Which Mobo? Having a real hard time here!

[DanishGuy]

So i am trying to figure out which mobo to buy..

 

I am currently looking at mini-itx, mini-dtx and ION based ones.

The boards should have:

Integrated Atom processor and a PCI/PCIe expansion port.

Integrated graphics.

at least 4 onboard sata ports.

 

here is what I've been looking at:

 

ASUS AT3IONT-I

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=ZHofno9Kz03TkwXw

 

ZOTAC NM10-DTX WiFi

http://pden.zotac.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=210&category_id=108&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

 

GA-D510UD

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3343

 

Now what should i settle for?..

 

Gigabyte:

Not passive cooled.

The gigabyte version is compatible and has a very low power usage.. But it only got PCI expansion port?

Can i get any PCI card supporting more than 4 SATA drives?

 

Zotac:

Looks very nice! But i am not sure about power usage and if it supports unRaid?

6 SATA ports + 1x eSATA ?? - that rocks!

 

Asus:

I was settled on this one.. But it got a slower Atom processor than the others.. and it only supports DDR3 RAM - i got DDR2 laying around.

 

PROS/CONS on each board?

 

Zotac - Asus are priced the same here in Denmark.

Gigabte is about 50 USD cheaper.

[DanishGuy]

Also.. When reading about the zotach I stumbled across one telling this:

 

"But you cannot use the 6 SATA on the Zotac as its RAID only not individual ports"

 

source: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18121302

 

Another user on the Zotac forum wrote this:

 

I've got the board running with unRAID and 6 drives for a few weeks now. The drives are accessible individually and are running fine.

 

Problem is that the drives are not recognized after a cold start, neither by BIOS nor by OS. To be able to access the drives on the raid ports (3 to 6) I need to hot plug them after everything has powerd up. I guess there is something wrong with initializing the SATA-controller when the drives are connected. I hope this issue can be solved by a BIOS update, since this way the board is not really suitable for a NAS (WoL etc.).

 

 

Could someone explain to me what it means to hot plug a disk?

Need special hardware? Or just connecting it to SATA after boot?

 

Sounds like a lot of trouble to get 2 extra ports dont you think ?

[Rob_Esc]

For mini-ITX boards, these are the best:

 

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/ATOM/

[Chris Pollard]

Supermicro don't have great distribution in Europe.

[nia]

You could consider the Gigabyte and replace the fan with a passive Northbridge heatsink or similar ?

[DanishGuy]

Can't find a single danish retailer..

And those boards i can find from Supermicro is server based - and expensive..

 

The Zotac seems to be a stupid choice after all..

- would have been perfect if it would just work, without having to hot-plug all those hard drives.

 

So the gigabyte version is supported.. and seems like a fair choise..

Cons: only PCI expansion (for sata controller ofc), Fan cooled.

Any controllers for PCI supporting more than 4 drives? maybe even 8?

Pros: DDR2 ram (got those), cheap (~120$), 4 SATA + IDE, Atom D510.

 

Asus:

Cons: DDR3 needed, no IDE, slower CPU (Atom 330), Price (~170$)

Pros: PCIe x16

 

Both should work with unraid.. But only gigabyte is tested..

 

@nia yeah definitely. Though right now the server would be placed in a small room beside my kitchen.. And noise wouldn't really be a problem

 

[BRiT]

If you can help it, you do not want the only expansion to be via the PCI bus. Ideally you want it to have at least a 4x/4 lane PCI-Express slot.

 

Here's why: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=7520.msg72845#msg72845 and http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=7526.msg72896#msg72896

[DanishGuy]

I see.. Well..

 

I might just be on the wrong track here.. Trying to make this as cheap as possible..

I really need quite some storage..

 

I ran into this thread on the forum: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=7491.0

 

It seems to be fairly cheap.. Might consider it instead.

[aiden]

Can't find a single danish retailer..

And those boards i can find from Supermicro is server based - and expensive..

All Supermicro boards are server based.  They are a server board manufacturer.  Even their Atom line.  Did you mean you can only find Extended ATX boards?

 

[DanishGuy]

Can't find a single danish retailer..

And those boards i can find from Supermicro is server based - and expensive..

All Supermicro boards are server based.  They are a server board manufacturer.  Even their Atom line.  Did you mean you can only find Extended ATX boards?

 

 

yes.

or..

6 ATX boards and 2 extended. priced: 320-1000 dollars.. ^^

[aiden]

Yeah, I can see why that is outside of anyone's unRAID price range for a motherboard. 

[DanishGuy]

Its just lame.. yes..

 

any eta on lime servers to be in stock?

And how about shipping? Whole world? or only US?

 

Might be cheaper than assembling on my own as far as i can tell..

[Rob_Esc]

I think you will have better luck choosing a micro-ATX size MB instead of mini-ITX.  There is a much greater selection available.

[DanishGuy]

micro-atx got no pre-installed CPU..?

 

my hw site shows only 4 micro-atx with CPU.. And those are LGA775..

[nia]

Might be cheaper than assembling on my own as far as i can tell..

Just remember to factor in customs(x%), customs fee (usually approx. DKK200) and VAT (25%). All calculated on top of the sum of purchase AND shipping. I've imported several things through the years and I'm always surprised how we get ripped off when buying goods from the US 

 

Maybe it's worth looking at what's available here in DK. There should be some extra funding that can co into a board as opposed to funding the above... 

[jtown]

Honestly, if cheap is a primary concern, it would probably be best to skip the atom/mini-itx platform altogether.  You're paying a large price for those components.  I paid $170 for my Supermicro Atom D510 motherboard and that was the lowest price I could find anywhere online.  Just moving to the mATX platform, I could have dropped my cost to $70 for a motherboard with 4 SATA ports and a single core Celeron processor.  And that's from a store on the way home from work.  I could probably find that combination for $50 online.  That's a lot cheaper than a mini-itx motherboard and processor and only uses a little more energy.

[aiden]

It all depends on your criteria.  Cost is not the only factor.  Availability (which rules out SM for DanishGuy), speed, reliability, compatibility, and features, are also big factors.  For example, I wouldn't think of using a non-IPMI (or similar) board for a file server after having used this for a while.  That to me is worth more than the price difference.  Also, you're comparing a 4 SATA port board to a 6 SATA port server quality board with Intel nics.  Not exactly apples to apples.

[Kaygee]

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_5564.html

 

Asrock ITX board, 4 sata and PCI-e X16. Atom 330. Nvidia 9400/nVidia MCP7A-ION which should work fine with unRAID. Several xmbc forum members are using these I seem to remember.

 

Around £100 so resonable price (for an ITX system that is).

 

My problem with an ITX system is..

 

1) Expensive (you get less and pay more).

2) Limited (you have less expandability) less slots, less memory, less cpu choice, less case choice.

3) You are fighting heat even more than normal (small cases with lots of HDDs lots crammed in).

 

Those Fractal cases are drop dead gorgeous though....drool.

 

[jtown]

My point is that he's citing cost as a major factor while selecting a form factor that is inherently far more expensive than other, more common form factors.  I was showing that, without even trying, I could knock well over half the cost off a mini-itx solution while still meeting his stated requirements for SATA ports without significantly increasing power consumption (which, I assume, is one of his concerns if he's interested in atom-based motherboards) while greatly expanding on his motherboard choices.

 

I'm not trying to compare apples to apples.  I'm trying to point out that apples are not the only fruit available and that oranges, wile a bit bigger, are more widely available at a lower cost.