Since E5-2670 CPU's have become ridiculously cheap lately (< $10 a core!), I figured I'd pick one up and try it in my X79 Dark, but I'm running into some strange turbo issues and was wondering if anyone here has tried this combo in the past?
 
     Basically for some reason the chip never really runs full out turbo on all cores and it seems to be due to the Turbo Boost TDP limits.  On a SuperMicro server board that I've got, if I run 16 threads of the small AVX fft in mprime, the same chip will run at the 130W short term power limit (generally close to running at the 7-8 core turbo speed of 3.0GHz), then bump down to the 115W long term power limit and throttle back.  But on the Black, it never really goes much higher than the 115W power limit (highest I've seen is 117W!).  This is with setting the STP and LTP limits to their max in the BIOS (16383) and the max AMPs to 8193.  If I leave them at Auto then the board actually runs much lower than 115W!  I was hoping that I could get a little boost over stock, but not end up _less_ than stock. =(
 
     Obviously this is not your standard consumer CPU, but I'd got the board assuming that evga would put some time into testing it with Xeons, since they had such good support back in the Socket 1366/X56 days. 

I've got a 2670 in my Asrock extreme6 and I'm not seeing throttling issues. My main rig has a 1650 V2 with the X79 Dark (OCed to 4.5 GHz), but I'd rather not tear everything apart to test the 2670 in my Dark.
 
Have you tried setting default BIOS settings? Are you running a new BIOS version or old?

I'm running the latest BIOS (2.13, a little over two).  Maybe I'll back off a bit; it looks like 2.10 was the last `major' update.  
 
I have found that the BIOS is setting up the PKG_RAPL_POWER_LIMIT MSR (0x610) a bit wonky.  This is where the short term and long term power limit settings are  configured.  The BIOS is setting the Wattage limits there, although it's not converting the values set in the BIOS as Wattages; it's just writing them directly.  I have to put the value 1200 in to get the equivalent of 150W programmed; dumping MSR 0x610 shows the literal value of 1200 in the Power Limit bits. =(  Granted now that I know that I have to multiply the wattage I want by 8 to get the value I want to put in the BIOS that's OK, but it does explain why I was getting really crappy performance when I wasn't.
 
Aside from that tough, the real sticking issue seems to be the `Control Time Limit' setting that goes along with the Wattage.  There's no way to change it in the BIOS from what I can tell and it's being programmed for only 1s.  The SuperMicro server board I was cross checking things with sets it's to 8.8s.  It was turboing above the package TDP of 115W, but the control time was short enough I never really saw it!  If I manually write the MSR I've been able to get it to actually turbo up to 3.0GHz on all cores (for up to ~54s at least! AVX Small FFTs in mprime shows as pulling ~142W @3.0GHz!).

Is the CPU you got by chance an ES?

Trelor
Is the CPU you got by chance an ES?

Nope, it's not an ES.  It's an SR0KX, C2 stepping.  
 
 

Hi were you able to sort all these out? I am thinking of getting the same CPU as it is now $60 each but I want to know if there will be issues with the Dark. Thanks.

mm sorry 2670  a bit dyslexia sometimes
 

hmm well i had someone tell me the 5960 doesn't work in the x79 dark so maybe that is not what i had borrowed????/  how ever you may be on to something it seems that when i change the csm settings or or turn quick boot on i get solid red led on pci slot for it and a blinking red under the io shield  and then it doesn't recognize i750   if i switch to second bios the all is fine except the flashing under the bios shield

snclawson
     Since E5-2670 CPU's have become ridiculously cheap lately (< $10 a core!), I figured I'd pick one up and try it in my X79 Dark, but I'm running into some strange turbo issues and was wondering if anyone here has tried this combo in the past?
 
     Basically for some reason the chip never really runs full out turbo on all cores and it seems to be due to the Turbo Boost TDP limits.  On a SuperMicro server board that I've got, if I run 16 threads of the small AVX fft in mprime, the same chip will run at the 130W short term power limit (generally close to running at the 7-8 core turbo speed of 3.0GHz), then bump down to the 115W long term power limit and throttle back.  But on the Black, it never really goes much higher than the 115W power limit (highest I've seen is 117W!).  This is with setting the STP and LTP limits to their max in the BIOS (16383) and the max AMPs to 8193.  If I leave them at Auto then the board actually runs much lower than 115W!  I was hoping that I could get a little boost over stock, but not end up _less_ than stock. =(
 
     Obviously this is not your standard consumer CPU, but I'd got the board assuming that evga would put some time into testing it with Xeons, since they had such good support back in the Socket 1366/X56 days. 

 
Can you confirm that your Xeon works on the X79 Dark?
I have the exact same chip, but someone here says that it's won't work at all....

LFaWolf
Well, I bought the E5-2670 and upon turning in on the X79 Dark, it wouldn't boot at all. I thought the chip was bad but trying in on an ASUS RIVBE and x79 Deluxe and they booted up right away. I checked the supported CPUs of x79 Dark and E5-2670 is not on the list. I suspect it is not supported. I have the latest 2.13 BIOS.

He said something different

uazzamerican

LFaWolf
Well, I bought the E5-2670 and upon turning in on the X79 Dark, it wouldn't boot at all. I thought the chip was bad but trying in on an ASUS RIVBE and x79 Deluxe and they booted up right away. I checked the supported CPUs of x79 Dark and E5-2670 is not on the list. I suspect it is not supported. I have the latest 2.13 BIOS.

He said something different

He Who?

EVGATech_BrandonS
He means that another used tested this configuration and it does not work. Unfortunately, unlike memory a CPU really needs to be on the compatibility list in order to function with the motherboard. It's strange to me the E5 2680 works and the 2670 doesn't, but chances are it won't POST in this board.

Yes.
That's exactly what I mean.
And since I firmly believe that a "simple" update to the microcode could unlock support to all Xeons, do you think someone have a modded bios? Or even someone at EVGA could do this for us?
It's a great motherboard after all.

arestavo

uazzamerican

EVGATech_BrandonS
He means that another used tested this configuration and it does not work. Unfortunately, unlike memory a CPU really needs to be on the compatibility list in order to function with the motherboard. It's strange to me the E5 2680 works and the 2670 doesn't, but chances are it won't POST in this board.

Yes.
That's exactly what I mean.
And since I firmly believe that a "simple" update to the microcode could unlock support to all Xeons, do you think someone have a modded bios? Or even someone at EVGA could do this for us?
It's a great motherboard after all.

One of EVGA's techs laughed and said that my X79 Dark was old last year (while true the kid obviously didn't realize how slowly CPU tech for gaming has been progressing as of late). If that's the feeling then I highly doubt that EVGA will do anything more than replace dead/malfunctioning boards that are still under warranty.
 
There may be modders out there that can add in the necessary microcode that they pulled from other X79 consumer boards, but I haven't heard of any.
 
You could always just go with Asrock instead as they support just about every processor for the platform, unlike EVGA.

As for a Gaming Computer what is it that the Xeons CPU will give you over an i7 CPU on the X79 Platform?

arestavo

uazzamerican

EVGATech_BrandonS
He means that another used tested this configuration and it does not work. Unfortunately, unlike memory a CPU really needs to be on the compatibility list in order to function with the motherboard. It's strange to me the E5 2680 works and the 2670 doesn't, but chances are it won't POST in this board.

Yes.
That's exactly what I mean.
And since I firmly believe that a "simple" update to the microcode could unlock support to all Xeons, do you think someone have a modded bios? Or even someone at EVGA could do this for us?
It's a great motherboard after all.

One of EVGA's techs laughed and said that my X79 Dark was old last year (while true the kid obviously didn't realize how slowly CPU tech for gaming has been progressing as of late). If that's the feeling then I highly doubt that EVGA will do anything more than replace dead/malfunctioning boards that are still under warranty.
 
There may be modders out there that can add in the necessary microcode that they pulled from other X79 consumer boards, but I haven't heard of any.
 
You could always just go with Asrock instead as they support just about every processor for the platform, unlike EVGA.

That's really sad to know...
I am trying to update the microcodes thru UBU Tool, I don't know if it will help, I'll try tomorrow maybe.

That is good for you, but I suspect the board might be picking it up as a different CPU. What BIOS version are you using?