ASRock X470D4U

[poldi]

Update to post above. I received a reply from memory.net:

Lucky you. Just saved you 24 bucks per RAM stick :p

Edit: Sorry I misread. BB1 is only available. So you have to get the expensive one ... that sucks.
Actually this RAM compatibility list form ASRock is apparently never updated.
I recently ordered Crucial CT16G4WFD8266 16GB which are not on the list but work fine for me.

 

[Chamrajnagar]

Edit: Sorry I misread. BB1 is only available. So you have to get the expensive one ... that sucks.

Yes unfortunately :(

Good to know re: the Crucial sticks. I looked for Crucial but wasn't able to find anything from a retailer I trust. Seems they might sell out quickly when they're available.

 

[poldi]

Yes unfortunately :(

Good to know re: the Crucial sticks. I looked for Crucial but wasn't able to find anything from a retailer I trust. Seems they might sell out quickly when they're available.

I think that is a general topic. It was not possible for me to source anything from Samsung etc. at a reasonable price.
I could get Kingston and Crucial with reasonable price and availability.
I guess the issue is that the demand for ECC in the B2C market is not so high. So my impression was that not many retailers actually bother to put this in stock. Hence supply might be intermittent. But that is just my guess.

 

[Chamrajnagar]

Board and memory arrived today. Quick shipping from memory.net.

Ryzen 3600 is on track to be delivered tomorrow :D

 

[Yorick]

Read https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/freenas-hardware-is-shutting-down.82532/#post-578125 and watch out for C6-state, so you have a good time with Ryzen.

 

[Chamrajnagar]

I put my new hardware together yesterday and FreeNAS booted like nothing had changed. Did a fresh install anyway to be safe.

Love the IPMI interface, such a huge improvement over Supermicro's. I especially appreciate being able to update the BIOS and firmware over IPMI without paying a fee.

Smooth sailing so far. Knock on wood but this build has been hassle free.

 

[Evertb1]

I put my new hardware together yesterday and FreeNAS booted like nothing had changed. Did a fresh install anyway to be safe.

Love the IPMI interface, such a huge improvement over Supermicro's. I especially appreciate being able to update the BIOS and firmware over IPMI without paying a fee.

Smooth sailing so far. Knock on wood but this build has been hassle free.

I am curious to know how you are doing with this motherboard so far, now you have it in use for some time? I am looking to do an ESXi build with a Ryzen CPU but there is not much choise on the market when it comes to AM4 socket motherboards with an IPMI implementation. Potentially this board ticks a lot of boxes for me. When the board was new there were a lot of reported problems but after a few BIOS updates I see more positive reports about it.

 

[Chamrajnagar]

I am curious to know how you are doing with this motherboard so far, now you have it in use for some time? I am looking to do an ESXi build with a Ryzen CPU but there is not much choise on the market when it comes to AM4 socket motherboards with an IPMI implementation. Potentially this board ticks a lot of boxes for me. When the board was new there were a lot of reported problems but after a few BIOS updates I see more positive reports about it.

Still happy with the board. Can't think of any issues to report. It's actually been much more painless than my previous Supermicro/Intel build.

 

[Evertb1]

Still happy with the board. Can't think of any issues to report. It's actually been much more painless than my previous Supermicro/Intel build.

Thanks, good to know. That makes my descision a lot easier. A build with a Ryzen7 CPU is just the ticket for a nice ESXi server. All those cores and threads are nothing to sneeze at. Not to mention that it will handle up to 128 GB ECC memory. Though I will start out with 64 GB (2 x 32) but it's nice to know I can expand if the need is there. All in all I am looking forward to the build and without breaking the bank because while it's not cheap it cost way less then an Intel/Supermicro combo.

 

[Yorick]

It's actually been much more painless than my previous Supermicro/Intel build.

I wonder about that. My SM/Intel build can report ECC errors via IPMI. Asrock Rack can't, presently, unless something changed recently.

My pain with SM/Intel is zero, so sub-zero pain is always a great report!

I think Asrock Rack Ryzen is a really good choice for anyone who cares about vCPU (for bhyve, ESXi, SCALE, what-have-you). The ECC reporting troubles will hopefully get resolved by 2021 ... after that I presume any UEFI updates for that board are moot / "so last decade".

 

[Chamrajnagar]

I wonder about that. My SM/Intel build can report ECC errors via IPMI. Asrock Rack can't, presently, unless something changed recently.

My pain with SM/Intel is zero, so sub-zero pain is always a great report!

I think Asrock Rack Ryzen is a really good choice for anyone who cares about vCPU (for bhyve, ESXi, SCALE, what-have-you). The ECC reporting troubles will hopefully get resolved by 2021 ... after that I presume any UEFI updates for that board are moot / "so last decade".

That's a fair point. I haven't had reason to look at ECC reports on either of my FreeNAS builds so far, but I understand the option is nice to have.

 

[Chamrajnagar]

Thanks, good to know. That makes my descision a lot easier. A build with a Ryzen7 CPU is just the ticket for a nice ESXi server. All those cores and threads are nothing to sneeze at. Not to mention that it will handle up to 128 GB ECC memory. Though I will start out with 64 GB (2 x 32) but it's nice to know I can expand if the need is there. All in all I am looking forward to the build and without breaking the bank because while it's not cheap it cost way less then an Intel/Supermicro combo.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[Evertb1]

My pain with SM/Intel is zero, so sub-zero pain is always a great report!

I must admit that my current SM/Intel server works flawless. But while it is a fantastic platform for a FreeNAS home/small business server it's not really equipped for ESXi. It can't handle a lot of memory (I have it maxed out at 32 GB) and the CPU has only 4 cores 8 threads.

My goal is to limit the number of devices running 24/7 in my home. Consolidating things in an ESXi server is an obvious solution. So that asks for a new build. Looking at the current market I am not really happy about the Intel offerings. They are expensive and not always on stock. And no, I dont want second hand multi CPU solutions. I need a "domesticated" server with a modest size, reasonable power consumption and as little noise as possible.

Enough reason to switch teams. And I hope the pain stays away. I will learn to live with the lack of ECC reporting for the time being. Though after all the reading I did, I at least trust the support of ECC.

Reading back the above I wonder: when dit it happen that I no longer thought about it as just a (Free) NAS. It all started so simple 6 years ago. "Take an old PC and change it into a NAS" like the iXSystems site promised/promoted.

 

[Evertb1]

@Chamrajnagar I have a couple of questions for you.
I have build a new desktop PC to use as a workstation. The cpu is a Ryzen 7 3700x. It's my plan to transfer that cpu to my new to build ESXi server as soon as the Ryzen 4000 series become available and I can put one in my workstation.

Two thing about the Ryzen cpu bothers me a little. The idle energy consumption of the system is pretty high (100 watts).

And I had a hard time with setting a good profile for the cooling fan. The idle temps of the cpu are all over the place and with the deafult profile the fan kept spinning up and down.

Do you have any idea about your idle energy consumption? And is the Asrock motherboard capable of keeping the cooling fan of the cpu in check? Is this something you can handle in the IPMI the way you can do with Supermicro motherboards?

Thanks in advance.