June 27, 201214 yr Does anyone have any ideas about suitable motherboards for an i3-2120(T)? I'm looking for something with 6 sata ports with potential to add at least another two via an expansion card. Looking at the range of 1155 socket motherboards there seems to be a whole bunch of variants h77, b77, z77, z75 etc. Looking at the differences between these variants, am I right in thinking that for unraid purposes there isn't much difference - other than price? Am I also correct in thinking that there isn't going to be any difference between the distribution of SATA 2 and 3 ports - since 1gbs ethernet will always be the bottleneck to the server - so the 3gbs/6gbs distinction between sata2/3 is of no concern? Can anyone advise about this one: MSI B75MA-P45 Intel B75 Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/MSI+B75MA-P45+Intel+B75+Socket+1155+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=50392 or GIGABYTE GA-H61MA-D3V GEN3 Intel H61 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards+-+Intel/Socket+1155+-+Intel+H61/GIGABYTE+GA-H61MA-D3V+GEN3+Intel+H61+%28REV+B3%29+Socket+1155+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=48248 Both of these are micro-atx, both have 6 sata ports, but neither have any mention on the unraid forums. Any other budget suggestions that I can find in the UK are also appreciated
June 27, 201214 yr Not sure about uk availability but the supermicro x9scm would be your best bet. Not really budget but well worth the extra money for the stability and long term expandability. Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2
June 27, 201214 yr Am I also correct in thinking that there isn't going to be any difference between the distribution of SATA 2 and 3 ports - since 1gbs ethernet will always be the bottleneck to the server - so the 3gbs/6gbs distinction between sata2/3 is of no concern?You are correct here but I think it is the drives that limit you. Most drives are barely faster than Sata1 on sustained transfers (with spinners anyway) a Sata3 SSD would be able to saturate a sata3 port and also the 1gbs ethernet.
June 27, 201214 yr Author Supermicro doesn't seem well supplied in the UK. The suppliers I've found for that board are asking around £170 - which is over three times the cost of the MSI or Gigabyte, so its a bit out of the question. Any others? Or anyone with experience (or just an educated guess) about the compatibility of those linked above? Completely ignoring SATA 2/3 breakdown makes life a bit easier - thanks for the confirmation I'll not be using SSD, so no bother
June 27, 201214 yr Completely ignoring SATA 2/3 breakdown makes life a bit easier - thanks for the confirmation I'll not be using SSD, so no bother Where Sata3 speeds COULD make a difference is if you have a SAS Expander like the Intel RES2SV240.
June 28, 201214 yr I second the x9scm-f. 2 - 6gig sata on board and ipmi. My rig has been up for almost 90 days without a problem. The plus for supermicro is their warranty- 3 years. It's a quality product and economical
June 28, 201214 yr Author Is it really economical at over 3 times the price of those other boards? Seems like a decidedly premium option, I could have two backup motherboards to sway out instead for the same money, and I can imagine warranty service from the UK being a headache... but if it really is the only sensible choice then I guess I'll need to keep on saving!
June 28, 201214 yr Well if its 3x more expensive for you to get maybe not worth it. Try one of the others. But on the other hand we know the supermicro works. Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2
June 28, 201214 yr Plus the IPMI option is worth 3x the price to me. I won't live without it any more. I have my unRAID servers in the basement and before I had IPMI it was a real pain to carry down a monitor and keyboard to access the console to change a bios setting or just watch boot up for problems. Now I can do that from my laptop in my recliner. So if your cheaper options have it then they might even work for me otherwise I would have to go for the more expensive SuperMicro MB.
June 28, 201214 yr Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3P http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4203#ov - 8 SATA Ports - Micro ATX - 1 x PCI-E 16x, 1 x PCI-E 4x, 1 x PCI-E 1x, 1 x PCI - 4 x DIMMs for memory - Realtek 8111DP LAN
June 29, 201214 yr Mine was $120. So I guess its relative to the buyer or the price the buyer pays. The board uses the i3 which is inexpensive. If I were to start over today I would get the X8ST3-F or simialr board with 6 or more sata3 on board ports. No adapter adapter or expander needed for the typical home user. Save $100 - $200 on cards/cables etc. There's other options with sata3 on the motherboard. Take a look and compare board port counts and if you don't need more than 6-8 drives in your system it may be worth the investment.
July 5, 201214 yr Is it really economical at over 3 times the price of those other boards? Seems like a decidedly premium option, I could have two backup motherboards to sway out instead for the same money, and I can imagine warranty service from the UK being a headache... but if it really is the only sensible choice then I guess I'll need to keep on saving! Here in the Netherlands it is 3 times the price of a good quality other board. I payed 160 Euros for the X9SCM-F. I have the added benefit of a SuperMicro Tech Support located here. They have been a great help when I ran into trouble. Expect to get a compatible PSU (Some Corsair TX-series or Seasonic).
July 5, 201214 yr I just built a system with an i5-2500T using the Intel DQ670W and I'm very happy with it. This board is much less expensive than the supermicro board but still gives me the remote kvm ability, 3 year warranty, 6 SATA ports, etc. I'm very happy with it. The onboard ethernet is not supported by 4.7 but is in the 5 beta, if you plan on running version 5 it'll work well. I have never used IMPI, but prefer the Intel alternative ( Intel AMT ) as it allows me to use standard vnc to connect. For you this doesn't apply as AMT is not supported with the i3-2120T, but you don't say your looking for this feature anyway. I have had my system running on this board for almost 90 days now with no issues. Greg
July 5, 201214 yr I just built a system with an i5-2500T using the Intel DQ670W and I'm very happy with it. This board is much less expensive than the supermicro board but still gives me the remote kvm ability, 3 year warranty, 6 SATA ports, etc. I'm very happy with it. The onboard ethernet is not supported by 4.7 but is in the 5 beta, if you plan on running version 5 it'll work well. I have never used IMPI, but prefer the Intel alternative ( Intel AMT ) as it allows me to use standard vnc to connect. For you this doesn't apply as AMT is not supported with the i3-2120T, but you don't say your looking for this feature anyway. I have had my system running on this board for almost 90 days now with no issues. Greg in order to use the VNC (vPro) remote on that board, you need a vPro CPU also. The I3 is not equipped with Vpro as I recall.
July 5, 201214 yr in order to use the VNC (vPro) remote on that board, you need a vPro CPU also. The I3 is not equipped with Vpro as I recall. That's what I said here: For you this doesn't apply as AMT is not supported with the i3-2120T Greg
July 7, 201214 yr Author Well I pulled the trigger on the parts I needed for the new build. I couldn't find any of the suggested motherboards for a reasonable price in the UK so I took a chance on one of the ones I first shortlisted: GIGABYTE GA-H61MA-D3V GEN3 Intel H61 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard I went with the i3-2120 - I just put the machine together tonight (took me ages), and now have a new 3tb WD drive in it pre-clearing. Early days so far, but the motherboard is currently working Thanks for all the help and patience!
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