New Build Sense Check

[adrianwi]

I've been thinking about an upgrade for a little while, but after hitting some issues over the last few weeks, mainly related to an increasing lack of space (over 70%) and resources (32GB RAM not really enough) I thought it was time to build a shopping list. Just looking to replace my existing system (which will be retired to backup duties) with something similar but with more storage and memory, which hopefully this does:

Case: Another Fractal Define R5 (is there any benefits from the R6 or a different tower case?)
Motherboard: Supermicro X11SSL-CF (this seems like the newer version of the X10SL7-F?)
Processor: Intel Xeon E3-1220 v6 (is this a logical upgrade from the 1231 v3?)
Memory: 4xcCrucial 16GB DDR4-2666 ECC UDIMM (CT16G4WFD8266)
Power: Seasonic SSR-650FX FOCUS Plus Gold 650W
Boot: Intel D3 S4510 2.5" Enterprise SSD
Pool: 8x8TB Seagate 8 TB IronWolf 3.5 Inch 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive (still a little torn on opting for less [6] higher capacity [10/12] drives)

I think that's about it. I might put in another couple of fans, but was planning to use the stock CPU cooler which seems to have worked fine in the current build.

It's around the £3,000 mark in the UK, but if it works as well as the last build and keeps me going for another 4-5 years it seems like a good investment.

Thoughts?

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

Case: Another Fractal Define R5 (is there any benefits from the R6 or a different tower case?)

Never used the R5. I had a build in an R6 I loved. Check it out in my signature.

Boot: Intel D3 S4510 2.5" Enterprise SSD

You may ne able to save some money and get a cheaper SSD. The boot device doesnt need to be super burly.

Pool: 8x8TB Seagate 8 TB IronWolf 3.5 Inch 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive (still a little torn on opting for less [6] higher capacity [10/12] drives)

Co sider reds at lower rpms to control temps. Few drives may mean fewer oops, especially if you're

 

[reasonsandreasons]

My understanding is that the big benefit of the R6 is the ability to mount up to 11 3.5" drives and 4 2.5" natively if you remove the optical bay and purchase extra caddies from Fractal. That being said, that's not more 3.5" capacity than the R5 (eight 3.5" plus three in the two optical bays, though the R6 does have two more 2.5" drive slots), the mounting itself is slightly less stable than the cages on the R5 (only secured on three corners as opposed to four), and you lose the side fan mount over the PCIe cards even on the non-windowed version. The R6 is ultimately a better case in general (better tempered glass side panel support, power supply shroud, USB-C front IO, more flexible radiator mounting, etc.) but for storage server applications the changes it makes aren't super compelling. You can't go wrong with the R6 (if you think there's a chance you'll reuse the case for a desktop someday it's undoubtably the better choice), but when I bought a case for a new build a few days ago I went with the R5.

 

[adrianwi]

Well, it's started!

I bought a Fractal Define R5 case and a 140mm Fan I've also bought a single WD My Book 8 TB Desktop Hard Drive for £119 to see if I can take it apart without causing any damage. If I can, I'll be buying another 7 as these are about £100 cheaper than buying a Red drive, saving me £800!

I'm also looking at a Crucial SSD when I buy the RAM as they're only £20 compared with the Intel option. Might even buy two and mirror them ;-)

If the drives work out I'll be closer to £2000, which will be a great result!

 

[Chris Moore]

I know that getting used gear in Europe is not as easy as it is in the US, but you might want to consider a used system board, processor and RAM because it will save you cash and there is not much advantage with getting newer components there. Certainly not enough difference to warrant the cost of new hardware.

 

[subhuman]

(is there any benefits from the R6 or a different tower case?)

The R6 comes with less drive trays. If you want to max it out, it'll push the total cost up by over 50%. Suddenly what was a fairly affordable case becomes less so, and now has to compete with ones like this: https://www.amazon.com/Supermicro-Rackmount-Server-Chassis-CSE-743TQ-865B-SQ/dp/B0019MI1I6

 

[adrianwi]

Thanks for the comments. I had some spare time over the weekend (dangerous!) so managed to order all of the bits I need.

Case	Fractal Define R5 + FD-FAN-SSR2-140
Motherboard	Supermicro X11SSL-CF
CPU	Intel Xeon E3-1230 v6
Memory	4 x Crucial 16GB DDR4-2666 ECC UDIMM
Power	650W Seasonic Focus PX-650 80PLUS Platinum
Storage	8 x 8TB WD Red (WD80EZAZ–11TDBA0) RAID-Z2
Boot	2 x Crucial BX500 120GB SSD

And picking up external WD drives on a Black Friday offer meant the overall cost was much lower, at just over £2200 :)

I hope I don't have too many issues trying to use them!