Haswell vs Avoton for Mini-ITX NAS?

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matt_garman

Active Member
Feb 7, 2011
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I have just ordered a NSC-800 and looking for a motherboard for it, how do you find the cooling in the case, is the Noctua NH-L9i up to the job? also how are you finding the 120mm case fans. I was thinking of switching these to Noctua NF-S12A, do you have a build thread?
This is my build thread. :)

I have two of these cases now. One is for a backup server, which uses the Biostar NM70i-847 motherboard and seven 5400 RPM drives connected to an IBM M1050 HBA. CPU and HDD temps are fine. I don't have exact numbers, but for my purposes, all drives stay under 40 degrees C, and I can't remember how hot I got the wimpy Celeron CPU, but I remember thinking it was perfectly fine. That's with the stock NSC-800 fans (which are surprisingly quiet). This system isn't terribly interesting though.

What I'm building now is a system based on the ASRock E3C224D2I motherboard and Xeon E3-1230 V3 CPU. CPU cooler is the Noctua NH-L9i.

Last night I mounted the board and CPU in the case. I replaced the stock case fans with a Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E, and a Scythe Gentle Typhoon (forget the exact model number). I already had these fans laying around, and at least according to their specs, should move more air than the stock fans. They are not as quiet, but this system will live in a closet.

That's the state of the system right now: it's booting from my backup server's USB thumb drive for basic initial testing. I've been running prime95 on it for about 20 minutes now and the max temperature for any core has been 77 degrees C. But note that the outer "clamshell" is not on the case. Depending on how the outer shell affects airflow patterns, it could help or hurt overall cooling. I will test more of course when this build gets further along. I am prepared for the possibility of having to disable Turbo Boost and/or disabling a core to ensure the CPU never cooks itself. It's ridiculously overpowered for my needs anyway.

Next steps are to add the IBM M1050 HBA, two SSDs (RAID-1 system drives), and finally the six (maybe seven) data drives. Be patient, I only get about 30 minutes/day to work on this. :) Hopefully I can finish up this weekend and take some pictures for everyone.
 

MikeBuzz

New Member
Dec 10, 2013
9
0
1
What I'm building now is a system based on the ASRock E3C224D2I motherboard and Xeon E3-1230 V3 CPU. CPU cooler is the Noctua NH-L9i.
Same setup that i am now looking at after reading about the Marvell issues with the C2570 ASRock board, as like you i will be using mdadm for raid off a M1015.

Last night I mounted the board and CPU in the case. I replaced the stock case fans with a Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E, and a Scythe Gentle Typhoon (forget the exact model number). I already had these fans laying around, and at least according to their specs, should move more air than the stock fans. They are not as quiet, but this system will live in a closet.

That's the state of the system right now: it's booting from my backup server's USB thumb drive for basic initial testing. I've been running prime95 on it for about 20 minutes now and the max temperature for any core has been 77 degrees C. But note that the outer "clamshell" is not on the case. Depending on how the outer shell affects airflow patterns, it could help or hurt overall cooling. I will test more of course when this build gets further along. I am prepared for the possibility of having to disable Turbo Boost and/or disabling a core to ensure the CPU never cooks itself. It's ridiculously overpowered for my needs anyway.

Next steps are to add the IBM M1050 HBA, two SSDs (RAID-1 system drives), and finally the six (maybe seven) data drives. Be patient, I only get about 30 minutes/day to work on this. :) Hopefully I can finish up this weekend and take some pictures for everyone.
Not bad temps at all, there seem to be no vents near the front of the case to draw fresh air in to the case, was thinking of seeing what the temps would be like with the rear fans blowing in instead of out.

Look forward to seeing the pictures, my case arrived last night :cool:

What power supply are you using the then NSC-800?
 
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_Arthur

New Member
Nov 23, 2013
24
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The Netherlands
Same setup that i am now looking at after reading about the Marvell issues with the C2570 ASRock board, as like you i will be using mdadm for raid off a M1015.
tbh, it's not an AsRock specific issue: it's a general Marvell issue. But if you stick with the 6 Intel ports (4xsata2 and 2xsata3) you will be fine ;)
 

MikeBuzz

New Member
Dec 10, 2013
9
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1
Was really looking at the C2570 as then i would of not needed the addin HBA and could off maybe in the future added a HBA with external port to connect up to a JBOD in another NSC-800
 

matt_garman

Active Member
Feb 7, 2011
212
40
28
What power supply are you using the then NSC-800?
Seasonic SS-300M1U. You'll need a special bracket to make it work in the NSC-800. Search ebay for "BRACKET FOR ALLOWING FLEX ATX POWER SUPPLY TO MOUNT IN ANY 1U CHASSIS". I got both of mine from seller "antronst" for $5.50 each (free shipping).
 

JimPhreak

Active Member
Oct 10, 2013
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With the Marvell issues on the C2750 coming to light it's making the SuperMicro A1SAi-2750F more attractive to me since it has 4 NICs. Any word on when the C2550 will be fore sale by ASRocK?