Upgrading a second HP Proliant ML350 G6, but... not without troubles...ugh.
Sometimes things just don't go right, well, this was one of those moments when upgrading this thing from a single CPU to a dual CPU.
This time I tried to record it in 4K, because it looks better than 1080P right? tried to make it look good on camera and, well, that didn't work out so well either. So I ended up with footage I wasn't happy with...but, if do nothing with it, well, it was a waste to record. So here it is, the clumsy upgrade of my 2nd Proliant ML350 :P
So what went wrong? Well, installing the CPU's didn't go well, tried to avoid hitting the camera and tripod, ended up using my left hand (while my handness is right) and couldn't get it right in the socket and looks horrible. Socket pins survived though.
Then one of the RAM sticks (the 'new' one I bought) had damaged pins, not too serious, but, took a while for getting it to work.
First few of my shots with the 4K camera were all corrupt, this is because of the power saving of the camera, switching it off. Starting it up again takes a few seconds, and if you press 'record' while it's not fully started...well, the video editor can't make heads or tails of it (still plays fine in a normal player, just can't edit it).
And finaly, after getting the few working files in, and make a compilation, the audio desyncs. All in all it took me 4 attempts to get the final 'acceptable' video rendered.
Heck, even uploading the video caused problems! The unlucky stike continues it seems.
Anyway, upgrading the ML350 G6 from single CPU to dual E5540. Yes, again the 5540. I wanted to go for hexacores, but it isn't very clear which version of the ML350 supports them and which doesn't. The CPU's aren't very expensive but, 25 euro's (guess about the same in USD) per CPU, not sure if it works? Nah, so played it safe and going for 2 E5540's again (3 euro each). Dispite their age and low clockspeed, in multithreaded applications it can still hold it's own (around the speed of an i7 4770K, which is still more expensive).
The memory I bought had 2 damaged pins, someone must have dropped it or something. The damaged pins made contact with eachother causing it not to work (PC still booted, just gave an error). After clearing the pins, so they didn't make contact with eachother anymore it worked fine.
In a follow up video, I place a PCI-e GPU and a soundcard to convert this server into a workstation for video editing.
Yes, it's old, but don't let the low-clockspeed fool you, as it can still hold it's own in multithreaded tasks like video editing. Ofcourse not as fast as a modern i7 8700K or Ryzen 2700x or something, but, those are also more expensive that this machine was. And besided, if not usefull, I still like the looks of these servers.
Q: What is that blue cord on your hand?
A: Anti static wristband, but elastic is long gone so I pull it over my hand
Q: Z0mg!one! you damage the socket that way!
A: I know, this is the worst ever LGA cpu installment I have ever done. Usualy I don't try to capture it on camera and so don't have to avoid hitting a camera or tripod. Better do it without camera next time I guess. CPU's and sockets did survive though.
Q: Harddisks? Pfffff
A: These 10K rpm drives are still quite fast. Not as fast as a SSD ofcourse but, in a raid config, these are way faster than conventional 7200rpm drives, a lot faster.
Q: What did you mean video corrupt? yet you can make screenshots of it!
A: Videofile itself playbacks fine in a mediaplayer, so I could make screenshots. However, in a video editor it doesn't work, audio desyncs badly, playback speed is wrong, halfway the clip it stops all together, and some files just made the editor crash. It happens when I start the camera when it's not fully 'booted', problem is, you can't see it on screen. Turned off the power saving of the camera, so it should be 'fixed' now, but a bit too late for the footage I shot for this video.
Q: It's soooo nousy! you can't possibly use that to work on can you?!
A: It's noisy, but I don't mind. Have had worse. As long as it isn't anoying resonating noise or anything I'm fine with it.
Q: ATI ES1000? Can it run Crysis?
A: No, and it can barely even run Windows. It actualy slows the PC down, that's why in the next video, I replace it with a GPU.
Q: Does it need 2 powersupplies with dual CPU?
A: No, 2nd proper supply is purely for redudancy. I haven't even connected it (the PSU is still there to fill the gap, otherwise dust and such can get into the connector of the powerboard).
Q: Do I need to place a VRM module for dual-cpu?
A: No, VRM's are on the motherboard itself.
Q: Do I need 4 fans with dual-cpu?
A: To my knowledge, yes. It most likely won't boot with 2 CPU's and only 2 fans.