ITX server motherboard recommendations?

[Jawswing]

I've already bought my new server case, the Lian Li Q26. I bought it with the intention of getting an AsRock E3C224D4I-14S. However, since then I've read a few bad things on it. So I'm just here looking for advice on which motherboard to choose/other peoples experiences with them. I used Unraid before my last build about 2 years ago, and moved to Flexraid and Windows. I've never really liked Flexraid though and I've just been told about Unraid 6 which has got me back interested. I'll be using my new build mostly just for Plex (and a bit of downloading, coach potato etc). I'll be using it with up to 3 streams at a time (and a little headroom for more if needed). I'll be using 10 HDDs  and with you being able to pool cache probably throw 3 old SSDs in there too, so that'll be 13 HDDs. So this is what I've narrowed down to so far:

 

AsRock E3C224D4I-14S: 'Extended ITX' but it will fit in the case. Has all the Sata/SAS ports that I need. Plenty of RAM slots, plenty of fan headers. However, I've read that the RAM slots are hit and miss with this board, and I've heard the SAS controller is rubbish? I'm looking for someone who has had this board to tell me whether or not it was a good purchase. If they've had problems with the controller etc...

 

AsRock EPC612D4I: An E5 ITX motherboard. Absolute overkill, I've no real need for an E5. But, it gives me the option of more power. Plenty of Fan headers, not enough Sata so I'd need to get a SAS card too. DDR4, can't decide whether that's good or bad... Keeps my server that little bit more up to date, but it's more costly.

 

AsRock E3C226D2I: Probably my budget option. It'll leave me spending less on a CPU and RAM. Takes an E3, I'll still need to buy a new SAS card. Not enough fan headers though, which is the biggest downside for me. I'd rather they were plugged in to the motherboard. I suppose this 'budget' board will be the one I'm mostly looking at alternatives for. There isn't a lot of ITX server boards out there...

 

I've seen the Avoton motherboards, they seem almost too perfect. But people seem to be split with them. Some saying it leaves films stuttering some saying it works fine etc... I think I'll leave them out.

 

And finally the D-1540 motherboards seem beyond perfect. But at £750, I think they're a bit out of my price range.

 

Also, to note. I'll be using 6TB HDDs with this build. I imagine any new motherboard will work with them and Unraid? Just thought I'd note that down too

[garycase]

The EPC612D4I is a VERY intriguing board ... hadn't seen that before ... but I agree it's "overkill".  The board itself is very reasonably priced for what you get, and with quad-channel ECC memory and an E5 it would indeed make a "killer" system that would certainly provide you with more than "...  a little headroom ..." 

 

But I definitely agree that's a unnecessarily pricey option [While you COULD simply buy a quad core E5, it's oh-so-tempting to go with 6 or 8 cores (or even more) ... and that ramps the price up in a hurry.]

 

 

There are several builds documented in this forum with the E3C224D4I, and while they've had a few "growing pains" I don't think there are any major issues that would preclude using that board ... and as you noted it already has all the SATA ports you'd need.

 

Here's a thread that outlines a build using that board: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=32704.0

... and this post from that thread pretty well sums up the author's conclusions:

Update: This ASRock board has so far been a pleasure to work with.  Drilled out all of the standoffs on the case, some of which are pictured here.  I then updated the BIOS, flashed the LSI 2308 chip from the included IR (RAID) firmware to the IT (JBOD) following the instructions found in the 16.0.1IT zip file found here creating a DOS boot USB key using Rufus 1.4.7.  Installed ESXI 5.5 U1 with absolutely no issues (nor slipstreaming of drivers required) and have so far created my pfSense, Plex Home Theater (passing through the USB IR, ATI graphics card and HDMI Audio to Win8.1), Plex Server, Calibre Server, UniFi, unRAID (passing through the LSI controller and updating the VM image using WinImage) and WiFiPrint VMs. 

 

Another positive of this board (over the DQ77KB that I initially used) is that all health status details (under the Configuration tab) is passed through to ESXI.

...

 

The author did have to make some mods to the case he was using to set everything up the way he wanted with that board -- you can read the details in the full thread.

 

 

As for the E3C226D2I => That's a reasonable alternative if you can live with fans being connected to PSU headers (which isn't really all that bad).    And it's a standard ITX board, without the extra 1.7" of the E3C224D4I-14S.  I don't think that's an issue in the Q26 case, but you should double-check that before selecting your board.

 

 

Personally, of what you've listed, I'd go with the E3C224D4I-14S if the extended form factor isn't an issue.

 

[Jawswing]

The E3C224D4I-14S will definitely fit in the Q26 case. That's the motherboard I want ideally. It's practically perfect!

I remember a couple of months back when I were looking at the motherboard I was seeing a lot of people having issues with it. Hopefully they've been sorted, I'll check out that link cheers!

Haven't been able to see anywhere UK based that sell it, probably going to have to import it from Germany I think.

[HellDiverUK]

Try LambdaTek.  They seem to have everything.