Mining rig extraordinaire - the Trenton BPX6806 18-slot PCIe backplane [PICS]

[DeathAndTaxes]

EVE female voice:  "Skill training completed"

Yeah he got Wiring IV for sure but it is Wiring V which takes forever.

[Spotswood]

Those DPS-2000BB power supplies are a nice find.

Only problem I just discovered is that they do not have their own fans. So it will be necessary to hook up some fans to them so they don't overheat and die. Also, the 2000 watt version is less efficient than the 2500 watt version, and the 2500 watt version isn't for sale anywhere that I can find.

Are there mounting holes for fans and for what size?

[minero1]

Those DPS-2000BB power supplies are a nice find.

Only problem I just discovered is that they do not have their own fans. So it will be necessary to hook up some fans to them so they don't overheat and die. Also, the 2000 watt version is less efficient than the 2500 watt version, and the 2500 watt version isn't for sale anywhere that I can find.

did you find testing reports? link please

[rjk]

Those DPS-2000BB power supplies are a nice find.

Only problem I just discovered is that they do not have their own fans. So it will be necessary to hook up some fans to them so they don't overheat and die. Also, the 2000 watt version is less efficient than the 2500 watt version, and the 2500 watt version isn't for sale anywhere that I can find.

Are there mounting holes for fans and for what size?

Not sure, those PSUs are intended for use in blade servers that have their own cooling. The PSUs that I actually currently own have their own fans.

[rjk]

Those DPS-2000BB power supplies are a nice find.

Only problem I just discovered is that they do not have their own fans. So it will be necessary to hook up some fans to them so they don't overheat and die. Also, the 2000 watt version is less efficient than the 2500 watt version, and the 2500 watt version isn't for sale anywhere that I can find.

did you find testing reports? link please

Actually, I thought I had found the report for the 2000 watt version, but I must have been mistaken as I cannot find it anymore. The report for the 2500 watt version is here: http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/psu_reports/IBM%20CORP_DPS-2500BB%20A_2500W_SO-172_Report.pdf However it is not available for sale anywhere that I have found.

[DiabloD3]

BTW, they do make redundant PSUs that use 4 or 6 ATX-sized modules meant for 2000-4000 watt blade servers.

[rjk]

BTW, they do make redundant PSUs that use 4 or 6 ATX-sized modules meant for 2000-4000 watt blade servers.

I've been picking apart the 80plus certification list, so I'm pretty much certain that I have not missed anything that is 80plus certified. But if you know of something that has good efficiency but isn't shown on plugloadsolutions.com, then let me know. Also I need to be able to get it cheap on ebay

[DiabloD3]

BTW, they do make redundant PSUs that use 4 or 6 ATX-sized modules meant for 2000-4000 watt blade servers.

I've been picking apart the 80plus certification list, so I'm pretty much certain that I have not missed anything that is 80plus certified. But if you know of something that has good efficiency but isn't shown on plugloadsolutions.com, then let me know. Also I need to be able to get it cheap on ebay

Dude, enterprise PSUs were 80plus a decade before Antec started the 80plus program (which indecently was to attack PC Power and Cooling, their biggest competitor.... and all PCP&C did was affix 80plus stickers to their PSUs with zero changes in design. Sadly, PCP&C was bought by OCZ, OCZ moved it to China, and all the MK II products are fucking shit).

However, I was thinking about something like this: http://www.supermicro.com/products/SuperBlade/powersupply/

3000 watt, seems to use standard sized redundant modules, 4 of them, 250A of 12v, 94% peak efficiency.

[marked]

EVE female voice:  "Skill training completed"

Dune2 voice: "Unit created", "Unit created", "Unit created", "Unit created", ...

marked

[rjk]

BTW, they do make redundant PSUs that use 4 or 6 ATX-sized modules meant for 2000-4000 watt blade servers.

I've been picking apart the 80plus certification list, so I'm pretty much certain that I have not missed anything that is 80plus certified. But if you know of something that has good efficiency but isn't shown on plugloadsolutions.com, then let me know. Also I need to be able to get it cheap on ebay

Dude, enterprise PSUs were 80plus a decade before Antec started the 80plus program (which indecently was to attack PC Power and Cooling, their biggest competitor.... and all PCP&C did was affix 80plus stickers to their PSUs with zero changes in design. Sadly, PCP&C was bought by OCZ, OCZ moved it to China, and all the MK II products are fucking shit).

However, I was thinking about something like this: http://www.supermicro.com/products/SuperBlade/powersupply/

3000 watt, seems to use standard sized redundant modules, 4 of them, 250A of 12v, 94% peak efficiency.

Good points. I have actually seen that PSU - it is on the 80plus list under the 240volt section, but I can't find it for sale, at least not at a reasonable price. If you know of a cheap source, I'd be interested.

[DiabloD3]

BTW, they do make redundant PSUs that use 4 or 6 ATX-sized modules meant for 2000-4000 watt blade servers.

I've been picking apart the 80plus certification list, so I'm pretty much certain that I have not missed anything that is 80plus certified. But if you know of something that has good efficiency but isn't shown on plugloadsolutions.com, then let me know. Also I need to be able to get it cheap on ebay

Dude, enterprise PSUs were 80plus a decade before Antec started the 80plus program (which indecently was to attack PC Power and Cooling, their biggest competitor.... and all PCP&C did was affix 80plus stickers to their PSUs with zero changes in design. Sadly, PCP&C was bought by OCZ, OCZ moved it to China, and all the MK II products are fucking shit).

However, I was thinking about something like this: http://www.supermicro.com/products/SuperBlade/powersupply/

3000 watt, seems to use standard sized redundant modules, 4 of them, 250A of 12v, 94% peak efficiency.

Good points. I have actually seen that PSU - it is on the 80plus list under the 240volt section, but I can't find it for sale, at least not at a reasonable price. If you know of a cheap source, I'd be interested.

Try emailing Supermicro.

[phorensic]

Wait, what?  80plus is old news and all you find on the official list is consumer parts?  Eff me running

[rjk]

Wait, what?  80plus is old news and all you find on the official list is consumer parts?  Eff me running

Click the 230volt tab, all the non-consumer parts are there.

[tnkflx]

How many GPU's are you hoping to use in this box?

[DiabloD3]

How many GPU's are you hoping to use in this box?

OVER 9000!

[rjk]

How many GPU's are you hoping to use in this box?

As many as I can cram in... I count 18 slots, which gives me 36 GPUs IF I am able to use all the slots, and IF I can get software to support them. At least one, and maybe even 2 of the slots appear to be "reserved" or may require an expansion board in order to be useable. The other 16 are fair game though. Dual GPU cards would then mean 32 GPUs total.

I have been experimenting with removing the plastic shroud on my 5870s - as you may know, 5870s (and most other graphics cards) fit very close together if you use adjacent slots. There is usually no gap to speak of, which makes airflow impossible unless you use shims to wedge the cards apart. When the plastic is removed, there is tons of space between the cards. See pic:



I have discovered that doing this leaves enough of a gap to fit in an x16 extender, which means that I could mount 8 cards directly to the board, and an additional 8 to 10 cards one level up via x16 extenders, double stacker style. Combined with some special cooling apparatus, this should allow me to air cool all the cards, while still fitting within a 7 or 8 U chassis.

[1l1l11ll1l]

How many GPU's are you hoping to use in this box?

As many as I can cram in... I count 18 slots, which gives me 36 GPUs IF I am able to use all the slots, and IF I can get software to support them. At least one, and maybe even 2 of the slots appear to be "reserved" or may require an expansion board in order to be useable. The other 16 are fair game though. Dual GPU cards would then mean 32 GPUs total.

I have been experimenting with removing the plastic shroud on my 5870s - as you may know, 5870s (and most other graphics cards) fit very close together if you use adjacent slots. There is usually no gap to speak of, which makes airflow impossible unless you use shims to wedge the cards apart. When the plastic is removed, there is tons of space between the cards. See pic:



I have discovered that doing this leaves enough of a gap to fit in an x16 extender, which means that I could mount 8 cards directly to the board, and an additional 8 to 10 cards one level up via x16 extenders, double stacker style. Combined with some special cooling apparatus, this should allow me to air cool all the cards, while still fitting within a 7 or 8 U chassis.

Just grab yourself one of these, they move massive amounts of air. Would easily cool all 36GPUswithout fan/heatsink shroud.

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-portable-ventilator-97762.html

[rjk]

I have some extremely loud and high velocity 120mm Delta fans that are like 1.5 inch thick and dangerous to operate. Came out of an old PSU. Wonder where I can order more in bulk - sc8nt4u's fans might work, but I assume they are standard thickness of about 3/4 inch and not as high velocity/CFM. Also, since the card's built in fans are being removed, it is imperative that my external fans are redundant and reliable.

BTW - when cleaning off old thermal paste, it is really hard to remove it from around the little resistors around the GPU core. Is there any kind of solvent that will remove it without damaging the GPU? Alcohol perhaps? I'm guessing the old stuff isn't conductive, since it was slathered like peanut butter all over the entire GPU including the little resistors.

[DeathAndTaxes]

alcohol works but it doesn't really dissolve the TIM.

If found this works good.  Yes a ripoff @ $7 for small bottle (good for 10 GPU at least) but it works very well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100010

For cleaning up bad thermal paste jobs which got some of the resistors I have found a method which works well.  Using the #1 cleaner in the link above, let it dissolve some of the thermal paste, mop it up with qtips.  You aren't really scrubbing it (which just smears the paste around to other resistors) more using the qtip like a sponge.  It will take 3 or 4 passes but you can get any surface perfectly clean.

[Cablez]

I use 99% rubbing alcohol and qtips for the final cleanup work on gpus. It is more the working of the qtips than the alcohol that gets it done though.  Dry blast of air and ready for more heat!