Hardware advice - home use, nothing over the top, limited budget

[mc999]

Well... that Supermicro board just doubled in price overnight... so will probably ditch that... Have found a Supermicro X9SCA-F-O... Will this do as a replacement to the X9SCL?

Just checked.. that's ATX not microATX... another dead end...

Just as an aside.. I know Supermicro are the recommended boards.. What about Intel boards themselves? Do these lack features?

 

[Ericloewe]

Well... that Supermicro board just doubled in price overnight... so will probably ditch that... Have found a Supermicro X9SCA-F-O... Will this do as a replacement to the X9SCL?

Just checked.. that's ATX not microATX... another dead end...

Just as an aside.. I know Supermicro are the recommended boards.. What about Intel boards themselves? Do these lack features?

They're generally dubious.

ASRock Rack also makes popular boards that tend to work well, see what you can get from them.

 

[mc999]

OK... thanks for the heads up... Odd that they are dubious though.. Saw a nice mini ITX one that would fit the bill nicely!

Just another question.. Have seen on various ebay listings from US that the for International buyers power is a concern.. in Oz we use 240V and US use 110V.. so don't want to buy if it's going to get fried.. but I thoughts most modern PSU handled this switching either automatically or via switch out back. I should be OK then if I purchase a Supermicro MB from ebay coming from a US shipper yeah?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Any power issues would have to be handled by the PSU, so that's what you should verify.

 

[mc999]

Any power issues would have to be handled by the PSU, so that's what you should verify.

I think the Seasonic (and a Corsair HX450 that I have lying around) should cover this.

Not quite sure what the dubiousness issue is with Intel boards that is being referred to - have looked online and found a few posts (not on this board mind you) where ppl have used Intel boards for freeNAS. This is a board I'm also interested in given my use case: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Intel-DB...523168?hash=item2817a72a60:g:x~MAAOSwiYFXK~6F

Any comments about that board or about dubiousness of Intel boards in general?

Thanks!

 

[mc999]

Any suggestions about my above post? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy the Supermicro board?

 

[Spearfoot]

Any suggestions about my above post? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy the Supermicro board?

The intel board you're looking at will probably work fine; but there aren't many (any?) users here on the forum who use it, so you won't have the benefit of anyone else's experience should you have problems with it and find yourself needing some help.

It supports ECC RAM (which you should definitely use), but only to a maximum of 16GB. This may be plenty for your use case, but allows no future expansion should your needs change.

The board also has integrated graphics, which you don't need in a server.

http://ark.intel.com/products/67346/Intel-Server-Board-S1200KPR

Like many on this forum, I'm going to suggest a SuperMicro board. They are true server boards without unnecessary frippery, are well-supported, and tend to 'just work'... :)

 

[mc999]

The intel board you're looking at will probably work fine; but there aren't many (any?) users here on the forum who use it, so you won't have the benefit of anyone else's experience should you have problems with it and find yourself needing some help.

It supports ECC RAM (which you should definitely use), but only to a maximum of 16GB. This may be plenty for your use case, but allows no future expansion should your needs change.

The board also has integrated graphics, which you don't need in a server.

http://ark.intel.com/products/67346/Intel-Server-Board-S1200KPR

Like many on this forum, I'm going to suggest a SuperMicro board. They are true server boards without unnecessary frippery, are well-supported, and tend to 'just work'... :)

Thanks Spearfoot... Yeah regarding the Intel board it will suffice for my current needs and am trying to keep under a certain budget. The Supermicro board I had planned on getting originally (Supermicro X9SCL-+F) doubled in price in between the nights that I had it in my "cart" - the cost difference b/w that and the Intel was only a few $ (Aussie dollars) so was looking forward to getting the Supermicro given it was a recommended hardware choice... so it bummed me out! And now the site is waiting on new stock and not even sure is available via them...

So I've got my eye on a Supermicro X9SCL-+F-O board from another site (a local site here but product shipped from US) - cost about the same with the price hiked board so figured I may as well go for that. If I lived in the US or UK the prices are much more reasonable as shipping is pittance if anything at all... but shipping to our part of the world causes price to skyrocket. The perils of living in paradise I suppose...;)

The micro board does offer expansion in the future at least - 6 SATA 2 ports, which my case can accommodate so is probably the safe choice. Blow out of $170... not much in the long run!

Now to get onto crucial.com to order RAM and 16 GB should do me and have already purchased a Xeon...

Thanks to all for help and advice.

cheers! :D

 

[mc999]

RAM query... What would people suggest for RAM? Using Crucial or Kingston?

Crucial (local supplier link): https://www.ramcity.com.au/buy/cruc...uffered-2/2xCT102472BD160B~KIN1-SXd-00-104580
(Crucial.com link --> http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/x9scl-f/CT4086704)
Kingston (local supplier link): http://www.megabuy.com.au/kingston-kvr16e118hb-8gb-1600mhz-ddr3-ecc-cl11-dimm-hynixb-p668164.html

The local Crucial link and the Crucial.com link seem to be different RAM model numbers. Can anyone provide some feedback on these? The detail for the local ones say the speed of RAM is programmed to go to 1066/1333 as required but the Crucial website make no reference to this behaviour.

The Supermicro X9SCL-F MB will accept 1600 RAM but only after BIOS update (to > 2.0). No idea what BIOS version the MB will arrive with...

Advice?

 

[Ericloewe]

RAM is set up by the BIOS, by default, to run at the fastest speed supported by IMC, RAM and motherboard.

 

[mc999]

RAM is set up by the BIOS, by default, to run at the fastest speed supported by IMC, RAM and motherboard.

OK good. So what would you recommend the Kingston or Crucial?

 

[Ericloewe]

Crucial, but I'm not familiar with the X9 RAM QVL. Many people have had success with that particular Crucial model, though.

 

[mc999]

Hmmmm.. Have looked at Supermicro website and supported RAM for X9SCL-F boards and cannot find the various product models they detail.. so would make it hard to track down the exact models they sprout...

 

[Spearfoot]

Hmmmm.. Have looked at Supermicro website and supported RAM for X9SCL-F boards and cannot find the various product models they detail.. so would make it hard to track down the exact models they sprout...

I have a high level of confidence in Crucial's recommendations; they usually 'get it right' on their website when you query for your particular system.

Also, Crucial is a Micron company and the memory you buy from them is Micron; so you may have to do a little research to figure out which part you need, as SuperMicro's qualified vendor list will nearly always include Micron (and not 'Crucial') part numbers.

 

[Ericloewe]

Good news is that that crucial model has been validated.

Check the X10 RAM sticky for details (yes, the X10 sticky - that Crucial model I mention is also on your board's QVL).

 

[mc999]

Good news is that that crucial model has been validated.

Check the X10 RAM sticky for details (yes, the X10 sticky - that Crucial model I mention is also on your board's QVL).

Thanks! Have read the sticky and confirmed RAM part number and local supply... all good! Ordering RAM tomorrow and mb (x9scl-f-o) has been ordered too but won't arrive for a few weeks, gives me time to play around with freenas on my test system to get comfortable.

Once again thx to all - will report back when all is up and running.

 

[silverbull]

Hi mc999 where did you source your board from? AU or OS? I'm looking right now and not finding any local options that look better than Amazon or newegg plus shipping costs.

 

[mc999]

Hi mc999 where did you source your board from? AU or OS? I'm looking right now and not finding any local options that look better than Amazon or newegg plus shipping costs.

Yeah 'Local' is an interesting thing here... you're in Aus yeah? Local site Fishpond have them on their site but they are sourced fron US... so not local!! I got mine via ebay store... not fkn cheap but i wanted to go with recommended board even though my use case is on low side. Let me find tbe link and will post back here

 

[silverbull]

Thanks, I had a full order loaded up in superbiiz site only to work out that they stopped doing international orders there goes the discount parts. Seems right now newegg is giving me best availability and price including shipping but it's a bunch more expensive than superbiiz. I tossed up getting the WD reds from MSY locally in case there are any issues and I need to return but even that at $40 per drive extra is not a valid concept.

 

[mc999]

Hi mc999 where did you source your board from? AU or OS? I'm looking right now and not finding any local options that look better than Amazon or newegg plus shipping costs.

This eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com.au/simplybestprices10to20dayshipping/

They had a few different boards but I settled for the x9scl-f-o. I found a few others on eBay but cost was generally the same give or take $20 for the various boards. 'Free shipping' is a very interesting term... Where the board was cheaper the shipping was higher and the cost was pretty much similar to the store I chose in the end.

Similar with RAM - I looked on crucial.com and compared with local seller ramcity and only a few $ difference so will go with local.

Hope that helps.

What started as a limited budget project blew out a bit but at least got a good set up - could have got a Synology box for similar price but thought they were overpriced and under resourced. Time will tell...

The term shafted comes to mind with the hardware prices in Oz...