fist build - some questions

[deneb]

I was looking around to find some build and choose one that fit my need. I am still a bit confused, but I have a couple of questions.
Consider that I am testing freenas now on a J1900 and it working quite well with nextcloud/emby/transmission/backups since I am the only one at using it.
I would like a bit more powerful cpu, but not too much to avoid high power consumption. Consider anyway that the number of users will be anyway low, for sure less then 4. And for now the Nas almost always on idle.

One of the build I saw is based on Xeon L5630 and Intel S5500BC. It is interesting from the cheap components price (~70$ on ebay). Does this still make sense? Some of you has an idea on the idle power consumption? Probably a single processor make more sense for my needs. Do you know any comparable settings that can achieve around the same performances, less power consumption and no more than the double in price?

Second question is about HDD, I had in mind to buy 2 disks and use a simple replica, I think is enough for a home NAS, but I was thinking about buying 2 disks from 2 different brands. For example 1x WD RED and 1x Seagate ironwolf. The idea is that this setting will reduce the probability that the disk will fail together. Do you think there are problems with this setting in freenas?

 

[deneb]

After looking a bit more at my needs, suggested hw and prices I ended up with ths build:

device	product	link	price
motherboard	Supermicro x10slm+ - F	ebay	115
cpu	Core i3-4330	ebay	30
ram	16GB 4x4GB PC3-14900 DDR3 1866MHZ ECC UNBUFFERED	ebay (or maybe new)	30
hdd	2x WD RED HDD 4TB or Seagate ironwolf	amazon	260
cpu cooler	-tbd-	-	-
boot disk	Crucial BX500 120GB	amazon	30
case	-tbd-	-	-
PSU	Evo Labs 500W	ebay	27
		total	492

I still need to add the case and the cooler. Considering them, I should be within 600 euro. How does it look?

 

[demon]

Considering that RAM isn't on SuperMicro's verified list, I would say it's a crapshoot at best. You should look at their tested list on the SuperMicro site and buy based on that.

As far as the disks, I wouldn't mix brands. The odds of two drives failing at the same time are pretty low, and having drives with different geometries is more likely to give you fits than any benefits you'd likely get out of it. That said, use the sol.net drive testing script (available on these forums) to beat on the disks first, so you can hopefully eliminate any possible infant-mortality scenarios.

 

[gdog0]

I found a Dell T110 II on Ebay that covered the case, PSU, 32GB Ram, Xeon E3 CPU (with cooler), PERC H200 controller and of course motherboard for $269 including shipping. I purchased 6 4TB WD Reds that were on sale 2 days ago from Amazon and a PCIe card to hold an SSD drive to finish out my needs. Oh I did get a 5.25 to 3.5 bay converter to hold 2 of the drives... not needed in your scenario.

 

[deneb]

Considering that RAM isn't on SuperMicro's verified list, I would say it's a crapshoot at best. You should look at their tested list on the SuperMicro site and buy based on that.

good suggestion, I will read the verified list for sure

s far as the disks, I wouldn't mix brands. The odds of two drives failing at the same time are pretty low, and having drives with different geometries is more likely to give you fits than any benefits you'd likely get out of it. That said, use the sol.net drive testing script (available on these forums) to beat on the disks first, so you can hopefully eliminate any possible infant-mortality scenarios.

thanks for pointing this out.

I found a Dell T110 II on Ebay that covered the case, PSU, 32GB Ram, Xeon E3 CPU (with cooler), PERC H200 controller and of course motherboard for $269 including shipping. I purchased 6 4TB WD Reds that were on sale 2 days ago from Amazon and a PCIe card to hold an SSD drive to finish out my needs. Oh I did get a 5.25 to 3.5 bay converter to hold 2 of the drives... not needed in your scenario.

This is also a good suggestion, I found some few deals on ebay, I will dig into this, wondering about how the size and the noise will fit in my livingroom, but this path definitely deserves to be evaluated.

Thank you all again

 

[gdog0]

This is also a good suggestion, I found some few deals on ebay, I will dig into this, wondering about how the size and the noise will fit in my livingroom, but this path definitely deserves to be evaluated.

Since I haven't built mine yet, I can't comment on the noise. But others here mentioned the T110 II was made to run in office environments and as such is fairly quiet. I see the folks I got mine from have another one available but I also just realized you mentioned Euro's in your first post... so US suppliers probably not helpful.

 

[deneb]

So at the end I built my original idea, on a Phenom Micro atx case, everything is working, just one problem. Maybe some of you has a similar cpu/heatsink and could help.

The CPU is a core i3 4360 and mounted this heat sink: amazon link, because it was included in the motherboard offer. In the Case there are also 2 12cm fans.

II did a small temp test, just using ffmeg, and the temperature raised quite a bit (~90C or ~194F) in some minutes. So I decided to buy a new heat sink. I found an artic alpine 12. But is seems that the backplate used for the original heatsink is taped.

So my question is, does it make sense to carefully try remove the backplate to use the artic fan, or it is probably better to just improve the case ventilation?
Thanks