making my first build, and need recommendation on motherboards. with all the posts on data corruption and such, i'm a little scared at purchasing the wrong hardware. there really aren't many (or any) boards from the recommended hardware list even available anymore. I am trying to minimize initial cost, w/ leaving the possibility for future upgrades. I'm going to start w/ just 3 drives and make sure the unraid software is right for me. So I am thinking AMD based, an Athlon II X2 255 Regor 3.1GHz (room to grow for addons). I have already purchased the WD EARS 2TB, thermaltake v6, ram (DDR3), power supply. I just need to decide on the MB and processor.

So, any of the experts recommended an affordable MB for the AMD Athlon II platform?

Thanks! I'm chompin at the bit to get my last pieces of hardware and replace my old Dell P2 ad-hoc server!

 

I literaly just bought this combo, I have read good things and am thinking it is good. It was very cheap.

ASUS M4A78LT-M AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Processor SDX140HBGQBOX

 

Edit: actually attached is what I bought. (this first group)

UnRaid_Plan_Web.pdf

Since you already purchased the RAM you need to ensure your board is compatible. What will you use this computer for if unRAID is not for you? This is something that should be on your mind so you don't buy an underpowered computer if you turn out not using unRAID.

 

The Sempron is a good choice for a budget box if you are not concerned with what I asked above, but you will still need to match your board with the memory purchased.

Hi,

 

I recently built my first Unraid with AMD arquitechture and used an Asus ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO.

So far so good. I'm also running 3 WD20EARS and I'm liking the combo very much.

 

Cheers!

 

Since I have read horror stories about hardware incompatibility w/ unraid, i figured I would buy compatible hardware and then that should be able to run unraid and then anything else if I don't like unraid.

As far as an alternative goes if unraid doesn't work out, I would consider testing something like Amahi with the greyhole software or maybe going even as basic as freenas w/ a zfs filesystem (not sure if I would try raidz or not, regular raid scares me). Maybe just plain old Ubuntu server, i heard about something called GlusterFS, and I heard of something else similar (mdfs or mddfs, or mdmfs...).

 

Here are the components i have purchased so far:

• Thermaltake v6 Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133180)
  
• Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3/2GR(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134790)
  
• CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 CMPSU-430CX 430W ATX12V Active PFC Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139017)
  

 

I was considering this CPU:

• AMD Athlon II X2 255 Regor 3.1GHz (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103896)
  

 

The motherboard I was considering before was: ASUS M4A78LT-M AM3 AMD 760G (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131672), based on a previous thread on the motherboard forums. I haven't seen much posted about this board, so i'm getting nervous that isn't a good choice? I like that it has 4 slots for ram (future expandability), but it only has 6 SATA ports. Although, at my current storage needs, i won't need 6 ports for a while and maybe not even before I upgrade drive sizes. So, i guess I just want to sense check b/f I buy this board and processor that there isn't anything else I should be considering.

That board should be fine (it has passed Level 1 testing) although I'm not sure that memory will be compatible.  I'd recommend heading over to the Asus site and look at the memory QVL.  That will have a list of part numbers by density that have passed testing on the board.  If it's not on there you can either get new memory or order the board anyway and see if it will work.  QVL's are not typically all-inclusive.

 

Also, Newegg has this board as an Open Box if you want to save a few bucks.

 

Just make sure you don't get the M4A78LT-M LE.  While the board will work fine, the NIC has issues and you'll have to get a PCI card for networking.

I highly recommend against the ASUS M4A785-M.  It is incompatible with the Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 card (so it has limited expansion capabilities), and it is very finicky about which flash drives it will and won't boot from.

 

More info here.

 

If you only want to use the board's 6 onboard SATA ports and maybe another few ports on SIL3132 cards then it is an OK choice.  You'll still need to study the Level 1 thread to figure out with which flash drives it is compatible.  In general I would just suggest that you avoid this board unless you really have no other options.  You should also avoid the LE version of the board, as rich said.

 

Instead I suggest the Biostar A760G M2+ as the only budget board I've seen and personally tested that is reliable and compatible with everything I've throw its way.  eBay currently has a bunch of them for around $50.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to eat a little crow here.  While I personally haven't had any problems (I'm only running on a free license so I haven't even entertained the idea of an expansion card), as I start wanting to expand my server I'll probably be putting this board out to pasture and moving to the Biostar A760G M2+ or possibly the Supermicro C2SEE with a Celeron.  The M4A785-M looked good on paper and early indicators pointed to it being a great board, but the limited expandability has hurt it quite a bit.

 

For what it's worth, I'm using a Lexar Firefly with this board with no hassles.

Since I have read horror stories about hardware incompatibility w/ unraid, i figured I would buy compatible hardware and then that should be able to run unraid and then anything else if I don't like unraid.

 

I'm forced to dispute this *horror stories* assertion.  I've personally switched out 3 different motherboards on my server.  unRAID has worked flawlessly on all my hardware.  

The only issue I had was with Gigabyte's HPA (not an unRAID issue) problem.  I started with Gigabyte, switched to Asus to get away from the HPA issue and then eventually switched out to Biostar because I wanted a smaller motherboard for my TinyTen case.  unRAID worked flawlessly on all that hardware.  No horror stories.

 

The only time folks have had issues is when they try to use unsupported hardware (check the Hardware Compatibility) or just get a flakey board.

Raj, maybe the Asus M4A785-M shouldn't be recommended as a *great alternative* in the Recommended Builds section since it's such a crappy board.  Or at least warn people right there about not trying to use the AOC-SASLP-MV8.  One bit of bad advice in that section can overshadow a lot of good advice.

Thanks queeg, I'll fix that right away.  I completely forgot that I had mentioned it there, to be honest.

Raj, maybe the Asus M4A785-M shouldn't be recommended as a *great alternative* in the Recommended Builds section since it's such a crappy board.  Or at least warn people right there about not trying to use the AOC-SASLP-MV8.  One bit of bad advice in that section can overshadow a lot of good advice.

 

+1

Done

 

I also made some other general updates, and used the Biostar A760G M2+ with the appropriate eBay link wherever possible.  Hopefully by the time that eBay vendor is out of stock there will be a new budget board out.