Low cost Skylake options supporting ECC memory

[Søren Madsen]

Hi

I have been searching alot for a low skylake setup able to utilize ecc memory either in the mini-itx or micro-atx formfactor.

I finally found the gigabyte X150M-Pro ECC which provides the features I request at a reasonable price point.
However reading on the Gigabyte website gigabyte states that this board requires a Xeon cpu to actually
utilize the ECC functionality of the platform. Is this just legacy text they still haven't updated or is it true?
Have any of you guys (and gals) build a system using this board and a lowend cpu and confirmed ECC?

Naturally I will also contact Gigabyte's support for the info and post their answer here.

Most of the skylake based cpu's support ECC, which would indicate that the Gigabyte X150M-Pro ECC should also be able to provide this functionality on the lower priced cpu's, unless it is a bios based software update problem.

 

[Dice]

Why not go to the regular X11 Supermicro motherboards?

 

[JDCynical]

Why not go to the regular X11 Supermicro motherboards?

That is a good question as per Newegg in the US, the SM X11SSL-F-O is the same price as the Gigabyte, has the IPMI/KVM on it, and doesn't have things like PCI slots and audio hardware (which will never be used under FreeNAS).

It may just be availability in the OP's area making SM options a more expensive than the Gigabyte (which seems to be a semi-common issue outside of areas such as the US)?

As for the OPs' question:

However reading on the Gigabyte website gigabyte states that this board requires a Xeon cpu to actually
utilize the ECC functionality of the platform. Is this just legacy text they still haven't updated or is it true?

This is more than likely marketing info as Intel would rather you buy a more expensive Xeon for ECC support vs the few of the less expensive Pentium and i3 chips that support ECC, but that is speculation based on previous experience and a healthy bit of cynicism from dealing with these companies for longer than I care to think about. :)

 

[Dice]

@op, in denmark... have a chat with these swedish guys located in Malmö. They might ship to denmark too. If you live close to the border... why not just go there and get it for a raodtrip? =D
http://www.mullet.se/category.html?category_id=15158

 

[Søren Madsen]

Why not go to the regular X11 Supermicro motherboards?

Basically it's down to price. the supermicro boards are twice as expensive in Denmark compared to the Gigabyte board. And the way I have setup my pc's I really do not need ipmi. My server is next to my main pc and they share usb devices. not the most secure setup, but functional .

 

[Søren Madsen]

@op, in denmark... have a chat with these swedish guys located in Malmö. They might ship to denmark too. If you live close to the border... why not just go there and get it for a raodtrip? =D
http://www.mullet.se/category.html?category_id=15158

Thx, I'll have a look at the link and contact them.

 

[Søren Madsen]

This is more than likely marketing info as Intel would rather you buy a more expensive Xeon for ECC support vs the few of the less expensive Pentium and i3 chips that support ECC, but that is speculation based on previous experience and a healthy bit of cynicism from dealing with these companies for longer than I care to think about. :)

I was thinking the same thing, but it would be nice to get the confirmation before ordering the parts .

 

[Søren Madsen]

Hi, just to update.
I have contacted the Gigabyte eSupport service.
Gigabyte has confirmed that non-xeon cpu's will work in ecc-mode on the GA-X150M-Pro Ecc if they support ecc as specified on the intel website.

 

[xJem]

Hi everyone,
I'm joining your quest for an affordable, modern setup with ECC.

There's a very interresting alternative to the Gigabyte X150M : the MSI C236M Workstation.

Prices are similar, BUT you don't have to buy a graphic card, as it already comes with a VGA port (and even with HDMI and DVI).
I got a first confirmation from MSI forums that ECC support is real with Xeon, with effective error correction (not just "compatible" with ECC dimms). Still waiting confirmation for the i3 6100.

I searched through maybe one hundred motherboards specs and prices, the only 3 interresting and affordables builds with ECC are:

(1) MSI C236M Workstation + Core-i3 6100 (about 290€)
(2) ASRock C2550D4I (about 290€)
(3) Gigabyte GA-X150M PRO ECC + Core-i3 6100 + Graphic card ! (about 310€)


Not sure which one to pick. At least the ASRock is recommended for FreeNas, but it's less powerfull and stuck forever with its CPU.

 

[Søren Madsen]

Hi everyone,
I'm joining your quest for an affordable, modern setup with ECC.

There's a very interresting alternative to the Gigabyte X150M : the MSI C236M Workstation.

Prices are similar, BUT you don't have to buy a graphic card, as it already comes with a VGA port (and even with HDMI and DVI).
I got a first confirmation from MSI forums that ECC support is real with Xeon, with effective error correction (not just "compatible" with ECC dimms). Still waiting confirmation for the i3 6100.

I searched through maybe one hundred motherboards specs and prices, the only 3 interresting and affordables builds with ECC are:

(1) MSI C236M Workstation + Core-i3 6100 (about 290€)
(2) ASRock C2550D4I (about 290€)
(3) Gigabyte GA-X150M PRO ECC + Core-i3 6100 + Graphic card ! (about 310€)


Not sure which one to pick. At least the ASRock is recommended for FreeNas, but it's less powerfull and stuck forever with its CPU.

That's about the same configurations I have been able to find. It would be rather interesting if it was possible to buy the soc boards used by the commercial nas providers. Ecc variants.
As an alternative if "size doesn't matter", so to speak, one could buy a fullsize tower such as the new hp proliant ml10 gen9 og older Intel h3 based setups which can be found very cheap right now.
In My region the newest ml10 (Intel c236) is about 350 eur. The older gen 8 is currently priser at 220 eur. But ofc the form factor is compromised and the latter options aren't based on Intel h4.

Sendt fra min XT1032 med Tapatalk

 

[Ericloewe]

Prices are similar, BUT you don't have to buy a graphic card, as it already comes with a VGA port (and even with HDMI and DVI).

You do need an iGPU, though.

Those are interesting prices, to be honest, but I'm not sure I'd be ready to give up IPMI.

 

[xJem]

You do need an iGPU, though.

Those are interesting prices, to be honest, but I'm not sure I'd be ready to give up IPMI.

Yes that's right. This MSI card was interresting because I wanted to put a core-i3 on it (which has an integrated GPU). I would have liked to have IPMI also, but it's impossible to get the best of both consumer and server worlds (ECC + IPMI + HDMI + low prices). It's an acceptable compromise for my needs : sacrifice IPMI for evolutivity and power.

To stay on recommended tracks, and for a simple affordable NAS, the ASRock C2550D4I seems to be the only reasonable option in that price range.

 

[Cronos]

i3-6100T + GA-X150M-PRO ECC,
works ecc mode?

 

[Ericloewe]

i3-6100T + GA-X150M-PRO ECC,
works ecc mode?

It should, theoretically.

Do note that T processors are generally a bad choice.

 

[Cronos]

It should, theoretically.

Do note that T processors are generally a bad choice.

why?

 

[Ericloewe]

Because they're slower and don't actually use less power over time.

 

[Cronos]

Because they're slower and don't actually use less power over time.

Would Xeon E3-1240LV5 be a better choice?
http://ark.intel.com/pt-br/products/88169/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1240L-v5-8M-Cache-2_10-GHz

 

[Ericloewe]

Same problem, different letter. L model Xeons are also artificially limited.

You should be looking at the i3-6100 (no T).

 

[Cronos]

Same problem, different letter. L model Xeons are also artificially limited.

You should be looking at the i3-6100 (no T).

what low TDP processor(LGA 1151) you recommend?

 

[Stux]

what low TDP processor(LGA 1151) you recommend?

Low TDP professors are low peak TDP, not minimum or average TDP.

They have been crippled so when under full load, they are not as fast.

This means the cooling system can be wimpier, but because of a slower race to idle, they can actually use more power than a non crippled CPU.