Please OK this build ... Pretty Please

[terminaldawn]

Hello, I based this on the reccomended build in the wiki but I cant find the mobo he reccomends - sold out.  So just want to make sure this mobo would be OK.  Anyone see any issues with the Case also that I am chosing?  I plan on using 1 parity and 5 drives, then eventually expanding...

 

COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case  - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216

 

ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131595

 

AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Processor SDX140HBGQBOX - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698

 

Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model 991527 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146117

 

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

 

 

 

--- had to change the case.

 

[Spectrum]

I'm not sure about the NIC chipset used on that motherboard.  The Realtek 8112L is not listed on the Hardware Compatibility List but that doesn't mean it won't work.  Raj or someone else with more build experience than me will chime in and let you know.  That board has passed level 1 testing so so with the caveats listed here it should be OK.  Although with one PCIe x16 and one PCIe x1 you will max out at 18 drives total on the PCIe bus and will need to go to the PCI bus if you need more drives; of course if you use 2TB drives and don't use a cache drive, that's still 34TB of storage and it's more drives than that case can handle without some "modifications" so the number of drives supported may not be an issue for you.

 

That power supply is designed for gaming so one of the 12V rails will go to the video card power adapters and the other rail will be available for drive usage capping you at 18 amps.  For storage boxen single rail PSU's are usually better.

 

The CX430 is a good choice as is the CX600.  The key is look for that single rail with a high amperage rating.

[terminaldawn]

Thanks for your reply. 

 

The ASUS M4A785-M I have listed in my build is listed as an alternate to the BIOSTAR TA785G3HD on the recommended builds wiki.  The BIOSTAR TA785G3HD doesn't look to be in stock anywhere unfortunately otherwise I would chose that.  So if anyone has a better board idea that would be great because I really dont wont to be exotic with this build.

 

Thanks for the recommendation on the PSU.  I read in the wiki that if you plan to expand you will need to go 500 W.  So I will get the CX600 that you recommended.

 

Right now I am getting by with about 2 TB of data, so I am not too concerned with getting past 18 drives at this point as that will be a LONG way a way for me

[Joe L.]

That power supply is designed for gaming so one of the 12V rails will go to the video card power adapters and the other rail will be available for drive usage capping you at 18 amps.

It is actually worse than that.  The 18amps is also shared with the 24 pin connector on the motherboard.  It powers the disk controllers, memory, etc.  Just about everything but the CPU.

 

You might be lucky if you have 15 Amps capacity for disks and fans.

 

Joe L.

[terminaldawn]

looks like the board i picked out may have some difficulties in getting set up.  Any board that is similar to what I picked out that may give me less issues?

[Rajahal]

I'm using the ASUS M4A785-M in a build for a client right now.  I'll be honest, it hasn't been smooth sailing.  The first board had a defective PCIe x16 port - several different known-good SASLP cards had tons of errors when used in the port.  I RMA'd that board and got a replacement (Newegg is great for this kind of stuff).  This second board will now not pass memtest with the 2 GB stick that I ordered for the build.  However, it does pass memtest with a spare 1 GB stick I've got laying around, so I now suspect the RAM is the problem, not the motherboard.

 

So I'm not yet sure if I will continue to recommend this board.  However, it is hard to discount it just because I might have have gotten unlucky a few times.  More to come.

 

Also, you have chosen the CM 690, not the CM 590 as a case.  There's a big difference between the two.  I highly recommend the 590 if you can find it, but I know it is difficult to find now.

[terminaldawn]

Thanks for the reply Rajahal.

 

Do you have any other boards that are similar to BIOSTAR TA785G3HD that you would recommend?

 

I chose the 690 II Advanced because it has 6 tool free hard drive trays that I will be primarily be using.  They are easily assessable from the inside.  Pretty convenient for getting started I think.  It will take me a while to fill those up to begin with.  Then after that I am hoping that I will be able to convert the four 5.25 drives with a 4-in-3 Device.  Anyone know if putting a 4-in-3 device is possible to do with the 690, it has 4 5.25 bays, this pretty standard right?

 

Link to 690 II - http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6638

 

This case has a lot of cooling and also some awesome cable management features.  I know I will lose out on 2 drives, but by the time I fill all that space I think it will be time for a full upgrade anyways

 

 

 

[Rajahal]

You can fill the 4 5.25" bays with either two 3-in-2 units, or a single 5-in-3 plus a single hot swap bay.  Both will get you 6 drives, but the second option will likely be cheaper.

 

I don't have another mobo recommendation for you off the top of my head, as the Asus board has been my go-to board for at least a month now.  While it is a bit old, this thread lists a ton of potential motherboards, all of which should work with unRAID:

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=7392.0

[terminaldawn]

I think I am just going to go with the  Asus board and hope that it all goes well unless something else shows up soon in regards to a better choice.  It seems as though this Asus board is really the only option people have really used on here.

[jeff.lebowski]

I built last week with the ASUS M4A785-M, and it's been trouble free the entire time... 

 

Seriously, troubles like a bad PCI-Ex slot and failing memtest are horrible and really disheartening.

[Rajahal]

I built last week with the ASUS M4A785-M, and it's been trouble free the entire time... 

 

Seriously, troubles like a bad PCI-Ex slot and failing memtest are horrible and really disheartening.

 

Indeed.  I now suspect I may have a bad SASLP card.  This build is really starting to annoy me.

[ScoHo]

I chose the 690 II Advanced because it has 6 tool free hard drive trays that I will be primarily be using.  They are easily assessable from the inside.  Pretty convenient for getting started I think.  It will take me a while to fill those up to begin with.  Then after that I am hoping that I will be able to convert the four 5.25 drives with a 4-in-3 Device.  Anyone know if putting a 4-in-3 device is possible to do with the 690, it has 4 5.25 bays, this pretty standard right?

I just ordered the 690 for pretty much the same reason.  The 590 would have been nice...but they are not only hard to find...they are IMPOSSIBLE to find at this point.

 

I like that the 690 has 6 internal 3.5 trays.  I'm currently running 5 drives (1 parity, 1 cache and 3 data), and that will probably get me through at least another year.  Then who knows how long before I'll need a 7th drive, but I'm thinking SEVERAL years.  So even then I'll still have the 4 5.25 external bays to work with (and I already have a 3 in 2 in my existing setup that I could use).

 

To each his own, but I don't get the need for hot-swapping in a home network file server.  Are you guys changing out drives that much?  For me, once it's in, I'll never touch it again (unless there are problems, which are rare).

[jeff.lebowski]

I chose the 690 II Advanced because it has 6 tool free hard drive trays that I will be primarily be using.  They are easily assessable from the inside.  Pretty convenient for getting started I think.  It will take me a while to fill those up to begin with.  Then after that I am hoping that I will be able to convert the four 5.25 drives with a 4-in-3 Device.  Anyone know if putting a 4-in-3 device is possible to do with the 690, it has 4 5.25 bays, this pretty standard right?

I just ordered the 690 for pretty much the same reason.  The 590 would have been nice...but they are not only hard to find...they are IMPOSSIBLE to find at this point.

 

I like that the 690 has 6 internal 3.5 trays.  I'm currently running 5 drives (1 parity, 1 cache and 3 data), and that will probably get me through at least another year.  Then who knows how long before I'll need a 7th drive, but I'm thinking SEVERAL years.  So even then I'll still have the 4 5.25 external bays to work with (and I already have a 3 in 2 in my existing setup that I could use).

 

To each his own, but I don't get the need for hot-swapping in a home network file server.  Are you guys changing out drives that much?  For me, once it's in, I'll never touch it again (unless there are problems, which are rare).

 

The hot swap is not truly hot swap. unRAID does not support hot swap, so the advantage of a hot swap tray is so the server does not have to be moved to add/swap disks. Look at the location of my server in my signature below. It's a pain to get mine down from the shelf. Plus, I can see which disks are active by the pretty red lights!

[Superorb]

To each his own, but I don't get the need for hot-swapping in a home network file server.  Are you guys changing out drives that much?  For me, once it's in, I'll never touch it again (unless there are problems, which are rare).

 

I don't even have an unRAID server yet, but on the rare occasion that I need to move some drives around or put one in/out it is a total PITA not having hot swap bays.

[ScoHo]

Fair enough, that makes sense.  I didn't think about the possible location of the box.  Mine is in a closet with those smooth furniture gliders underneath so it's very easy to get to.

[Superorb]

Fair enough, that makes sense.  I didn't think about the possible location of the box.  Mine is in a closet with those smooth furniture gliders underneath so it's very easy to get to.

 

Well, for my PC I have to remove a drive cage that contains all my drives, so I have to take apart the front and sides of the case, unplug all drives, unscrew a bunch of screws, unplug the fan connectors, and slide the cage out the front. Not something I enjoy doing.

[jeff.lebowski]

Fair enough, that makes sense.  I didn't think about the possible location of the box.  Mine is in a closet with those smooth furniture gliders underneath so it's very easy to get to.

 

It's such a simple thing to just follow along with Raj's excellent prototype builds and buy what's recommended without asking why. Good for you doing the asking...

[terminaldawn]

I chose the 690 II Advanced because it has 6 tool free hard drive trays that I will be primarily be using.  They are easily assessable from the inside.  Pretty convenient for getting started I think.  It will take me a while to fill those up to begin with.  Then after that I am hoping that I will be able to convert the four 5.25 drives with a 4-in-3 Device.  Anyone know if putting a 4-in-3 device is possible to do with the 690, it has 4 5.25 bays, this pretty standard right?

I just ordered the 690 for pretty much the same reason.  The 590 would have been nice...but they are not only hard to find...they are IMPOSSIBLE to find at this point.

 

I like that the 690 has 6 internal 3.5 trays.  I'm currently running 5 drives (1 parity, 1 cache and 3 data), and that will probably get me through at least another year.  Then who knows how long before I'll need a 7th drive, but I'm thinking SEVERAL years.  So even then I'll still have the 4 5.25 external bays to work with (and I already have a 3 in 2 in my existing setup that I could use).

 

To each his own, but I don't get the need for hot-swapping in a home network file server.  Are you guys changing out drives that much?  For me, once it's in, I'll never touch it again (unless there are problems, which are rare).

 

 

I just finished my build with the 690 a couple days ago (running pre clear script now).   Its a nice and easy case to work with for sure. I highly recommended it.  Only cons I can say is that I dont like the buttons being on the top of the case.  I can already see my daughter pressing the button as its a little easier for her to see on top then if they were on the front of the case.

[ScoHo]

Fair enough, that makes sense.  I didn't think about the possible location of the box.  Mine is in a closet with those smooth furniture gliders underneath so it's very easy to get to.

 

It's such a simple thing to just follow along with Raj's excellent prototype builds and buy what's recommended without asking why. Good for you doing the asking...

Indeed.  I did really want the 590, but they must have stopped manufacturing it or something.  I almost got the BlacX V6, but didn't like that it only has three 3.5" drive bays.  The 690 Advanced should keep me happy for several years, with no need to add any docks...and for $70, even if I have to replace it in 5 years I'm okay with that.  This is kind of a hobby anyway, isn't it?