First build, some questions regarding CPU and PSU

[ropm]

First post, first build. I hope I'm doing it right. :p

Parts

	Part	Qty.
Motherboard	Supermicro X11SCH-LN4F	1
CPU	Intel Xeon E-2234	1
RAM	Samsung DIMM 32 GB (M391A4G43MB1-CTD)	4
Storage HDDs (SATA)	Seagate IronWolf 12TB	8
Boot Drive (M.2)	KIOXIA (Toshiba) RC500 250GB	1
SLOG (M.2)	Intel Optane Memory M10 16GB	1
PSU	Seasonic Focus GX 550W	1
Case Fans	Noctua NF-A14 PWM	3
CPU Fans*	Noctua NF-A15 PWM	2

I am gonna start out with 4 storage HDDs and 2 sticks of RAM and add the remaining half at a later point.

I realize, two CPU fans is overkill but I have an old Noctua NH-D14 lying around that I'm gonna repurpose for this build.

Purpose
The main purpose of the system is storage of documents, media and at a later point VM data accessed via iSCSI.

For now, virtualized services will reside on FreeNAS. I'm planning on adding a dedicated Proxmox host in the near future to move VMs / containers there and use iSCSI storage on FreeNAS.

The system will be part of my homelab where I'm the only user.

Services I'll be running, off the top if my head:

• Plex
• container for backup management
• nextcloud
• Unifi Controller
• Ubuntu for Wordpress development
• Confluence / JIRA

This isn't an exhaustive list but even if I'll add more, the system should be able to handle this.

Questions

CPU
Should I get the E-2224 (4C/4T) over the E-2234 (4C/8T). I think FreeBSD dropped utilization of Hyper-threading which means FreeNAS inherently did, so I might as well save 60 bucks.

PSU
Regarding the PSU, I read the Proper Power Supply Sizing Guidance. I collected what I could gather from data sheets. CPU data is from an STH benchmark and RAM/Mobo are guesstimates in accordance to above mentioned guide. The maxed out configuration would have the following power consumption:

	Watts [load]	Watts [idle]
Motherboard (x1)	25 W​	25 W​
CPU (x1)	94 W​	31 W​
RAM (x4)	16 W​	16 W​
HDD (x8)	172.8 W​	40 W​
M.2 boot (x1)	3.8 W​	3.8 W​
M.2 SLOG (x1)	2 W​	2 W​
Noctua NF-A14 (x3)	4.68 W​	0.94 W​
Noctua NF-A15 (x2)	1.92 W​	0.48 W​
Total	320.2 W​	119.22 W​

The chosen PSU load should be between 20% and 80% load at all times for maximum efficiency.

PSU rated power	min. load (20%)	max. load (80%)	efficent?
400 W​	80 W​	320 W​	no​
450 W​	90 W​	360 W​	yes​
500 W​	100 W​	400 W​	yes​
550 W​	110 W​	440 W​	yes​
600 W​	120 W​	480 W​	no​

I'd love to get the 550 W PSU from Seasonic because 10 years of warranty at that price point, kinda unbeatable. Also, I like to buy Seasonic, they have yet to disappoint me.

With my estimated idle power of the maxed out system I feel like I'm cutting it too close. If I overestimated by 10 W I'm below minimum load (20%). And before the system is maxed out I'm gonna be below that anyway.

I feel like I'm grossly overthinking this. For all my previous builds I've used one of the popular PSU calculators but I'm really struggling now because I feel like efficiency is important for system running 24/7. Any input is very much appreciated.

I will get a UPS, too but I have to figure out how to set that up best. The (future) Proxmox host utilizing storage via iSCSI over the network will need a UPS, as will the network switch connecting the hosts. Probably some kind of master / slave setup.

 

[patrickjp93]

Double-check if you can actually use that 16GB Optane as a boot drive. I know Intel specifically markets that as a smart cache/system accelerator, so be careful on using it for a boot drive.

And question for the floor: is it not possible to have the SLOG and Boot volumes be on the same hardware device?

Now back to your question on the PSU: you forgot the power in the PSU circuitry itself probing for whether it needs to run its fan or not. And your minimum power draw on the M.2s is probably overstated.

In the end, I think you're overthinking it. Either under-volt your CPU and RAM to recover a couple extra watts to make up the miniscule difference, or live with the difference. Shy of getting a Titanium PSU, there is no way you'll notice the difference in the electricity bill.

 

[ropm]

Double-check if you can actually use that 16GB Optane as a boot drive. I know Intel specifically markets that as a smart cache/system accelerator, so be careful on using it for a boot drive.

The Optane's is only meant to be used as a SLOG. The RC500 is the boot drive.

And question for the floor: is it not possible to have the SLOG and Boot volumes be on the same hardware device?

Yes, but I don't think it's recommended. A SLOG device should have power-loss protection (PLP), high write endurance and low latency. The Optane M10 doesn't have PLP but I've read that since Optane is by design DRAM-less it shouldn't need PLP.

you forgot the power in the PSU circuitry itself probing for whether it needs to run its fan or not

First time I heard about that one. How much power does that circuitry typically draw?

And your minimum power draw on the M.2s is probably overstated.

Probably but I couldn't find idle power numbers from the data sheets. And since those numbers are pretty insignificant, I just looked at them as static regardless of load.

In the end, I think you're overthinking it. Either under-volt your CPU and RAM to recover a couple extra watts to make up the miniscule difference, or live with the difference.

Don't have any experience regarding undervolting/underclocking. Might be an option after I've deployed my Proxmox host.

Shy of getting a Titanium PSU, there is no way you'll notice the difference in the electricity bill.

When I roughly estimated how long it takes to amortize the extra cost of Titanium over Gold, it wasn't worth it. Gonna look at it again to be sure.

 

[demon]

For what it's worth:

Regarding the CPU, FreeBSD (at least as of 11.3) most assuredly has not dropped hyperthreading support. I just built a new box with a Xeon E-2288G (see signature), and FreeNAS sees all 8 cores and 16 threads. If you're going to be doing transcoding with Plex, you'll probably be able to take advantage of the extra cores/threads, so I wouldn't turn up my nose at the extra compute power.

Regarding the drives, you should be fine with a 450W PSU. The 550W shouldn't be noticeably less efficient; maybe a little, but not enough that your power bill is going to go up appreciably. The only time those drives are going to be drawing anywhere near 20W apiece is during spinup, and my setup (again, see signature) is doing just dandy with a 450W SFX PSU. If you were talking about jumping to an 800W, 1000W, or something PSU, I'd say whoa, pump the brakes, but yes, I think you're probably overthinking it a bit.

 

[ropm]

Your input is very much appreciated, thanks.

Regarding the CPU, FreeBSD (at least as of 11.3) most assuredly has not dropped hyperthreading support.

Yes, that's correct. I confused it with OpenBSD.

Regarding the drives, you should be fine with a 450W PSU. The 550W shouldn't be noticeably less efficient; maybe a little, but not enough that your power bill is going to go up appreciably. The only time those drives are going to be drawing anywhere near 20W apiece is during spinup, and my setup (again, see signature) is doing just dandy with a 450W SFX PSU. If you were talking about jumping to an 800W, 1000W, or something PSU, I'd say whoa, pump the brakes, but yes, I think you're probably overthinking it a bit.

I think I'm gonna go with the be quiet! Straight Power 11 450W PSU.

 

[demon]

Yes, that's correct. I confused it with OpenBSD.

That sounds like a pretty OpenBSD solution to the problem, so it wouldn’t surprise me.

I think I'm gonna go with the be quiet! Straight Power 11 450W PSU.

Sounds more than adequate under the circumstances.

 

[John Doe]

did some testing with freenas 9.x on HT on and off.
Power consumption reduced with HT on by 9 watts

I would always go with HT as it might be good to have in future if you want to go with ESXi or else.

+1 for Seasonic 550w

check out my main system, I have at idle around 87-113w and a 650w seasonic PSU
(it is jumping quite much due to pfSense)

 

[ropm]

did some testing with freenas 9.x on HT on and off.
Power consumption reduced with HT on by 9 watts

Interesting, thanks for the input.

I would always go with HT as it might be good to have in future if you want to go with ESXi or else.

+1 for Seasonic 550w

Went with the be quiet! Straight Power 11 450W.

check out my main system, I have at idle around 87-113w and a 650w seasonic PSU
(it is jumping quite much due to pfSense)

Nice setup you got there. When originally getting into FreeNAS and planning out a hypothetical system that's what I wanted to do as well. @joeschmuck's My Dream System (I think) convinced me I wanted virtualized FreeNAS on ESXi, too. But then when thinking about putting pfSense on there and whatnot I got to the point where in my case I found that a monolithic approach has too much drawbacks.

Until I'm gonna build my Proxmox host, I'll utilize jails and VMs. For a router I'm planning on getting a dedicated OPNSense appliance.

 

[Slovak]

I just built a new box with a Xeon E-2288G (see signature), and FreeNAS sees all 8 cores and 16 threads.

I'm in the process of building a box with a Xeon E-2278G or E-2288G and every retailer I've contacted thus far is out of stock and indicating 4-8 weeks lead time. CDW, NewEgg, BLT. Can you share where you sourced your CPU?

I'm also using Supermicro X11SCH-LN4F in a Fractal 804 case with 12 HDDs.

 

[Slovak]

First post, first build. I hope I'm doing it right. :p

Your post certainly looks the part, formatting and all! And a great system to boot. Per above, I'm about to finish my build, will take some lessons from your post and document my own.

 

[demon]

I'm in the process of building a box with a Xeon E-2278G or E-2288G and every retailer I've contacted thus far is out of stock and indicating 4-8 weeks lead time. CDW, NewEgg, BLT. Can you share where you sourced your CPU?

I'm also using Supermicro X11SCH-LN4F in a Fractal 804 case with 12 HDDs.

I ordered mine from wiredzone.com, but they currently show as "Out of Stock" on them (and the E-2278G). Intel's production of them seems to be going almost entirely to OEMs, and a few occasionally make it to retailers (though there aren't any actual retail boxed versions, just OEM tray CPUs, so if you get one, you'll need to source the cooling solution separately). So if you really want one, just keep your eye out - or try your luck on eBay.

Wish I had something more helpful to tell you.

 

[Slovak]

Wish I had something more helpful to tell you.

Appreciate the commiseration. :)

I just placed another order after calling to confirm they have the 2278G in stock. Supposedly they have 3. As soon as it ships, I'll share where I found it in case anyone else is looking for in-stock items at this time.

 

[demon]

FWIW, it looks like ProVantage claims to have 117 of the E-2288Gs in stock.

Edit: I say "claims" because I tried to order an E-2246G from them when I was first putting the box together, at which point they said they had stock, but once I placed the order suddenly they (eventually) admitted it was on backorder for who-knows-how-long.

 

[Slovak]

Edit: I say "claims" because I tried to order an E-2246G from them when I was first putting the box together, at which point they said they had stock, but once I placed the order suddenly they (eventually) admitted it was on backorder for who-knows-how-long.

So far, that's been my experience with 4 different vendors. Now I at least call up front. Waiting on the one where I placed order this morning, then will try ProVantage if it doesn't pan out. Never heard of them, so I appreciate you pointing them out to me.

 

[Slovak]

5th time was a charm. http://tigerdirect.com delivered overnight, even though after they put my order on hold and I called them, they said it'd be 4-6 weeks to fulfill (site said it was in stock). Then, it would apparently ship from CA warehouse. I asked them to cancel the order, which they (luckily?) didn't and the next day the CPU was here from their TX warehouse down the street. Even their shipping/tracking order update came hours after the FedEx truck left here.

For anyone else looking, http://ipcstore.com supposedly had limited stock.

 

[ropm]

Sorry, for answering so late, I haven't kept up with this thread since I placed my order and didn't login because my system is still incomplete. :D

It's funny that you got your CPU before I did, haha.

I ordered in the first week of March and the CPU was finally shipped on Friday. I'm in Europe, btw.

@demon is right, those CPUs are most likely only shipped to OEMs. I initially ordered the boxed version but after waiting for around 8 weeks I searched for an official Intel reseller and asked them about when they'd be able to deliver that CPU.

Luckily one of them sent me a screenshot of tray vs boxed version delivery dates from the official Intel supplier in my country and it said that the boxed version is only deliverable in 2021. He told me that in his experience that most likely means that Intel isn't even shipping any boxed versions but Intel would not officially confirm that information.

With that information I went to the web shop I ordered from initially and told them to order the tray version instead. When I told them my reasoning the only thing the support guy told me is that "he hopes the tray version ships sooner".

So I hoped, too and after two weeks the CPU finally shipped. I couldn't quite believe it.

I guess web shops specializing in consumer hardware often don't have access or don't know how to access information about enterprise hardware. This just goes to show that when doing business how valuable a partnership with official resellers is, albeit more expensive.