Critique please/Most Extreme SOLO

cyberspyder · Post by **cyberspyder** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:44 pm

Crunching/F@H/Decoding/Encoding/Burning/Entertainment Rig

-Dual Intel Xeon E5410 Harpers
-Supermicro X7DCA-L
-4 x Kingston DDR2-800 ECC Registered 1GB Ram Sticks (Quad-channel)
-Samsung 750GB SATAII Hard Drive
-HIS Radeon HD3850 Videocard
-LiteOn Blu-Ray Burner
-Corsair 620W Power Supply
-HT Omega Claro + Soundcard
-Antec SOLO
-Coolink GFXchilla VGA Cooler
-2 x Thermalright HR-01X
-3 x Scythe Ultra Kaze 40mm Fan (on the naked ECC ram)
-Bytecc PCI-e Firewire Card
-2 x Sanyo Denki 92mm Fan 109P0912H201 (intake)
-3 x Sanyo Denki 120mm Fan 109R1212H101 (on HS and exhaust)
-Sunbeam Rheobus

Total is a bit over $2500 CAD

Thanks, Brendan

NyteOwl · Post by **NyteOwl** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:56 pm

Just a personal opinion but I think the Solo is a bit small to stuff a dual processor quad core rig in.

cyberspyder · Post by **cyberspyder** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:20 pm

It's a MATX board though.

Teh Lurv · Post by **Teh Lurv** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:10 pm

If your PC doesn't compel you to drink Mountain Dew, it's not extreme enough.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:53 pm

surprised you aren't eating up a GTX280 or 4870 for such a monstrous rig.

you may want to think of a different way to set up the drives. straight off 750gb will put windows in a corner surrounded by space. if you put windows on a raptor, it would be faster, and you can have a larger disk to be the scratch disk for encoding.

you may want to really think about where the drive cage is on a solo for this motherboard, you may be obstructed for the heatsinks. only way to know is to really look at the specs and think about your mounting for a while. its not a waste if it proves me wrong, or it proves you wrong, i'm sure you wont be thrilled if you have to exchange anything. the CPU sockets are set very close to the edge of the board, and it may conflict, a lot.

for GPU cooling, the Coolink looks like a knockoff of the accelero S1. quite honestly, the fins on the S1 are larger, and the heatpipes are not so close to the edge, so you may benefit from the larger fins on a hot card. the thermalright HR-03 may be another heatsink to look at for a high power card.

the soundcard is an interesting choice, i've never heard of HT Omega before.

have you double checked compatibility for an x8 PCI-e slot and that firewire card?

i assume from where you're buying the fans you'll have the appropriate power connectors put on? they're nice fans, but i wouldn't want to have to put connectors on them just to use them, partly because i don't know where i'd be able to get connectors to put on.

with 8 fans in the system, and only four controllers on the Rheobus, which ones will go where?

i hope it doesn't seem intimidating, but i've got a dual CPU rig up in my room, and choosing a case was the hardest part, because the CPUs are huge (Slot 2 Xeon).

its not hard to make the most expensive rig you want, but compatibility first, toys second.

cyberspyder · Post by **cyberspyder** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:35 pm

Well, killer graphics are the least of my concerns, as it will not be used for gaming at all. Also, the GFXchilla got chosen because it's a compact unit, and I need all the extra slots it frees up, as there isn't much room for expansion on this MATX board. Furthermore, from what people have told me, smaller PCI-e cards (x1, x4) will fit in bigger slots, like x8 and x16, as the motherboard will shut down any unused lanes. As for the fans, they will have the 3-pin connectors on them for the rheobus. The rheobus only controls the two fans on the CPU, the intakes and possibly the exhaust. The 40mm fans are going to be slaved to one 3-pin on the motherboard.

Even if the sockets are near the edge, I can position the heatsinks in whichever direction I like, as the mounting is very flexible, so that's not really a big deal. I plan to do something like this:

Regarding the hard drives...I would like to keep it at about $2500, and a raptor would blow off my budget. I considered dual drives in RAID, but security was an important factor, as 750GB is a lot of space.[/img]

NyteOwl · Post by **NyteOwl** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:29 am

The motherboard form factor really doesn't matter a lot, those 2 quad cores are going to generate a fair amount of heat all by themselves. You may be able to dissipate the heat but I doubt if it will be quiet. I could be wrong of course. Be interesting to see what the final temps are like.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:09 pm

here are a few things to keep in mind:

if that space is any less, you'll have an issue with the CPU heatsinks with really no way out unless you cut out the drive cage.

this is not a PC, but just look at how this person arranged their HR-01's on a dual CPU board. (it's a mac pro logic board)

you mentioned the rheobus is for CPU fans, intakes and possibly exhaust? that would make for 5 fans, you only have room for 4 right?

the sockets on that motherboard are just too close to put the HR-01 in many directions.

its going to be a difficult rig to finish, but i'm only trying to help you out here.

cyberspyder · Post by **cyberspyder** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:43 pm

I have two choices then...the mobo is 10" x 10", so I can either mount it my way, or the way in the Mac picture. The HS are angled, so they won't hit the DVD burner or the HD cage.

Brendan

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:42 pm

you can't though. i suggested the mac photo as a potential way to use a single 120mm fan to cool both CPUs.

look at where the CPU sockets are on the board, and then think about how the HR-01 is built. the base is smaller than the fins, and you have heatpipes. unless the board clears the hard drive cage with at least 3/4" to spare, you wont be able to fit the heatsinks.

look at where the mounting holes are on the board, then look at the picture of the solo's motherboard tray. just get that mental image of how large the socket is and how far away it is from the mounting holes for the board. when you look at that, you have a lot of conflicts there.

ame · Post by **ame** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:19 pm

Looks like it would be impossible to fit 2*HR01+ any other way other than the way Mac guy did it. My friend's workstation has 2*HR01 (not plus) that are also turned sideways as the two sockets are just too close. Still its more effective to have all the air flow in the same direction rather than diagonal causing turbulence. with this layout it not necessary to have fans on the ram as there is plenty of air flowing above it. Just a heat spreader would work perfectly not to mention much quieter than 40 mm fans

I too would suggest a bigger case. One of the few disadvantages of the Solo is how close the cages are to the mobo's edge and With the two sockets on the micron board right on the edge it will be tough if not impossible to fit. P182 would be a better choice.

I would also recommend 4850 with S1 over the 3850, It is after all entertainment

cyberspyder · Post by **cyberspyder** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:55 am

It's cheaper.....we'll have to see when the stuff gets here.

FartingBob · Post by **FartingBob** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:12 am

Do you need duel CPU's anyway?
It might be easier to get a single high end quad (whatever is just below the "extreme" series, which are still absurdly priced) and not have to worry about fitting in extra Heatsinks and cooling. It'll save you a fair amount of money as well, not just on the CPU's but on the mobo side of life.

And you should note, that nothing you could do will make this really quiet. Youve got at least 8 fans in there, which may need to work quite hard to get rid of the heat.

peerke · Post by **peerke** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:56 pm

Call me crazy but I think it would be possible to fit this setup in an even smaller case: Both the Antec 3480 and 1380 can be made to house your setup.
The 1380 won't be big enough for the Blu-Ray drive but everything else should fit. Look at this example: viewtopic.php?t=48778
Maybe you can run the Blu-Ray drive externally (e-SATA).
In the 3480 you would have to lose the 3,5" drive cage to make room for the HR's but than it would fit. Here's a very interesting example: viewtopic.php?t=47311
I am not saying that either is a logical or wise choice for a case but it would sure make for a very interesting project.
BTW Why did you choose such a dedicated server board when the applications you are running are not that critical or fault intolerant to warrant this choice?

matt_garman · Post by **matt_garman** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:29 pm

Where are you getting the Sanyo Denki fans?

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:25 am

it's an OMG kind of a system.... goodness

From my own experience with a SOLO, I woudn't recommend it for your setup (although I LOVE the case). The space between your CPU heatsinks and the bottom of the PSU is going to be VERY small... and I mean VERY VERY small. You'll probably barely get away with it because of the angle your heatsinks are going to be at.

Just my 2 euro cents.

peerke · Post by **peerke** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:14 am

Cyberspyder, did you get round to building anything yet? I am still curious about the decision making behind the motherboard choice. I think it's a very interesting board and wonder if it's worth it's extra cost over normal (high-end) consumer boards.