Have to change my motherboard for ECC support

[beckonmuse]

So, as you can see in my signature, I have a Gigabyte B760I that I bought originally because it was listed at Micro Center as supporting ECC. However, I later learned from Gigabyte itself that it operates in non-ECC mode. As of right now, I cannot find an ITX motherboard that truly supports ECC and all of my existing hardware. I was hoping that you guys might be able to help me out.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Do you mean Mini-ITX? Practically all of Supermicro's server board lines, X10, X11, A2SDi, ... support ECC.

 

[beckonmuse]

Sorry, yes I mean mini-ITX. So, I don't see any mini-ITX Supermicro boards with LGA1700 sockets.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

I did not understand that you meant to keep the CPU. All my systems run embedded boards from Supermicro with the CPU soldered on. See my signature for examples. I see LGA 1700 is meant for desktop/consumer systems. That might explain the lack of ECC capable hardware.

 

[Etorix]

Alder Lake is not properly supported by TrueNAS anyway.
And you cannot have a 2 TB "cache" drive with a mere 32 GB RAM.

Better study the Hardware Recommendations and start anew, repurposing your current hardware as a desktop.

 

[beckonmuse]

Hey thanks for the reply Patrick. I think that I’m going to look for embedded boards. And Etorix, I have 64GB of RAM. The hardware guide said this should be the starting point for L2ARC, right?

 

[Etorix]

Ah, I thought it was 32 GB RAM, not 2*32 GB. This is indeed the point at which a L2ARC may be considered if needed (first condition… you can't improve on 99% ARC hit ratio) but still subject to proper sizing: The recommended size for L2ARC is 5*ARC and one should not go beyond 10*ARC.
With 64 GB RAM, a 512 GB LARC is possible; not 2 TB.

 

[somethingweird]

Have you look into ASROCK imb-1231? (from quick googling)

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[beckonmuse]

So, I

Have you look into ASROCK imb-1231? (from quick googling)

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This board doesn't seem to support ECC.

 

[somethingweird]

So, I

This board doesn't seem to support ECC.

sorry I meant IMB-X1231

https://www.asrockind.com/en-gb/IMB-X1231

 

[beckonmuse]

Yeah that IMB-X1231 looks great. I had seen it already, but I cannot find it for sale anywhere. So far, I have found a few solutions. But I wanted to get you guys' input on it.

Here are some options:
1. SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SDV-4C-TLN2F. Pros: Integrated chip, up to 128 GB of RAM. 6 SATA ports. The major Con is that a lot of users report that this board gets so hot that it shuts itself down if there is not a fan directly attached to it. I found a used board on eBay that has active cooling attached to the heatsink, but the description still warns that it needs to have proper cooling in case (without defining 'proper'). The case I have is a Jonesbo N1, which features a large 14CM fan in the front that passes air through 4 hard drives before it gets to the rear where the CPU is. Is there any way to know if all of this would suffice?

2. SUPERMICRO MBD-X12STL-IF-O. Pros: 6 SATA ports. Cons: Requires a special cable to utilize 4 of those SATA (I think it is this one or this one from Supermicro). The bandwidth cap on this cable is 12Gb/s. Will this prove to be a problem for TrueNAS? This board would also require a the purchase of a CPU and cooling. And the RAM max is 64GB.

For me, the one I really want is the first one. But, I am worried that the heat will be an issue.

Another question I have: will 64GB of RAM suffice for 4 x 12TB drives with Raidz2?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Requires a special cable to utilize 4 of those SATA

The cables are in the box with the motherboard.

 

[beckonmuse]

The cables are in the box with the motherboard.

Not according to Supermicro's website and the one reviewer of the motherboard on Newegg.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

OK. I have never received anything but a complete set of accessories when buying new Supermicro gear.

 

[beckonmuse]

Do you have any other insight regarding my questions?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

My X10SDV-TLN4F came with active cooling from the factory, no thermal problems. For my X10SDV-4C-TLN4F with passive cooler I changed the passive one for a Supermicro SNK-C0057A4L. Also no problems but I would definitely recommend doing so.

All A2SDi (Atom based) boards I own run fine with passive cooling only.

 

[Etorix]

1. SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SDV-4C-TLN2F. Pros: Integrated chip, up to 128 GB of RAM. 6 SATA ports. The major Con is that a lot of users report that this board gets so hot that it shuts itself down if there is not a fan directly attached to it.

Put a NF-A6x25 on the heatsink and call it a day. This is quieter that the high-pitched fan from X10SDV-nC+ board from Supermicro.

The case I have is a Jonesbo N1, which features a large 14CM fan in the front that passes air through 4 hard drives before it gets to the rear where the CPU is. Is there any way to know if all of this would suffice?

I would NOT trust that the fan generates any significant airflow in the motherboard chamber. Put active cooling there!

2. SUPERMICRO MBD-X12STL-IF-O. Pros: 6 SATA ports. Cons: Requires a special cable to utilize 4 of those SATA (I think it is this one or this one from Supermicro).

Correct. Forward breakout cable SFF-8643 to 4*SATA. Get a short version (50 cm) for your small case.

The bandwidth cap on this cable is 12Gb/s. Will this prove to be a problem for TrueNAS?

No.

Another question I have: will 64GB of RAM suffice for 4 x 12TB drives with Raidz2?

Yes. The X10SDV board can take RDIMM for even larger capacity, at lower price than UDIMM for the X12STL, and with a cooler CPU. What's not to love here?

 

[beckonmuse]

Well, I am excited! I was able to return the i5 processor, the 2 TB NVMe, and both RAM sticks and get back $600. I ordered a used X10SDV and four micron 64GB RDIMM listed as compatible. Only $430 for all five items. =) I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for everyone's insight.