPMI Slot)

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I've found a couple of SuperMicro server/workstation motherboards that might be worth looking into on ebay, they are all ATX and have x16 connectors - they also claim to support the cpu's you bought. Do note that all these motherboards do only seem to support DDR2 and SATAII; maybe it's the chipset and that may be the same with all of them? can't say. You will also need to buy some socket 771 coolers, but I guess you'll figure that all out.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon1333/5100/X7DCA-L.cfm (X7DCA-L) (here is an example from the USA - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Supermicro-X7DCA-L-YI001-Server-Motherboard-LGA771-Socket-/331621666936?hash=item4d36311078:g:VUIAAOSw0e9U1AW3 )

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon1333/5000X/X7DAL-E_.cfm (X7DAL-E+)

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon1333/5000X/X7DAL-E.cfm (X7DAL-E)

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I've found a couple of SuperMicro server/workstation motherboards that might be worth looking into on ebay, they are all ATX and have x16 connectors - they also claim to support the cpu's you bought. Do note that all these motherboards do only seem to support DDR2 and SATAII; maybe it's the chipset and that may be the same with all of them? can't say. You will also need to buy some socket 771 coolers, but I guess you'll figure that all out.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon1333/5100/X7DCA-L.cfm (X7DCA-L) (here is an example from the USA - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Supermicro-X7DCA-L-YI001-Server-Motherboard-LGA771-Socket-/331621666936?hash=item4d36311078:g:VUIAAOSw0e9U1AW3 )

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon1333/5000X/X7DAL-E_.cfm (X7DAL-E+)

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon1333/5000X/X7DAL-E.cfm (X7DAL-E)

 

Holy hell that example you put! That NEVER came up while I was searching and I've searched for 5 hours today. That board is a beast! I _JUST_ ordered a different one with an 8x port so I will go ahead and cancel that one and get this one instead. Dayum! :C

 

Here is what I got:

 

12322494_10153792455619252_3544689238594

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Holy hell that example you put! That NEVER came up while I was searching and I've searched for 5 hours today. That board is a beast! I _JUST_ ordered a different one with an 8x port so I will go ahead and cancel that one and get this one instead. Dayum! :C

 

Here is what I got:

 

12322494_10153792455619252_3544689238594

Hopefully you'll be able to cancel that other order! The board took a little more looking to find as ebay has its flaws... The ram looks all good; hopefully the build works out for you.

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Hopefully you'll be able to cancel that other order! The board took a little more looking to find as ebay has its flaws... The ram looks all good; hopefully the build works out for you.

Oh no this is absolutely devastating. They just shipped it! My card won't even go into this board! £50 down the drain. That really puts a dark spin on this whole project. Will buy the board you showed me, but God damn :/

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Oh no this is absolutely devastating. They just shipped it! My card won't even go into this board! £50 down the drain. That really puts a dark spin on this whole project. Will buy the board you showed me, but God damn :/

Cant you return it, or was it ebay? I guess re-selling for half the price is the last option.

who cares...

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Cant you return it, or was it ebay? I guess re-selling for half the price is the last option.

 

I can return it but they take 20% as a "restocking fee", damn assholes businessmen.

 

Considering returning all the parts and funneling the money into a new 980ti for my main system. This whole thing has put the wind out of my sails :(

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Appreciate the link, but the issue is taht the board I got has an 8x slot, not a 16x slot. It won't be able to jam my GPU into an 8x slot. If it was a 16x slot running on 8x power, sure, but it's not :(

 

Althoouuuggh..... http://www.amazon.com/Express-Adapter-Extender-Flexible-Extension/dp/B008BZBH80

 

I mean, we're getting pretty hairy here, but it would maybe be fun to try lol.

The bottleneck would be insane though. Trying to run a GTX770 through PCIE 1.0 8x.

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Appreciate the link, but the issue is taht the board I got has an 8x slot, not a 16x slot. It won't be able to jam my GPU into an 8x slot. If it was a 16x slot running on 8x power, sure, but it's not :(

Althoouuuggh..... http://www.amazon.com/Express-Adapter-Extender-Flexible-Extension/dp/B008BZBH80

I mean, we're getting pretty hairy here, but it would maybe be fun to try lol.

The bottleneck would be insane though. Trying to run a GTX770 through PCIE 1.0 8x.

Are you doing this as a fun project, or will this be your main rig?

Its still a fun project for next to no money compared to other hardware.

You could also just cut the back of the 8x slot so your graphics card slides in. Has been done before.

who cares...

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I can return it but they take 20% as a "restocking fee", damn assholes businessmen.

 

Considering returning all the parts and funneling the money into a new 980ti for my main system. This whole thing has put the wind out of my sails :(

That sucks man... Yeah you can't use the card at all in that motherboard... the item that stconquest linked above is just a riser so wouldn't really help use the 8x card in a 16x motherboard (you could always do as this person did on reddit https://imgur.com/a/oYRmU - I would not suggest this at all! hahah)

I don't understand the 20% restocking fees by companies... it doesn't make sense to charge 20% to put something in a shelf gah

The adapter you linked could work... only issue is you'd have to find some new way to mount the GPU in a case. In regards to the bottleneck, you might have noticed that in linus' video his GPU was actually running at 8x too as the electrical connection was only 8x (but in a 16x slot for unknown reasons...)

Edited by comicalsans
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Are you doing this as a fun project, or will this be your main rig?

Its still a fun project for next to no money compared to other hardware.

You could also just cut the back of the 8x slot so your graphics card slides in. Has been done before.

 

Problem is actually that the money is slowly creeping up. With christmas coming up and with me wanting to also upgrade my main rig, I'm not sure I can justify what's going on at the moment. With what I've got I'm already at:

 

CPU: £24 (what a deal!)

RAM: £37

Motherboard: £48 (useless component) + £39 (actual component)

 

That's £150 for mobo, ram and cpu. Could have almost gotten new components for that! (okay maybe not, but it's close and would have been a lot less of hassel).

 

I still need to find coolers for the CPUs, attempt to ziptie those coolers to the motherboard, find a case and fit the damn thing in, find a PSU that magically is cheap, not shit, and has both 24+8pin connectors. Gah :C Not sure why I am even typing this out haha. Guess I'm just looking to vent.

 

 

That sucks man... Yeah you can't use the card at all in that motherboard... the item that stconquest linked above is just a riser so wouldn't really help use the 8x card in a 16x motherboard (you could always do as this person did on reddit https://imgur.com/a/oYRmU - I would not suggest this at all! hahah)

I don't understand the 20% restocking fees by companies... it doesn't make sense to charge 20% to put something in a shelf gah

The adapter you linked could work... only issue is you'd have to find some new way to mount the GPU in a case. In regards to the bottleneck, you might have noticed that in linus' video his GPU was actually running at 8x too as the electrical connection was only 8x (but in a 16x slot for unknown reasons...)

 

 

Oh, Linus was also on PCI-E 1.0 8x? That's quite reassuring. His card seemed to perform just fine, and mine is way older and less taxing than a 980Ti. Hmm. Might have given me some confidence back hehe

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Problem is actually that the money is slowly creeping up. With christmas coming up and with me wanting to also upgrade my main rig, I'm not sure I can justify what's going on at the moment. With what I've got I'm already at:

 

CPU: £24 (what a deal!)

RAM: £37

Motherboard: £48 (useless component) + £39 (actual component)

 

That's £150 for mobo, ram and cpu. Could have almost gotten new components for that! (okay maybe not, but it's close and would have been a lot less of hassel).

 

I still need to find coolers for the CPUs, attempt to ziptie those coolers to the motherboard, find a case and fit the damn thing in, find a PSU that magically is cheap, not shit, and has both 24+8pin connectors. Gah :C Not sure why I am even typing this out haha. Guess I'm just looking to vent.

 

 
 

 

Oh, Linus was also on PCI-E 1.0 8x? That's quite reassuring. His card seemed to perform just fine, and mine is way older and less taxing than a 980Ti. Hmm. Might have given me some confidence back hehe

 

Yeah he was on an 8x too (ref https://youtu.be/epIlB49SNTI?t=3m15s ), but in your case you'll definitely have to use an adapter with that motherboard (then finding issues in the case placement) or you'd have to cut the 8x slot to fit the gpu (maybe leading to other issues like hitting components) - it's really up to you... it can be hard sometimes to justify the cost, I know man haha

Edited by comicalsans
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