It seems every other year I do a major build and in the interims I do upgrades. This year was a major change for me as it's the first time I'm using a rack chassis at home. Prior to this I used a Lian Li PC-343B case with six x 5.25" to 3.5" backplanes. Whilst that build was functional it was rattly. The backplanes were expensive but poorly manufactured. I eventually turned to stuffing bits of paper between the drive slots just to stop the case from vibrating to pieces. You can see a photo of that here: http://i.imgur.com/pJPxpNC.jpg
So the new server. Before I post the pictures lets just detail the specifications:
Memory:
Power Supply:
Case Pictures:
Installation Pictures:
Build Complete
Now I'm sure one question you're all thinking is, why on earth am I using an AX1200i in this build? Why am I using a 1200 Watt power supply in a system that is pulling right now 270 Watts from the wall socket?
Well there are a few reasons. Firstly I wanted a platinum rated power supply with a very good warranty and I've been impressed with Corsairs power supplies in the past. I've owned a HX1000 and two AX1200's which I used in desktop builds. The 7 year warranty and the platinum efficiency are nice but also the zero fan noise is also nice.
But still why not buy the AX760i or the AX860i ? both of which offer Platinum efficiency, low fan noise and the 7 year warranty. Well I thought the 860i would be more than enough but when it came time to buy it from my reseller the AX 1200i was only £40 more. And its fan doesn't even begin to turn until it reaches 360 Watts of load. So I figured what the hell. I did however do some research I made sure I would be in the "butter" zone of its efficiency. At the current load (270 Watts) it will be 92% efficient. Its peak is 94% which it reaches between 400-700 Watts load. This is still a huge step up from the Bronze rated 85% or so efficiency I was getting before.
In-fact this server consumes 100 Watts less than my old one while increasing memory from 24GB to 64GB, increasing CPU performance slightly and generally being a much better system.
If you have any questions at all feel free to ask. I know there isn't too many builds using the HP SAS Expander, I've been using that part in my old server for 2 years and moved it to this build feel free to ask about how thats been running. Also the case I'm using the X-Case 424 GEN II is brand new out this month so if you have any questions about that I'm happy to oblige
So the new server. Before I post the pictures lets just detail the specifications:
- Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter Edition, not pirated, legit license.
- Intel XEON E5-1650 (6 Cores, 12MB Cache, 3.2-3.8GHz) CPU
- 64GB (8x8GB) of Kingston ECC 1600MHz 1.35v UDIMM Memory
- Dual Socket Asrockrack EP2C602-4L/D16 Motherboard
- X-CASE 4U 24 Bay GEN II Rackmount Case
- Seven x SAS SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Cables
- SuperMicro CPU Heatsink for LGA 2011
- Corsair AX1200i 1200 Watt Power Supply
- Artic Cooling 80mm silent fan (I use this to cool the RAID and SAS Expander Cards)
- Corsair 120GB Neutron GTX SSD (This is for the Operating System)
- 1TB Western Digital Black Hard Drive
- Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD
- 9x4TB Hitachis 8x2TB Samsungs 7x3TB Western Digitals
- LSI 9260-4i RAID Controller with 512MB DDR2 RAM + LSI CPU
- HP 32 Port SAS Expander Card
- 900 Watt CyberPower UPS Battery Backup (21 Minutes run time at current load)
Memory:
Power Supply:
Case Pictures:
Installation Pictures:
Build Complete
Now I'm sure one question you're all thinking is, why on earth am I using an AX1200i in this build? Why am I using a 1200 Watt power supply in a system that is pulling right now 270 Watts from the wall socket?
Well there are a few reasons. Firstly I wanted a platinum rated power supply with a very good warranty and I've been impressed with Corsairs power supplies in the past. I've owned a HX1000 and two AX1200's which I used in desktop builds. The 7 year warranty and the platinum efficiency are nice but also the zero fan noise is also nice.
But still why not buy the AX760i or the AX860i ? both of which offer Platinum efficiency, low fan noise and the 7 year warranty. Well I thought the 860i would be more than enough but when it came time to buy it from my reseller the AX 1200i was only £40 more. And its fan doesn't even begin to turn until it reaches 360 Watts of load. So I figured what the hell. I did however do some research I made sure I would be in the "butter" zone of its efficiency. At the current load (270 Watts) it will be 92% efficient. Its peak is 94% which it reaches between 400-700 Watts load. This is still a huge step up from the Bronze rated 85% or so efficiency I was getting before.
In-fact this server consumes 100 Watts less than my old one while increasing memory from 24GB to 64GB, increasing CPU performance slightly and generally being a much better system.
If you have any questions at all feel free to ask. I know there isn't too many builds using the HP SAS Expander, I've been using that part in my old server for 2 years and moved it to this build feel free to ask about how thats been running. Also the case I'm using the X-Case 424 GEN II is brand new out this month so if you have any questions about that I'm happy to oblige
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