i3-7100

[LoSx]

This is a specific question about a CPU and not a system because I don't want to get too far down designing a system and then have to change everything because of the CPU. I am being limited by my wife budget so I have to use it wisely. I currently have a freenas box very old that is on a i3-3220 that doesn't support ECC but it was documented as supporting it originally and I don't want that again.

So i3-7100
https://ark.intel.com/products/97455/Intel-Core-i3-7100-Processor-3M-Cache-3_90-GHz

Does it support ECC or not I am very confused... first it did not and now it does? Uhmm... does anyone have it and know for certain? I already have a freenas 8 box with non ecc ram for 5 years and my wife would kill me if I lost all our photo's and documents I am not willing to risk non ECC ram anymore. Yes I have backups but restoring would suck and I only backup certain pieces

If I can't get a definitive answer I will probably end up grabbing a used E3-1220v3 at a price similar to the i3-7100 but then also likely have to get a used MB... Not sure if I want to go the used route... what do people recommend?

 

[Chris Moore]

If I can't get a definitive answer I will probably end up grabbing a used E3-1220v3 at a price similar to the i3-7100 but then also likely have to get a used MB... Not sure if I want to go the used route... what do people recommend?

Personally, I don't have a problem with used because much of the (enterprise) used gear is only 3 or 4 years old and has plenty of pep left for home use. I bought used and expect to be able to use it another 3 to 5 years if I can resist the urge to buy new for the sake of having the shiny new thing. I use my NAS to run Plex and store all my media (family photos and documents) and it has been solid. I bought a rack server and made some adjustments to it to quit the fans. I also keep a full backup of everything, just in case, but I do that by having a second storage pool.
I understand being constrained by the budget and I try to always suggest things with cost as a key consideration. have a look at this:
You could get this processor for ~ $80 and have a quad core Xeon with hyperthreading:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon...Quad-Core-LGA-1155-Processor-CPU/122833831578
Then get this system board to go with it for ~ $90:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/TESTED-Sup...w-E97379-001-Heatsink-I-O-Shield/232430611431
Which would give you a system able to use 32GB of ECC memory and for only ~ $170, it would surely be able to do more than the dual core i3.
Unless you think you will be needing more than $32GB of RAM because of all the virtual machines you will be running?
Just an opinion. It is what I did although I didn't get that good a bargain on it, prices have come down a little more. The DDR3 memory this board uses is also in less demand, which makes it less expensive than the latest and greatest DDR4 that the other board requires.
Speaking of which, these 8GB sticks are only ~ $72 and they will work with the board I linked to:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-SKHyni...0pin-ECC-Memory-Unbuffered-UDIMM/122768385938

 

[Jailer]

I'd just opt for a G4620. It's always been documented as supporting ECC memory, it's a 2 core 4 thread part just like the i3 7100 and is cheaper.

 

[Ericloewe]

Does it support ECC or not I am very confused... first it did not and now it does? Uhmm... does anyone have it and know for certain? I already have a freenas 8 box with non ecc ram for 5 years and my wife would kill me if I lost all our photo's and documents I am not willing to risk non ECC ram anymore. Yes I have backups but restoring would suck and I only backup certain pieces

Excellent question. This is about the third time Intel does this sort of crap with ECC support on i3s. The safest option is to stick to the i3-6xxxs, like the i3-6300.