This blog is for my own notes. If you run into it from Google and get an answer or have a question, well that's cool too.
The Dell PowerEdge 6850 server comes in many variants, but only two primary variants actually matter. There are two series designations; original and Series II. The main and only difference is support for 800MHz bus. Systems that support 800MHz bus systems are Series II, are referred to as 800T systems, and use separate motherboards, memory risers, voltage regulators, and of course CPUs. Various BIOS revisions also dictate CPU support based on the date of release. A fully updated system should support any CPU designed for the Socket including Paxville and Tulsa. The trick for 800T based systems is to have the right VRMs in place for multiple processors. If you only intend to have 2 CPUs, you need nothing more than an 800T motherboard and 2 667/800 Memory risers to accomplish your goal. If you want 4 CPUs, you'll need SPECIFIC YC902 A01 CPU VRMs and 1 PD838 Cache VRM. Your system WILL NOT post without these 3 VRMs in place when Tulsa CPUs are used. If you have a Paxville 7041, the cache VRM is not required! Beware of K5331 VRMs for sale masked as PD838. The PD838 has a heatsink on only one side -- I purchased one from Dell directly to confirm. Purchasing from Dell is almost as cheap as third party for brand new, I might even recommend it.
Below are some known part numbers to make life easier (and searchable!)
Dell PowerEdge 6850 Motherboard Planar 800T - RD318
Dell PowerEdge 6850 Memory Riser 667/800 - ND891
Dell PowerEdge 6850 CPU VRM 800T - YC902 (version 10.2, important)
Dell PowerEdge 6850 Cache VRM 800T - PD838 (Tulsa Support for big cache)
Awesome CPUs supported: 7041 7120M 7130M 7140M 7150M
I have NOT tested 667 support for rock and roll CPUs except for 7040.
However, they are: 7040 7110N 7120N 7130N 7140N 7150N.
That's pretty much everything I know about the 6850. A note: there are TWO firmwares for this system - one for the motherboard and a second auxiliary system firmware. Be sure to keep both updated for proper CPU support. When in doubt, buy two low-mHZ pre-dual core Xeon MPs for Socket 602 for a couple bucks and you should be able to boot no problem for BIOS fixes and the like.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI read your post with interest because I have PE 6850 first generation, and I try to install Xeon 7140N with no success... CPU are FSB 667 so they can be work with this generation, no ? I update bios to A06 and BMC firmware to 1.83 with no success... Do you have any idea ?
Thanks à lot !
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to let you know that the Xeon 7150N is supported with this configuration. After contacting Dell support, they informed me that the 7150N 'should' be compatible but has not been tested by their engineering. Since I had 4 of them laying about already and I desperately needed to turn my 6850 into a Hyper-V server, I ordered the components listed in your blog. One thing to consider when ordering the RD318 is the revision number. I specifically ordered revision A03, the last revision Dell shipped. It came with BIOS revision A04, which detected the 7150Ns just fine even before it was updated to BIOS A06.
Thanks much for the excellent and informative blog post!
Memory Riser 667/800 - 0ND891 wouldn't work ?
ReplyDelete