Raj's Prototype Designs [Discussion Thread]


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Raj,

 

I think you've had some experience with the Utgard and I believe you've used the Helios cases.

 

I'm trying to decide between the two...

 

Any thoughts?

 

I don't have any hands-on experience with the Utgard.  Based on the pictures it looks fine, and the front panel fan control knobs and dual eSATA ports could be really nice to have.  Plus it is cheaper.  The Helios 910 is my stand-by case right now.  It works well.  The large side fan is a bit of a waste, since unRAID doesn't need extra cooling in the video card area.  That side fan is my only complaint about the Helios 910, everything else about the case is just fine.  I will soon be building a 15 drive server for a client using the Nexus Prominent 9.  At over $150 it is a very spendy case, but I believe it will result in the quietest 15 drive server I can manage (I'm also upgrading all the Norco SS-500's fans to quieter models).

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No issues with dust with the  Helios 910?  All the air intakes easily cleaned?

The Utgard has a removable filter by the PS which the 910 doesn't seem to...

 

It looks like I can get the 910 for $59 AR FS. from amazon which makes it slightly cheaper if I really want to wait for the rebate! :D

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I haven't used the Helios 910 long-term, I've just build many servers based on it and shipped them off to clients.  Personally, I use the Antec 902 V2 for my server.  All servers get dusty, I don't think any one of these cases will really perform better than the others in that arena.  The Helios 910 does have two dust filters mounted externally on the bottom of the case, but I don't think they will be of much help since most of your airflow will come in past the hard drives.

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I thought I was going to be able to re-purpose an old 939 board I had, but it had some well, issues.

 

anyway here is my budget build Let me know what you think.

Going to pickup these 3 items tomorrow from local Microcenter,

Biostar A880G+ AM3 880G mATX Motherboard

Athlon II X2 255 3.1GHz Socket AM3 Boxed Processor

Kingston HyperX blu 2GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) CL9 Desktop Memory Module

 

 

 

I already have an antec case with Corsair 450watt PS

3 WD green 2TB drives and all the hardware to assemble it.

 

 

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Looks good.  You might be able to find cheaper RAM online (Kingston's value ram is fine, you don't really need HyperX).

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

The Hyper X was $20 and the cheapest I could get locally so I took a $5 hit

Same for the processor it was not that much more expensive  I wanted the 140 but they just didn't have it, newegg was out, the 130 requires me to decide on a non-stock cooler that does not suck for cheap and I was in a I want it now mood so $59 instead of $43

 

My other machine was up and running and it had an unfortunate accident that damaged a vital component on the motherboard so I wanted to get something ASAP.

 

I now just need to put it together and power it up ;)

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Looks good.  You might be able to find cheaper RAM online (Kingston's value ram is fine, you don't really need HyperX).

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

The Hyper X was $20 and the cheapest I could get locally so I took a $5 hit

Same for the processor it was not that much more expensive  I wanted the 140 but they just didn't have it, newegg was out, the 130 requires me to decide on a non-stock cooler that does not suck for cheap and I was in a I want it now mood so $59 instead of $43

 

My other machine was up and running and it had an unfortunate accident that damaged a vital component on the motherboard so I wanted to get something ASAP.

 

I now just need to put it together and power it up ;)

 

It is up and running, worked right out of the box!

 

I need to get some better case fans and some zip ties for making it a bit more organized, but its up and running and parity sync is in progress.

 

Thanks so much for the suggestions and research Raj, you make it easy for the rest of us..

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With older Gigabyte boards you have to be wary of the HPA issue.  I personally wouldn't buy that board - it is overpriced considering how old it is.

 

 

Understood. Well, I'm done trying to find my own hardware lol, Decided to go with these off of your Prototype Designs List:

 

AMD Sempron 140:

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Sempron-Socket-Cache-SDX140HBGQBOX/dp/B002I25RWO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313218615&sr=8-1

 

Zotac GeForce 6100

http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-GeForce-6100-Motherboard-GF6100-/dp/B003FSTAVO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1313218640&sr=8-2

 

and apparently the CPU cooler I selected in the thread I started earlier fits with AM3 sockets so that alleviates any extra searching...

 

Come late September, I will officially begin building my first unRAID server, I'm hype to start!

 

EDIT: with some additional browsing, I found this:

 

AMD Sempron 145

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Sempron-145-Processor-SDX145HBGMBOX/dp/B0040BPHJO/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

 

which according to amazon is the newer version of the AMD Sempron 140 I previously selected.

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Hello all,

 

A quick search of this thread and these forums seems to indicate that the Biostar TA785G3HD was popular, or possibly even the recommended budget board in the past. Just wondering if it fell out of favour for some reason, is now incompatible with some of the suggested components/UnRaid, or if it would still be a good board for the 5-10-15 route? Hopefully it will be fine, as I pulled the trigger last night. Basically, I'm planning to use this in the 5 Drive Budget Box build in place of the A880G+, minus the SATA card, and I've replaced the PSU with the 500 watt as suggested. Everything is finally ordered and I'm excited to finally get this build underway! Thanks for all the great information here.

 

By the way, if this still is a good board (hopefully I found the same one), it is available at Newegg for $59.99:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138181&Tpk=biostar%20ta785g3hd

 

Sorry, I don't know how to make the links fancy :D

 

 

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PerpetualZell:  The Sempron 145 is cheaper and faster, so nothing wrong with that!

 

B-Plus:  That board looks just fine, I don't see anything about it that would indicate incompatibility.  I have yet to see a Biostar board that won't work with unRAID.  The only exception to this are the newest line of them that use the Realtek 8111E NIC.  The one you have chosen does not.  It looks like a great board, actually.

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PerpetualZell:  The Sempron 145 is cheaper and faster, so nothing wrong with that!

 

B-Plus:  That board looks just fine, I don't see anything about it that would indicate incompatibility.  I have yet to see a Biostar board that won't work with unRAID.  The only exception to this are the newest line of them that use the Realtek 8111E NIC.  The one you have chosen does not.  It looks like a great board, actually.

 

New Budget Build Recommended board?

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B-Plus:  That board looks just fine, I don't see anything about it that would indicate incompatibility.  I have yet to see a Biostar board that won't work with unRAID.  The only exception to this are the newest line of them that use the Realtek 8111E NIC.  The one you have chosen does not.  It looks like a great board, actually.

 

Thanks for your feedback and all the hard work you put into these builds and forums. Now I'm thinking about ordering the same board for an htpc build.

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Raj,

 

I am looking at your 22 drive beast as a new build but I want to wait for your compatibility tests with 3tb drives.  How is the testing going?  Thanks for all your support on this site.

 

Alan

 

 

 

As relating to boot drives, you are right.  However, as relating to data drives, many motherboards on the market today can make use of the full 3 TB capacity without UEFI.  Each particular piece of hardware requires hands-on testing to make sure one way or the other.

 

As pertains to this particular hardware, I currently have some 3 TB Hitachi CoolSpin drives that I am going to be using to test out all the motherboards and controllers I have over the next couple of weeks.  The Biostar A880G+ is one of the motherboards I will be testing.  If you aren't in too much of a hurry, I suggest that you might want to wait for my test results before making any purchasing decisions.  I will try to be expedient in my testing.  Feel free to PM or email me for progress updates.

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Raj,

 

I am looking at your 22 drive beast as a new build but I want to wait for your compatibility tests with 3tb drives.  How is the testing going?  Thanks for all your support on this site.

 

Alan

 

 

 

Alan,

 

the 22 Drive Beast Raj has listed is the SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SIL-F-O. That board should have no issues running 3TB Drives. Hitachi's for sure. I dont think anyone here is running WD 3TB drives in unraid that I noticed.

 

I also know for a fact the next version of that board, the X9SCM-F-O runs 3TB drives just fine. that's what I am running in an ALL 3TB setup of 10 3TB drives.

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Johnm,

 

Thanks for the info.  I see that that board runs the 1155 Sandy Bridge processor.  Which one are you using?  Also are you using the SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 add on card with your setup?

 

Thanks again,

Alan

 

 

Raj,

 

I am looking at your 22 drive beast as a new build but I want to wait for your compatibility tests with 3tb drives.  How is the testing going?  Thanks for all your support on this site.

 

Alan

 

 

 

Alan,

 

the 22 Drive Beast Raj has listed is the SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SIL-F-O. That board should have no issues running 3TB Drives. Hitachi's for sure. I dont think anyone here is running WD 3TB drives in unraid that I noticed.

 

I also know for a fact the next version of that board, the X9SCM-F-O runs 3TB drives just fine. that's what I am running in an ALL 3TB setup of 10 3TB drives.

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Johnm,

 

Thanks for the info.  I see that that board runs the 1155 Sandy Bridge processor.  Which one are you using?  Also are you using the SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 add on card with your setup?

 

Thanks again,

Alan

 

Yes, I am running 2 SASLP-MV8's. You "should" be able to run up to 4 at once on that board.

 

I have 2 unraid builds using the X9SCM-F-O Goliath and Spartacus. You can see the build specs in my signature. they are identical for the most part. One is 3TB drive and one is 1.5/2TB drives. I am also mid build on a third X9SCM-F-O (Atlas) with a virtualized unraid.

 

you can also see my experience with Hitachi 3TB drives on the MV8.

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=14021.0

 

Right now I am running 10 3TB drives on a X9SCM-F-O.

6 on one MV8, 1 on the mobo and 1 on the second MV8. there is no reason they are configured like that other then for testing.

I however do not have any 2TB drives in this system. Someone had mentioned on another forum that 3TB and 2TB don't intermix well in windows on the MV8. something to keep in mind until that is myth-busted.

 

There is also another Supermicro 1155 motherboard (the X9SCL - C202 based) priced just below the X9SCM with 3 PCIe slots to save a few bucks if you want.

The X9SCL's should be going down in Price. The X9SCL+ is starting to ship and has dual Intel 82574L nic cards to replace the LM  Nic that the non+ has. unraid wont care if it is + or not since it is limited to one NIC. Both models will work. We just got a sample of one at work.

 

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