Motherboard Suggestion

[skunk]

I'm in the market for a new motherboard for my unRAID box. Looking for RAM/processor as well. Any recommendations out there? Reliability is most important. Really just want something that's going to run stable with built in video and will do the job for a reasonable price.

 

thanks!

S

[althoralthor]

I bought just a couple of months ago the below components.  Fairly inexpensive and so far very reliable.  Only 4 sata ports but you can add a SATA controller card if you want more:

    ZOTAC GF6100-E-E AM3 (up to 65 watt TDP) / AM2+ / AM2 NVIDIA nForce 430 MCP Mini ITX AMD Motherboard

    Model #:GF6100-E-E

    Item #:N82E16813500045

 

    AMD Sempron 145 Sargas 2.8GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Desktop Processor SDX145HBGMBOX

    Model #:SDX145HBGMBOX

    Item #:N82E16819103888

 

 

    Rendition by Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model RM12864AA800

    Model #:RM12864AA800

    Item #:N82E16820148239

[GFOviedo]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157277&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL041912&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL041912-_-EMC-041912-Index-_-AMDMotherboards-_-13157277-L01D

[GFOviedo]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131796

[ctviggen]

I bought just a couple of months ago the below components.  Fairly inexpensive and so far very reliable.  Only 4 sata ports but you can add a SATA controller card if you want more:

    ZOTAC GF6100-E-E AM3 (up to 65 watt TDP) / AM2+ / AM2 NVIDIA nForce 430 MCP Mini ITX AMD Motherboard

    Model #:GF6100-E-E

    Item #:N82E16813500045

 

    AMD Sempron 145 Sargas 2.8GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Desktop Processor SDX145HBGMBOX

    Model #:SDX145HBGMBOX

    Item #:N82E16819103888

 

 

    Rendition by Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model RM12864AA800

    Model #:RM12864AA800

    Item #:N82E16820148239

 

Is that all you need, a single core processor?  And only 1GB RAM? 

[Johnm]

unRAID will run fine on a single core CPU and 512K-1GB of RAM if you do not run any beefy add-ons.

 

Be aware that you not be able to run more then 1 or 2 preclears at once while the array is running and you would not be able to do any heavy apps like video transcoding.

 

That set up would be a smart, low power, mini server.

[ctviggen]

unRAID will run fine on a single core CPU and 512K-1GB of RAM if you do not run any beefy add-ons.

 

Be aware that you not be able to run more then 1 or 2 preclears at once while the array is running and you would not be able to do any heavy apps like video transcoding.

 

That set up would be a smart, low power, mini server.

 

Thank you.  When you say you would not be able to do any heavy apps like video transcoding, are you saying the unraid server itself cannot do any heavy apps, or are you saying that I cannot connect a computer to the server and transcode data on the server using the connected computer?  (Because I'd like to transcode movies stored on the unraid server with my HT computer.)

 

It appears I may have to get a new motherboard, and that setup looks pretty good.  I used my old computer, which had a dual core intel processor and 4GB of RAM, but if I could get away with less, I would.  I especially would like lower power, since this runs 24/7/365. 

[ctviggen]

I should say that I'm using 5 drives now, 3 data, one cache, one parity.  I just use unraid as attached network storage and basically that's it.  I have a SATA card, as my current motherboard only supports 4 SATA connectors.

[althoralthor]

I'm not running many plugins really on this box.  It is just for network storage.  I stream movies/music from it and thats about it.  For that, it works just fine for me.

 

That being said, I have not tried to preclear more than 1 drive at a time (I never had a reason to). 

[ctviggen]

Thanks.  That system would only run around $100 or slightly more, which isn't too bad. 

[Johnm]

unRAID will run fine on a single core CPU and 512K-1GB of RAM if you do not run any beefy add-ons.

 

Be aware that you not be able to run more then 1 or 2 preclears at once while the array is running and you would not be able to do any heavy apps like video transcoding.

 

That set up would be a smart, low power, mini server.

 

Thank you.  When you say you would not be able to do any heavy apps like video transcoding, are you saying the unraid server itself cannot do any heavy apps, or are you saying that I cannot connect a computer to the server and transcode data on the server using the connected computer?  (Because I'd like to transcode movies stored on the unraid server with my HT computer.)

 

It appears I may have to get a new motherboard, and that setup looks pretty good.  I used my old computer, which had a dual core intel processor and 4GB of RAM, but if I could get away with less, I would.  I especially would like lower power, since this runs 24/7/365. 

I was suggesting that was a basic unRAID setup for the minimal of use. mostely fileservering and straming video to a WDTV or XBMC.

 

unRAID can transcode video with the right plugins. there are things like PS3 mediaserver and PLEX.

those needs a heftier dualcore or better CPU's. probably 4 gigs of ram or better. I do not transcode so I can not tell you exactly what is needed.

 

it sounds like the old one will work fine.

maybe you could just use that one for now then save up for something like an I3 build down the road once you have a better Idea of what you need.

[ctviggen]

Thank you.  I doubt I would ever do those types of things, only because my time is so limited.  I took the time to figure out how to set up the unraid server, and then I haven't touched it. 

 

I have an i3 for my home theater/work/home computer.  It does everything I need it to do.  I think something like that would work really well for an unraid server, but they're probably overkill for what I'm doing.

[ctviggen]

Well, I went slightly more expensive.  A 65W AMD processor, dual core, and one of the ASRock motherboards (recommended above), and 2GB RAM.  I had an order for the single-core processor, but everything was going to be over $130 with shipping from Amazon.  I paid $150 for what I bought. 

[chickensoup]

I went with an i3 for my unRAID box and I don't regret it. A cheap i3 + Gigabyte motherboard & 4gb of ram (only because it is so cheap atm) will do everything you need. The only thing you might want to consider is a motherboard with at least two PCI-E 4x or larger slots; this gives you a little more room to add controller cards or an aftermarket NIC (even though most NICs are only 1x cards). Just double check the network controller on whatever board you get as some of the Realtek ones have some known issues (RTL8111E I think?).

[emorydively]

Well, I went slightly more expensive.  A 65W AMD processor, dual core, and one of the ASRock motherboards (recommended above), and 2GB RAM.  I had an order for the single-core processor, but everything was going to be over $130 with shipping from Amazon.  I paid $150 for what I bought.

 

Did you get an A4 APU?