Supermicro M12SWA-TF GPU build

[Aventador]

Hi,
Does anyone have any luck with the following components:
- Supermicro M12SWA-TF
- Zotac RTX-3080 10Gb (x2)
- 1200W PS
This was a complete build purchased last week from Newegg with a Supermicro case and 128Gb RAM and two drives. Issue is that machine doesn’t post with either GPU in either of the 4 possible PCI-E x16 slots.
It works fine without the GPUs and I’ve had no problem loading alma Linux 8.5 off a usb stick. I’ve spent a day emailing Supermicro support and had a zoom to conclude GPUs are bad. Tried same GPUs in my old Supermicro SYS7038A-i and no luck either. That one has a Nvidia P4000 in it.
I have nearly 10 years experience with Supermicro and double that with other headless servers, Sun, Tyan so know that if the GPU has an issue I can still shell into server or use IPMI. Neither work here so inability to post impedes O/S booting. Anyone get this GPU working on this mobo?

Thanks,
Henry

 

[Jerry James]

Hey Henry, I haven't really heard of any compatibility issues like this one. Did you try contacting Zotac support? They're notorious for bad off-the-shelf experiences with too many DOAs. I've personally had 2 brand new graphics cards just show up dead and had to RMA/return them.

 

[Aventador]

Hey Jerry,
It's a server so no issues setting up headless. I did have to do a transplant with my old P4000 GPU as I use it as a desktop. It's a 32 core Threadripper PRO. My gut feeling is that with these massive 3 fan cards, builder should ship cards separately in original box and let customer install himself. Nothing seemed damaged upon delivery and the PCI slots looked ok, but it would never allow the O/S to boot up when on board.
I did get an RMA from Zotac and awaiting new cards. This system had IPMI as well so everything could be done from one keyboard. Odd thing was that initially, the same LAN port was used for both IPMI and system (different IPs) but somewhere after updating Alma Linux, that broke and I had to use both LAN ports (including the 10G one).

 

[Jerry James]

Hey Jerry,
It's a server so no issues setting up headless. I did have to do a transplant with my old P4000 GPU as I use it as a desktop. It's a 32 core Threadripper PRO. My gut feeling is that with these massive 3 fan cards, builder should ship cards separately in original box and let customer install himself. Nothing seemed damaged upon delivery and the PCI slots looked ok, but it would never allow the O/S to boot up when on board.
I did get an RMA from Zotac and awaiting new cards. This system had IPMI as well so everything could be done from one keyboard. Odd thing was that initially, the same LAN port was used for both IPMI and system (different IPs) but somewhere after updating Alma Linux, that broke and I had to use both LAN ports (including the 10G one).

Yep, the graphics card, when pre-installed and shipped in a pre-built, is one of the things that almost always ends up DOA
Did the RMA request go through?

 

[Aventador]

RMA request has gone through. Zotac got my two GPUs back on Monday and will test them shortly.
To my surprise, I learned that the frames on both were cracked. What this refers to is shown in the two pictures I am attaching below.



I have an image that I took originally but had not noticed any such damage when taking the cards out to test different PCIe slots or when testing it in my old supermicro kit.





The second one is when I tested it in the old kit and was not aware of that small crack.

According to the RMA tech, the GPUs will be warrantied but they will swap the cracked frame back on the replacement cards after testing if replacement is required. This is a bit odd. Could the crack have resulted from the shipment?

 

[Jerry James]

Could the crack have resulted from the shipment?

Oh yes, that looks like shipping damage to me. That should be a replacement, from either the retailer or manufacturer depending on consumer laws in your region. Hopefully it's resolved and you have a working GPU by now?

 

[Aventador]

The vendor has verified that both GPUs were defective and I am now waiting for replacement. Still working on older P4000 GPU just fine.