I think this should fit in the case just fine. Should also power quite a few VM’s using Proxmox as well.
Mat
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Hi Mat. That Epyc path really interests me as well. Do you have experience with the seller? I am reluctant to shell out hundreds of dollars and then find out there’s a problem with the goods.
I also would need 10Gbit so something along the line of SuperMicro H12SSL-NT … much more expensive, though. But I am a beginner, when it comes to server boards and to connecting disks/backplanes to it. E.g. is an additional HBA a must? I need a lot to learn before buying anything.
Please post updates if you narrow down your specs.
tugm4470 has a pretty solid reputation on Serve The Home forums.
I just picked up a new EPYC 7543 from him this week, arrived within 7 days to Australia.
Stick with Supermicro or TYAN motherboards and avoid ASRockRack like the plague.
Mine showed up today. Looks brand new. Very impressed. Now I’m just waiting for something to install it in. 
Mat
How long did the shipping take?
As a third hand anecdote I did see a bunch of people purchasing from that seller on reddit and some other internet places. I didn’t see anything but good reviews YMMV. But I’m putting in an order soon.
Ordered Oct 8th and arrived on the 12th. I am in Utah. Came with the io plate and Samsung memory. Everything looks great. Ordered this cpu fan as well so fitting it in the case should not be an issue. AMD epyc 2U active SP3 TR4 4 heat pipe CPU radiator Ⅹ 399 H11DSi | eBay
Looking for an appropriate power supply now.
That’s such a shame to hear. I had high hopes and really wanted to see another MoBo mfg’r in this space. I know Asus DID make servers for a while but I’m not sure on the state of them. My only experience with an Asus server was a really finicky storage box that would need a legacy boot to clear the LSI controller cache and then a reboot into UEFI. Would only happen during inadvertent hard shutdowns, but still not great. The KVM was also pretty bad and had some serious security concerns too.
I’ve been thinking Epyc as well, but what about potential performance impacts for Zenbleed mitigations? The 7002 series is Zen2, so it’s in the affected range.
Just wanted to chime in for anyone else who might be reading this thread, I have bought 2 CPU/Mem/motherboard combos from tugm4470 and both arrived to Chicago within 5-7 business days with no problems. Any questions I had were responded to pretty quickly considering the time difference and all that and a lot of other people have bought from them on the servethehome forums.
So just one question. with the threadripper how will you do Plex transcoding? Cache, RAM, or an attached video card. I had been leaning towards an Intel I 12 or 13 because of Plex transcoding but than I worry if I am missing out on too many PCI lanes and perhaps PCI 5 express
I use a NVIDIA GPU on the AMD-based systems. There’s a good cheat sheet over here:
Curious why that is? I’ve been pleased with an Asrock mobo for my ryzen system. The big selling point to me is no extra license required for IPMI.
My issues with them are:
- Dont respond to support tickets (3 so far)
- Dont update all motherboards BIOS released in recent years
- Their server line has CPU throttling issues due to poor fan control
- Possibly the worst documentation for infrastructure products Ive ever seen.
I was evaluating their servers for a client.
No new BIOS also means they’re also not packaging in microcode updates when the CPU manufacturer experiences a security issue requiring a microcode update to mitigate.
Depending on OS, there are other ways to get your CPU microcode updated, but “Don’t update all motherboards BIOS released in recent years” isn’t a fantastic look for a manufacturer.
Thanks for this thread; I’m looking at exactly this seller. Specifically this 8c/16t combo:
I’m not familiar with this grade of CPU, and meaningfully comparing them especially across brands is something I still struggle with.
How does the EPYC 7251 compare in terms of performance and power usage to, say, an Intel Xeon Silver 4108 (8C16T), which I believe to the 8c/16t upgrade option for the board included in the full build from 45Drives?
If you want a breakdown of each model of Epyc take a look at the wikipedia page.
One item to point out is that the last digit indicates the generation. I personally would do gen 2 or higher.
Mat
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Thanks, @mat.murdock . 
It looks like Gen 2 Epyc gets you PCIe 4.
In terms of raw performance, which Gen 2 Epyc would fall closest to the Xeon Gold 6132? The 6132 is–I think–the most powerful CPU that will work with the motherboard in the full build. I’m kind of curious if the closest equivalent Epyc is considerably more power efficient.
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I would choose the EPYC for pure perf in that comparison, no idea on power.
For sure.
But honestly, I’m buying this thing to use as a bare metal storage server. The stock Xeon is more than enough for my needs, and I don’t have the time to build a whole computer right now and troubleshoot it and set it up and–
I would just really enjoy being able to get something in the mail, plug it in and go. I can always swap out the guts for Epyc later. At this point, I’m more curious how close I can get with the stock motherboard to Gen 2 Epyc performance with a CPU upgrade, just so I have an idea of how far I can go with this board.
Skylake vs. Rome, I think these are really the two CPUs in the shootout. You’re only getting PCIe 3.0 and less lanes (48) with Intel. You get PCIe 4.0 and far more lanes (128) with AMD. It isn’t dramatically more efficient to run the AMD CPU in TDP terms.
They’re all about $50 on eBay. If you’d been buying new whenever these launched a few years ago, the Intel was $2000 and AMD was $600.
Versus the stock board a 6132 is a downgrade in the sense it’s coming with a Cascade Lake and you’d be swapping in a Skylake but you can consult what changed in more detail here:
Some quick data comparing these two -
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/3227vs3731/Intel-Xeon-Gold-6132-vs-AMD-EPYC-7272
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