Another X11SCH Low Power build ...or?

[a1x]

Hello everyone !

The old Sys I built back in 2008 is eating the hair of my head, idling at 160W (185W max., see Sig for mayor Nostalgia) and becoming Archeological (turning to dust). Since Energyy costs rose from already high ~0,24€ to unpayable ~0,57€ (maybe 0,40€, long story) per kWh its finally time ...fun times...

Replacing an old XEN-Host, primary use will be TrueNAS-Scale as reliable File-, Mail-Server, VM(s?)-maybe Docker, Jitsi Video-conf for like 4ppl, also keeping an eye on things...did i mention a reliable Fileserver?

Must have:
- Stability
- ECC
- Low Power -> Low Noise (and thereby low Heat)
- Longevity - 10+ Years again would be nice, so planning to buy new, even though stuff's 4+Years old
- Stability


Hardwarelist and approx. Prices:

Code:

MB:        X11SCH-LN4F 375€ (should suffice, depending on avail. X11SCH-F 365€ and ~10W less?)
CPU:       i3-9100 130€ (around 6600 Passmarks)
RAM:       2x Kingston Server Premier 32 GB DDR4-3200 ECC DIMM CL22 Single (KSM32ED8/32HC) 2x90€

Case:          Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 Rev. B 126€
CPUCool:       Noctua NH-D15 dual-fan 120€
PSU:           Seasonic Focus PX 650 W 80+Platinum 130€
Boot-Drive:    1x Crucial MX500 500GB, SATA 40€
Storage:       2x 20TB Seagate Exos X20, 2x330€
VMs:           2x Transcend SSD MTE220S 2 TB M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 x4 (TS2TMTE220S) 2x113€

Questions:
- RAM?
- CPU-Cooler?
- Different HDD brands?
- Got 15+ Year old "APC Back-UPS BR800" with a dead battery (2nd one), replacement is 125€, a new CyberPower BR700ELCD is 100€; compatibility with TrueNAS?
- Better ideas? 3467?? AM4??? - see Plan B-Z at the end
- Overall thought?
- X570D4U-2L2T/BCM ??

- (very)Future upgrade: Anyone rocking a QNAP QSW-2100 Desktop (~200€, 2x10GbE, 4x2,5GbE, there's also a SFP+ version available) - hows Powerconsumption?; Thinking about a Asus C100C (read it works with scale, can always put it in the Workstation an get a X710 for ~380€ <sigh>) for ~90€ with said switch (no fan-passive, enough ports on its own for my use)



RAM: 2x Kingston Server Premier 32 GB DDR4-3200 ECC DIMM CL22 Single (KSM32ED8/32HC) dual rank, x8 90€
Works, according to Kingstons www.kingston.com/en/memory
Posting(s) about avoiding Kingston are ~10 ears old!? (one about 4x32GB Modules not working despite Kingston claiming otherwise comes to mind); famous last words: not expecting more'n 64GB
I know the board can only handle up to DDR4-2666, but those are more expensive/rare, sweetspot is the KSM32.

Available Alternatives:
Micron DIMM 32GB, DDR4-3200, CL22-22-22, ECC (MTA18ASF4G72AZ-3G2R) dual rank, x8 105€
Samsung 32 GB DDR4-3200 ECC DIMM CL22 Single (M391A4G43AB1-CWE) dual rank, x8 135€
Mushkin ProLine 32 GB DDR4-3200 ECC DIMM CL22 Single (MPL4E320NF32G28) dual rank, x8 105€


CPU-Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
There's lots of confusion about whether Noctuas are compatible. Noctua comp. checker says "Components at the back prevent the installation of the backplate". Some postings talk about removing the glued-on backplate.
Watching Noctua install instructions\Manuals and various X11SCH Vids/Pics though, there don't seem to be any issues. The backplate already on the board stays while the Secufirm2-Backplate of the same size goes on top of it. The "arms" leave enough room to the sides while being narrow enough themself.
Finally the overall dimensions seem fitting, the front-fan is meant as spare.
Also I'm aware that this is overkill, speculating about going full passive (there's a 140mm exhaust fan next to it in the back)


Case: Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 Rev. B
Space for everything and then some... max. Cooler height 185mm; Has its own Fan-Controller
Due sharing a Room, low Noise is a must which I hope the Case and NH-D15 will accomplish


PSU: Seasonic Focus PX 650 W 80+Platinum
Sys runs 24/7; Platinum starting with 550W & 550W is 10€ less; enough SATA-Power without frail splitters; speculating for longer lifespan due to "more robust" components; willing to roll the dice for 10€...


Boot-Drive: Crucial MX500 500GB,
Not much to say, 180TBW, 1,8Mio MTBF, lotsa sales and good ratings; thinking about serious overprovisioning: 256GB ought to be enough for everybody? (;

Storage: 2x 20TB Seagate Exos X20
Starting with a zMirror, when Moneys regenerate planning to go 3-way mirror (with maybe a different brand - WD Gold for a hundred bucks more?), This leaves - minus bootdrive - 4 Ports for maybe 4x50TB zRaid1-Flash in 5 Years (one may dream...)

VMs,Docker: 2x Transcend SSD MTE220S 2 TB M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 x4 (TS2TMTE220S)
zMirror, Claim is 4,4PBW, 2 Mio h MTBF; lets see about that



Plan B (was Plan A before)
For ~250€ more: Gigabyte MW34-SP0 480€ & i5-12500 210€ or i5-13500 265€
Still DDR4 on 12/13th Gen.!, ATX-Sized (with hair on its breast no whimpy µATX (; ), DMI4x8, PCIe5, 2,5GbE Intel I225, more M2's+E-Key, AST2600
Red about it's idling around 30W with minimal components. A i5-12500 is the smallest 1700-CPU that (officially) supports ECC. while blowing the 9100 out of the water; The 13th Gen is ~40€ more.
Seriously alluring: 13th Gen. for the e-cores even if i have to disable them till TrueNAS Scale is (fully) utilising it. A i3-9100 for comparison is already ~130€

Passmark ~: i3-9100:6600 | i5-12500:19220 | i5-13500:32530

Having serious doubts due to other Users on other Forums having issues (board not powering on,ipmi,MAC, 13th Gen. only with Rev 1.1+, withdrawn BIOS releases) though...


Plan C
- Another serious competetitor was the ASRock Rack X570D4U-2L2T/BCM for 675€ (AM4, Ryzen 5 PRO 4650G, 6C/12T, 3.70-4.20GHz 125€ 16300 Passmarks)
Its way more expensive but already comes with 10GbE Broadcom BCM57416 OTOH.
Anyone know more about TrueNAS-compatibility/power usage?
A X11SCH 360-370€ + X710-T2L 370€ is about the same...


Plan D-Z
- DDR5 prices for say X13SAE are still ludicrous: 32GB DDR-5 80bit ECC is 175+€ per pop ): and there're no affordable serverboards

- Other Sockets like 3467 are too expensive Performance/€/use-case-wise also Power consumption!? (Xeon Bronze 3104 240€ 4600 Passmarks, 3204 300€ 4800 Passmarks, Intel Xeon Silver 4110 550€ 9960 Passmarks)
Lets not mention 4189: X13SEI-F 750+€ +~150€ for the 10GbE version, CPUs starting at ~500€

- Atom/Xeon-D/Epyc: Like my once favorised X11SDV-4C-TLN2F (No M2, only 1xPCIeX8) for 740€ are either too expensive for features delivered\not Available\overkill (25GbE QSFP)\"uncomfortable old" (2011(-3)) and or powerhungry\too Atomy (C3558 2417 Passmarks;C3758 4750 Passmarks)


At this point in time I'm 95% sure that it'll be the X11SCH-F way -that is, unless anyone has a good argument to deviate from the Hardware list layed out above. Sorry for the lengthy read. Also Passmark's only used as a rough estimate.


Thanks in advance !

 

[jgreco]

Posting(s) about avoiding Kingston are ~10 ears old!? (one about 4x32GB Modules not working despite Kingston claiming otherwise comes to mind);

Kingston got severely bit by the Elpida fiasco. Some modules that would work on Sandy systems failed to work on Ivy Bridge, and Kingston was difficult about the issue, choosing to update their web pages and pretend that the modules had never been listed as compatible, rather than handling the issue in a more positive way. This irked many of the hobbyist and prosumer users here; those of us who do this professionally had seen it all before and I think most of us just wrote it off as another day in PC world.

zMirror

("WTF is a zMirror?")

comes with 10GbE Broadcom BCM57416 OTOH.

Broadcom is generally not recommended. See the 10 Gig Networking Primer in Resources for recommended adapters.

 

[a1x]

Completely forgot about this...

- Not wanting to fork over twice the €$ for a Xeon - installed an i3-9100, so 64GB max. (went with Crucial)

- No Noctua issues using a NH-D15, CPU-Core Temps oscillate are around 28-30°C (82-86°F), maybe 32°C/90°F during Scrub - utilizing one 150mm Fan (wont go over 500rpm in Summer running 100% load on 2 Cores in a VM), sitting usually at 300rpm, Exhaust never above Body Temp

- Power usage is ~36Watts idle (240V) with 1x140mm, 2x120 on the DS1 integrated Fan Controller set to lowest, 150 CPU Fan, 1 Linux-VM (Dovecot) running, 2x2TB SSD, 2x20GB Exos X20 each Mirrored, 2x1GbE LAG


-> low power, cool, inaudible: mission accomplished

[Thinking about a Synology E10-M20-T1 - 10GbE, 2xM2 to not waste one of the rare PCIe3x8, slow spinning fan should suffice, ought to be around +10-15 Watts (and being overpriced...)]