[Feedback wanted] Low-budget Mini-ITX build

[Indrek]

Hi all, first-time poster here, looking for feedback on a home server build. It's pretty low-budget compared to some other builds I've read about here, but then my requirements aren't very high either.

Build name: Mini-ITX home server
OS/Platform: Windows Server 2012 R2
CPU: Intel Atom C2550 C2750
Motherboard: Asrock C2550D4I Gigabyte GA-9SISL
Chassis: Fractal Design Node 304 Chenbro SR30169
OS drive: 60 GB Intel 520 series SSD (re-using from a previous project)
Data drives: 2x 4 TB WD Red (possibly more Reds in the future if/when disk space requirements increase)
RAM: 2x Kingston KVR16LN11/4 KVR16LE11S8/4 DDR3L-1600 ECC (8 GB total)
Power supply: Corsair CX430M SeaSonic G360

Usage Profile: file/print server, IIS + SQL Server (some custom web apps for personal use), Git server, Plex, possibly a VM or two

Any feedback is welcome, but mostly I'm looking for answers to the following:

1) Is the C2550 enough for a couple of transcodes with Plex, or should I go for the C2750? The video files I have aren't very high-bitrate, mostly in the 5-10 Mb/s range I think, and I use DirectPlay as much as I can, but sometimes transcoding is necessary (e.g. for subtitles). This is the main thing my current server struggles with, so I want to make sure I have enough headroom. Alternatively, is there a Xeon-based CPU+MB combination in the same price range I could be looking at instead? I might be willing to trade fanless operation for more power, if it fits my other requirements (Mini-ITX, 6+ SATA ports, reasonably low-power).

2) Any advantage to running Plex in a VM? I've been pondering whether my current all-in-one approach is optimal, or if I should virtualise some or all of the server's roles. With Plex, in particular, though, I'm thinking it's best left on the host OS so it can use as many CPU cores as it needs.

3) Is the RAM okay? It's not on Asrock's QVL, but Kingston's website says it works with the motherboard. Can I trust them on this?

4) Considering my usage profile above, should I pay extra for ECC RAM?

Thanks in advance!

 

[OBasel]

Have you ever heard a sock Intel cooler? They are basically silent. Maybe a E3 or E3 with video would give you more power.

 

[neo]

I might be willing to trade fanless operation for more power, if it fits my other requirements.

You should still use a fan to cool it, it just does not need to be directly on the heatsink. Those CPUs get to a pretty high temp even at idle with no airflow.

They tend to like horizontal airflow, as per the direction of the heatsink fins.

 

[cesmith9999]

1) the 2550 has plenty of power to do a couple of transcodes
2) I run Plex in a VM because I was running my base server with essentials role and they conflicted.
3) not certain. but Kingston has been good ram for me in the current and in the past.
4) for your server ECC RAM is always a better bet.

Chris

 

[Indrek]

Maybe a E3 or E3 with video would give you more power.

If my only requirement was "more power", then yes, I'd be looking at Xeons. Can you suggest something that can compete with the Avotons in terms of power consumption, board features and so on?

Also, I don't think an iGPU (assuming that's what you mean) would help. AFAIK, Plex is CPU-only.

You should still use a fan to cool it, it just does not need to be directly on the heatsink. Those CPUs get to a pretty high temp even at idle with no airflow.

They tend to like horizontal airflow, as per the direction of the heatsink fins.

Yeah, I didn't mean completely fanless. The case comes with three fans and I intend to use those. I was talking about just the motherboard/CPU.

1) the 2550 has plenty of power to do a couple of transcodes
2) I run Plex in a VM because I was running my base server with essentials role and they conflicted.
3) not certain. but Kingston has been good ram for me in the current and in the past.
4) for your server ECC RAM is always a better bet.

Thanks, that helps a lot!

I've had good experiences with Kingston as well. Guess I'll take them at their word, then. And ECC RAM it is.

 

[JimPhreak]

I currently run Plex inside of a Windows VM on my ESXi server. It's got an E3-1245v2 in it. I provisioned 4 vCPUs and 8GB of RAM to it. It often is transcoding 4-5 720-1080p files at once with no problem. In addition, I have 3-4 other VM's running at the same time. Most are idle but my pfSense VM (2 vCPUs) gets hit pretty hard with my site-to-site OpenVPNs (150Mbps).

I'm in the process of upgrading my server right now and went with the Xeon D-1540 for the extra cores and low power. It outperforms my E3-1245v2 in benching by a good amount so if you have the money that's what I'd be looking at. If not, I'm thinking the Avaton 2750 would be a good way to go if you're not running too many other CPU intensive VMs in addition to Plex.

 

[Indrek]

I'm in the process of upgrading my server right now and went with the Xeon D-1540 for the extra cores and low power. It outperforms my E3-1245v2 in benching by a good amount so if you have the money that's what I'd be looking at. If not, I'm thinking the Avaton 2750 would be a good way to go if you're not running too many other CPU intensive VMs in addition to Plex.

The D-1540 looks sweet. It's a SoC, right? I only found one motherboard with it (from Supermicro), and it's definitely out of my price range.

I also tried speccing a few Xeon-based setups, but no matter what I go for it ends up at least as expensive as the C2750D4i (e.g. E1230 V3 + Asus P9D-I), and usually with far less RAM capacity and fewer SATA ports, but with potentially more noise and higher power consumption.

The only really CPU-intensive task I'd run (whether in a VM or on the host) is Plex. Since all signs point to Avotons being able to handle Plex (as long as I don't push too many transcodes, which I'm not planning to), I think that's the best choice for me. If I can get a good deal on the C2750 I'll go for that, otherwise the C2550.

 

[JimPhreak]

The D-1540 looks sweet. It's a SoC, right? I only found one motherboard with it (from Supermicro), and it's definitely out of my price range.

I also tried speccing a few Xeon-based setups, but no matter what I go for it ends up at least as expensive as the C2750D4i (e.g. E1230 V3 + Asus P9D-I), and usually with far less RAM capacity and fewer SATA ports, but with potentially more noise and higher power consumption.

The only really CPU-intensive task I'd run (whether in a VM or on the host) is Plex. Since all signs point to Avotons being able to handle Plex (as long as I don't push too many transcodes, which I'm not planning to), I think that's the best choice for me. If I can get a good deal on the C2750 I'll go for that, otherwise the C2550.

Yea that SuperMicro board is the one I've got. What is your budget? I think an Avaton will probably be a good choice for your needs.

 

[Indrek]

Yea that SuperMicro board is the one I've got. What is your budget? I think an Avaton will probably be a good choice for your needs.

I'm aiming at up to €400 for the CPU + motherboard.

 

[JimPhreak]

I'm aiming at up to €400 for the CPU + motherboard.

For that price I'd definitely go with a C2758 board. I know they can be had for under $400 in the U.S. Not sure about the UK.

 

[Indrek]

For that price I'd definitely go with a C2758 board.

Did you mean C2750? C2758 is a Rangeley part, and those are very hard to find outside of the US (due to QuickAssist according to this STH review).

I know they can be had for under $400 in the U.S.

Yeah, rub it in, why don't you

Tech's a lot more expensive in Europe, unfortunately. Best price I've seen on the Asrock C2750D4I is around €450. Even with the currently weak Euro that's $100 more than in the US. I have time, though, so I'll keep an eye on Amazon and eBay.

 

[JimPhreak]

Did you mean C2750? C2758 is a Rangeley part, and those are very hard to find outside of the US (due to QuickAssist according to this STH review).


Yeah, rub it in, why don't you

Tech's a lot more expensive in Europe, unfortunately. Best price I've seen on the Asrock C2750D4I is around €450. Even with the currently weak Euro that's $100 more than in the US. I have time, though, so I'll keep an eye on Amazon and eBay.

Y ea I'm not really up on what's available at what prices in the UK as you can tell.

EDIT: No good?

 

[Indrek]

Y ea I'm not really up on what's available at what prices in the UK as you can tell.

EDIT: No good?

I've usually avoided ordering more expensive stuff from the US due to high shipping and import fees. But based on eBay's estimates , it seems that board would actually end up being cheaper than any C2750 board I can find in Europe (were it not out of stock at the moment). On the other hand, it uses SO-DIMMs which are more expensive, so that may well cancel out the savings from the board itself.

(BTW, I live in Estonia, not the UK.)

However, meanwhile I've also found the Gigabyte GA-9SISL for about €400. It's cheaper than Asrock's C2750 board, and unlike Supermicro's, uses regular DIMMs. Quad NICs is overkill for my purposes, but no harm in having them, and I think 6 SATA ports is enough for the near future. Only problem is, there are virtually no reviews for it, unlike the Asrock and Supermicro boards which seem very popular. Does anyone here have any experience with the GA-9SISL?

 

[Indrek]

Well, barring any changes in pricing or availability, I think I'm going to go with the GA-9SISL, as it's the cheapest C2750 board I can find. It's not fanless, but I'm hoping I can take the CPU fan off and rely on case fans for airflow (I assume the CPU fan is meant for more claustrophobic rack cases). Or if not, and it proves too loud, I have some low-noise 40 mm fans lying around that will be happy to take the job.

Also, I've decided to go for the Seasonic G360 for the PSU. It's a bit more expensive than the Corsair I had picked initially, but the lower power and higher efficiency should pay for the difference in the long term. It's not modular, but the Node 304 is big enough that I shouldn't have trouble hiding the excess cables.

 

[Deci]

they need the fans on those chips unless they have decent directed airflow over the heatsink.

i put a 50mm fan on my c2550-a1sai and run it at 7v where its silent, it doesnt have to move a lot of air but passive runs 45-50c at idle (~21c ambient) with 2x 120mm fans providing reasonable case airflow (but not directed directly at the chip) with the fan on it and running at 7v it idles at 26c.

 

[Indrek]

they need the fans on those chips unless they have decent directed airflow over the heatsink.

i put a 50mm fan on my c2550-a1sai and run it at 7v where its silent, it doesnt have to move a lot of air but passive runs 45-50c at idle (~21c ambient) with 2x 120mm fans providing reasonable case airflow (but not directed directly at the chip) with the fan on it and running at 7v it idles at 26c.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I'm planning to run CPU load tests anyway with the fan on and off to see what the temps are. I do note the Gigabyte board has a smaller heatsink than Asrock's or Supermicro's.

 

[Indrek]

Progress has been a bit slow, but the GA-9SISL arrived today, and I should get the RAM tomorrow.

I'm still waiting on a few parts. Until then, if anyone wants me to run any tests, benchmarks or whatever on the board, I'd be happy to share the results. I understand it's a somewhat obscure piece of kit, most people doing Avoton builds seem to be using Asrock or Supermicro boards.

Update: a few pics...


The box certainly looks industrial


The board itself


Revision 1.2, apparently


Six SATA ports


Four full-size DIMM slots


Quad Gigabit NICs + IPMI + 2x USB 2.0


Power + ID switches on the back


40 mm chipset fan


The fan is an ADDA AG04012MX107600 and apparently uses Hypro bearings. Based on the model numbering scheme and spec sheet, it's a "Great Performance" medium-speed (6000 rpm) unit with a max airflow of 6.8 CFM and noise level of 26.5 dBA.

 

[Indrek]

So I got the RAM as well, and now the board is sitting in my desktop PC's case running Memtest86+ for 24 hours:


(I used the GPU from my desktop because I didn't have a spare VGA cable lying around. Good thing the PCIe slot is x16!)

I also tried with non-ECC RAM (two 4 GB sticks of Kingston HyperX DDR3 pulled from my desktop), and the board booted just fine.

The stock fan produces a very annoying high-pitched whine, so I'll definitely want to replace it with something quieter.

Once Memtest finishes, I'll look into getting the remote management stuff working, and then install Windows and run some benchmarks.

 

[neo]

I'm curious to why you specifically chose that Gigabyte board over the more common brands.

Also, are you planning on adding in another DIMM? The Intel Avaton does have a dual channel memory controller.

 

[Indrek]

I'm curious to why you specifically chose that Gigabyte board over the more common brands.

Mostly because it was the cheapest C2750 board I could find. Got it for a hair under €400 through Amazon.de, compared to €460+ for the Asrock C2750D4I and even more for Supermicros.

Also, are you planning on adding in another DIMM? The Intel Avaton does have a dual channel memory controller.

It might not be obvious from the picture due to the angle, but I do have two DIMMs in there. Check the top post for the exact specs.