BUILD Node 304 E3-1240v5

[gregerg]

Been mulling over my options for some time now, and I think I may go with this build:

CASE -- Node 304
MOBO -- ASRock C236 WSI
CPU -- E3-1240v5
COOLER -- NH-U12S
RAM -- Crucial 2x32GB ECC
PSU -- Seasonic 360 Seasonic SSR-450RM
DRIVES -- WD Red 6x6TB

My use case is fileserver / plex server, and video editing. I've been doing some reading on ZIL and L2ARC, but I'm not entirely sure that I'd benefit from either, with respect to video editing. So if anyone has any guidance there, that would be appreciated.

Also, so far I have not considered an HBA card for this mobo. What do you guys think?

I'll probably use a small SSD for the OS.

 

[gregerg]

I'm also weighing my options between this case and the Node 804 with this mobo: SuperMicro MBD-X11SSH-F-O

So if anyone has any comments on that setup, would love to hear it. Thanks!

 

[Jailer]

The supermicro is slightly more money and a slightly larger footprint but has the advantage of IPMI. Once you're used IPMI you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

 

[Nick2253]

Couple observations:

First, you really don't need a third-party CPU cooler. The stock Intel cooler is more than sufficient. And it's almost silent as well.

Your PSU is too small. Read the PSU sizing sticky to get a better handle on what PSU you should be looking at. The key thing here is to not underestimate drive spinup power draw.

And I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're probably overkill on memory. Unless you plan on having lots of simultaneous users, or deduplication, you really don't need 64GB of memory. It won't hurt, but 32GB is sufficient for your setup.

 

[gregerg]

you really don't need a third-party CPU cooler. The stock Intel cooler is more than sufficient.

My reasoning for the cooler was that 6 drives clumped that closely might benefit from a cooler like this, due to the fan that would be pulling air through that area, plus it would limit the overall heat of the system by taking some more off the cpu.

 

[mattbbpl]

And I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're probably overkill on memory. Unless you plan on having lots of simultaneous users, or deduplication, you really don't need 64GB of memory. It won't hurt, but 32GB is sufficient for your setup.

Nonetheless, it is nice that you are able to say it.

 

[gregerg]

Your PSU is too small. Read the PSU sizing sticky to get a better handle on what PSU you should be looking at. The key thing here is to not underestimate drive spinup power draw.

Thanks! Updated to a 450watt

 

[gregerg]

The supermicro is slightly more money and a slightly larger footprint but has the advantage of IPMI. Once you're used IPMI you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

I assume this means you have a mobo with IPMI. Do you mind mentioning your favorite feature(s) of it?

 

[Jailer]

No monitor, keyboard or mouse to hook up to it and remote mounting of install images. You don't have to physically lay a finger on the machine to install and set up an OS.

 

[nojohnny101]

My reasoning for the cooler was that 6 drives clumped that closely might benefit from a cooler like this, due to the fan that would be pulling air through that area, plus it would limit the overall heat of the system by taking some more off the cpu.

Full disclosure that I do not have experience with the node 304 but if you are worried about cooling the HDDs, get better fans that actually do the cooling (the ones mounted under the front panel from the looks of it). Extra cooling from the CPU would have minimal if any affect on the temps of the HDDS.

 

[sremick]

In defense of third-party cooling:

Although I was aware that the stock cooler should be "sufficient", I was concerned about noise (bigger fan/heatsink = less RPMs for equivalent heat dissapation). It had yet to be determined how much the CPU might run hard now or later in the future, and while the stock might cool it "sufficiently" and "reasonably quiet" I wanted to cool it "better" and "quieter". Synthetic stress-testing has not made me regret my choice.

I also liked how making the fan vertical in this case created an effective airflow channel passing straight through the case. Not only does this allow for more-efficient cooling, but less turbulence has got to improve noise levels as well.

There have also been reported instances where the stock cooler was not sufficient. I just read a recent one on these forums a few minutes ago in fact.

So despite 4 fans and 6 hard drives, my entire box is silent.