Pulling Trigger on Silverstone DS380 - Parts Advice / Validation Appreciated!

[wheel]

Hi, all: after weeks of digging through threads on this case and its Lian-Li counterpart, I'm leaning this direction, but could use some advice and maybe validation on this design before I start pulling triggers.

 

I plan to eventually use all 8 hotswap slots and one of the 2.5" internal slots (for a cache drive, to be installed later).  I also plan to add a 4x SATA card at some point to maximize those slots.

 

Finally, I want to make sure I'm keeping this sucker powerful enough to run the "usual suspects" CPU-intensive background apps mentioned in countless other posts.

 

My number one concern is cost control, but not at the expense of the goals listed above.

 

Any thoughts on areas I could cut?  Also, any suggestions on a cheaper motherboard that could still work with this SFF (and expansion plan)?  Or if I'm spending this much on a motherboard anyways, should I just go for that new one with the 12x SATA onboard and skip the SATA expansion card altogether?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!  I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on some of this today.  I'm buying all parts in the United States, from California.

 

CASE: Silverstone DS380

 

MOBO:  ASRock E3C226D2I Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C226 DDR3 1600/1333 (am I going to need specially angled SATA cables for this board in this case?)

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-3225

 

PSU: Silverstone SFX 300W ST30SF

 

RAM: (still deciding; leaning towards the cheapest DDR3 4GB stick I can find around town unless I'm advised otherwise)

 

Thanks again for any advice and guidance!

 

[garycase]

A few thoughts ...

 

I plan to eventually use all 8 hotswap slots and one of the 2.5" internal slots (for a cache drive, to be installed later).  I also plan to add a 4x SATA card at some point to maximize those slots.

 

While a 300w PSU is likely plenty for this, if you're going to be installing 9 or 10 drives plus an add-in card plus potentially a fairly robust CPU, you may want to go with the 450w version of the Silverstone SFX power supply.  Tough call really -- the 300w unit is almost certainly enough anyway, but a bit of extra "headroom" wouldn't hurt.  Note:  If you elect to use the Avoton motherboard with 12 ports, I'd stay with the 300w unit, as that's a VERY low power board (with an amazing amount of CPU "horsepower" ... it's almost equal to the Core i3-3225 on PassMark.

 

 

... I want to make sure I'm keeping this sucker powerful enough to run the "usual suspects" CPU-intensive background apps mentioned in countless other posts.

 

The i3-3225 should be fine for this;  but I'd be inclined to step up to a Xeon E3-1226, which has about 75% more "horsepower" and support for I/O passthrough (vt-d) ... not a feature you really need at this point, but very handy to have if you should decide to add a couple of VMs.

 

 

... should I just go for that new one with the 12x SATA onboard and skip the SATA expansion card altogether?

 

That's certainly an option, especially if you want to keep the power consumption as low as possible.  The Avoton is a superb processor that has remarkably low power consumption.

 

 

MOBO:  ASRock E3C226D2I Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C226 DDR3 1600/1333 (am I going to need specially angled SATA cables for this board in this case?)

 

That's an excellent board, and the C226 is an excellent chipset.  I don't know if the case requires left-handed SATA cables or not, but if so, they're available here:  http://www.cpustuff.com/left-angle-to-straight-sata-cable/    You clearly want straight connectors on the motherboard end -- the question is what works best on the case ... perhaps someone with this case can comment.

 

 

RAM: (still deciding; leaning towards the cheapest DDR3 4GB stick I can find around town unless I'm advised otherwise)

 

NO !!  You don't want the cheapest you can get.  Both the i3-3225 you're considering, and the E3-1226 I suggested, support ECC modules.  Definitely spring for those -- you're building a fault-tolerant server; so use fault-tolerant RAM !!    Just how much you need is debatable, but I'd buy at least 8GB, and preferably 16GB to be a bit more "future proof".

 

I'd buy this:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148770

 

or if you don't want to spring for 16GB, then this:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148677

 

 

 

[Rick Sanchez]

Copy my build like a couple others have, it has a lot of power with a tiny footprint and is perfect for growth!

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=32818.0

[garycase]

Whether you use the specific components hilljd00 noted or not, one thing you DO need to add to your list of components is a good UPS.    In my view, all PC's should have a UPS (and be sure it has AVR) ... and especially servers !!

 

[dmacias]

You should use straight cables 8 - 10 inch.  Your sata ports will be directly below and in front of the drive plane.  Angled cables won't work well because they will be angled down and have to bend back up to your ports.  They also won't work where the molex connectors for the drive plane power go and there are capacitors in the way too. But you can use one for the 2.5" drive, if it's the bottom one.

[garycase]

Agree ... I found a pretty good picture of the DS380 backplane, and clearly straight connectors will work well there, since it's facing the rear of the case and you don't have to worry about how close the side panels are.

 

As I already noted, you also want straight connectors on the motherboard end as well.    So you want cables with straight connectors on each end.    I trust that dmacias has measured what works best, so I'd go with the 8-10" lengths he suggested ... perhaps buy a few of each.

 

I've attached a picture of the backplane.