Seeking suggestions for a new Budget Box motherboard

[Rajahal]

The Biostar A760G M2+ has served us well, but it is increasingly difficult to find.  Many users have PMed me asking where to find one or for alternatives.  I believe the Biostar A760G M2+ is now out of production, and so the meager stock will likely be gone by the end of the year (this is just conjecture).

 

So, how about we update the wiki with some new alternatives.  Absolute requirements of the Budget Box motherboard are:

 

6 onboard SATA ports

onboard video

onboard Gigabit LAN

one PCIe x4 or faster slot

affordable (definitely less than $100, ideally around $50)

compatibility with unRAID (Let's just say that this means no Gigabyte boards.  We don't want to get anywhere near HPA.  Also check for NIC compatibility.)

 

Definite pluses would be:

 

More than one PCIe x4 or faster slot

microATX form factor

 

I would say that Intel or AMD doesn't really matter, since both have good budget CPU options (the Intel Celeron 430 and the AMD Sempron 140).  I would also suggest that RAM type doesn't matter, since DDR2 and DDR3 are pretty close in price right now.

 

My initial suggestion comes from the AUS version of the Budget Box:

 

ASUS M4A785T-M

A quality board, no doubt.  My only gripe with it is the price.  The Biostar A760G M2+ sold anywhere from $45-$60.  This board currently retails for $85.  As new tech comes out and this board drops in price, it may become a more attractive option.

 

And this one comes from the UK version of the Budget Box:

 

BIOSTAR TA785GE

Again, my only gripe is with the price - currently $80.  This board is basically the updated version of the Biostar A760G M2+ (uses 785G northbridge instead of the 760G, otherwise almost identical).

 

Here's one I found for $50:

 

MSI 740GM-P25

740G, so definitely a bit old.  Also, does anyone have any experience with MSI boards?  I've always viewed them as less than reliable, but I've never used one personally, that's just based on reviews.

 

Here's some more:

 

JetWay JXBLUE-78GA3L-LF

and

JetWay JPA78VM5-H-LF

I don't know anything about Jetway.  Cheap, but is it reliable?

 

Foxconn A78AX-S

Same goes for Foxconn, I question the reliability.

 

ASUS M4A78LT-M LE

Hmm, this one seems pretty good at $65.  I at least trust Asus for quality and reliability.

 

BIOSTAR TA785G3HD

Another good-looking Biostar board.  This one looks to me like the DDR3 version of the one from the UK Budget Build above, except that it is somehow cheaper...not quite sure how that works.

 

 

Any other suggestions?

[chanders]

Hey Raj,

Any reason why it has to be absolutely 6 or > SATA ports? Would 4 do?

[Rajahal]

The reason it has to be 6 or more SATA ports is to keep expandability options open as much as possible.  The fewer onboard SATA slots you have, the more money you'll eventually have to put into buying add-on cards and such.  6 onboard slots also nicely matches the unRAID Plus license.

 

If we can find a budget board with 7 or 8 SATA slots, great!  The few that I've seen tend to be pricey, so I've avoided them.

 

There are two exceptions I'll make for boards with 4 SATA slots.  The first is for microITX boards.  4 SATA slots is the standard for microITX, I've only ever seen one that has 6.  The size of these boards makes up for their expandability limitations.  However, miniITX boards aren't really what the Budget Box is all about, they would be better suited for something like the miniBox (which is still somewhat in progress).

 

The other exception I'll make is if the board has two or more PCIe x4 or faster slots and can take two SuperMicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 cards.  That's a recipe for 20 drive support, and that is definitely worth considering.  That's actually the exact scenario I have in my Norco 4220 build right now - a motherboard with 4 onboard SATA slots and two PCIe x8 slots, each of which has an 8 port add-on card.  20 drive support, nice and easy.  However, that board is expensive (retailed for $185 last time I saw it, currently it is unavailable).  While a board like this may work for the Budget Box, it is probably better suited for the 20 Drive Beast (also somewhat in progress).

[aiden]

Raj, I don't know if you've already decided against it (availability, price?), but the Supermicro Atom board some of us are using is less than $200 with processor, which should bring it within range of some of the other options.  Beyond that, it is a 6 SATA, Intel NIC, IPMI enabled board.

[timsutton]

Perfectly happy with my Asus P5B VM DO board I bought used for $50. Official Limetech supported board, has 7 onboard eSATA, gigabit NIC, one 16x and one 4x PCI-E, 4 RAM slots.

[graywolf]

What about:

AMD $78 shipped - have used ASRock (not this particular mb) in the past without issues in HTPC builds

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157177

 

INTEL $75 shipped - have used this particular ASRock

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157137

 

 

 

 

 

[Rajahal]

Good suggestions, guys, keep 'em coming.

[NAS]

Some thoughts.

 

Raj, I don't know if you've already decided against it (availability, price?), but the Supermicro Atom board some of us are using is less than $200 with processor, which should bring it within range of some of the other options.  Beyond that, it is a 6 SATA, Intel NIC, IPMI enabled board.

 

Definately not a Supermicro anything. Great kit but there are huge swathes of the world where they are special order only and you pay a big premium for that.

Perfectly happy with my Asus P5B VM DO board I bought used for $50. Official Limetech supported board, has 7 onboard eSATA, gigabit NIC, one 16x and one 4x PCI-E, 4 RAM slots.

 

Its not fair to ask new users to try and track down a rare board. Its OK if you are in teh USA with access to thousands of shops but unRAID is worldwide. I agree it definately has to be mainstream.

 

Hey Raj,

Any reason why it has to be absolutely 6 or > SATA ports? Would 4 do?

 

In my opinion it would be silly to recommend a board with < 6 ports when a similar priced one would have at least 6. This is a NAS project after all

 

 

I would also suggest that rebates, newegg offers and all other factors be ignored. To my eye the most important thing apart from the price is that it is a big brand trivially available globally.

 

Unfortunately by definition we will have to do a new one every 6-12 months. Thats the nature of this silly industry.

 

Nice work as always Rajahal

[chanders]

This thread is making me want to change my MB    When the votes are in i'll upgrade to whatever AMD board has won. Dont want to waste a good working Sempron 

[poofyhairguy]

Maybe in the long run 3 budget boards? One 775, one i3, one AMD?

[NAS]

On a budget build people actually care what it is as long as its cheap to buy and run and it works?

 

I am thinking of unRAID as an appliance and not a PC here.

[poofyhairguy]

On a budget build people actually care what it is as long as its cheap to buy and run and it works?

 

I am thinking of unRAID as an appliance and not a PC here.

 

I would think a lot of Unraid fans would be the type to have extra PC hardware laying around (since you have to build the Unraid server, not an easy task for some). I would be nice if there were a couple options to use that spare hardware (that is what my Unraid boxen are made of).

[WeeboTech]

I think the success of the budget build was a clear path of cost & equipment that was tested and worked.

 

Cost.

Accessibility.

Effort.

 

I'm not so sure all unRAID fans are pc builders.

Yet budget builder's are both pc builders and newbies.

Without prebuilt limetech servers, the recommended builds are a win/win situation.

A good value for limetech to sell software while not worrying about hardware

A a good value for a consumer.

 

For the spare hardware builders, there is the forum.

[chanders]

So yeah... I think this is a good idea

 

Maybe in the long run 3 budget boards? One 775, one i3, one AMD?

[Rajahal]

Maybe in the long run 3 budget boards? One 775, one i3, one AMD?

 

I'm fine with this as long as we phase something like:

 

Recommended motherboard: mobo1

Alternates:

mobo2 - if mobo1 isn't available

mobo3 - if you want plan on running something other than stock unRAID (the i3 would probably fit this slot)

 

 

I think there should be a clear recommendation for the people who are overwhelmed by choices. 

 

I agree with NAS that we should try to go for brands that are easily available worldwide.  Asus and Biostar are the two that come to my mind.  Any others?

[poofyhairguy]

I think there should be a clear recommendation for the people who are overwhelmed by choices. 

 

Agreed.

 

I agree with NAS that we should try to go for brands that are easily available worldwide.  Asus and Biostar are the two that come to my mind.  Any others?

 

Zotac has worked good for me, but what do I know- my favorite mobo maker is Unraid poison (gigabyte).

[BRiT]

Gigabyte makes good motherboards, it's just their poor choice of default settings for HPA that has earned them the poison moniker. As long as their BIOS has HPA disabled by default, then I have no qualms using them.

[MvL]

What do you guy think of the Power consumption of a motherboard? I think this is also important.

[calvis]

As someone that is working on their first build it was hard to find the recommended budget build motherboard.  I ended up going with someone on Ebay on it.  The reason why I searched so hard was because with this being my first build I didn't want anything to go wrong so it was best for me to stick to highly recommended components.   It would be nice to have 3 ranges of recommended build types.   Budget, mid-range, and high end.   I saw gleaming reports of other motherboards working, but again I did want to deviate from the recommended build.  When it comes to storage I am sure that some people are price sensitive, but I am not one of them.  I have no problem paying for quality when it comes to protecting my data, but it would be nice to have 3 build tiers to choose from.

[MvL]

It would be nice to have 3 ranges of recommended build types.   Budget, mid-range, and high end.  

 

Good suggestion. +1

[Rajahal]

It would be nice to have 3 ranges of recommended build types.   Budget, mid-range, and high end.  

 

Good suggestion. +1

 

What would be the purpose of the three levels?  As in, why would I want to buy the mid-range or high end board instead of the budget board?  The only 'features' that would really matter in this case would be more SATA ports, and 8 is about the max that I've seen.

 

My original vision was to have three recommended builds based on the number of drives you want: the miniBox (6 or fewer drives), the Budget Box (6-14 drives), and the Beast (20+ drives).  I pretty much finished the miniBox design already, I just haven't gotten around to posting it to the wiki.  The Beast build is still under construction because I personally haven't been able to test any of the SuperMicro boards.

[Rajahal]

Apparently some ASUS boards now have HPA, we must be careful.

 

Edit: Nevermind, this turned out to be untrue.  Asus boards are fine.

[WeeboTech]

The Beast build is still under construction because I personally haven't been able to test any of the SuperMicro boards.

 

Many of us have tested and used the commonly suggested MBD-X7SBE board.

It is compatible with the AOC-SATA-MV8 or the AOC-SASLP-MV8.

[Rajahal]

The Beast build is still under construction because I personally haven't been able to test any of the SuperMicro boards.

 

Many of us have tested and used the commonly suggested MBD-X7SBE board.

It is compatible with the AOC-SATA-MV8 or the AOC-SASLP-MV8.

 

OK, gettin' a bit off topic here, but that's OK.  Weebo, take a look at the Beast in it's current form.  Do you think it is ready to 'go live'?  I'll take your word on the motherboard.  What about the PSU?  450W should theoretically work, but I haven't been able to test it out yet since I don't have 20 drives.  Should we change it to something like a 650W for safety's sake?

[WeeboTech]

The Beast build is still under construction because I personally haven't been able to test any of the SuperMicro boards.

 

Many of us have tested and used the commonly suggested MBD-X7SBE board.

It is compatible with the AOC-SATA-MV8 or the AOC-SASLP-MV8.

 

OK, gettin' a bit off topic here, but that's OK.  Weebo, take a look at the Beast in it's current form.  Do you think it is ready to 'go live'?  I'll take your word on the motherboard.  What about the PSU?  450W should theoretically work, but I haven't been able to test it out yet since I don't have 20 drives.  Should we change it to something like a 650W for safety's sake?

 

I know the board works. I know the IPMI and SATA Controllers work.

I am using a Corsair 620HX with 17 drives so far.

Yet I also have 4 controllers on the Mobo with 8GB of ram. (2 AOC-SATA-MV8, SIL3124, Areca ARC-1200).

I would think the recommended PSU should make it. But it's probably best for everyone to drop in and list what they are using.