Hhmmm...Upgrades. (to my FreeNAS box)

[AgentZero]

Going from:
Supermicro H8SGL-F, AMD Opteron 6140 (8C, 2.60)
64GB PC3-10600

To a nice new:
Supermicro H9SRL-F, Intel Xeon E5-1620 (4C, 3.60)
64GB PC3-10600

Overall, the system seems MUCH snappier. One of the main reasons for doing this was the old board had 2 X8 slots and 1 X4 slot...and that was it - the rest were standard PCI. Plus the bump in clock speed since I do a lot of SMB. Once again, Supermicro wins in my book!

 

[jgreco]

I've pretty consistently noticed that slower clocks especially on older CPU's tend to heavily drag on performance, not really linearly as one might expect, either.

You do know that you shouldn't be setting mainboards down on non-ESD-safe surfaces, right?

 

[AgentZero]

It's odd, really how much better the storage is now - higher clock, newer generation, (and Xeon > Opteron). I also noticed during boot that the GEOM_ELI - crypto: is now hardware vs. software since the AES_NI instruction set are supported I assume...not sure what that does since I'm not using encryption.

Also, I can't say I had taken that into account...in my mind, wood is a relatively neutral surface - I feel like it would be worse for me to touch the thing than set it down on wood. I'd love to setup a nice workbench, but we'd have to finish the basement first, so currently, this is all the space I have :(

 

[mjws00]

The board comes in a big esd bag. It is perfect to set a board on. I thought everyone pack ratted those and hdd bags. ;) I think I still have bags from the 80's. Glad you're enjoying the new box. Looks great.

 

[jgreco]

Yes, at a bare minimum do the poor man's ESD surface with a ESD bag.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899261021

$15 for an actual mat. Pretty sure those are kinda crappy. We prefer the 3M stuff, and they even have a fairly cheap line of it

http://www.all-spec.com/products/3m...ESD-Safe_Benchtop_Matting|MAT-01/430-101.html

The good quality stuff will last approximately forever if you treat it well. The shop benches here have ESD laminate but we still put down mats to reduce scratching; the laminate is hella-expensive and a ***** to replace. Gotta clean those mats now and then with something like

http://www.all-spec.com/products/3m/Cleaners_and_Aerosols|Cleaning_Supplies|CLN-03/TM8001.html

Not associated with All-Spec in any way except as an occasional customer, good place for shop supplies.

And let me be real clear here. If you're spending hundreds on a CPU, and hundreds on a mainboard, and a thousand on RAM, and you're assembling it on a shiny wood surface, I sure hope those loose electrons aren't skittering over that polished surface and into the pins on the bottom of your PCB, because ESD damage is insidious and isn't always obvious. Make a small gift to yourself of at least the cheap NewEgg mat above.

 

[mjws00]

Lol. Almost had 'us plebs' in the last post. ;) But the wife says I shouldn't joke, people don't get it. Besides tapatalk brings out my terse.

 

[AgentZero]

Dang....guess I got lucky - had no idea. Ironically, I used the static bag as a base to install everything, and briefly set it on the desk while I moved stuff around to get it replaced into the chassis. :(

This is why I don't post things...now I need to: - finish the basement and setup a better desk - go buy MOAR STUFF

 

[mjws00]

Nah. We all like seeing people enjoy their new toys. :)

 

[jgreco]

briefly set it on the desk

Trust me, that is a HELL of a lot better than it could be. I mainly nail people on that topic because I really don't like seeing people spend lots of $$$$ on hardware and then losing it to Mister Zappy. Get a mat and a wrist strap, ground everything, and if you're careful that's really pretty darn good.

 

[DJ9]

I picked up a cheap mat off Amazon that works well. Nothing fancy, but it's built in the USA. ;)
View: http://www.amazon.com/OP-TECH-USA-Work-Mat/dp/B003U3LUOY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412189896&sr=8-1&keywords=esd+mat