Main -> Wish list -> Motherboards -> Dual--processor LGA 1366 Superworkstation motherboard system
Dual-processor LGA 1366 Superworkstation motherboard
Updated 04.06.2010
Maximum productivity and connectivity Intel 5500/5600 system
I do not think there is any reason to build a dual-processor LGA 1366 Superworkstation motherboard system with a single northbridge
In principle, this is the same single-processor LGA 1366 Superworkstation board, but with two processors on-board.
Motherboard specification
Component in bold are mandatory, component in bold italic are for reference only - other with no worse characteristics may by used
Two-boards system supporting ten GPU/GPGPU cards.
The board will need a specially built cases - 6-8U-wide with PCU over or under the board for tower systems or 10-12U high with PSU under the board for rackmount systems with two motherboard trays.
Main board:
16.4" wide 13-slots eATX board
Two LGA 1366 processor sockets, supporting Intel 5500/5600 processors.
Two sets of six memory slots, supporting up to 192GB ECC memory
Though LGA 1366 supports up to nine memory slots per processor, the use of nine slots allows only 800MHz memory clock.
13 expansion slots and two parallel to the board PCIe x16 interconnection slots on the drive bays side.
Secondary board (installes onto the second motherboard tray):
16.4" wide board with 3 single-wide and 8 dual-wide slots and twh parallel to the board PCIe x16 interconnection slots on the drive bays side.
The two boards are connected to each other by two flexible PCIe x16 "risers" using interconnection slots.
Basic chipset
Main board:
- Two Intel 5520 northbridges: three PCIe x16 links (two wired to the interconnection slots), two PCIe x8 links and two PCIe x4 links
- Intel ICH10R southbridge: six PCI Express v.1.1 x1 links, 12 USB 2.0 ports, 6 SATA II Ports
- PLX PEX 8648 switch: PCIe x16 link into three PCIe x8 links (used by storage subsystem)
- PLX PEX 8613 switch: PCIe x4 link into two PCIe x4 links
- PLX PEX 8614 switch: PCIe x4 link into one PCIe x4, one PCIe x2 and two PCIe x1 links
- Intel 41110 bridge: PLX PEX 8614 PCIe x4 link into PCI-X bus, wired to two PCI-X 100MHz slots
Secondary board:
Graphics subsystem:
- PLX PEX 8647 switch - boards interconnection PCIe x16 link into two PCIe x16 links
- Lucid Hidra 200 LT24102 chip: PCIe x16 link (PLX PEX 8647) into two PCIe x16 links
- PLX PEX 8696 switch (used as a dual switch) - two LT24102 PCIe x16 links into four "GPU" PCIe x16 links
- PLX PEX 8680 switch: PCIe x16 link (PLX PEX 8647) into four "GPGPU" PCIe x16 links
Storage subsystem:
- PLX PEX 8648 switch: boards interconnection PCIe x16 link into three PCIe x8 links
On-board network
- 40GB Mellanox ConnectX-2 VPI InfiniBand/LAN chip providing 40GB InfiniBand and 10GB LAN connections - using Intel 5520 x8 link
- Intel 82580 Gigabit Ethernet controller - providing four RJ45 LAN ports - using PLX PEX 8614 PCIe x2 link
On-board storage
Main board:
- LSI LSISAS2008 6Gb/s SAS ROCs (support of hardware RAID 0, 1, 1E, 10) providing 8 SAS ports (2 internal miniSAS connectors) - using PLX PEX 8648 x8 link;
With up to six additional RAID cards will allow to support up to 12GB/s storage array
- Six internal SATA ports from Intel 3450;
- jMicron JMB362 controller, providing two eSATA ports - using Intel ICH10R PCIe x1 link
- jMicron JMB362 controller with two jMicron JM20330 SATA-to-IDE bridges, providing two hot swap IDE ports (4 devices) - using Intel ICH10R PCIe x1 link
On-board USB/FireWire
- Two NEC µPD720200 USB 3.0 2-ports Host Controller - 3 external, 1 internal USB 3.0 ports - using two PLX PEX 8614 PCIe x1 links;
- Six external, six internal USB 2.0 ports (from Intel ICH10R);
- Texas Instruments TSB83AA23 1394b chip: 2 external and 1 internal IEEE 1394b ports - using Intel ICH10R PCIe x1 link;
On-board Audio
- Realtec ALC888 codec - provides optical and copper S/DPIF, 6-jacks copper I/O and on-board stereo sound I/O - using Intel ICH10R audio channel;
Super I/O
- VIA VT1211 legacy ports chip, providing on-board COM port connector
Expansion slots (left to right - rear view)
Main board
Three PCIe x1 slots (Intel ICH10R)
PCIe x8 slot (Intel 5520)
Two storage subsystem PCIe x8 slots (PLX PEX 8648)
PCIe x4 slots (PLX PEX 8614)
Two PCIe x4 slots (PLX PEX 8613)
Two PCI-X 100MHz slots (Intel 41110)
Two PCI slots (Intel ICH10R)
Secondary board
Three PCIe x8 slots (storage subsystem)
Empty slot space
Eight dual-wide PCIe x16 slots (graphics subsystem)
I/O panel
One QSFP 40GB InfiniBand port
One SFP+ 10GB LAN port
Four RJ45 LAN ports
Three USB 3.0 ports
Six USB 2.0 ports
Two eSATA connectors
Two IEEE 1394b ports
Optical S/PDIF Out port
Copper S/PDIF Out port
6 x jack ports of audio I/O
Main board on-board connections
Six miniSAS 6G connectors
Six SATA ports
USB 3.0 header (1 port)
3 x 2 port USB 2.0 headers (6 ports)
IEEE 1394b header (1 port)
CD audio in connector
Front panel audio connector
1 x COM header (with PCI bracket - 1 COM, two USB connectors, two blank replacers to replace the unused COM or USB)
Of cause the board should support at least non-extreme system overcloking.
Special note for motherboard vendors:
The idea is free for use by any motherboards vendor, but I hope to get about $20000 bonus (in cash or mutually agreed hardware) as a "Thank you" for useful idea.