[vfio-users] Hardware recommendation?

[Tobias Geiger]

Hi Ryan,

ok now im confused:

my understanding was i need a SR0KX version of the E5-2670, cause the 
SR0H8 hast microcode issues regarding vtd.
so far so good. i thought SR0KX = E5-2670 v3 and needs a R3 socket - but 
you say i might be wrong here?

unfortunatly the ark doesnt show the exact socket you need, they only 
mention the steppings on the right side of the page:
http://ark.intel.com/de/products/64595/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2670-20M-Cache-2_60-GHz-8_00-GTs-Intel-QPI

Greetings!
Tobias


Am 13.05.2016 17:59, schrieb Ryan Flagler:
> i personally haven't had issues with my SuperMicro board. The biggest
> issues have been related to AMD/nVidia specific issues. The asrock
> motherboard you linked is not compatible wit hthe E5-2670 cpu though.
> The one you linked is a Socket R3, you need Socket R for the
> E5-2670v1.
> 
> On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 10:28 AM Tobias Geiger
> <tobias.geiger at vido.info> wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> great suggestions - thanks so far!
>> 
>> Seems i have the choice between
>> - this really good price/value E5-2670 Dual Xeon and this board:
>> 
> http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=EP2C612D8#Specifications
>> (the Supermicro one is at least here in Germany much more expensive
>> -
>> and the Asrock has more SATA3 Ports... - do you see any difficulties
>> in
>> comparison with the Supermicroboard you mentioned?)
>> 
>> oooor
>> -  i7-6700K Intel Skylake with a board like this :
>> https://www.asus.com/de/Motherboards/Q170M-C/specifications/ (Q
>> Chipset
>> should ensure VTD funcionality i hope!)
>> 
>> so basicaly the choice between 16 cores with the dual xeon but with
>> a
>> max of 3.3Ghz - or 4 cores "only" with the Skylake i7 but 4.2Ghz...
>> puh. hard one. games rarly scale well on multiple cpus, but OTOH
>> this
>> is/will be changing with time and newer games... but a rapid
>> single-core-performance is always handy for the tasks that are not
>> threadable...
>> 
>> now im really stuck in my descision-finding-process :)
>> i'll think about it for the weekend
>> 
>> if you see any omg-dont-buy-that-it-wont-work issues - please tell
>> me!
>> 
>> Thanks and Greetings
>> Tobias
>> 
>> Am 12.05.2016 17:23, schrieb Ryan Flagler:
>>> Yep, that's the one. Dirt cheap! I was able to snag a used
>> SuperMicro
>>> X9DR7-LN4F dual-socket motherboard and threw 2 of them in there. I
>>> don't have much of an issue giving my VMs enough CPU. :) ECC DDR3
>>> Registered memory is relatively cheap on ebay too.
>>> 
>>> On Thu, May 12, 2016 at 10:21 AM Alex Williamson
>>> <alex.l.williamson at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> On Thu, May 12, 2016 at 9:14 AM, Ryan Flagler
>>>> <ryan.flagler at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> I know Alex has recommended the E5 series
>> processors/motherboards
>>>>> for the best compatibility. There are 2 versions of motherboards
>>>>> that support that right now. Socket R and Socket R3. Obviously
>> E5
>>>>> series processors are not very affordable brand new; however,
>> the
>>>>> market is currently flooded with server pulled E5-2670 CPUs.
>> They
>>>>> can be easily found for $60 on ebay. These CPUs work on Socket R
>>>>> motherboards. Additionally, these motherboards will still
>> support
>>>>> DDR3 memory which is cheaper to acquire than DDR4 as well.
>>>>> 
>>>>> That's where I'd start if I was you. Obviously there could
>> always
>>>>> be issues with 1 manufacturer to another, but hopefully that's a
>>>>> starting place.
>>>> 
>>>> Nice tip!  You're referring to Sandy-Bridge EP, right?
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>> 
> http://ark.intel.com/products/64595/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2670-20M-Cache-2_60-GHz-8_00-GTs-Intel-QPI
>>>> 
>>>> 8-core, hmmm that's tempting.