X8DTi-F - Dual Xeon x5650 "Cheap" 21068 Geekbench score build.

Supermicro X8DTi-F - Dual Xeon x5650 build for €600 --> 23147 Geekbench score build.

I just put this system together for 600€ in used parts from ebay. Running 10.9.2

These parts are all server grade and are very high quality, you can find them relatively cheap because they are already a few generations old. The value of PC parts tends to tank very quickly. The original price for this board was 500€!

The multicore results of this configuration are still in 5th place in terms of geek bench scores compared to the new Mac Pro 6,1. I can recommend this if you need a reliable system that does not need an over clock and if you need many slower cores instead of a higher base clock speed. Video encoding using Adobe Media Encoder is a blast with this thing!

Shopping chart:

• Supermicro X8DTi-F (115€)
• Dual Xeon x5650 6-core CPU's. (260€ for 2)
• 850 Watt Supermicro Chassis SC743TQ-865B-SQ with 8 SAS backplane (75€) (Came with single CPU X8 board --> sold for 75, total price was 150€)
• Areca ARC-1222 8 Port SAS controller (came for free with Chassis --> has OSX drivers!!!)
• 24 GB ECC Kingston 1333 Mhz Ram (120€)To avoid issues, better use memory from the supermicro compatibility list! (this kingston kit was not in there and the bios had trouble detecting the correct capacity) - Later upgraded to 48GB Hynix HMT31GR7AFR4C-G7DB memory. This also increased my geek bench scores from 21068 to 23147 points. Memory performance was about doubled. Memory price on ebay for this kit was €200.
• HP Intel Ethernet I210-T1 GbE NIC (30€)The HP Intel Ethernet I210-T1 GbE NIC turned out to be not as reliable. Now using the HP NC360T again with AppleIntelE1000e.kext v.3.1.0. This one works okay for now.
  

Total: 600€


From previous build:

• Asus ATI 5750 (don't need much more for now since I don't game and only use FCP7)Upgraded to Gigabyte GTX 660. (160€) In my dual monitor setup I have to turn on both monitors before boot. Otherwise I only get one of them working.

Not working:

• Audio from the motherboard, I use USB audio anyways so I don't care
• Intel ethernet from the motherboard

Cheers,
K.

great job 。You can use wifi instead line.
what osx ? 10.9 or 10.8.

Hi,
I have the same motherboard. Can i get a copy of your extra directory? that would help me tremendously.

thanks.

kareldc said:

Just put this system together for 600€ in used parts from ebay:

These parts are all server grade and are very high quality, IT professionals are selling them for cheap because of system upgrades.

Supermicro motherboard X8DTi-F (115€)
Dual Xeon x5650 6-core CPU's. (260€ for 2)
850 Watt Supermicro Chassis SC743TQ-865B-SQ with 8 SAS backplane (75€) (Came with single CPU X8 board --> sold for 75, total price was 150€)
Areca ARC-1222 8 Port SAS controller (came for free with Chassis --> has OSX drivers!!!)
24 GB ECC Kingston 1333 Mhz Ram (120€)
HP Intel Ethernet I210-T1 GbE NIC (30€)

Total:
600€

From previous build: Asus ATI 5750 (don't need much more for now since I don't game and only use FCP7)

Everything works except for ethernet. Just ordered the Intel I210-T1, hope that works!

Cheers,
K.

Click to expand...

turbo_mafia said:

Hi,
I have the same motherboard. Can i get a copy of your extra directory? that would help me tremendously.

thanks.

Click to expand...

There's nothing special there, this is a DSDT free build.

Cheers,
Karel.

I tried that board but didn't like it because the 82576 LAN didn't work and no audio, so I got a X8DAL-3 which gives me working Ethernet and 8 SAS ports. I'm running 2 X5675 Xeons for a GB3 score of ~26500.

Email is so much faster now!!!

tpluth said:

I tried that board but didn't like it because the 82576 LAN didn't work and no audio, so I got a X8DAL-3 which gives me working Ethernet and 8 SAS ports. I'm running 2 X5675 Xeons for a GB3 score of ~26500.

Email is so much faster now!!!

Click to expand...

Great, yeah the reason I chose the x5650 was the value for money. It was the default option for a lot of systems so you can find them pretty cheap. I use external audio anyways, protools M-Box.

Also the Intel I210-T1 didn't work very well. I'm using my HP360T again but you have to wake it up by unplugging the cable after fresh boot. Also a lot of latency...

I used to backup over the network but now I'm mirroring all my data over separate disks. The SC743 chassis has an 8 bay sata backplane which makes swapping disks really easy... (Supermicro cases are build like tanks and are the best!).

Hey kareldc, first off, thanks! I used this thread to help solidify my decision to build my new system on an X8DTI-F, and I love that everything just works. It's a monster of a system!

I am having one small issue though that I wondered if you experienced. After completing my build yesterday I installed Windows since I had a USB stick with it next to me and everything worked great, no problems at all. So I decided to make a Clover USB stick for Yosemite and install it. Again, everything works great, no extra kexts or DSDT needed. However, I am having a weird issue where when I reboot or shutdown the system, as it tries to start back up I get a memory error beep code (5 short, 1 long). If I turn the power supply off from the back and wait until the board completely powers down then turn it back on, it boots up with no issue. I'm wondering if you experienced this or had any thoughts on why it might be doing this.

Thanks!

enactg said:

Hey kareldc, first off, thanks! I used this thread to help solidify my decision to build my new system on an X8DTI-F, and I love that everything just works. It's a monster of a system!

I am having one small issue though that I wondered if you experienced. After completing my build yesterday I installed Windows since I had a USB stick with it next to me and everything worked great, no problems at all. So I decided to make a Clover USB stick for Yosemite and install it. Again, everything works great, no extra kexts or DSDT needed. However, I am having a weird issue where when I reboot or shutdown the system, as it tries to start back up I get a memory error beep code (5 short, 1 long). If I turn the power supply off from the back and wait until the board completely powers down then turn it back on, it boots up with no issue. I'm wondering if you experienced this or had any thoughts on why it might be doing this.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Actually I have a similar issue, when I do a cold boot it posts and then it reboots, and then it boots properly. I don't get any error codes tough. I get a warning light on my case indicating an overheating issue. But it goes away after the second boot. I contacted supermicro about this and they told me to try and remove the memory modules and put them back one by one to see if there is a memory problem. But honestly i never looked into it since I couldn't find the time and since it was only a minor issue I left it like that. Don't mind booting with two beeps...

Let me know what you find out!

K.

enactg said:

However, I am having a weird issue where when I reboot or shutdown the system, as it tries to start back up I get a memory error beep code (5 short, 1 long). If I turn the power supply off from the back and wait until the board completely powers down then turn it back on, it boots up with no issue.

Click to expand...

I'm having the exact same problem with a SuperMicro X8STE. Have you made any progress resolving the issue? I've described the problem in detail as well as the changes I've (unsuccessfully) tried so far in this thread over at the ProjectOSX forums: http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3344

I've only solved it by getting everything woking and not shutting down anymore, haha. I can't figure it out. I've tried removing memory down to two sticks, changing every BIOS setting I could think of, nothing helps. It's interesting to hear you say it's only with Clover, as I haven't tried any other boot loaders for the system yet. Unfortunately Clover is so much better to use with 10.10. I still just don't understand how even a boot loader could cause an issue like this. Interesting to see you are using non-ECC RAM vs my ECC though since I had wondered if that was having anything to do with it.

I read your the rest of your thread too. I haven't really had problems turning off. I think it's happened like twice where I just flipped the switch while it was still sitting on a black screen for 30 seconds or so. That's after 50 or so reboots and shutdowns, so I don't think that's related. I know I've read video drivers causing that issue. I'm using NVIDIA web drivers on a GTX760 for what it's worth. I don't know about your board, but with mine I'm running DSDT-free with only a single SSDT patch for NullEthernet.

So unfortunately, nothing yet, but I'm glad to at least hear it isn't just me or my board. I hadn't been able to find your thread previously when searching. I'll bookmark it and let you know if I find anything else.