Rate my upgrade


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(This is a cross-post from another part of the forum, just to increase visibility to solicit feedback. I just want to avoid problems with the planned build. Apologies for the spam - this is quite a major upgrade for me)

 

TLDR: I've stopped going around in circles and just about ready to commit to a major upgrade. Please do comment as you see fit!

 

 

Erm...that's about it! Assuming there no major gotchas in here then I'll be taking lots of pictures to try and pimp out my new baby!!

 

 

 

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Great system. Love the gold accents on the board.
Please forgive me if I’m stating the obvious.
Take note that you might lose use of some of your ram slots (make sure you install the ram in the right slots for the corresponding CPU socket) and pcie connections with only one cpu installed. Eg: watch where you will install any GPUs or expansion cards.
Other than this, nice system.

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Thanks both.

 

I ended up with Cruical memory in the end - I just seemed to find it easier to find ram that the MB stated it supported - but Crucial are just as good. Also the Platinum PSU (it was £8 more expensive...and it was in stock!)

 

Insert shiny picture of goodies (chassis turns up on Monday)...wish me luck!

 

IMG_0496.JPG

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Cost basically. I managed to get that mobo at £210 (was £440). The cheapest dual-Xeon server board I found was around £310-320.

 

Its worth mentioning here (this may help others planning their own builds) that pcpartpicker.com assumes that you’re building a workstation and not a server. So it’s fine to pick out the right matching components - and I made good use of it - but it doesn’t show server component options (including cases).

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1 hour ago, Jcloud said:

I see Crucial in your picture, also good pick for RAM.

Yeah both are excellent. I looked up the specific ram models that were compatible for the board and found more options for Crucial. No other reason

Edited by MrLeek
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29 minutes ago, MrLeek said:

If i'm running this mobo with just one CPU, do I keep the CPU slot cap on the unused socket?

 

Yes, definitely! Those pins are extremely delicate, and should be protected either by a CPU or the cover that came with the board.

 

The motherboard manual should have a warning about leaving it open.

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That's what I expected as well. Instead there's a clear 'keep the protective socket caps (in case of RMA)' message and the fact that the motherboard can indeed run using just one CPU. But no specific instruction on what to do with the unused socket - so thanks for the response @jonathanm

 

Other news - the chassis from Server Case turned up today. Really impressive looking thing in the flesh.....I just have to figure out how to connect the hot-swap drives up to the rest of the server. Looks like one bank of 4 drives has 4-pin Molex power connections and the next block of 4 has what (at first glance) appear to be SATA connections. But, unless I'm blind, there's no other connections....let me take a good look at this thing......

 

edit: a picture is worth a thousand words so they say....

 

Edit 2: It looks like this is a SAS - SATA connection thing (never encountered it before). Looks like these cables will fit: https://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812117624&cm_re=mini_sas_to_sata-_-12-117-624-_-Product

 

Question - are SAS <> SATA cables into the motherboard likely to cause me a headache or three?

IMG_0513.JPG

Edited by MrLeek
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99% certain that I need a REVERSE SATA/SAS breakout cable (since i'm going from motherboard SATA ports to a SFF-0807 backplate). Wrting this partly so that i can get corrected as needed....and also to keep on track whilst I search for the right cable - the number of times I've ended up looking at the wrong type of cable because Google/Amazon is trying to 'help' me....grrr!! :D

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cheers for the link - unless i'm going mad this is the key sentence for me: 

If The Motherboard/host-Controller side are SATA connectors and the backplane is a SAS connector then you must always use a SAS to SATA Reverse Breakout Cable. "

 

That is right......right?

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Just now, uldise said:

Yes, that's correct, if you look from MB/SAS Card side.

Yes, it's clearer to use controller - drive terminology.

single controller connection -> multiple sata drives = forward breakout

multiple controller connections -> drive backplane single connection = reverse breakout

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1 minute ago, jonathanm said:

Yes, it's clearer to use controller - drive terminology.

single controller connection -> multiple sata drives = forward breakout

multiple controller connections -> drive backplane single connection = reverse breakout

 

Also consider which 'end' is doing the work. If the motherboard is where the controller is, then it has to be a reverse connection into the backplate 

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