Just looking at making my server even more energy efficient and stumbled across this CPU:

 

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=59347

 

I tried quickly searching the forums but nothing really came up. In comparison to the Sempron 140, it doesn't seem that much different other than it's core speed. Anyone have any experience with this cpu running unRaid?

 

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger and buy the following:

 

AMD Athlon II 160u 1.8GHz 20w

MSI 785GM-P45 785G

Corsair XMS3 2X1GB DDR3-1333

Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus

Azza Helios 910 Black

 

for $220 shipped to my door + another $20 MIR on the case, so $200 even.

 

Seems like it would make a great unraid system (besides the onboard lan, known issues) with room to expand up to at least 15 drives.

Does it use the same socket?

Yep, AM3 socket.  That CPU looks like a great deal, though I can't personally vouch for it.

I assumed this CPU would have a bit of a following amongst unraid users because of it's low TDP but that doesn't seem to be the case! I did look up some benchmarks on the CPU and for anyone that is interested, it seems to be a tad faster than a Sempron LE-1250. Should be more than enough for unraid and a few addons.

 

Looks like a great alternative to the Sempron 140, we'll see when it gets here.

I'll be watching. I like the fact it's compatible with a large number of known boards.

This is actually a II X2 260u Processor underclocked/volted with 1 core disabled.

I purchased a 260u off ebay.

 

Everything appears correct (ie, CPUZ reports everything good, and it uses less power then my 4850e) but the mainboard i use for my unraid doesn't support it.

When booting, it has a cow and asks you to enter the BIOS and save your settings...everytime it boots! 

Alot of these AMD chips are / were never available to consumers other than part of OEM systems so the only way to get them easily is eBay,  that's why there is no significant following for them.

Yep, send a note to your mainboard's support address. They need to hear people are using the chip. The fix may be as simple as adding a string to their BIOS processor table, though I wouldn't hold my breath.

Everything but the case arrived last night. NCIX sold out of the 2x1GB kits so I had to settle for a single 2GB stick. Pulled the CPU out and instantly noticed bent pins, not too pleased. After 30 minutes of straightening them back into position, I finally got it in the socket. Almost as bad as the time at my old job where a client used adhesive thermal paste on his CPU. Always fun trying to save a cpu after it's been ripped out of a locked socket.

 

Anyways, I set it up with some gear I had kicking around. Idling in Win7 with a Seagate 320GB 7200rpm drive, Sparkle 400W PSU (no efficiency rating) & no fans = 48 - 60W

 

I'll post some more power consumption numbers with unraid running once the case arrives.

 

Also, for anyone that's interested: I tried unlocking the 2nd core but was unsuccessful. It would post, started loading windows then crash. Didn't touch voltages but I might try it again as I'm new to this "unlocking core" scene.