Finding a CPU that hits the "sweet spot"

[rewgs]

I'm having a lot of trouble finding a CPU that fits into the following "sweet spot":

-supports ECC RAM
-decent performance (4 - 12 cores, 2 - 3 GHz base speed)
-low TDP (under 80-ish W idle)
-fits a motherboard that is some flavor of ATX or Mini-ITX -- I want to use a Fractal Define case for the quietest build possible, and thus can't deal with proprietary motherboard shapes (though, SSI EEB will technically work with the Define 7 XL).
-Not soldered to the board, as I want a very quiet CPU cooler (specifically Noctua or BeQuiet). For example, every single Xeon that fits the above points is soldered to a motherboard (usually Supermicro) and comes with a crappy, loud heatsink.

I won't be doing anything fancy with this NAS, just file storage/ZFS. Though, I will be streaming sample libraries via 10GbE LAN, so something crazy low power won't work, as I do need some level of performance.

Any suggestions? I can only ever find CPUs that fit some but not all of these requirements.

 

[Torrone]

I don't understand where the problem lies with Xeon on supermicro MB.
Any model with a standard socket should be suitable for the described need.
There are also core I3 models that should go on the X10 and X11 series.
What are the CPUs that fit some but not all of these requirements?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Intel Atom like on the Supermicro A2SDi series of mainboards:

A2SDi-12C-HLN4F | Motherboards | Products | Supermicro

Available with 2, 4, 8, 12 cores - at increasing prices. 8 and 12 core variants feature 12 SATA-Ports!

I have become a bit of a fan

Complete 8 core system with 4 spinning disks, 2 SSDs, 64 GB of ECC RAM, clocks in at under 60 W with a typical workload.

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

I have been using E5-2637 for my FreeNAS units for some time. They have 4 cores, and the highest clock speed I have seen in the E5 family typically. I started with v2's, and I am now on V4's. My FreeNAS units units are bare metal, and I don't run any VM's on them.

 

[rewgs]

Intel Atom like on the Supermicro A2SDi series of mainboards:

A2SDi-12C-HLN4F | Motherboards | Products | Supermicro

Available with 2, 4, 8, 12 cores - at increasing prices. 8 and 12 core variants feature 12 SATA-Ports!

I have become a bit of a fan

Complete 8 core system with 4 spinning disks, 2 SSDs, 64 GB of ECC RAM, clocks in at under 60 W with a typical workload.

Unfortunately it looks like the CPU is soldered here, meaning I can't replace the CPU cooler with a quieter one :/

 

[rewgs]

I have been using E5-2637 for my FreeNAS units for some time. They have 4 cores, and the highest clock speed I have seen in the E5 family typically. I started with v2's, and I am now on V4's. My FreeNAS units units are bare metal, and I don't run any VM's on them.

It looks like the only ones that hit my TDP specs are 2 cores, not 4. The 4 cores suck too much power. Thank you though.

 

[rewgs]

I don't understand where the problem lies with Xeon on supermicro MB.
Any model with a standard socket should be suitable for the described need.
There are also core I3 models that should go on the X10 and X11 series.
What are the CPUs that fit some but not all of these requirements?

An i3 just isn't going to give me the performance I need.

The Supermicro boards tend to be SoCs, meaning I can't replace the CPU cooler. They're quite loud.

As you can see by the suggestions here, finding something in this sweet spot is difficult indeed.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Unfortunately it looks like the CPU is soldered here, meaning I can't replace the CPU cooler with a quieter one :/

They are passively cooled. Pick Noctua fan(s) matching your chassis and you are all set.

 

[jgreco]

It looks like the only ones that hit my TDP specs are 2 cores, not 4. The 4 cores suck too much power. Thank you though.

This totally misunderstands TDP. Two CPU's from the same CPU family should use about the same amount of power at idle. It is only where the CPU is actively being used for compute where the CPU will burn more watts, and typically it is better to have a higher core count part doing that burning because it usually gets the work done faster and then returns to idle faster, consuming slightly less power per unit of work done in the process. Just get the four core part.

 

[jgreco]

Unfortunately it looks like the CPU is soldered here, meaning I can't replace the CPU cooler with a quieter one :/

The CPU being soldered has nothing to do with cooler replacement. I've got a number of X10SDV-8C-TLN4F+ boards (D1537, 8c/16t, 35W TDP) which came with passive 1U heatsinks but which I wanted to deploy in a 2U format due to the 16 available SATA ports, which when combined with a 9271-8i, makes for a neat 24-bay 2.5" hyperconverged solution. It is totally possible to replace the cooler on these with a nice larger copper 2U heatsink and then only have to do a little shroudwork to keep them VERY cool.

I want a very quiet CPU cooler (specifically Noctua or BeQuiet).

Though that's a good way to see your CPU solution fail within a handful of years. I suggest you pick better, not a gamer fan.

 

[Torrone]

The Supermicro boards tend to be SoCs, meaning I can't replace the CPU cooler. They're quite loud.

They have a lot of MB with standard socket, like the one in my new NAS. For example, even the lowest Xeon E-2300 CPU on a X12 Supermicro MB meets your 5 requirements.

It would be easier to help you if you define which motherboard capacity you need and which usage is really CPU intensive.
The number of cores and the frequency doesn't mean much, as it changes from generation to generation.
Which models did you exclude and why?

 

[mistermanko]

Look at my Sig, everything you need, hovering under 60W, peaks at 80W max.