Dual Socket X99 Server

I recently built a “new” home server from a mix of new, used, and scavenged parts.

My existing server has been quietly chugging along since 2014. The recent thing I have started using it for, however, made me see a need for an upgrade – transcoding and archiving IP surveillance camera footage, which is a bit CPU intensive. I added my old video card to offload the trancoding, which helps a lot, but there is still a fair amount of CPU load involved – even handling only a pair of cameras, the CPU sits at around 60% load all the time now.

After doing some reading, and finding Broadwell Xeon CPUs on eBay for basically the price of shipping, I decided to do something a bit stupid and bought a dual socket X99 motherboard on AliExpress.

These X99 motherboards are interesting. Built from a combination of new PCBs and salvaged chips, they’re seemingly intended for budget workstations or mining rigs and lack “server grade” features like LoM, dual NICs, or integrated graphics. Their reputation is spotty – they’re inexpensive, but while people with bad experiences are loud and easy to find, it does seem like the majority of experiences are positive.

The Computer:

• Qiyida X99 Dual Socket Motherboard – $92 (Aliexpress)
• 2x Xeon E5-2690v4 (14c/28t) – $40 (eBay)
• 4x 4GB ECC DDR4 DIMMs – $32 (eBay)
• 2x 8GB ECC DDR4 DIMMs – $48 (eBay)
• 256GB Samsung PM991 nVME SSD – $36 (eBay)
• 10GbE HP Ethernet Card – $12 (eBay)

The Case:

I made a mistake, and bought the motherboard without realizing it was an E-ATX form factor. That meant I couldn’t use my existing server case, which is an mATX NAS case. There are a lot of Micro-ATX single-socket X99 motherboards available, and in retrospect, maybe I should have bought one of those and reused my case. Or even bought an X79 based motherboard and reused the ECC DDR3 in my existing server.

I’m a total sucker for the sunk cost fallacy.

I took a trip to the local computer recycling center, and was very lucky, finding a “RAID SERVER AS-IS” for $10 which turned out to be ac complete SuperMicro server with an i7-2600 and 32GB of RAM. The case was my primary concern – a slightly dented but intact E-ATX capable “SuperChassis” which, though missing a couple drive trays and the front door, was functionally intact, and a wonderfully imposing presence.

On the downside, the fans are data-center-loud, and the power supply supported contemporary SuperMicro dual-socket motherboards, but lacked the second 8-pin CPU header needed by the new one. Finally, SuperMicro has long used a single 16-pin connector for its front panels instead of the more common 9-pin that Intel has standardized. So I ended up opting to replace a few bits and bought some adapters.

• SuperMicro CSE-733TQ – $10 (Local Recycler)
• ASRock 750w PSU – $50 (Amazon)
• Noctua NF-A9 – $19 (Amazon)
• Thermalright TL-C12C – $8 (Amazon)
• SuperMicro Front Panel wiring adapter – $10 (Amazon)
• USB 3 to 2 front panel adapter – $4 (Amazon)
• SuperMicro 3.5″ SATA Hot Swap Bays – $21 (eBay)

Finally, I added the last couple parts from my existing server and spare parts bin:

• GeForce GTX 1660Ti

• 3x 8TB SATA HDDs

• 3.5″ Drive Bay USB Hub

Mistakes Were Made?

In retrospect, should I have not bought the AliExpress motherboard? Used dual socket server boards are still available out there, come from highly reputable brands like Intel or SuperMicro, and are known to run rock-solid for years. They also have the features that the Qiyida is missing, like out of band management, a wider variety of PCI-E slots, dual NICs, and so on.

While the name brand motherboards are more than double the price of the Qiyida, starting around $200, those additional features and peace of mind are probably worth it – pushing the price of the final system from just under $400 to just over $500.

Alternatively, I would have saved myself a few dollars and a bit of headache if, instead of buying the motherboard, CPUs, and RAM separately, I had purchased one of the many bundles that are available on AliExpress.

Testing components myself and, ultimately, finagling refunds for a couple defective components is a perfectly normal aspect of buying used and vintage computing gear, but paying extra for the privilege is something I’d rather have avoided, in retrospect.

Performance:

Oh my god, dude. That is all.