Datto Xeon D 1541 board -- $501.15 shipped + 6/8% ebay bucks for some

High core count, good bench specs, low wattage.

 

I assume this was not with parity? I’d love to get decent performance out of windows parity drives (Or really any platform that you can add single drives to existing parity volumes) so I could drop freenas.

 

If you look at my photos, the config is explained.

 

Nice benches @acquacow
I didnt have any pci-e storage to use for my testing, might've made a difference. But I was looking for reliability too. Any idea how ReFS got corrupted ?

 

I did something that should have worked but certainly wouldn't be supported by MS in any way.

I started with a Windows VM running storage spaces, I had my LSI raid card and 4x pci-e ssds passed through to it for configuration testing.

Once I found a good config that I liked, I loaded up a bunch of data and then moved the pci-e cards and LSI card to a physical Windows machine.

When I booted up, the ReFS was no more.
I did find one tool that could read it and pull all the data out, but there were no ReFS repair tools from MS at the time.

I can only guess that it's not just using disk signatures to identify the hardware/volumes, but perhaps something else from the bios/etc.

Swapping drives from machine to machine should be totally seamless though. It is with every other FS I use, and every other software raid I use.

 

So the fan is loud enough that I will have to do something about it.

What is the current recommendation (preferably proven to work) for a replacement heatsink/fan for these boards? Cooljag BUF-E?

 

Yeah, mine is also revving up and down a bit too often for my taste. Tried changing settings in BIOS but didnt seem to help. Finding the BUF-E seems difficult:/

 

So... I got too impatient to wait for more answers and ordered a BUF-E from this eBay listing (German seller): 2HE Server Kühler Sockel G1 PGA989 passiv BUF-E Kupfer | eBay

Quite expensive, but hopefully will be worth it.

 

How much did you pay for shipping?

 

It was part of the reason why I said it was expensive: 17.5 EUR to Denmark

The seller also has their own website where the heatsink is slightly cheaper: 2HE Server Kühler Sockel G1 PGA989 passiv BUF-E Kupfer

Personally I prefer shopping on eBay rather than some random website, so that is what I did. I just checked the shipping on the website, and there they want 25 EUR for some reason.

 

Thats not gonna end well for me here in Norway:/

Cooler: 46 Euros
Shipping: 25 Euros
Tax: 25% of cooler and shipping
Import tax fee: 15 Euros

Ends up at 103 Euros, crazy..
Will have to keep using the stock one for now.

I had a spare Noctua NF-A8 FLX that I ziptied to blow air over the LSI Controller and NVMe drives.

I upgraded my gaming Computer with full Chromax. Moved the A15 fans from my D15 to intake fans and A14 as exhaust. Server case is the Fractal Design Define R6 TG.

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That is a tough one, I imagine you probably don't have to pay german VAT, so perhaps you can save 19% on the cooler if you talk with the seller, but it is still hella expensive, so yea...

Perhaps you can change the fan on the stock heatsink or just set it to a fixed speed (that is sufficient at max load and not too loud for you).

 

Actually, after adding the Noctua A8, the CPU fan is staying at lower RPM most of the time. Lets hope its not placebo and that the effect continues

 

I’ve yet to flash the BIOS over to AsRock from DATTO. But has anyone found a way to fully disable the LSI SAS Controller?
I won’t be using it for a while, so it seems silly to have it just sit pump out heat for no reason, must be using a decent amount idling to heat up the heatsink as much as it does.

I’ve ordered two Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM, that I’ll put on the LSI and X540 heatsinks. Also a NF-A6x25 PWM to replace the somewhat noisy CPU fan. (You can mount almost anything with zip ties.)

Still the better option would be to disable the LSI, until I need it.

 

Anyone know if this board supports bifurcation?

 

I don't believe so, no.
Both the PCIE slots are x8 electrical

 

The A4x20 will help the X540 and LSI chipsets.

The A6x25 will likely not do as great a job as the included fan due to less cfm and static pressure. You would be better off replacing the entire cooler.

 

I would be fine with the around the same job, if the noise ceiling was lowered.
But if I had to keep the included fan on it, that's not that big a deal for me. I'll play around with it once I get the fans.

 

No it does not. I confirmed it earlier.

 

I actually replaced my CPU heatsink with a northbridge cooler.
Here's the thread I posted it in with all the relevant information: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...eatsink-information.10397/page-10#post-194054