Build suggestions?

[Gilt Brick]

Hey guys I'm planning on starting a FreeNAS build with a Supermicro X9SCL and an e3-1220L (low power i3 performance).

I still haven't finalized my storage configuration but I had a few questions. DDR3 Registered RAM is so much cheaper than unbuffered RAM that I think it might be cheaper to find a motherboard that supports it. Is this something I should be looking into?

Also I read on the pinned post about how SATA 2 might not work as well with drives greater than 2TB. Has anyone faced this issue before?

Lastly, the motherboard page mentions at the bottom that chips with integrated graphics aren't recommended because the motherboard has its own graphics. Will this cause any issues or is that just to let you know you dont need a chip with graphics? https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C202_C204/X9SCL.cfm

Thanks for the help!

 

[Spearfoot]

Hey guys I'm planning on starting a FreeNAS build with a Supermicro X9SCL and an e3-1220L (low power i3 performance).

Welcome to the forum!

I still haven't finalized my storage configuration but I had a few questions. DDR3 Registered RAM is so much cheaper than unbuffered RAM that I think it might be cheaper to find a motherboard that supports it. Is this something I should be looking into?

Whether to use registered/unbuffered RAM is up to you, the important point is to use ECC memory. FWIW, I use unbuffered ECC RAM in my main system.

Also I read on the pinned post about how SATA 2 might not work as well with drives greater than 2TB. Has anyone faced this issue before?

Older SATA 2 (3Gb/s) motherboards and HBA/disk controllers (HBA=Host Bus Adapters) were limited to drives of 2TB or less. However, the SATA 2 (3Gb/s) ports on newer motherboards and newer HBAs don't have this limitation. The X2SCL board you mentioned will handle the larger drives. If you decide to use a different board, make sure it supports larger drives.

Lastly, the motherboard page mentions at the bottom that chips with integrated graphics aren't recommended because the motherboard has its own graphics. Will this cause any issues or is that just to let you know you dont need a chip with graphics? https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C202_C204/X9SCL.cfm

CPU-integrated graphics aren't recommended because they aren't used and just waste power. FreeNAS is usually run as a headless system, i.e., with no connected display monitor. If you purchase a Supermicro or other manufacturer's board with IPMI capability (denoted on Supermicro boards by the -F model suffix) you can build and configure a system without ever connecting a display monitor; IPMI gives you a remote, virtual monitor at your local PC/Workstation, which may be in the same room, or located anywhere in the world.

Thanks for the help!

You're welcome, and good luck!

 

[Chuck Remes]

You might want to reconsider that Xeon E3-1235L (there is no 1220L as far as I can tell). See this post for why: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/skylake-build.42496/#post-276113

 

[Jailer]

The board you listed does not support registered memory. DDR3 unbuffered memory is not expensive.

Curious as to why you would put together a new system spec'd with old gen parts. Do you already own these parts?

With the power saving mechanism built in to modern CPU's it doesn't make any sense to go with a low powered (L) part. The "L" CPU's are for thermally limited installations not for power savings.

 

[Gilt Brick]

You might want to reconsider that Xeon E3-1235L (there is no 1220L as far as I can tell). See this post for why: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/skylake-build.42496/#post-276113

The 1220l is mentioned on ark here: http://ark.intel.com/products/53401/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1220L-3M-Cache-2_20-GHz
and I can find it on ebay. There is a 1225, but I don't think there is a 1225L.

The board you listed does not support registered memory. DDR3 unbuffered memory is not expensive.

Curious as to why you would put together a new system spec'd with old gen parts. Do you already own these parts?

With the power saving mechanism built in to modern CPU's it doesn't make any sense to go with a low powered (L) part. The "L" CPU's are for thermally limited installations not for power savings.

I already have some of the parts, like case, psu, ups. The reason for buying older parts is simply to save money on a build that doesn't require a lot of performance. I didn't know that about the L cpu's, thanks. In this case though the standard 1220 is 4 core-4 thread. The L version is 2 core-4 thread so I think it will actually make a difference in bower consumption. In addition the specs say it turbos to 3.4GHz so the single-threaded boost performance is on par with the standard 1220.

I also understand by board doesn't support registered RAM, but if I decide to expand to the boards maximum of 32GB thats over $150 in RAM. On the other hand registered dimms are about half the cost (idk why). In that case I'd be saving $75 so if another board supports registered and costs less than $75 more I'd be saving money in the long run.

Like I mentioned the main reason for the older parts is to save money since I don't need a lot of performance. If you have any other part suggestions I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for all the replies

 

[Gilt Brick]

Welcome to the forum!
CPU-integrated graphics aren't recommended because they aren't used and just waste power. FreeNAS is usually run as a headless system, i.e., with no connected display monitor. If you purchase a Supermicro or other manufacturer's board with IPMI capability (denoted on Supermicro boards by the -F model suffix) you can build and configure a system without ever connecting a display monitor; IPMI gives you a remote, virtual monitor at your local PC/Workstation, which may be in the same room, or located anywhere in the world.
You're welcome, and good luck!

Thanks for all the info. The integrated graphics wouldn't cause any problems though right? I'm asking because the 1220L is rated at 20w and I can't find a processor with a lower tdp and budget price.

 

[Spearfoot]

Thanks for all the info. The integrated graphics wouldn't cause any problems though right? I'm asking because the 1220L is rated at 20w and I can't find a processor with a lower tdp and budget price.

No, integrated graphics won't cause any problems.

I looked at the E3-1200 specs, and it turns out the E3-1220 doesn't have integrated graphics. But note that the 'L' model only has 2 cores instead of 4, which will have a definite impact on performance. If price is an issue and performance isn't, why not look at a plain ol' Pentium, say, for example, a G2140? They're quite a bit cheaper than Xeons.

 

[Ericloewe]

Older SATA 2 (3Gb/s) motherboards

Not true, that's specific to LSI's crummy SAS1 implementation. Intel SATA 3Gb/s works just fine.

 

[Spearfoot]

Not true, that's specific to LSI's crummy SAS1 implementation. Intel SATA 3Gb/s works just fine.

Forgive me, I should have said "Some older SAS 2 motherboards." Don't know about LSI's culpability. :p

 

[Gilt Brick]

No, integrated graphics won't cause any problems.

I looked at the E3-1200 specs, and it turns out the E3-1220 doesn't have integrated graphics. But note that the 'L' model only has 2 cores instead of 4, which will have a definite impact on performance. If price is an issue and performance isn't, why not look at a plain ol' Pentium, say, for example, a G2140? They're quite a bit cheaper than Xeons.

I was planning on getting a pentium at first actually, but then the cpu list for the motherboards only mentioned the G6950, I thought that was the only Pentium supported on that motherboard with ECC. Obviously I was mistaken, thank you!

 

[Spearfoot]

I was planning on getting a pentium at first actually, but then the cpu list for the motherboards only mentioned the G6950, I thought that was the only Pentium supported on that motherboard with ECC. Obviously I was mistaken, thank you!

Do your own research before buying a CPU!

Anyway, the G2140 should work in that board, and here's a good place to start your research:
http://www.pc-specs.com/mobo/Super_...cro_Computer_MBD-X9SCL-F/3292/Compatible_CPUs