BUILD LGA1151, ECC & low TDP ==> MSI C236M + Intel G4500T

[DKman]

Hello everyone,

I plan to build a not so expensive home NAS with 2 drives in RAID1 to store reliably my personal data. I've read most of the pinned topics to understand what to do and I got the importance of ECC ram + nice mobo + quality PSU.

I didn't bother digging more into AMD based solutions, couldn't find low TDP + ECC ram support. Or I missed something ... :/

I find buying a Intel Atom based boards in Europe expensive, a bit limited in performance, and not really up to date (last Atoms out in 2013). Ok the overall TDP is amazingly low but there is only 2/3 options :
- ASRock C2550D4I > 290€ (I don't trust ASRock)
- Supermicro A1SRi-2358F > 230€ (not in stock anywhere)
- Supermicro A1SRi-2558F > 272€

Good alternative ==> Intel LGA1151 CPU + Intel C23x chipset mobo + ECC ram ?

From what I found, only mobos with Intel C232 or C236 chipsets fully support ECC with LGA1151 CPUs. I listed :
- GA-X150M-PRO ECC > 106€ ==> Nice price but looks like a really bad choice, bad ECC ram compatibility & no BIOS update/new rev since release
- MSI C236M Workstation > 133€==> Looks like a good board ! I've seen no reviews or not much info on FreeNAS forums, too bad there is no ITX version.
- Asus P10S, SuperMicro X11, or ASRock C236 are too expensive > 200++€

On the other hand it seems LGA1151 offers 35W low TDP 14nm with full features CPUs (AES, VTx, etc.) + integrated HD Graphics 510/530 (noice DVI+HDMi outputs onboard) :
- Intel Pentium G3900T > 43€
- Intel Pentium G4400T > 65€
- Intel Pentium G4500T > 77€

Intel Xeon processors seem too expensive and overkill for my needs. Intel Xeon E3-1220v5 starting at 200€.

So the build I wanna go with might be the cheapest low TDP CPU + ECC mobo around :
MSI C236M + Intel Pentium G4xxxT ==> 176-210€

Pros :
- Nice price
- LGA1151
- Low TDP CPU+GPU @35W (14nm yay \o/)
- ECC+DDR4 (64GB max)
- PCIe 3.0 2*x16 + 2*x1
- USB 3.1
- 6*SATA3 + 1*eSATA3
- DVI+HDMi
==> Overall : ready for future upgrades (RAM or CPU) or other usages (HTPC / server / workstation)

Cons :
- Single Gigabit LAN :(


What do you guys think about this ? Got HGST drives waiting :D

Side question : using a cheap SSD as boot device is ok ? Buying an Innodisk SATADOM seems complicated.
- Transcend half slim SSD 32GB (TS32GHSD370) > 35€ (really compact)
- PNY SSD CS1311 Series 120Go > 37€

 

[Spearfoot]

I plan to build a not so expensive home NAS with 2 drives in RAID1 to store reliably my personal data.

RAIDZ1 requires a minimum of 3 drives and isn't recommended in any case. If you plan on using only two drives, just put them in a simple mirror.

integrated HD Graphics 510/530 (noice DVI+HDMi outputs onboard) :
- Intel Pentium G3900T > 43€
- Intel Pentium G4400T > 65€
- Intel Pentium G4500T > 77€

Intel Xeon processors seem too expensive and overkill for my needs. Intel Xeon E3-1220v5 starting at 200€.

So the build I wanna go with might be the cheapest low TDP CPU + ECC mobo around :
MSI C236M + Intel Pentium G4xxxT ==> 176-210€

Pros :
- Nice price
- LGA1151
- Low TDP CPU+GPU @35W (14nm yay \o/)
- ECC+DDR4 (64GB max)
- PCIe 3.0 2*x16 + 2*x1
- USB 3.1
- 6*SATA3 + 1*eSATA3
- DVI+HDMi
==> Overall : ready for future upgrades (RAM or CPU) or other usages (HTPC / server / workstation)

Cons :
- Single Gigabit LAN :(


What do you guys think about this ? Got HGST drives waiting :D

Side question : using a cheap SSD as boot device is ok ? Buying an Innodisk SATADOM seems complicated.
- Transcend half slim SSD 32GB (TS32GHSD370) > 35€ (really compact)
- PNY SSD CS1311 Series 120Go > 37€

A few forum members use MSI motherboards; perhaps they will share their opinion of this particular board.

In general, you don't want or need onboard graphics on your FreeNAS server as it is administered via the web interface. So you shouldn't select a CPU with onboard graphics, and the DVI+HDMI ports on your motherboard won't be of much use either.

Yes, it's fine to boot off a small SSD, and Intel devices are recommended. However, many of us have no problems booting from USB 2.0 sticks (San Disk Fit is a good choice).

Good luck!

 

[Nick2253]

- ASRock C2550D4I > 290€ (I don't trust ASRock)

Is there a particular reason you don't trust ASRock? I ask because I, along with many other forum members, are successfully using ASRock products in general, or that exact motherboard in particular, with few if any problems.

cheapest low TDP CPU

Is there a reason why you're going for a low TDP CPU? The "T" low TDP Intel CPUs will use exactly the same power at idle as the "normal" TDP CPUs. The only difference is the price (where the low TDP CPUs are usually more expensive), and the peak performance (where again the low TDP CPUs fall short). Usually, a T CPU is only required if you have a specific peak power or heat requirement. If you are just looking to lower your power bill, you probably won't see any savings between the T and non-T CPUs, especially for home use, when your system will be idle a large majority of the time.

 

[DKman]

Is there a particular reason you don't trust ASRock? I ask because I, along with many other forum members, are successfully using ASRock products in general, or that exact motherboard in particular, with few if any problems.

I don't know why but I don't see myself buying a 300€ mobo from ASRock. It's true they had the same RMA rate as others for a long time now.
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/947-2/cartes-meres.html

Is there a reason why you're going for a low TDP CPU?

Yes, I want to go for a fanless solution, with a good heatsink I can propably have a 120mm fan in front of a mATX case that does all the job.

 

[danb35]

RAIDZ1 requires a minimum of 3 drives and isn't recommended in any case.

He said RAID1 (i.e., mirrors), not RAIDZ1.

 

[Spearfoot]

He said RAID1 (i.e., mirrors), not RAIDZ1.

Thanks... I need more coffee...

 

[losmi]

I'm planning on building soon with a GA-X150M-PRO ECC, the ECC RAM compatibility on their site is just RAM they tested, doesn't mean other RAM doesn't work as long as you follow what it says is supported (1Rx8/2Rx8 UDIMM ECC modules). In fact I've already ordered RAM which is not on their list (couldn't find it) but it fits the specs and hopefully will work fine, I'll find out in the next few weeks when I buy everything else. The bigger problem with this mobo is that it has no on-board VGA, I've purchased a passively cooled NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 for 40€ for that, seems like a waste but comes out to be similar price as the MSI C236M and the Gigabyte has an M.2 slot.

 

[DKman]

Final setup:

Edit: Running FreeNAS-11.3-U3.1 (2020/5)
Mobo: MSI C236M Workstation
CPU: Intel Pentium G4500T
PSU: be quiet! Pure Power 9 - 400W
Memory: Samsung M391A1G43DB0-CPB 8GB DDR4-2133 ECC Unbuffered
SSD: SanDisk Z400s 128GB
HDDs: 2x HGST Deskstar NAS 3.0 TB
Box: Fractal Design Core 1000
Passive CPU rad: Arctic Alpine 11
Fan: be quiet! Shadow Wings 120mm

Dry run:

ECC status check with Memtest86+ V6:

HGST Deskstar NAS disk options (spindown because they are noisy as f*** because there is no AAM):

Everything system related on the SSD so we can actually spindown the HDDs:

Lowest power consumption possible (Intel Pentium G4500T lowest state is C2):

 

[stardust]

Hi!

How about current/power consumption of the MSIC236M?

I planned to buy a D3417-B but know that I know that Fujitsu is going to launch a completely new version for Kaby Lake by the end of april(!) I am looking for alternatives.

Greetz
Stefan

 

[DKman]

Hi!

How about current/power consumption of the MSIC236M?

I planned to buy a D3417-B but know that I know that Fujitsu is going to launch a completely new version for Kaby Lake by the end of april(!) I am looking for alternatives.

Greetz
Stefan

I don't have tools to measure power consumption of the whole setup after the PSU :/

 

[DKman]

How about current/power consumption of the MSIC236M?

Bought a TackLife EM03 recently, measured power consumption at outlet. I am surprised, it's quite low ! The z400s SSD helps a bit.

Idle (CPU @800Mhz in C2 state / HDDs spindown) ~22-23 W

Boot / Load (CPU in load / HDDs spinning) ~45-46 W