New mini itx build suggestions?


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It's time to replace my original Unraid 4 box. I'm largely out of touch with mb/cpu progress these days so need assistance with the build.

 

It'll be a media and backup server for a home office. 6-8 big drives should last awhile. I'll also be making use of vms and a bit of encoding/decoding.

 

- I have a Lian Li Q25 case I'd love to use, which means mini-itx, but feel free to push me into something else small if the MB choices are better.

- i5 or better. Depends on vm or chipset restrictions.

- ECC support

- At least one pcie slot for the future. Probably just for external drives.

 

Thanks!

 

Final build was:

Lian Li Q25B

ASRock E3C224D4I-14S MB

Xeon E3-1271v3 CPU (fairly rare right now) w/stock cooler

2x Kingston 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 1333 ECC Unbuffered Very Low Profile RAM (not necessary)

Silverstone SFX SX500-LG PS

Patriot Blaze 240GB SSD for cache drive

WD Black 5TB for parity & 5x green 5TB data

 

This motherboard is impressive. A second pcie slot, and at least one x16 would make it amazing. If buying again I'd choose Silverstone's lower-end non-modular power supply. It's smaller so you don't lose space with the extra connectors and $50 cheaper. Don't sweat the low profile RAM. It's nice to have but I doubt anything normal would cause fitment trouble. The Patriot Blaze SSD was on the shelf from a black friday deal. I'm still deciding between another ssd for a pool or remove the cache completely. Will probably try different fans for the front and/or rework the restrictive sideways airflow to the hotswap drives.

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i have just built 2 new boxes (both lian li q26) with asrock server boards:

http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C224D4I-14S#Specifications

http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=C2550D4I#Specifications

 

1st one together with a e3-1231 v3 cpu and 32gb ram; 'am pretty happy with both builds. the e3 option is good for running multiple vm's and has plenty headroom for additional dockers and tasks like transcoding. as far i can tell the avoton board is also sufficient for at least 1 stream hd transcoding while running an additional vm (firewall in my case), but there is also an 8 core option of the latter (which should be able to handle a few streams in parallel).

 

imo one needs to spend a bit more for capable mini-itx boards in comparison to i.e. micro atx, but since you have a nice case already it might be still cheaper to go this route. the computing power you can stuff into this form factor nowadays is in any way amazing...

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I have that case and it works well for me. Many ITX mobos only have one pcie slot. I have used that slot to add 4 SATA ports to the 6 on my mobo, but that means I cannot add a video card. If you will be using VMs only through RDP that is fine, but if you want a VM to use a video output you will need a separate video card and so may be limited to the mobo SATA ports.

 

How do I use 10 SATA ports in that small case? I have 5 data drives in the backplane, 2 parity drives (one waiting on double parity to be implemented) on the bottom rack, and 2 SSDs just stuck to the bottom of the drive cage as btrfs raid1 cache pool. So a total of 9 drives in that case. The other port is eSATA for external preclears and mounting drives outside the array.

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Huh, looks like my reply post didn't. ???

 

Anyway, good info. Thank you! That's too bad about the ECC minimums.

 

Has anyone worked with the E3C224D4I-14S version of that board with built-in SAS2? It's a little more expensive but has 12 sata right on the motherboard, if unraid supports it. Downside is it's extended mini itx, like we need another form factor!

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The 1220v3 is a fairly low-end Xeon ... I'd spend a bit more and get a 1240v3 or better.

 

Otherwise your cart looks pretty good.    Not sure the extended ITX board will fit unless you're using an SFX power supply, but hopefully you're already doing that, as it's a MUCH "cleaner" build than trying to stuff in an ATX unit in the Q25B.

 

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I bumped up to the 1230v5 for HT and newness, after confirming ASRock support.

 

garycase, thank you for mentioning the SFX supplies. That was my next hurdle. What do people think about Silverstone supplies? I'm looking at their ST45SF-G 450W - 80+ Gold, Single +12V Rail, 80mm Fan, Active PFC, SFX to ATX bracket. I'd usually go SeaSonic but their SFX supplies didn't inspire me.

 

Edit: The only modular SFX on newegg is the SX500-LG. Ouch.

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Highly recommend SFX for that case. I have the ST45SF-G but I just put the SX500-LG in an ITX Photoshop workstation I just built for my wife. I really like it for the larger fan.

 

Yep, the 120 fan and modular cabling decided it for me.

 

Everything I need should be on the way!

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I went with the non-modular 450w version for what I believe are better internal components.

 

Why do I believe this? The modular is rated at 450w @ 40c, the non-modular is rated 450w @ 50c, indicating higher quality internals.

 

Those are pretty different power supplies, no? I'd be surprised if the pcb weren't different as well as caps, etc. Someone who knows ps testing can chime in but I'd think the specs are just what fell out of testing while performing against their limits, including noise levels. They call both fans "silent" but I only see a dba rating for the 80mm. ??? Or I could be completely wrong.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Very slick system! Yes, this is my first 6.x exposure.

 

I realized my 1150/1151 error in time to stop the first CPU shipment and instead get a 1271v3. The system went together smoothly. I see why people like these cases.

 

Not inexpensive at all: $240 mb, $340 Haswell Xeon, $124 16GB (2x8) ECC RAM, 240GB cache SSD, plus spinners. But it's so much nicer than my previous budget builds!

 

Rebuilding parity at 140-150MB/sec.

Slightly warm on parity drive. I'll bump up the front fan speed. Wonderful selection of fan connectors and control on this board.

 

-ASRock E3C224D4I-14S MB, Intel Xeon 1271v3, 2x8GB low profile ECC, 240GB cache, WD Black 5TB parity, other spinners, in a Lian Li Q25B

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VERY nice system.  Also nice to confirm that the extended-ITX board fits well in the Q25B case ... I was fairly sure it would, but haven't actually built anything with an extended-ITX board in that case, so it's nice to confirm it.  Were there any issues you had to work-a-round in fitting the board?

 

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It fit perfectly I wouldn't have known the board wasn't made for the case. The SFX power supply was an important factor. The fit would have been much more difficult without. Modular isn't as important. The 500 is larger than the 450 anyway so even with modular cables you're mostly buying a cosmetic improvement.

 

I was disappointed Silverstone only provides two SATA modular power ports on the supply. I guess they expect it to be firing a larger video card and not a bunch of drives.

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The only thing I've found painful with this build is getting to the mb for new cables, usb drive, etc. The supply sits right above the mb and even though it's sfx it makes all but a few connectors unavailable without either sliding the power supply back or the mb back and down, each requiring removal of 4 screws. A quick release system for the power supply is inevitable.

 

Next to add drive activity lights...

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A stupid-simple change to mounting hot-swap drives in my Q25 made for 2+ degrees fahrenheit drop in drive temps. I'd been going to cut out much of the offending aluminum but knew it'd look like butchery afterwards. As a test, I used the rubber washers instead of rails to mount drives, then cut out the center section of the rails and did it to the rest. It doubles the opening for air to travel from the fan across the cage drives.

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A stupid-simple change to mounting hot-swap drives in my Q25 made for 2+ degrees fahrenheit drop in drive temps. I'd been going to cut out much of the offending aluminum but knew it'd look like butchery afterwards. As a test, I used the rubber washers instead of rails to mount drives, then cut out the center section of the rails and did it to the rest. It doubles the opening for air to travel from the fan across the cage drives.

Do you mean the plastic rails that you screw onto the drives before you insert them in the cage? Got a photo? Might be something I should consider.
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