SuperMicro X11SSl-CF

[Nicolai]

Hello everyone.

 

I've found a SuperMicro X11SSL-CF, which I think will cover my needs, but I'm having a hard time understanding the server specs (I'm new to servers).

 

Since I will need to have my server in my living room, because of limitations in my current housing situation, I've chosen a SilverStone Technology SST-RM400 as my enclosure. This is from a need to use silent fans (Noctuas) and a silent PSU (Still to be chosen). It will also allow me to run 10 Hot-Swap bays, when expanding with a SilverStone Technology SST-FS305B-12G. This is where the suggested motherboard will be suitable, it comes with an LSI3008 sas controller, but I don't know if it can run in IT mode or if I will need an add-on card for this?

I'm also planning on running an i5 9600T APU because of it's ability to be used for hardware encoding transcodes in Plex Media Server. Hopefully this can be done in Docker?

[JorgeB]

14 minutes ago, Nicolai said:

but I don't know if it can run in IT mode

It can.

 

14 minutes ago, Nicolai said:

i5 9600T

Those boards don't support i5/i7, you need a Xeon E3 v5/v6

[Nicolai]

12 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

Those boards don't support i5/i7, you need a Xeon E3 v5/v6

Bugger. It does support i3 on supermicro.com. Sadly only 6th/7th gen. Is that down to the BIOS or the chipset?

[JorgeB]

8th/9th gen requires a different chipset, same as desktop boards, e.g https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X11SCH-F.

 

But still no i5/i7 since those don't support ECC.

[Nicolai]

40 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

8th/9th gen requires a different chipset, same as desktop boards, e.g https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X11SCH-F.

 

But still no i5/i7 since those don't support ECC.

And apparently also no SAS3 controller. If I want an onboard LSI SAS3 controller and an APU, it seems I'm stuck with i3?

[JorgeB]

There are Xeon CPUs with a GPU, models ending in G.

[uldise]

1 hour ago, JorgeB said:

There are Xeon CPUs with a GPU, models ending in G.

there is no need to CPU with GPU builtin with this board - then you need different "workstation" board.

VGA for this board is for Aspeed AST2500 BMC

[Nicolai]

9 minutes ago, uldise said:

there is no need to CPU with GPU builtin with this board - then you need different "workstation" board.

VGA for this board is for Aspeed AST2500 BMC

I need the integrated gpu for hardware accelerated transcoding in plex mate, it's a must in the build. I want to use integrated gpu because of the lower power consumption compared to having a dedicated gpu.

 

That is also the reason I'm looking for a board with on board lsi sas3, since it'll consume less power (might be only 1 watt, but with an ocd mindset it matters). 

 

1 hour ago, JorgeB said:

There are Xeon CPUs with a GPU, models ending in G.

Unfortunately they're a bit outside my price range. Otherwise I'd be happy to get one. 

[Energen]

So then you unfortunately need to change your choice of hardware.  You can't have something that doesn't exist.  If you want integrated GPU for Transcoding then you need to move to an Intel Core whatever.. which means a different motherboard.. which means the possibility of not getting something else on that board that you want and having to add an addon card... there's no way around that.  You can only choose what the hardware offers you.

[ramblinreck47]

To give a little more clarification that what has been posted above:

 

Your current motherboard has a C232 chipset. This motherboard only supports Intel 6th and 7th Gen Celeron, Pentium, and Core i3 as well as E3-12xx v5 and v6 CPU's. This chipset also won't allow you to passthrough an iGPU for transcoding. This is a limitation of the particular chipset. Passthrough of the iGPU is only on the other consumer chipsets (non server) or C236 chipset.

 

If you're looking to use a 8th or 9th Gen Intel Core CPU, you could find a motherboard with a C246 chipset which would also allow you to use an iGPU for transcoding (if one exists on the CPU you chose). However, if you want a motherboard with a built in SAS HBA, there isn't a C246 motherboard that has one. You'll have to buy a separate card.

 

Overall, I don't believe you're going to be able to find a motherboard that will have everything you want it to do.

[Nicolai]

1 hour ago, ramblinreck47 said:

To give a little more clarification that what has been posted above:

 

Your current motherboard has a C232 chipset. This motherboard only supports Intel 6th and 7th Gen Celeron, Pentium, and Core i3 as well as E3-12xx v5 and v6 CPU's. This chipset also won't allow you to passthrough an iGPU for transcoding. This is a limitation of the particular chipset. Passthrough of the iGPU is only on the other consumer chipsets (non server) or C236 chipset.

 

If you're looking to use a 8th or 9th Gen Intel Core CPU, you could find a motherboard with a C246 chipset which would also allow you to use an iGPU for transcoding (if one exists on the CPU you chose). However, if you want a motherboard with a built in SAS HBA, there isn't a C246 motherboard that has one. You'll have to buy a separate card.

 

Overall, I don't believe you're going to be able to find a motherboard that will have everything you want it to do.

Thank you for clarifying that. I've spent some time reading on intel.com about their chipsets, but I'm none the wiser about how to know if a chipset got iGPU passthrough or not. To add insult to injury, I'm finding it harder and harder to tell the difference between a high end consumer grade chipset and a server grade chipset. Apart from ECC support, what is the differences?