Thoughts on Lian-Li PC-Q25B Builds


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I've been finding it hard to source a PC-Q25 here in Aus for a reasonable price :(

 

What is everyone's opinion on the PC-Q26?

 

I have  the pc-q26, current setup in sig, if you have any questions let me know. Works well, layout is good, I upgraded from the equally good pc-q08.

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garycase, one more question for you. Do you think it's worth it to replace the stock Intel heatsink or the stock Lian Li fans? I'd go with Noctua for the replacements, and might as well get them before everything's assembled if its worth doing. Thanks!

 

I've been very happy with the stock fans.    The stock Intel heatsink is definitely fine;  a few folks thing the Lian-Li case fans are a bit louder than they like (personally I can't hear them from more than a foot or so away) ==>  I'd go with the stock fans and replace the case fans with Noctua if you think it's necessary.

 

 

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The issue with the Lian-li fans seems to be quality related. Being said I didn't replace mine.

 

Actually, now that I think about it, I did have one defective fan on a Q25B a couple years ago -- Lian-Li replaced it with no problem.    I've not had any other issues with the fans, and they're all VERY quiet ... as I mentioned above, I can't hear them unless I'm VERY close to the case and even then I have to listen carefully.    Note, of course, that senior citizens tend to have less acute hearing then those ears have a few decades less use on them  :)

 

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garycase, one more question for you. Do you think it's worth it to replace the stock Intel heatsink or the stock Lian Li fans? I'd go with Noctua for the replacements, and might as well get them before everything's assembled if its worth doing. Thanks!

 

I ordered some Fractal Design Venturi fans to replace the front 140mm and top 120mm today. Can't wait to hear them scream!

 

Up next, GTX 1070, and probably a better psu than the cx430

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garycase, one more question for you. Do you think it's worth it to replace the stock Intel heatsink or the stock Lian Li fans? I'd go with Noctua for the replacements, and might as well get them before everything's assembled if its worth doing. Thanks!

 

I ordered some Fractal Design Venturi fans to replace the front 140mm and top 120mm today. Can't wait to hear them scream!

 

Up next, GTX 1070, and probably a better psu than the cx430

 

The GTX1070 is super efficient. LinusTechTips did a quick review of it and it drew less than 200 watts under full load (that's for the entire system).

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Hi all,

 

This thread has been awesome in helping me think through my first time build for UNRAID.

 

I wanted to ask if anyone had any suggestions on the below parts list or if there are any newer parts that might be easier to find

 

CASE:    Lian Li 125b

Board:  ASRock C236 WSI Mini ITX

CPU:     E3-1275v5

PSU:     SILVERSTONE ST45SF-G 450W SFX12V SLI

MEMROY: 16GB Total - Should i be using ECC for UNRAID or is non-ecc fine? - Any suggestions on memory?

 

I really like the board as it supports 8 SATA ports dual LAN and allows for a x16 card for any future expansion. However in Australia this board is hard to find. I wanted to ask if there is anything else anyone would support?

 

I am hoping this spec will support UNRAID + couple of Docker Apps + maybe 1 VM. I have HP nl54l which is good enough in running some of the light weight VMS.

 

any advice would be ace

 

Thanks

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I wonder if the crucial 2x16GB ECC will work? ASROCK says that the board supports 32GB max. Can anyone confirm it can support this as I read earlier some one mentioned it only supported 8GBx2

 

amazon link

I just built a server with similar parts (here).  ;D The C236 WSI does support 32 GB ECC (2 sticks 16GB each) but it has to be Unbuffered. Your link is for RDIMM (i.e. registered i.e. not-unbuffered).

 

I used Samsung M391A2K43BB1-CPB.

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Thanks testdasi

 

I just realised ECC comes in registered and unbuffered. I will probably just stick with 16GB as I think 32GB is a bit much considering I will probably run 1 vm on UNRAID.

 

should I be choosing one over the other in terms of ECC memory?

 

Thanks

If you mean brand then as far as I know, they are all more or less same. ECC is generally classified as non-consumer-class hardware so things tend to be pretty homogeneous.

 

As to how much RAM, I personally don't think 16GB is enough (which is why I went to the C236 chipset specifically to get 32GB). In my simplistic mind: VM (8GB) + Plex (4GB) + ownCloud (4GB) + Crashplan (8GB) = 24GB already. That leaves about 8GB for unRAID to mess about with.

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Wow thats a lot of memory :) is that for VM's or Docker? I havnt used UNRAID before I was hoping Docker apps would not consume as much.

 

I'll take your advice and get the 32GB to keep it safe. Better more than less :)

 

Was the standard intel heatsink good enough or did you choose a after market?

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Wow thats a lot of memory :) is that for VM's or Docker? I havnt used UNRAID before I was hoping Docker apps would not consume as much.

 

I'll take your advice and get the 32GB to keep it safe. Better more than less :)

 

Was the standard intel heatsink good enough or did you choose a after market?

 

I am being over the top with RAM estimate. Dockers won't need as much RAM.

But unlike windows, unRAID doesn't have built-in "swap file" functionality (as far as I know). So not enough memory => your running VM suddenly crashes without even a BSOD => it's almost like a physical computer gets a power cut.

 

unRAID also fully utilises any free RAM as cache (not to be confused with the cache drive). So you are not really "wasting" much (e.g. I have 177MB free RAM right now i.e. 177MB of wasted RAM, not even half a percent).

 

I built a server with the expectation of NOT upgrading in the next 5+ years (except for perhaps increasing storage space). 6+ years ago, I had 6GB RAM and my friends said it was an overkill. 6GB is barely just enough now.  ::)

 

The Intel heatsink is good enough; however, I went for the Noctua NH-L9x65.

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Two simple thoughts ...

 

(1)  16GB is absolutely PLENTY for a server that's only going to run one or two VMs and perhaps a few Dockers

 

...

 

HOWEVER ...

 

(2)  If I was building it, I'd pop in a pair of 16GB modules "just because" => it never hurts to have more than you need; and if you should find that you want to do more than you'd originally thought you'd have to swap out both of your memory modules to bump up to 32GB later.

 

There IS an alternative -- you could simply buy a single 16GB module, and then add another in the future if you decide you want to jump from 16 to 32 GB.    There's a performance penalty if you do that, since the memory would run in single-channel mode; but that's not likely to be an issue you'd notice.

 

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(2)  If I was building it, I'd pop in a pair of 16GB modules "just because" => it never hurts to have more than you need; and if you should find that you want to do more than you'd originally thought you'd have to swap out both of your memory modules to bump up to 32GB later.

Totally agree, plus having 2 matched sticks that will allow the server to still run if you need to remove 1 greatly simplifies troubleshooting memory issues. The "extra" memory isn't wasted, as testdasi correctly noted it will improve the responsiveness of the most basic of functions, serving files over the network.
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garycase, one more question for you. Do you think it's worth it to replace the stock Intel heatsink or the stock Lian Li fans? I'd go with Noctua for the replacements, and might as well get them before everything's assembled if its worth doing. Thanks!

 

I ordered some Fractal Design Venturi fans to replace the front 140mm and top 120mm today. Can't wait to hear them scream!

 

Up next, GTX 1070, and probably a better psu than the cx430

 

The GTX1070 is super efficient. LinusTechTips did a quick review of it and it drew less than 200 watts under full load (that's for the entire system).

 

Good to know. I placed an order for the Gigabyte GTX 1070 G1 Gaming on Newegg tonight!

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garycase, one more question for you. Do you think it's worth it to replace the stock Intel heatsink or the stock Lian Li fans? I'd go with Noctua for the replacements, and might as well get them before everything's assembled if its worth doing. Thanks!

 

I ordered some Fractal Design Venturi fans to replace the front 140mm and top 120mm today. Can't wait to hear them scream!

 

Up next, GTX 1070, and probably a better psu than the cx430

 

The GTX1070 is super efficient. LinusTechTips did a quick review of it and it drew less than 200 watts under full load (that's for the entire system).

 

Good to know. I placed an order for the Gigabyte GTX 1070 G1 Gaming on Newegg tonight!

 

If you run into power issues you'll be happy to know that Silverstone has been busy making higher power SFX psu's. I believe they have up to 600w in that form factor now.

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If you run into power issues you'll be happy to know that Silverstone has been busy making higher power SFX psu's. I believe they have up to 600w in that form factor now.

I currently have the cheap Corsair CX430. Currently only using 47w at idle. Around 65w when booting my Win10 VM. And finally 135w when gaming using the 750Ti. I hope it will work fine. Hopefully the 1070 gets adequate cooling. Will have to watch that closely in the Q25B.

 

Edit: went ahead and ordered a Corsair SF450 80plus Gold. Reviews are exceptional (topping silverstone!) and I finally will have a SFX power supply so you guys can't give me any more grief! :)

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