Which MB/CPU/DDR for a new build 2020

[profwalken]

Hi ,
As Covid keep us home, i'd like to start a new NAS for my small business.

I need to know what can be bought today April 2020

My need is FREEBSD compatible hardware with:

1. Motherboard Intel with at minimum 8 Sata ports
2. Form factor preferred in ATX
3. With 4 memory slots ECC and DDR4 modules 2x16Go
4. Socket if possible LGA1151
5. CPU compatible with motherboard
6. Ethernet ports Intel I2....

if this list is easy to find , then where to buy as i'm located in France, i don't want to order too far, Europe is a good limit.

thanks for all those who can take some time for me and can give some advices .
Best regards
Profwalken

 

[Yorick]

Use case is 100% file serve, no need for Plex/hardware transcode, only minimal jail / VM use?

If so:

SuperMicro X11SCM-F or X11SCH-F. The former does not support Plex hardware transcode, the latter does. "Does probably from TrueNAS 12 on", that is.
Intel Pentium G5400 - plenty for fileserve. Alternative: Any E-xxxx Coffee Lake Xeon, E-xxxxG if hardware transcode is desired.
Crucial DDR4 ECC UDIMM, up to 128GiB on the board (4 x 32GiB modules)

Bottom line: If you want new hardware, the SuperMicro "entry" line is always a good choice. If used hardware, finding older SuperMicro "entry" motherboards on eBay are a good choice. Look for Intel C2x2/6 chipsets. Usually the C2x6 are the ones with 8 SATA on board.

 

[profwalken]

Use case is 100% file serve, no need for Plex/hardware transcode, only minimal jail / VM use?

yes no need for plex

 

[profwalken]

those 2 MB are on micro atx format, do you know something ATX ?

 

[Yorick]

mATX will work in an ATX case. What are you looking for from an ATX board?
Also: X11SCA-F is a comparable ATX version, and the matrix is at https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboards/matrix

 

[profwalken]

more slots available in case new disk controler needs to be added or other hardware extension

can i order this one ?

Supermicro MBD-X11SCA-O maintenant 25% moins cher X11SCA Intel C246 LGA 1151 (Emplacement

Supermicro X11SCA Intel C246 LGA 1151 (Emplacement H4) ATX remise 25%. MBD-X11SCA-O - Notre prix (HT) : 314,81 €. Les meilleurs prix pour en France !

www.senetic.fr

 

[profwalken]

Where to buy memory, on supermicro estore, 2 modules are referenced both out of stock.
the same are available in USA but with extensive cost and surely toll fee to add.
As I'm in France, i'd like to have a link to buy not far to europe.
Do you know one ?

 

[Yorick]

Keep in mind that X11SCA is the one without IPMI. Your call - personally, I'd hate to have to hook up a keyboard and monitor just to see BIOS settings, and to have no way to remotely power cycle. For this reason, I'd always go -F ... so for example, X11SCA-F-O. Whether that's the right board for you, only you can tell. On that board, the i210 Ethernet is for IPMI, and the PHY I219LM is your single GBit link. That means you'll likely use a PCIe controller if you need more than one link.

As for memory, anything DDR4 ECC UDIMM will work. Kingston or Micron would both be good choices, and should be widely available. You are unlikely to find 32GB modules, which means you'll use 16GB modules.

 

[profwalken]

perhaps i found one, memory and MB are working together ?

LambdaTek Component Shop - Unités centrales, Mémoire, Moniteurs, Imprimantes, Stockage, Réseau, Logiciels et plus

Supermicro MBD-X11SCA-F-O maintenant 25% moins cher X11SCA-F Intel C246 LGA 1151

Supermicro X11SCA-F Intel C246 LGA 1151 (Emplacement H4) ATX remise 25%. MBD-X11SCA-F-O - Notre prix (HT) : 337,76 €. Uniquement chez nous !

www.senetic.fr

 

[Yorick]

Good find! DDR4, ECC, UDIMM - I expect it’ll work, looks right to me.

 

[profwalken]

Have done my order MB , CPU, 32Go DDR4 for a total cost 668.34€
MB --> X11SCA-F-O
CPU --> I5-7500 3.4ghz
DDR4 --> Samsung 32Go ECC

 

[mistermanko]

That's a good price overall. I just recently bought parts in the older x10 generation, MB, CPU and RAM (check my sig) for almost the same price. :(

 

[Yorick]

Okay one huge caveat. You went for an i5 which does not support ECC, but you bought ECC memory.

Pentium, i3 and xeon do support ECC. Go for the E-2xxx Xeon if you are looking to run some form of jails / VMs on there that need the CPU power. The pentium g5400 is fine for file serve, though

 

[Yorick]

One more caveat. The x11sca is for 8th/9th gen CPUs. You bought a 7th gen one. I have no idea whether coffee Lake boards are backwards compatible to Kaby Lake CPUs - but at any rate, you’d be “out of spec” in an unsupported configuration.

Go for that 8th gen Pentium or 8th / 9th gen Xeon. The CPU recommendations further up in the thread were made with the assumption you’d use ECC and slot the CPU into a coffee lake C246 board.

 

[profwalken]

Oh, S..t, can you give me links for specific models for MB with best frequencies as i'm unable to find the right one.

 

[Yorick]

All depends on your use case.

If it's just for file serving then:

Pentium G5400, for example at https://www.lambda-tek.fr/Intel-BX80684G5400~sh/B42243108

If you are looking to run some VMs and want more CPU power then:

Xeon E-2124 or Xeon E-2224, for example at https://www.lambda-tek.fr/Intel-BX80684E2124~sh/B42958550 and https://www.lambda-tek.fr/shop/?region=FR&prodID=B43492905

If you are going for Xeon, choose the one that's more affordable. E-2224 is the newer model and costs less at that particular retailer, so that'd be your choice when buying from lambda-tek.

Are you looking to run VMs? And if so, what kind, for which purpose, and how many?

 

[profwalken]

Thanks a lot, tomorrow I'll try to call to change my order before they ship

 

[profwalken]

Hello,
i got my order delivered and done a first start, everything seems good but didn't found where to decrease fan speed for cpu and sys fans. So for now they are running full speed and it's like a turbine engine noise.
nothing seen in Bios to set something for fans. bios ins old level 1.0, seen 1.2 on supermicro website, is it a simple way to update ?
For now no OS is installed.

any ideas how to update bios and decrease fan speed ?

 

[Yorick]

The Easy Button for Supermicro BIOS Upgrades - Wahl Network

Do you use Supermicro servers for your lab or work? Here's an easy way to flash the BIOS.

wahlnetwork.com

 

[profwalken]

Thanks for bios process

And for fan speed? do you have any tip?