Lenovo System x3850 X5, 7143 Product Manual

System x3850 X5 (7143)

Product Guide

The x3850 X5 server is the fifth generation of the Enterprise X-Architecture, delivering innovation with
enhanced reliability and availability features to enable optimal performance for databases, enterprise
applications, and virtualized environments. Environments that run around the clock to supply information
world-wide require dependable servers with features that can tolerate a component failure without total
shutdown.

The x3850 X5 server packs numerous fault-tolerant and high-availability features into a high-density, rack­optimized package that helps to significantly reduce the space needed to support massive network
computing operations. A single x3850 X5 supports up to four of the new Intel Xeon E7 high-performance
10-core processors and up to 3 TB of memory. Two x3850 X5 servers can be connected together to form a
single-system image with up to eight processors and up to 6 TB of RAM. This processing capacity is ideal
for large-scale database or virtualization requirements. Figure 1 shows the System x3850 X5.

Figure 1. The System x3850 X5

Did you know?

The x3850 X5 is an ideal server for enterprise database and virtualization workloads. The x3850 X5 held #1
scores in five industry-standard benchmarks. This included a four-socket TPC-C (database benchmark)
result of over 2.3 million transactions per minute (27% better than the closest HP result at the time) and
world record TPC-H (business intelligence) price performance result.

System x3850 X5 (7143) 1

Key features

The x3850 X5 is a mission-critical 4U four-socket server, capable of expanding to up to 8 processor
sockets and 6 TB of memory in 10U of rack space. It offering outstanding performance, and superior
reliability and fault-tolerant memory characteristics.

Lenovo eX5 technology represents the fifth generation of enterprise servers based on the same design
principle that began with in 1997: to offer systems that are expandable, offer “big iron” reliability,
availability, and serviceability (RAS) features, with extremely competitive price/performance on an Intel
Xeon processor-based system.

Scalability and performance

The x3850 X5 offers numerous features to boost performance, improve scalability, and reduce costs:

The x3850 X5 supports up to four high-performance Intel Xeon E7 family allowing you to upgrade as
business needs require.

Scalable to eight processors by connecting two x3850 X5 servers together to form a single system
image.

Each x3850 X5 scalable to 2 TB of memory internally or 3 TB of memory with the addition of the
MAX5 V2 memory expansion unit. With two x3850 X5 servers each with MAX5 units, the total
available system memory is up to 6 TB.

Supports the Intel Xeon E7-2800, E7-4800 and E7-8800 families of high performance processors,
up to 10 cores each, offering superior system performance

Intel Turbo Boost Technology dynamically turns off unused processor cores and increases the clock
speed of the cores in use, by up to three model frequencies. For example, with 7-10 cores active, a

2.4 GHz E7-2870 10-core processor can run the cores at up to 2.53 GHz. With 5-6 cores active, it
can run those cores at 2.67 GHz; with only 1-4 cores active, it can run those cores at 2.8 GHz

Each processor includes two integrated memory controllers, to reduce memory bottlenecks and
improve performance. Memory access is at up to 1066 MHz frequency, depending on the processor
model and memory used.

The MAX5 V2 adds an additional four memory controllers for a total of eight memory controllers to
maximize memory parallelism and performance.

In processors implementing Hyper-Threading technology, each core has two threads capable of
running an independent process. Thus, an 8-core processor can run 16 threads concurrently.

Intel’s Virtualization Technology (VT) integrates hardware-level virtualization hooks that allow
operating system vendors to better utilize the hardware for virtualization workloads.

Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) technology for processor-to-processor connectivity and Intel
Scalable Memory Interconnect (SMI) processor-to-memory connectivity:

Intel QPI link topology at up to 6.4 Gbps with four QPI links per CPU
Intel SMI link topology at up to 6.4 Gbps with four SMI links per CPU

Up to 64 DIMM sockets in the server (eight per memory card), plus an additional 32 DIMMs with an
optional 1U MAX5 V2 memory expansion unit, for a total of 96 DIMM sockets. With two x3850 X5
servers each with MAX5 units, the total number of DIMM sockets is 192.

The use of solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of, or along with, traditional spinning drives (HDDs) can
significantly improve I/O performance. An SSD can support up to 100 times more I/O operations per
second (IOPS) than a typical HDD.

Up to 24 1.8-inch SSD bays, or up to 16 2.5-inch bays together with the option of an optical drive,
provide a flexible and scalable all-in-one platform to meet your increasing demands.

Seven PCIe 2.0 slots for maximum I/O expandability

System x3850 X5 (7143) 2

Availability and serviceability

The x3850 X5 provides many features to simplify serviceability and increase system uptime:

Support for machine check architecture (MCA) recovery, a feature of the Intel Xeon processor E7
family, which enables the handling of system errors that otherwise require the operating system to
be halted. SAP HANA is one of the first application which leverages the MCA recovery to handle
system errors in order to prevent the application from being terminated in case of a system error.

Extensive memory protection with Chipkill, and, with DIMMs containing x4 DRAM modules,
Redundant Bit Steering (RBS) (also known as Double Device Data Correction or DDDC) is also
supported . The combination of Chipkill and RBS provides very robust memory protection that
sustains to two sequential memory DRAM chip failures without affecting overall system
performance.

Redundant CPU-to-I/O hub interconnect links provide ability to self-recover from CPU failure. If
primary CPU fails then eX5 systems can use the second CPU to boot the OS as they still have
access to the integrated I/O devices because of redundant links between CPUs and I/O hubs.

Single image 8-way systems consisting of two interconnected 4-way nodes provide self-healing
capabilities in case of single node failure. Two independent nodes form a resilient 8-way
configuration. In case of single node failure the system can be restarted in degraded mode thus
eliminating unexpected downtime that requires service specialist to recover.

Memory mirroring and memory rank sparing for redundancy in the event of a non-correctable
memory failure.

Hot-swap drives, supporting RAID redundancy for data protection and greater system uptime.

Two 1975 W hot-swap power supplies and five fans (three hot-swap, two integrated into the power
supplies).

The power source independent light path diagnostics panel and individual light path LEDs quickly
lead the technician to failed (or failing) components, which simplifies servicing, speeds up problem
resolution, and helps improve system availability.

Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA) detects when system components (processors, VRMs, memory,
HDDs, fans, and power supplies) operate outside of standard thresholds and generates proactive
alerts in advance of a possible failure, therefore increasing uptime.

Solid-state drives (SSDs) offer significantly better reliability than traditional mechanical HDDs for
greater uptime.

Built-in Integrated Management Module (IMM) continuously monitors system parameters, triggers
alerts, and performs recovering actions in case of failures to minimize downtime.

Built-in diagnostics, using Dynamic Systems Analysis (DSA) Preboot, speed up troubleshooting
tasks to reduce service time.

Three-year customer-replaceable unit and on-site limited warranty, 9x5 next business day. Optional
service upgrades are available.

Manageability and security

Powerful systems management features simplify local and remote management of the x3850 X5:

The server includes an Integrated Management Module (IMM) to monitor server availability and
perform remote management.

Integrated industry-standard Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) enables improved setup,
configuration, and updates, and simplifies error handling.

Integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 support enables advanced cryptographic
functionality, such as digital signatures and remote attestation.

IBM Systems Director is included for proactive systems management. It offers comprehensive
systems management tools that help to increase uptime, reduce costs, and improve productivity

System x3850 X5 (7143) 3

through advanced server management capabilities.

Energy efficiency

The x3850 X5 offers the following energy-efficiency features to save energy, reduce operational costs,
increase energy availability, and contribute to the green environment:

Energy-efficient planar components help lower operational costs.

Support for one or two or four highly efficient 675 W ac power supplies allows for efficient use and
scalability to meet the power requirements of the installed components.

Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family offers significantly better performance over the
previous generation while fitting into the same thermal design power (TDP) limits.

Low-voltage Intel Xeon processors draw less energy to satisfy the demands of power and thermally
constrained data centers and telecommunication environments.

Low-voltage 1.35 V DDR3 memory RDIMMs consume 15% less energy compared to 1.5 V DDR3
RDIMMs.

Solid state drives (SSDs) consume as much as 80% less power than traditional spinning 2.5-inch
HDDs.

The server uses hexagonal ventilation holes, which is a part of Calibrated Vectored Cooling™
technology. Hexagonal holes can be grouped more densely than round holes, providing more
efficient airflow through the system.

IBM Systems Director Active Energy Manager™ provides advanced data center power notification
and management to help achieve lower heat output and reduced cooling needs.

Locations of key components

Figure 2 shows the front of the server with the front bezel removed.

Figure 2. Front view of the System x3850 X5

Figure 3 shows the rear of the server.

System x3850 X5 (7143) 4

Figure 3. Rear view of the System x3850 X5

Figure 4 shows the locations of key components inside the server.

Figure 4. Inside view of the System x3850 X5

The x3850 X5 supports the addition of the MAX5 memory expansion unit. This 1U device is cabled directly
to the server and provides an additional 512 GB of memory capacity for applications that can benefit from
the extra RAM. Figure 5 shows the MAX5 optional memory expansion unit.

System x3850 X5 (7143) 5

Figure 5. Inside view of the MAX5 optional memory expansion unit for the System x3850 X5

Standard specifications

The following table lists the standard specifications.

Table 1. Standard specifications

Components Specification

Machine type 7143

Firmware IBM-signed firmware

Form
factor/height

Rack/4U per chassis; MAX5 adds 1U.

Scalability Machine type 7143 can scale as follows:

One server (4U rack-mounted complex)

One server with MAX5 memory expansion unit (5U rack-mounted complex)

Two servers with two MAX5 memory expansion units (10U rack-mounted complex)

Processor
type

Machine type 7143: Intel Xeon E7-8800 and E7-4800 families, up to 10 cores.

Number of
processors

Most models: 2 standard (some 4 standard); 4 maximum.

Cache (max) Up to 30 MB L3 cache

Memory
DIMM
sockets

Up to eight memory cards, each with eight DIMM sockets (64 DIMM sockets total).
MAX5 adds 32 DIMM sockets.

Memory
maximums

2.0 TB using 32 GB DIMMs. Up to 3.0 TB with the addition of MAX5.
With two x3850 X5 servers and two MAX5 units, total capacity up to 6.0 TB

System x3850 X5 (7143) 6

Expansion
slots

Eight slots total:

Seven PCIe 2.0 slots (one used by 10 Gb Ethernet card, if included).

One PCIe 2.0 slot for supported RAID card.

Disk bays Eight 2.5" hot-swap SAS or sixteen 1.8" solid-state drives (SSD).

Maximum
internal
storage

Using NL SAS HDDs: 8 TB per chassis with eight 1 TB drives
Using 2. 5-inch SSDs: 12.8 TB per chassis with eight 1.6 TB drives
Using eXFlash solid-state drives: 8 TB per chassis with 16x 512 GB SSDs

Network
interface

Two 1 Gb Ethernet ports. Broadcom 5709C controller.
Emulex 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter standard on most models with two 10 Gb Ethernet ports

Power supply
(std/max)

Up to two hot-swap redundant 1975 W power supplies

Hot-swap
components

Power supplies, fans, hard disk drives, and solid-state-drives.

RAID support 7143: Integrated RAID-0, RAID-1 with ServeRAID M1015 in dedicated PCIe slot

Optional RAID-5, 6, 10, 50, 60

External
ports

Rear: Four scalability ports , one Ethernet for systems management, one serial port, four USB 2.0,
one VGA, two Gb Ethernet
Front: Two USB 2.0
Internal: One USB 2.0 port for Embedded Hypervisor

Systems
management

Alert on LAN 2, Automatic Server Restart, IBM Systems Director, ServerGuide, Integrated
Management Module (IMM), light path diagnostics (independently powered), Predictive Failure
Analysis on hard disk drives, processors, VRMs, fans and memory, Wake on LAN, Dynamic
System Analysis, QPI Faildown.

Operating
systems
supported

Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 (Standard, Enterprise and Data Center Editions 64-bit), 64-bit
Red Hat Enterprise Linux®, 64-bit SUSE Enterprise Linux, (Server and Advanced Server), VMware
vSphere Hypervisor

Limited
warranty

Three-year customer-replaceable unit and onsite limited warranty.

Dimensions Width: 440 mm (17.3 inches), depth: 712 mm (28.0 inches), height: 173 mm (6.8 inches) or 4 rack

units (4U)

Weight Minimum configuration: 35.4 kg (78 lb), maximum configuration: 49.9 kg (110 lb)

Components Specification

The x3850 X5 servers are shipped with the following items:

Rack rails and hardware

Cable management hardware

Country kit carton

Two 2.8 m 220 V intra-rack cables

On/off switch cover

Documentation CD

System x3850 X5 (7143) 7

Standard models

The following table lists the standard models.

Table 2. Standard models - Machine type 7143 (Intel Xeon E7-4800 and E7-8800 series processors)

Model
7143-

Intel Xeon CPUs (4 max) (quantity,
model, core speed, cores, L3 cache,
memory speed)

Scale
without
MAX5‡

Scale
with
MAX5‡ MAX5

Memory
(cards)* RAID

Bays
(std/max)
(No
disks)

10G
Std

Std
PS

7143­B1x

2x E7-4807 6C 1.86GHz 18MB 800 No Yes Opt 2x4GB

(1)

Opt 0 / 8

(2.5")

Opt 1

7143­B2x

2x E7-4820 8C 2.00GHz 18MB 1066 No Yes Opt 4x4GB

(2)

M1015 4 / 8

(2.5")

Std 2

7143­B3x

2x E7-4830 8C 2.13GHz 24MB 1066 No Yes Opt 4x4GB

(2)

M1015 4 / 8

(2.5")

Std 2

7143­B5x

2x E7-4850 10C 2.00GHz 24MB 1066 No Yes Opt 4x4GB

(2)

M1015 4 / 8

(2.5")

Std 2

7143­B6x

2x E7-4860 10C 2.26GHz 24MB 1066 No Yes Opt 4x4GB

(2)

M1015 4 / 8

(2.5")

Std 2

7143­B7x

2x E7-4870 10C 2.40GHz 30MB 1066 No Yes Opt 4x4GB

(2)

M1015 4 / 8

(2.5")

Std 2

7143­C1x

2x E7-8850 10C 2.00GHz 24MB 1066 Yes Yes Opt 4x4GB

(2)

M1015 4 / 8

(2.5")

Std 2

7143­C2x

2x E7-8860 10C 2.26GHz 24MB 1066 Yes Yes Opt 4x4GB

(2)

M1015 4 / 8

(2.5")

Std 2

7143­C3x

2x E7-8870 10C 2.40GHz 30MB 1066 Yes Yes Opt 4x4GB

(2)

M1015 4 / 8

(2.5")

Std 2

‡ Columns indicate whether the server can scale to two nodes without a MAX5 attached and with a MAX5
attached. * The number in brackets is the number of memory cards standard in each model. Up to eight
cards are supported. Each holds up to eight DIMMs for a total of 64 DIMMs. The MAX5 adds 32 DIMM
sockets for a total of 96 DIMMs.

Workload-optimized models

The following table lists the announced workload-optimized models. These are all named System x3950 X5
to distinguish them from base x3850 X5 models, even though the base hardware is the same. These are
systems that are specially configured to meet the requirements of a particular software stack.

System x3850 X5 (7143) 8

Table 3. Workload-optimized models - Machine type 7143 (Intel Xeon E7-4800 and E7-8800 series
processors)

Model

Intel Xeon CPUs
(4 max)** MAX5

Memory
(cards)*

Standard
RAID

Disk bays
(std/max) Disks Network† DVD PS

Database workload-optimized models

7143­D3x

4x E7-4860 10C

2.26GHz 24MB

Opt 32x4GB (8

cards)

2x 6 Gb SSD
HBA

16 / 16 (1.8"
SSD)

16x 200GB 2x 1Gb +

2x 10Gb

Opt 2

7143­D4x

4x E7-4860 10C

2.26GHz 24MB

Opt 32x4GB (8

cards)

4x M5015 +
perf keys

16 / 16 (1.8"
SSD)

16x 200GB 2x 1Gb +

2x 10Gb

Opt 2

SAP HANA workload-optimized models

7143­HAx

2x E7-8870 10C

2.40GHz 30MB

NS§ 16x16GB

(4 cards)

1x M5015 +
battery

8 / 8 (2.5"
HDD)

8x 900GB SAS
1x 1.2TB PCIe

6x 1Gb +
4x 10Gb

Multi 2

7143­HBx

4x E7-8870 10C

2.40GHz 30MB

NS§ 32x16GB

(8 cards)

1x M5015 +
battery

8 / 8 (2.5"
HDD)

8x 900GB SAS
1x 1.2TB PCIe

6x 1Gb +
4x 10Gb

Multi 2

7143­HCx‡

4x E7-8870 10C

2.40GHz 30MB

NS§ 32x16GB

(8 cards)

1x M5015 +
battery

8 / 8 (2.5"
HDD)

8x 900GB SAS
1x 1.2TB PCIe

6x 1Gb +
4x 10Gb

Opt 2

7143­HDx

4x E7-8870 10C

2.40GHz 30MB

NS§ 32x32GB

(8 cards)

1x M5015 +
battery

8 / 8 (2.5"
HDD)

8x 900GB SAS
1x 1.2TB PCIe

6x 1Gb +
4x 10Gb

Multi 2

7143­HEx‡

4x E7-8870 10C

2.40GHz 30MB

NS§ 32x32GB

(8 cards)

1x M5015 +
battery

8 / 8 (2.5"
HDD)

8x 900GB SAS
1x 1.2TB PCIe

6x 1Gb +
4x 10Gb

Opt 2

Virtualization workload-optimized models

7143­F1x
(ESX)

4x E7-4860 10C

2.26GHz 24MB

Std
(V2)

96x4GB (8
cards)

1x M1015 4 / 8 (2.5"

HDD)

Open 2x 1Gb +

2x 10Gb

Opt 2

7143­F2x (RH)

4x E7-4860 10C

2.26GHz 24MB

Std
(V2)

96x4GB (8
cards)

1x M1015 4 / 8 (2.5"

HDD)

Open 2x 1Gb +

2x 10Gb

Opt 2

7143­B9x
(ESX)

4x E7-4807 6C

1.86GHz 18MB

Std
(V2)

96x4GB (8
cards)

1x M1015 4 / 8 (2.5"

HDD)

Open 2x 1Gb +

2x 10Gb

Opt 2

** Processor detail: Quantity, model, cores, core speed, memory speed, L3 cache.
* The number in brackets is the number of memory cards standard in each model. Up to eight cards are
supported. Each holds up to eight DIMMs for a total of 64 DIMMs. The MAX5 adds 32 DIMM sockets for a
total of 96 DIMMs.
† The H models include one Emulex 10GbE Integrated Virtual Fabric Adapter (with two 10GbE SW SFP+
Transceivers), one Emulex 10GbE Virtual Fabric Adapter II (with two 10GbE SW SFP+ Transceivers), and
one Intel Ethernet Quad Port Server Adapter I340-T4 for a total of four 10Gb ports and six 1Gb ports. All F
models include one Emulex 10GbE Integrated Virtual Fabric Adapter. D3x and D4x models include one
Emulex 10GbE Integrated Virtual Fabric Adapter II.
‡ Models HCx and HEx include the QPI Scalability Kit (four cables), part number 46M0072. Use model HBx
plus HCx or HDx plus HEx to form a 2-node scaled complex.

§ NS=Not supported. MAX5 is not currently certified for use with SAP HANA and is therefore not supported

About these models:

Models 7143-D3x, D4x: These models are designed for database applications and use solid state
drives for the best I/O performance.
Backplane connections for sixteen 1.8-inch solid state drives (SSD) are standard, as are sixteen 200
GB high-performance solid-state drives. Model D3x includes two SSD host bus adapters. Model
D4x includes four ServeRAID M5015 RAID controllers with four ServeRAID M5000 Series
Performance Accelerator Keys.

Models 7143-HAx, HBx, HCx: These models are optimized to run the SAP High-Performance
Analytic Appliance (HANA) solution.
The x3950 X5 Workload Optimized Solution for SAP HANA is an integrated, ready-to-run, hardware­software offering, featuring the new SAP HANA software. Models HDx and HEx are specifically

System x3850 X5 (7143) 9

designed for SAP Business Suite, powered by SAP HANA (OLTP) workloads.

Models HAx, HBx, HDx include a preload comprising SLES for SAP, IBM GPFS, and the SAP HANA
software stack.

HCx, HEx are add-on models designed to be connected to model HBx or HDx system respectively
to form an eight-processor system. HCx and HEx include the four QPI cables necessary to join two
systems together to form a two-node complex. HCx and HEx also include the additional GPFS
software and SLES licenses to cover the extra four sockets, but do not include any preload because
the are designed as an add-on to the HBx and HDx offerings respectively.

All H models include either 256 GB, 512 GB or 1024 GB of RAM, SAS disk drives, and a high IOPS
solid-state storage PCIe adapter.

Model 7143-F1x, B9x: These models are designed for virtualization applications and include
VMware ESXi 4.1 Update 1 on an integrated bootable USB memory key. The model comes standard
with the MAX5 memory expansion unit and 384 GB of memory implemented using 4GB memory
DIMMs (256 GB in the server and 128 GB in the MAX5).
F1x is available world-wide and includes a MAX5 V2, 88Y6529. Model B9x is for China only and
includes a MAX5 V2, 88Y6529.

Model 7143-F2x: This model is designed for Open Virtualization and includes Red Hat Enterprise
Linux with the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor (Kernel-Based Virtual Machine, KVM).
The software is not preloaded. The model comes standard with the MAX5 memory expansion unit
and 384 GB of memory implemented using cost-effective 4GB memory DIMMs (256 GB in the
server and 128 GB in the MAX5).

Refer to the Standard Specifications section for information about standard features of the server.

QPI wrap card

In the x3850 X5, QPI links are used for interprocessor communication both in a single-node system and in
a two-node system. They are also used to connect the system to a MAX5 memory expansion unit. In a
single-node x3850 X5, the QPI links connect in a full mesh between all CPUs. To complete this mesh, the
QPI wrap card is used. QPI wrap cards are installed in sockets where the scalability cables are installed.

The QPI wrap cards are only for single-node configurations with three or four processors installed and only
when a MAX5 unit is not installed. Two QPI wrap cards are needed.

Table 4. QPI wrap card

Part number Feature code Description Maximum

supported

49Y4379 5104 x3850 X5 and x3950 X5 QPI wrap card kit (quantity 2) 1 pair

QPI wrap cards are not necessary for any of the following configurations:

Single-node configurations with two processors

Any configurations with MAX5 memory expansion units

Two-node configurations

System x3850 X5 (7143) 10

MAX5

The MAX5 memory expansion unit is a 1U device and has 32 DDR3 DIMM sockets, two 675-watt power
supplies, and five 40 mm hot-swap speed-controlled fans. It provides added memory and multinode
scaling support for the x3850 X5 server. Some models include the MAX5 standard, as listed in Tables 2
and 3. MAX5 options are listed in the following table.

There are two MAX5 options available.

MAX5 for System x®, part number 59Y6265 (also known as MAX5 V1)

MAX5 V2 for System x, part number 88Y6529

Both x3850 X5 machine types (7143 and 7145) support both MAX5 options, provided the firmware is at
least UEFI level G0E171T/A. When used with the x3850 X5 machine type 7143 (Intel Xeon E7-4800 and E7­8800 series processors), MAX5 V2 supports low-voltage (operating at 1.35V DIMMs).

Note that some models and some processors do not support the MAX5. See the model table and the
processor options table for details. The MAX5 V1 includes one power supply. The second power supply is
optional (part 60Y0332) and provides redundancy. The MAX5 V2 includes two power supplies; no
additional power supplies are needed or available.

Table 5. MAX5

Part number Feature

code

Description Maximum

supported

59Y6265 4199 MAX5 for System x 1

88Y6529 A19H MAX5 V2 for System x 1

60Y0332 4782 High Efficiency 675W Power Supply (MAX5 V1 only, 59Y6265) 1

59Y6267 4192 MAX5 to x3850 X5 Cable Kit (quantity of four cables)

(Used to connect one server to one MAX5)

1

System x3850 X5 (7143) 11

Two-node and MAX5 scaling

The x3850 X5 supports the following scalable configurations:

A single x3850 X5 server with four processor sockets. This configuration is sometimes referred to as
a single-node server.

A single x3850 X5 server with a single MAX5 memory expansion unit attached. This configuration is
sometimes referred to as a memory-expanded server.

Two x3850 X5 servers connected together to form a single-image eight-socket server. This
configuration is sometimes referred to as a two-node server.

Two x3850 X5 servers connected together to form a single-image eight-socket server with two
MAX5 memory expansion units attached. This configuration is sometimes referred to as a two-node
memory-expanded server. Only machine type 7143 supports this configuration.

The following table lists the cable options needed when scaling. Note that not all processors and models
support all of these configurations - see the Processor options section below for details.

Table 6. Cables for two-node and MAX5 scaling

Part number Feature

code

Description Maximum

supported

59Y6267 4192 MAX5 to x3850 X5 Cable Kit (quantity of four cables)

Used to connect one server to one MAX5

1

46M0072 5103 x3850 X5 and x3950 X5 QPI Scalability Kit (Quantity 4 cables)

Used to connect two servers together without MAX5 units

1

59Y6271 4198 eX5 MAX5 2-Node EXA Scalability Kit (for machine type 7143 only)

Used to connect two servers together when MAX5 units are also used

1

System x3850 X5 (7143) 12

Processor options

The x3850 X5 supports the processor options listed in the following table. The server supports up to four
processors. The E7-8000 processors support native QPI scaling to two nodes without the need for a MAX5
memory expansion unit. All Intel Xeon E7 processors support two-node scaling with MAX5. Two-node
scaling with MAX5 is supported with MAX5 V2 for System x (88Y6529) or MAX5 for System x (59Y6265).

Table 7. Processor options - Machine type 7143 (Intel Xeon E7-4800 and E7-8800 series processors)

Part
number

Intel Xeon processor description Can scale to

two nodes
without MAX5

Can scale to
two nodes
with MAX5*

Models
where used

69Y1889 E7-4807 6C 1.86GHz 18MB 800MHz 95W No Yes 7143-B1x

69Y1890 E7-4820 8C 2.00GHz 18MB 1066MHz 105W No Yes 7143-B2x

69Y1891 E7-4830 8C 2.13GHz 24MB 1066MHz 105W No Yes 7143-B3x

88Y5358 E7-4850 10C 2.00GHz 24MB 1066MHz 130W No Yes 7143-B5x, D1x

69Y1892 E7-4860 10C 2.26GHz 24MB 1066MHz 130W No Yes 7143-B6x, D2x

69Y1893 E7-4870 10C 2.40GHz 30MB 1066MHz 130W No Yes 7143-B7x

69Y1896 E7-8830 8C 2.13GHz 24MB 1066MHz 105W Yes Yes -

69Y1894 E7-8837 8C 2.67GHz 24MB 1066MHz 130W Yes Yes -

88Y5357 E7-8850 10C 2.00GHz 24MB 1066MHz 130W Yes Yes 7143-C1x

69Y1898 E7-8860 10C 2.26GHz 24MB 1066MHz 130W Yes Yes 7143-C2x

69Y1897 E7-8867L 10C 2.13GHz 30MB 1066MHz 105W Yes Yes -

69Y1899 E7-8870 10C 2.40GHz 30MB 1066MHz 130W Yes Yes All Hxx models

* Supports MAX5 V2 for System x (88Y6529) or MAX5 for System x (59Y6265).

Memory options

Lenovo DDR3 memory is compatibility tested and tuned for optimal System x performance and
throughput. Lenovo memory specifications are integrated into the light path diagnostics for immediate
system performance feedback and optimum system uptime. From a service and support standpoint,
Lenovo memory automatically assumes the system warranty, and Lenovo provides service and support
worldwide.

The System x3850 X5 supports DDR3 memory. Memory is installed in memory cards. The server supports
eight memory cards, and each card holds eight DIMMs. Two memory cards are connected to each
processor. As a result, all eight memory cards are usable only when all four processors are installed.
Adding a MAX5 memory expansion unit to the server offers an additional 32 DIMM slots for a total of 96
DIMM slots per node.

The following table lists the memory options that are supported in the server and MAX5 (either MAX5 V2 or
MAX5).

Notes:

In the MAX5 memory expansion unit, do not mix DIMMs with x4 technology (DIMMs with DRAMs
that are organized with 4 data lanes, as indicated by "x4" in the description) with DIMMs with x8
technology (DIMMs with DRAMs that are organized with 8 data lanes).

In the server, you can mix DIMMs with x4 and x8 technology.

Table 8. Memory options - x3850 X5 machine type 7143 (Intel Xeon E7 series processors)

System x3850 X5 (7143) 13