Talos II/Hardware Compatibility List

This is a collection of components known to work with the Talos™ II-based solutions. It's maintained by both Raptor CS and community members.

Cases

Good Cases

These cases were successfully used by someone.

• InWin 909
  • Installation: Full-tower easily houses Talos II motherboard additionally requires no modifications, compatible out of the box.
  • Note on Second CPU: Second CPU installation may be difficult in this case due to front panel connectors being too short and requiring a routing configuration that blocks second CPU installation. Accommodating a second CPU likely requires pulling out the soldering iron and extending the connectors.
  • General Note: Case is almost one-solid piece of aluminum and tempered glass; just one of the best looking cases on the market if one can find it.

• SuperMicro SC732i-500B
  • Not recommended for 12 core and higher CPUs

• SuperMicro SC732D3-903B
  • No NIC 2 LED on front panel
  • Needed four pin extension cable for main chassis fan

• SuperMicro SC732D4-903B
  • Add-on sound card recommended
  • Add-on USB 2.0 card or USB 3.0 hub recommended

• SuperMicro 743AC-1200B-SQ (discontinued ) (Gyakovlev)
  • Hot swap drive capable; supports 12GB/s SAS3. Backplane uses 2 x Mini-SAS SFF-8643 ports, same as on Talos II board with SAS option.
  • Front panel is USB3.0, unlike many older Supermicro models, cable reaches board USB3.0 header easily.
  • Quiet. Handles 2x22 core CPUs just fine.
  • No standoff issues. Board fits like a glove, but to get it in removal of CPU0 Heatsink (closest to back panel) is required.
  • DO NOT PLUG PMBus PSU connector to motherboard. There's i2c conflict with PMBus and fan/thermal contriller and FPGA i2c will be inoperational until ATX power is on.

• SuperMicro SC747TQ-R1400B or SC747TG-R1400B-SQ
  • Hot swap drive capable; SAS recommended
  • Recommended for use with one or more high-end GPUs
  • Listed as EoL by Supermicro, replaced with 1620 versions. Same fan modules and PDU used in newer, higher watt, version. (Robbieab (talk))
  • System Assembly Video - SC747TG-R1400B-SQ

• Rosewill RSV-L4500
  • Fans are two wire and use molex connectors

• TCG TGC-H4-650
  • Physical dimensions and mounting hardware fit perfectly
  • Extremely Inexpensive Bare-bones 4U Chassis

• Lian Li PC-P80
  • Missing one standoff by the I/O shield
  • PW-IS40AV85AI0 upgrades the front panel to USB3

• Intertech 4U 4408
  • Fit perfectly with 10 standoff and I/O shield
  • Comes with two (somewhat noisy) 80mm fans with 4-wire connectors. Front-panel 2xUSBv3.0 3xNIC LEDs, Reset+Power.
  • Hot-swap SATA/SAS backplane
  • Too short for dual CPU but works great with Thalos II Lite and single 18-core CPU
  • Fairly cheap (~200 EUR)
  • Consider Intertech IPC 4U 4129-N for dual CPU which is a longer case

• Intertech 4U 4410
  • Long case so plenty of room for dual CPU
  • Fit perfectly with 10 standoff and I/O shield
  • Comes with two (somewhat noisy) 80mm fans with 4-wire connectors, and 3 (less noisy) 120mm fans that connects to power-supply.
  • Front-panel 2xUSBv3.0 3xNIC LEDs, Reset+Power.
  • Hot-swap SATA backplane with 10 SATA connectors
  • Fairly cheap (~200 EUR)

• Fractal Design Meshify 2 XL
  • All standoffs fit.
  • The motherboard covers some of the holes that pass between the cable routing area behind the motherboard and the main space above the motherboard.
  • Using a Fractal Design PSU, the cable for the ATX 24-pin power cable is too short to pass through the cable routing space and therefore must pass over the front of the board.
  • The screws that come with the case are coated with black enamel which is electrically insulating, so might not provide sufficient grounding.

• Fractal Design Torrent
  • All standoffs fit.
  • Available with solid panels instead of glass.
  • The motherboard covers some of the cable routing holes, remove 2 rubber grommets before installing the board.
  • Not a lot of storage options (2x3.5, 4x2.5), hard drive locations are not ventilated well, not recommended for io-heavy workloads or hot drives. Otherwise cooling is superb.

• Chenbro SR10769
  • Recommended for tank-like enterprise-y workstation builds. Exceptional quality, bombproof design.
  • Can be converted to 5U rackmount. Heavy, big, bulky. May require 2 person handling.
  • All standoffs fit, but needed to remove one semi-permanent standoff right below IO shield.
  • Optional 12G SAS/SATA hotswap cages available.
  • Good airflow, classic layout, plenty of IO, decent cable management compartment.
  • Can be made quiet, fans are 120mm and additional (optional) 92mm with non-hostwap cage. 92mm noctuas do not fit without slight grinding though.
  • - front USB is 2.0 but can be changed to standard spacing dual panel mount cable.
  • - 2 front fans that come with it are 3-pin DELTAs, not quiet. Rear is fine.

• ThermalTake Core X9
  • All screw holes lined up, except for the top two in the corner with the CPU. Plastic stand-offs where sufficient to get a secure fit.
  • Plenty of airflow, as the case has ventilation on the top, front, and one side (other side is an acrylic window).
  • Swapped the front fan for a Noctua NF-A20, as the ThermalTake-provided fan had only 3 pins, and the manual recommends 4-pin PWM fans. The NF-A20 was a tight fit with the front case cover, but the fan blades spin freely.

Problematic Cases

• BeQuiet Dark Base 900 (Robbieab (talk))
  • Claims to support E-ATX on the BeQuiet website
  • Infographic showing the motherboard space to only be 322mm deep, which is 8.2mm short of the full-size E-ATX.
  • Emailed them for clarification, but no response. Can't confirm either way.

• SuperMicro SC822
  • Low speed fans provide insufficient airflow over CPU0, leading to overheating if more than one 4-core CPU is installed.

• Supermicro SC747TQ-R1620B (Gyakovlev)
  • SuperMicro PWS-1K62P-1R PSUs are defective as designed and a hardware fix is required, this thing is literally feeding PWM signals into a protection system level gated pin.
  • Talos™ II Secure Workstation TL2WK2 is unaffected, as there's a hardware fix RCS developed and deploys on the TL2WK2.
  • Partial mitigation possible with patch for FPGA and external programmer (Bus Pirate 3.6a works) to flash it. After flashing place jumper on FPGA mode switch 1 header (page 39 of current manual). Fix is just a hack and unreliable.
  • Said PSUs are VERY loud.
  • probably possible to mitigate both mentioned problems by installing 2xPWS-1K28P-SQ (verification in progress, will update page)
    • I (Ullbeking) am currently experiment with 2x PWS-1K28P-SQ in my SC747 chassis, as replacements for the 2x PSW-1K41P-SQ that the system came with.
      • Current status is that BMC is powered on and serving SSH login on its NIC and its serial console, but host machine boot doesn't work. All I have attempted so far is a simple swap of the PSU's, and I have tested all possible combinations of PWS-1K28P-SQ PSU's.
      • Next steps include the following: update the FPGA firmware (possibly including patch above), update OpenBMC firmware, update PNOR firmware; all updates should converge to a "known good" combination of firmware versions.

• Athena Power RM-3U8G1043
  • Some motherboard standoffs needed to be removed, and others needed additional hight.
  • There was no standoff hole for the top right.
  • The support beam across the top of the case interferes with CPU2 heatsink, but can be easily removed.

Standoff Issues

Stand off issues appear to be a very common problem. In many cases mitigation may be possible.

• Fractal Design Define XL R2
  • Missing standoff holes for the top-left and top-middle positions.
  • Some alternative standoff in at least the top-middle position may be required to prevent too much bending of the motherboard while inserting RAM.

• BitFenix Aurora
  • Multiple missing standoff holes, some mitigation possible.

• Thermaltake Core W100 (See the Morgan's Revenge, by JollyRoger)
  • The positions of some standoffs are under components mounted on the back of the board. Careful measurement and attachment of only the standoffs that fit prior to installation of the motherboard is a necessity to avoid damaging the motherboard upon installation.
  • An add-on internal USB header is necessary to activate the extra 2 USB3 ports on the front panel.
  • The case is very spacious, with plenty of room and lots of space for many fans. Works well to provide necessary airflow and pressure within the case.
  • It is extremely important to have a good quality, powerful fan capable of withstanding high temperatures is required for the rear exhaust fan, which is very close to the rear CPU exhaust. A low quality fan in the rear exhaust port may hinder cooling.

• Thermaltake Core W200
  • Heavy, expensive, massive.
  • Compatible with caveats
    • Talos™ II mainboard will fit in E-ATX compatible side only (when viewed from rear of case, the right side) if the dual system case.
    • Missing standoff holes for the top-left and top-middle positions. (non-essential but ensure proper support when inserting and removing RAM to avoid bending mainboard)
    • Must remove wire-hole rubber grommets present under Talos™ II mainboard on right lower side for proper fit

• Nanoxia Deep Silence2 (Sharkcz, q66)
  • missing top-middle standoff hole, but I've used a plastic "flat" standoff instead (Sharkcz)
  • also missing top-left standoff hole at least on earlier DS2 revisions (q66, solved by drilling holes for both top-left and top-middle without using plastic standoffs, I sent feedback to Nanoxia in late December 2016 so perhaps the top-left hole was introduced silently)
  • all other standoff holes are present on the case
  • Power LED - red goes to pin 15, black to pin 16

• RAIJINTEK ASTERION PLUS (Model 0R200049) (cyrozap)
  • Missing standoff holes for the top-left and top-middle positions.
    • As a workaround the standoffs can be unscrewed and placed upside-down (screw threads facing up) under the motherboard holes.
    • This actually works surprisingly well, and thanks to the other screw points the motherboard is rigid enough that I don't worry too much about the weight of the HSFs flexing it.
    • That said, it's probably a good idea to always transport the system on its side and avoid bumping it if possible.
  • The hinged panels that open with handles are much nicer than fiddling with thumb screws, but annoying since it makes it slightly trickier to do things that involve both the inside and back panel of the case (e.g., inserting PCI-e cards).
  • The PSU is at the very bottom of the case, while all the motherboard power connectors are at the very top of the case, so this can cause some issues if your PSU's cables aren't long enough.
    • The EPS12V cables on my power supply had a few inches left over, but the main motherboard power cable was just barely able to reach from the other side of the case to the power connector.
  • The front of the case is sheet metal stuck to plastic using some double-sided adhesive tape, which doesn't seem to work very well.
    • When I received the case the front metal was starting to peel off a few inches (several cm) at the top and bottom.
    • It sticks back in place when I press on it, but I may need to get some better adhesive and re-apply it later.
  • For $170, I was hoping for something a little more robust, but at least it's pretty.

• possible mitigation is plastic standoff like ASS-10

• Corsair 760T (mosst)
  • Reasonably cheap.
  • Unusually tasteful aesthetics for a consumer/gaming case. Looks like something Aperture Science would come up with.
  • E-ATX boards fit, but the top-left and top-middle standoffs are missing, however this isn't much of a problem as the I/O panel helps hold the board in place.
  • Cable management may be difficult, as E-ATX boards cover most of the cable holes.

• Lian Li PC-V1000L (Maxmillian (talk))
  • Very "Apple" brushed aluminum aesthetic.
  • E-ATX boards fit, but standoff holes for the top-left and top-middle positions are missing. There's a hole where the top-right standoff is supposed to be, but it's too big to screw in an ordinary standoff.

Candidate Cases

These cases claim E-ATX support and are planned to be used, or were considered, by someone.

• Ceptagon CP-M1 (Vertical Case)
  • form factor is weird
  • It's a really tight fit for e-atx, but it works.
  • You can fit in a talos 2 lite
  • a talos 2 probably won't be able to fit without taking off one of the coolers to get the motherboard in, and then putting the cooler back on
• Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2 PH-ES620PC_BK
  • Were used in Vikings Talos II Secure Workstation builds (no longer available).

CPU Cooling Modifications

While not officially supported, some users have chosen to modify the cooling of their systems and are satisfied with the improved cooling and decreased sound. Proceed with caution.

• Dual 92mm fan CPU

To check the CPU temperature, see the building FAQ.

Power Supplies

When planning to run with both CPU sockets populated keep in mind that the power-supply should support also 2 8-pin EPS connectors.

• Seasonic - for spare cables (for example because you have the AOC-SHG3-4M2P card that requires additional 12V input) contact sander-europe.eu, got routed there by Seasonic support
• Seasonic PRIME 1300W
• Seasonic PRIME Ultra 850W Gold (SSR-850GD)
• Seasonic PRIME Ultra 650W
• Seasonic PRIME Ultra Titanium 1000W (SSR-1000TR)
• Seasonic Focus GX 750W (includes 2 EPS cables)
• FSP Group Twins ATX 1+1 Dual Module 700W 80 PLUS GOLD Hot Swappable Redundant Digital Power Supply (ebrasca)
  • Customer reported good build quality and proper functionality
• Corsair TX550M 80+ GOLD (MarcusC)
  • 2nd EPS power cable sold separately
• Corsair AX860
• Corsair HX1200i
• EVGA SuperNova 1200P2 1200W Platinum(mosst)
  • Works well, but the included ATX power cables may be too short if your PSU is mounted on the bottom of the case.
• SilverStone Strider gold S series 850W ATX. 80 plus gold certification. (Xilinder)
• SilverStone Strider ST1500

Memory

See POWER9 Hardware Compatibility List/Memory.

PCIe Devices

See POWER9 Hardware Compatibility List/PCIe Devices.

SAS/SATA Storage Drives

Connected via optional on-board PM8068 controller, or via PCIe controller. NVMe cards are also supported.

Boards with onboard SAS have one Mini-SAS HD 4i (SFF-8643) port, and four standard SATA-III ports. Both support both SAS and SATA at the electrical level.

Note: Microsemi Adaptec Series 8 RAID controllers do not support ATAPI CD-ROM, DVD, or tape devices.

Serial Adapters for J7701 Header

• Pinout Details

DTK/INTEL (compatible)

• CablesToGo 09480 (unverified)
• DB9M TO IDC10 SERIAL DTK PORT 07121
• Assmann Serial Slot Bracket AK-610300-003-E
  • Sold under PremiumCord brand (used by Sharkcz)
  • These are also available from Dodax.co.uk as the Digitus AK-610300-003-E[1] (tested by Ullbeking)
• E-ITX ACC3100[2] (tested by Bdragon)
• Supermicro CBL-0010L
• InLine Serielles Slotblech 33209[3] (tested by CrystalGamma), but the cable is so short that on the Talos II a PCIe slot is blocked (or two PCIe slots can only take very short cards).

AT/EVEREX (not compatible)

• StarTech PLATE9M16 - N.B. it is possible to disassemble the IDC connector, rearrange the wires from the ribbon cable and reassemble it to get the correct wiring.
• Gigabyte COM port
• CablesToGo 27550 (labelled Intel-compatible, but does not work) [4]

Serial Adapters for BMC TTL Auxiliary Serial Header

• Adafruit USB to TTL Serial Cable - Debug / Console Cable for Raspberry Pi [5]

Unfortunately the auxiliary serial port is disabled in software by default. To enable it temporarily for a given boot, interrupt U-Boot through the serial port in the prior section, and then enter the following commands at the ast# prompt:

setenv fit 0x20080000
setenv other_rfs 0x20300000
setenv uart2_fdt 0x90000000
fdt addr ${fit}
fdt get addr fit_fdt /images/fdt@1 data
fdt move ${fit_fdt} ${uart2_fdt}
fdt addr ${uart2_fdt}
fdt resize
setenv pin_path "/ahb/apb/syscon@1e6e2000/pinctrl@1e6e2000/"
setenv phandle 80
for pin in txd2 rxd2 nrts2 ndtr2 ndsr2 ncts2 ndcd2 nri2
do
    fdt set ${pin_path}${pin}_default linux,phandle <${phandle}>
    fdt set ${pin_path}${pin}_default phandle <${phandle}>
    setexpr phandle ${phandle} + 1
done
setenv uart2_path "/ahb/apb/serial@1e78d000"
fdt set ${uart2_path} status "okay"
fdt set ${uart2_path} pinctrl-names "default"
fdt set ${uart2_path} pinctrl-0 <0x00000050 0x00000051 0x00000052 0x00000053 0x00000054 0x00000055 0x00000056 0x00000057>
fdt addr ${fit}
if fdt get value ramdisk_conf /configurations/conf@1 ramdisk
then
    bootm ${fit}#conf@1 ${fit}#conf@1 ${uart2_fdt}
else
    bootm ${fit}#conf@1 ${other_rfs} ${uart2_fdt}
fi

After the system has booted, you can enable logins over the auxiliary serial port with:

systemctl start serial-getty@ttyS1.service