Advice on 3 LGA2011/3 build options

I have the following hardware, each with pluses and minuses and looking for best option to build out but having difficulty deciding and would be good to get opinions. End use: data science dataset processing, multi vm’s for learning ethical hacking, potentially machine learnin training (if used capable gpu in build). Ideally want 20+ cores and 256gb ram (big datasets)
I have:
~200GB of ddr3 ram mixed brands/specs, eg 4x16gb sk hynix 2133mhz, 8x8gb samsung 2133mhz, and variants of each, all rdimms.
2x e5-2680v2’s, 2x 2690’s (will prob sell at some stage)
1x e5-2690v3
A) Hp ml350 gen8 with 420i sas controller+8x1tb sas drives
B) Supermicro X9DRi-LN4F+ rev 1.2 motherboard
C) Lenovo P700 with e5-2620v3 (would use 2690v3 instead)

Option A (hp ml 350) requires 2x arctic freezer 12 or noctual nh u9dx, plus 2x noctua 40mm fans (psu fans crazy noisy) have already modded some 120mm generic fans to use instead of the jet engine deltas.
I have yet to test different combos of ram to see how much i can run, but will have to likely sell some ram and get replacement matching ddr3 ram. May be able to run a rtx2080ti in this build as have 2x430w PSU’s. May need to buy second sas/sata mixed controller.

Option B) (Supermicro) prefered build untill i tried to get 2x xeons running. Works fine with 1 cpu, but with second its really fiddly to get it to post, not sure of issue, did get to post something to screen with 2 cpus but trying different ram couldn’t post again. Its really picky wrt ram and will only post with all ram exactly same spec. Have to reset cmos every time i change rdimms, cant use ipmi as dont know password. Gave up on it (spent several days on it so far) but could try one more time. Should be able to run gpu but have read can be tricky to get working

Option C) (lenovo), would need to buy ddr4 ramm and supposedly lrdimms, second e5-2690v3. Need a arctic/noctua cooler max130mm high, would need to buy 850w psu plus 8+8 pin power adapters to run rtx2080ti (evwn then i am not 100% sure will run with 2x cpus +full ram load die to psu limitations and rtx power draw)

Other option is sell the lot and get a ASUS or ASRock MB which is more suited to my needs - but dual cpu gpu capable boards are pretty expensive atm. Actually, now that i have written this out, may be best option :slight_smile:

Any feedback appreciated

My advice is to avoid LGA2011-3 as it doesn’t provide a significant performance or platform improvement compared to LGA2011.

The LGA2011 socket is an extremely affordable platform and you will get much more for your money.

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Will add that power improvements dont happen significantly with v3 either, so not worth the premium.

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I agree the 2011 non-3 is a better option. As for the finicky posting with dual CPU’s It is very common to have stability issues with non-matching RDIMM’s. Go with the Dual E2680V2’s and buy a lot of matching RAM from ebay. DDR3 REG ECC ram is dirt cheap now.

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Followup: I went the Supermicro Supermicro X9DRi-LN4F+ route (returned faulty board and got replacement). Have 360GB DDR3 ram, 2x2690V2 CPU. Super quiet in a HAF932 case with 2x 120mm fans and noctua CPU coolers

Has been great. Only downsides are 1) the wake on LAN doesn’t work so I run it 24/7, and 2) the way the non standard MB fits in the HAF932 case, the onboard SAS expander cable plugs are blocked by HDD bay so I’m limited to using the onboard SATA ports.

You can always add a LSI or Adaptec HBA.

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