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System re-build processor and memory recommendations please.


MDEnce

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I had an unRAID system that I'd been using for almost 2 years. The unRAID "server" originally consisted of:

 

MSI A55M-P33 FM1 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) Micro ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS with an AMD A4-3400 Llano Dual-Core 2.7GHz Socket FM1 65W APU and 2 GB of G.SKILL 240-Pin DDR3 1333 in a APEX TX-381-C Black Steel Micro ATX Tower Computer Case with a CORSAIR CX430M 430W ATX 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Modular Power Supply.  I was running an RC version of unRAID 5, with 9 HD's [(1) 500 GB Cache, (6) 1.5 TB, (1) 2 TB, and (1) 2 TB Parity] 

 

I filled the whole array so I expanded to 14 HD's in a old enermax tower case [(6) in (2) 3-in-2 5 1/4" bays & re-drilled the internal 3 1/2" rails to hold 8 more (instead of 6)] and added another 2 GB of G.SKILL SDRAM, when I upgraded to unRAID 6 about 4-5 months ago.

 

The programs I ran in v.5 as plug-ins (Plex, SAB, CP, SB/Sonnar) seemed to be much slower in v.6 [whether I ran as plug-ins or in a docker] so I decided to do a complete system  shut down.  Bad idea, as I can't get it to re-boot now.  I thought it was the PS, so I got a new CORSAIR CS450M 450W ATX 12V 80 PLUS GOLD Modular Power Supply, and no joy.  It turns on for 1-2 seconds, then automatically shuts down.  However I did discover that if I unplug the ATX 4-pin 12V CPU power connector, that it will not  automatically shut down (but with no power to the CPU it won't boot either).  So I figure it's either a bad CPU or a bad MB.

 

Meanwhile I found a 16 Bay 4U Rack-Mount File Server on CL. Got it home, and moved all 14 HD's over to the new case (plus 2 others I had waiting for a place to put them), only to find out that the ASUS A7V600 MB, apparently does not support booting from a USB that isn't a zip or external CD.  So I'm gonna have to either get a new board and CPU and probably RAM too, or RMA the MSI A55M-P33 and hope it's not the CPU that is the problem. 

 

(I do have an LSI MegaRAID MR SAS 84016E 16 Port 3Gbs PCI-E SAS SATA RAID Adapter, so I don't need to worry about the number of ports on the MB)

 

I'd rather not spend any more than I absolutely have to on this, but in the end I ordered an Intel S1200V3RPS server board.

 

I still haven't settled on CPU and have some confusion regarding the memory.

 

For the processor my question is: can I go with a Pentium G3240 (I can get one >$50) or do I need an i3 (-4360 for $135) or Xeon E3 (-1225 v3 for $210) to ensure smooth sailing?

 

As to the memory, my question is: can I re-use the 4 GB of DDR3 1333 (I'm guessing not), or do I need to buy ECC memory (8GB for $68)?  [i'm looking at this: superbiiz http://www.superbiiz.com/desc.php?name=W8GE1600KIor this: newegg  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239399&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID= for ECC memory]

 

Thinking I'd need ECC I tried to confirm the compatibility of the ECC memory with the G3240 processor on pcpartpicker, but it says that they are incompatible. (pcpartpicker DOES say that the above ECC memory is compatible with the i3-4360 AND the Xeon E3-1225 v3 though) 

 

All I find from Intel's ARK regarding the server board is:

"Memory types = DDR3L ECC UDIMM 1333/1600,"

"DIMM Type = UDIMM" and

"ECC Memory Supported = Yes" with the caveat that "ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support." 

 

The Board Chipset = Intel® C222 Chipset (Intel® DH82C222 PCH)

 

And the ARK for the Pentium G3240 says the same as the server board entry.  That is: "ECC Memory Supported = Yes" with the caveat that "ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support." 

(It does list DDR3 1333 rather than DDR3 and DDR3L 1333/1600 at 1.5V listed for the i3 and Xeon E3 processors, but changing  the memory to 1333 instead of 1600 in pcpartpicker still gives me the incompatibility warning.)

 

So I guess what I'm asking is which processor should I go for?  And should I REALLY just bite the bullet and go for the Xeon E3-1225 v3? This seem like it may be more processor than I need for what I use my unRAID for.  But then again, I may discover new uses if I had it. ;)

 

And based on the processor, what memory should I be looking at?

 

Or have I missed something, and you have a better plan?

 

Anyone . . .

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