[scipy]

Hi all,

So, I came into some $$$ and for my very modest needs I've decided to make a workstation upgrade. Now, I don't really need advice regarding the CPUs, MBO and the RAM - it's the peripherals that I'm after here. I've also got an E-ATX case capable of fitting all this (old CM Stacker which previously held the ASUS Z9PE-D8 WS).

MBO - ASRock Rack EP2C602-4L/D16
CPU - 2 x Xeon E5-2680 V2
RAM - 8x16GB DDR3-1866MHz CL13 ECC REG 2Rx4
GPU - AMD FirePro W4100 (this gets moved from the old workstation)

I've also purchased a single E5-2603 V1 Xeon just in case the MBO is running an older BIOS version and needs to be updated in order to recognize V2 Xeons. This was a 20 EUR investment

First I'll list all the other stuff that is planned and then run down the comments and ask for your much appreciated advice.

HDD - Samsung SSD 960 EVO 500GB, M.2 (MZ-V6E500BW) + PCIe -> M.2 (PCIe) adapter card.
HDD - Western Digital WD Purple 8TB, SATA 6Gb/s (WD80PURZ)
FAN - 2 x Scythe Ninja 4 (SCNJ-4000)
PSU - Corsair HX Series HX750 80PLUS Platinum 750W ATX 2.4 (CP-9020137)
Monitor - LG Electronics 43UD79-B 42.5"

Obviously, my primary concern is the older generation motherboard and the NVMe PCIe SSD compatibility. After some research I've found the following:

https://forums.servethehome.com/inde...e-2#post-94798
http://www.userbenchmark.com/System/...02-4LD16/19469
https://www.win-raid.com/t871f50-Gui...UEFI-BIOS.html

So, judging from the 2nd link, at least 6 users have a NVMe disk in the listed MBO. However, I'm aware this still might mean it can't be an OS/bootable disk, and then it's simply useless to have it. Third link is a guide into BIOS modding to enable NVMe boot support for basically any UEFI board.

Does anyone have first hand experience or an ability to test if this board can boot a NVMe PCIe disk? Looking at you, Alex (flotus1)!

As far as CPU cooling goes, I've looked at comparisons tests and Noctua simply doesn't justify its price. I've had Katana 4's before on my dual E5-4617 and Ninja 4 is a more capable cooler and still nearly half the price of any Noctua for a ~1°C difference at load (for an overclocked i7, similar TDP to Xeons at load). Anyone has other ideas backed by arguments?

PSU - here I don't know quite what to do. Internet keeps yelling about EVGA quality (G3), some say that EVGA had problems with "eco" mode and was turning on the fans to quite high speeds even when load was 40-50%. These people say Seasonic might be the way to go. I was previously a Corsair user and never had any problems, but it also is a bit more expensive. Basically, I'm looking for something decently quiet and capable of running this system while being at 60-70% load (with a potential GPU card upgrade in the future - to something more power hungry than the W4100 with its 50W top draw) and have 5+ years of warranty. What's available to me is something from this list:

850W Thermaltake ToughPower DPS G, ATX 2.31, PS-TPG-0850DPCG
Zalman 1000W modular PSU, ZM1000-GVM
Corsair HX750 80PLUS Platinum 750W ATX 2.4 (CP-9020137)
850W Seasonic M12II-850 Bronze EVO Edition, ATX 2.3, SS-850AM2 - only 3 years warranty, though.
650W Fortron Hydro G 650W ATX 2.4, PPA6502804
850W EVGA 850 GQ, ATX 2.3, 210-GQ-0850-V2

That's pretty much it.. Monitor I want for TV shows and porn. Same goes for 8 TB mech disk.

Thanks for any contributions and regards.

P.S. I know about the AMD Epyc and everything, but I simply can't justify buying that now. If I'll have work for this system and a further investment will be justified, then I might decide on that. Unless someone can argue that a single CPU current AMD workstation with DDR4 can hold its own against this kind of system and cost about the same?