How to run Xeon Phi 7120A?

[Grzebo]

Hi, I have some Xeon Phi 7120A and I have no idea how to run it on Windows, I found that MPSS is needed, but it is nowhere to be downloaded. I found the drivers, but they do not install correctly. Is there any alternative to this software?

[IntelSupport]

Hello Grzegorz,

Greetings for the day!

Thank you for contacting the Intel Server Support Team and sharing your inquiry regarding the Xeon Phi Coprocessor 7120A. We kindly ask you to provide more details about your query to help us better understand and assist you further. Additionally, please specify the operating system you are using on the device where you intend to utilize the Xeon Phi Coprocessor 7120A. Furthermore, kindly share information about the driver or software you have downloaded, including any available links and version details.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any further assistance.

Thank you for using Intel products and services.

[Grzebo]

Thank you for the quick reply. 

Windows 7 Pro is currently installed. I only downloaded random drivers from the Internet. In the old guides there is an inactive link to Intel's website to download MPSS. Anyway, I have no problem installing Xeon Phi on a Linux server

[IntelSupport]

Hello Grzegorz,

Greetings for the day!

We greatly appreciate your quick response. To provide further information, please be aware that the Xeon Phi Coprocessor 7120A has reached its End of Support Life (EOSL). This product is compatible with the Linux operating system, and you can find more details about your query by following the link provided below.

Link: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/80555/intel-xeon-phi-coprocessor-7120a-16gb-1-238-ghz-61-core/specifications.html

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any further assistance.

Thank you for using Intel products and services.

[Grzebo]

The answers are very general.

I realize that Xeon Phi cards are not new. The operating system doesn't matter to me.

What do I need to install and where to download to enjoy Intel products?

[IntelSupport]

Hello Grzegorz,

Greetings for the day!

Thank you for your response regarding the case. The provided link will assist you in the startup installation guide.

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/develop/external/us/en/documents/intel-xeon-phi-coprocessor-quick-start-developers-guide.pdf

Note: The Xeon Phi Coprocessor 7120A is EOSL.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any further assistance.

Thank you for using Intel products and services.

[Grzebo]

This PDF document is very cool, but most of the links do not work, error 404

EOSL does this mean that I bought blue paperweights?

All old tools and drivers deleted from servers?

[IntelSupport]

Hello Grzegorz,

Greetings for the day!

Due to this product being discontinued, Intel Customer Service no longer supports inquiries for it, but perhaps fellow community members have the knowledge to jump in and help. You may also find the Discontinued Products website helpful to address your request. Thank you for understanding.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/80555/intel-xeon-phi-coprocessor-7120a-16gb-1-238-ghz-61-core/ordering.html?wapkw=Intel%C2%AE%20Xeon%20Phi%E2%84%A2%20Coprocessor%207120A

Regards,

Vijay

[vij1]

Hello Grzegorz,

Greetings for the day!

We are currently awaiting your response regarding the case. If you have any queries or require further assistance, please feel free to respond on the community post. We are more than happy to assist you.

Regards,

Vijay N

[Grzebo]

Currently, the card is installed on a Windows 10 computer and in the device manager and with drivers found on the Internet. The card did not start, error 12 appeared. I assume it is supposed to be installed as a network card?

[IntelSupport]

Hello Grzegorz,

I hope this Web post finds you well!

The Xeon Phi 7120A is designed to be installed in a PCIe slot. Specifically, it uses a PCIe x16 slot.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any further assistance.

Thank you for using Intel products and services.

[vij1]

Hello Grzegorz,

Greetings for the day!

We are currently awaiting your response regarding the case. If you have any queries or require further assistance, please feel free to respond on the community post. We are more than happy to assist you.

Regards,

Vijay N

[vij1]

Hello Grzegorz,

Greetings for the day!

 We have not received a reply from you , and as such, we will be closing your case.

 Regards,

 Vijay N.

[Grzebo]

Hello,

I haven't replied because I had a very busy week. I tried to run it on two regular motherboards, unfortunately without success.

I made sure that the card was plugged into the x16 PC and the Addressing Above 4G option was enabled in the BIOS. I have already ordered "Asus P7P55 WS SUPERCOMPUTER" and am waiting for delivery.

I still have no information where I can download drivers

[vij1]

Hello Grzegorz,

Greetings for the day!

Thank you for reaching out to the Intel server support team. The link provided below contains information about which Intel Co-processor is supported and tested by Intel.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/80555/intel-xeon-phi-coprocessor-7120a-16gb-1-238-ghz-61-core/compatible.html

As the product is at the end of interactive support, our access to product details is limited. We have shared the available details in our previous communication.

If you have any additional queries, please feel free to share them with us. We are here to assist you with the information available. If you have no further questions, kindly confirm so that we can proceed to close the case.

Your understanding and cooperation are appreciated.

Best regards,

Vijay N

Intel Server Support Team

[Grzebo]

Greetings.

I got a new motherboard with an i5 processor and Win7 Pro. After checking all connections and settings, the card is still unhappy.

Error 12 is displayed in the device manager.

How can I check what causes this error?

Any software to monitor the status?

[ErnestJ]

This is my Xeon Phi setup.

First, this card only supports a few motherboards. You can't just take hardware that was never designed for private gamer use, slap it onto any motherboard, and expect it to appear as a second CPU. The Xeon Phi was made for companies to do password cracking and scientific computing tasks. I got this card for a good price and tried it with many motherboards, but none of them worked. I then contacted a retired Intel worker who had helped design the card. He was incredibly helpful in helping me understand how the card works.

This card will not work alone on Windows because it’s a developer's card, and you need to code your own drivers and tweak the BIOS to add its computational power. There are still supercomputers that run this card today, but no private or government companies share any Windows drivers for it. I was able to install Windows 11 on my system, running it on the Asrock CRB-KNLMB motherboard with an Intel Xeon Phi 7290 1.5GHz 72-core, 36MB, 245W CPU.

The Xeon Phi 7120A is supported by these motherboards:

• Asrock CRB-KNLMB (also known as Asrock TR-KNL)
• Supermicro K1SPE

Running it on Windows 11 or any other non-Linux system is purely experimental, something only a few people attempt. It’s primarily a Linux system and works best on CentOS, Ubuntu, and likely most other Linux distributions, though I haven't tried more. In windows you can only connect card via MPSS. I have not developed any drivers to run it as second cpu in windows.

MPSS for Cent OS can be found here: https://jjkeijser.github.io/mpss/ 

Windows MPSS download link: https://archive.org/download/mpss-4.4.1-windows 

It's still a $500 card that originally cost at least $6,000 to manufacture.

I hope I didn’t waste my time writing this. I'm not sure what you expected when you got this card. You found a cheap eBay card and thought, "I'll just slap it into anything with a PCIe slot and take over the world." I even have an Intel SOMA processor that looks like a normal slot processor, but it hasn’t worked on any motherboard so far, likely because it needs a custom development board. I've collected a lot of hardware over the years, and I've managed to get most of it to work.