need help building my file server and choosing a motherboard

[kaitlin4599]

ok so a friend of mine gave me for free what he thought was a dual cpu socket 1366 server board that he got with a boxed lot of other pc parts. he didnt need to board so asked if i wanted it and of course i said yes. i bought the case and PSU for my build but sadly ever two days of issues, i find out the mobo is dead no led light no power on nothing not even the fans spin, i verified the psu works. and even set the mobo up on a box to make sure the issue wasnt a short from a standoff nadda she refuses to power on.

heres a list of parts i have just in case it helps you answer my question
pc case fractal 7 XL
seasonic 750 gold 80+ full modular
12 sticks of ecc registered ddr3 2Rx4 4gigs per stick so 48 gigs total 2 xeon low power 6 core lga 1366 cpus and two xeon coolers for the xeon back plate and mx-4 thermal paste
lastly i have several spare hard drives my friend tested before he sent me to make sure they were good to go


so heres where i need help building my server my question to the experts here is, since the server board is dead do i replace it with another LGA1366 server board so that i can use my ECC REGISTERED ram? or do i save up my money for a few months and buy say an LGA 2011 X79 board

im on disability so buying say a 150$ 2011 board plus cpu plus cooler plus ram wouldnt be easy i would have to save up the money over a few months
if i stick with 1366 all i need is a new mobo im just trying to figure out what my best option is

some info on what the server will be used for as it might help you with answering my question i will use the server for file storage i.e. i will power the server on backup the files from my gaming pc to the server then once the files have been backed up the server will power off i dont plan to do any vm's just basic file storage for my steam library among other files thanks for your time

 

[i386]

Here are my thoughts:

At this point I would expect socket 1366 (or anything older) components to fail anyday. This platform is now over 10 years old, it will be hard to find spare parts and especially the parts you need/want.
Then there is the problem with the platform itself:
- it's very power hungry (a windows installation with 6 dimms and a single cpu showing the desktop idles around 120watt, measured with a cheap kill-a-watt on a s5520hc)
- pcie 2.0
- computing power is pretty low compared to modern platforms

The socket 2011 is a lot better in regard of power consumption (compared to the 1366 platform), has pcie 3.0 and more computing power (and uefi/secureboot), but it's also dated. The aftermarket (I think) is bigger than that for 1366, but it's also on it's way out.

If only these two options exist I would go with the 2011 platform even when it means I would have to save money longer.

just basic file storage for my steam library among other files thanks for your time

I have my entire steam (plus origin, epic, gog etc.) library/pile of shame downloaded on a hdd raid. I wouldn't consider that data backup worthy

How much storage do you need? I was thinking if it's <2TByte you get one of the thin clients (tmms) and add a huge (2 or 4 TB) m.2 ssd in there.

 

[Sean Ho]

I'm a bit puzzled by your $150 budget for additional parts, since the Define 7 XL alone is usually over $200. You could get up and running with a cheap X9DRH-7F or similar ($50 in US), reusing the DDR3 RDIMM and picking up a low-end E5 v1; they're dirt cheap now. Or you could sell/return everything and get a Haswell SFF Optiplex for $50 to tide you over until you're in a better spot financially.

 

[i386]

I'm a bit puzzled by your $150 budget for additional parts,

I think the 150$ were just an example and that this kind of money is not instantly available (for the stuff)

 

[kaitlin4599]

Here are my thoughts:

At this point I would expect socket 1366 (or anything older) components to fail anyday. This platform is now over 10 years old, it will be hard to find spare parts and especially the parts you need/want.
Then there is the problem with the platform itself:
- it's very power hungry (a windows installation with 6 dimms and a single cpu showing the desktop idles around 120watt, measured with a cheap kill-a-watt on a s5520hc)
- pcie 2.0
- computing power is pretty low compared to modern platforms

The socket 2011 is a lot better in regard of power consumption (compared to the 1366 platform), has pcie 3.0 and more computing power (and uefi/secureboot), but it's also dated. The aftermarket (I think) is bigger than that for 1366, but it's also on it's way out.

If only these two options exist I would go with the 2011 platform even when it means I would have to save money longer.


I have my entire steam (plus origin, epic, gog etc.) library/pile of shame downloaded on a hdd raid. I wouldn't consider that data backup worthy

How much storage do you need? I was thinking if it's <2TByte you get one of the thin clients (tmms) and add a huge (2 or 4 TB) m.2 ssd in there.

i have well over 16TB of data to back up

 

[kaitlin4599]

@i386 you are correct the 150$ was what i saw some 2011 boards going for used it was indeed an example

 

[Sean Ho]

What drives do you already have on hand? Are you planning on using ZFS, Unraid, snapraid, mdadm, or something else? That level of storage is more than can be cost-effectively fit in an SFF desktop, so your Define 7 XL makes sense (though if funds are really tight you might swap it for a cheaper N400 or somesuch). A $12 ASR-7805 plus two 8643-4x8482 breakouts would let you use old SAS drives, say 8x3TB for $100, or 5x4TB for $100, or 10TB for $75 each. Supplement with SATA drives directly connected to the motherboard.

 

[kaitlin4599]

What drives do you already have on hand? Are you planning on using ZFS, Unraid, snapraid, mdadm, or something else? That level of storage is more than can be cost-effectively fit in an SFF desktop, so your Define 7 XL makes sense (though if funds are really tight you might swap it for a cheaper N400 or somesuch). A $12 ASR-7805 plus two 8643-4x8482 breakouts would let you use old SAS drives, say 8x3TB for $100, or 5x4TB for $100, or 10TB for $75 each. Supplement with SATA drives directly connected to the motherboard.

i have 5 4TB platter drives that my friend gave me for free as for os windows server 2022 with storage spaces so all i need is a mobo cpu and some ram hence why i asked the question do i save up for socket 2011 or go cheap and source out another 1366 mobo

 

[kaitlin4599]

@Sean Ho im not looking for drives im trying to sort out my motherboard debacle do i stick with X58 replace the mobo and hope i get the server working or do i save up for 2011 which means also saving up for cpu cpu coolers mobo and ram

 

[mattventura]

I'd look into secondhand server chassis at that price point. $200 is a lot for a desktop case. Here's a listing for an entire system, which would be significantly better than a 1366, for <$150 shipped (at least for me): Supermicro 825-7 2U Server | 2x 3.00GHz E5-2690 v2 | 64GB DDR3 | 4TB | DVD-ROM | eBay. Listing is a little sketchy, lacking a lot of important details, but that's an 8-bay (plus maybe a couple fixed bays?), dual-2011 system that will knock the socks off of a 1366 for less than you were planning on spending on a case alone, with the only noticeable downside being that it's missing a couple of drive caddies and doesn't come with rails.

 

[kaitlin4599]

@mattventura i already have a case the define 7 XL from fractal i bought the case when i got the free mobo all im trying to do is get my issue with the mobo sorted out

 

[kaitlin4599]

@mattventura im not looking for a case nor am i looking for hard drives as others in my post have asked im simply trying to figure out do i stick with lga 1366 since i already have the server ram and some cpus for it i would only need a replacement mobo or do i toss it all to the side and save up for lga 2011 which would mean id also have to buy a cpu cpu cooler ram and mobo

 

[mattventura]

@mattventura im not looking for a case nor am i looking for hard drives as others in my post have asked im simply trying to figure out do i stick with lga 1366 since i already have the server ram and some cpus for it i would only need a replacement mobo or do i toss it all to the side and save up for lga 2011 which would mean id also have to buy a cpu cpu cooler ram and mobo

You could buy it, and simply not use the case or the hard drives. It has RAM, a dual-socket mobo, and two CPUs that are nearly the best you could get in that socket. Buy it, strip it, and sell the parts you don't need ($90 is about how much the chassis alone sells for, plus it has hard drives, and you won't need any of the old RAM). Or, if the fractal is still in the return window, that's $50 back in your pocket. Point is, if you were planning to spend $150 on CPU+heatsinks+RAM anyway, might as well buy this since it's a great deal.

Getting that much hardware for $90+shipping is a crazy good deal, even if it is a bit old. I'd buy it myself if I had more of a need right now.

To lay it out a bit better, here's some options:
1. Buy a new LGA1366 mobo. Costs ~$50, but you'll end up with pretty poor performance due to the age of those CPUs (we also don't know which CPUs you got).
2. Buy a new LGA2011 mobo, CPUs, and heatsinks (can probably re-use the RAM but would be suboptimal due to 2011 being quad channel and 1366 being tri-channel). Costs $150.
3. Buy that whole server, sell off the chassis, hard drives, and the old 1366 CPUs+RAM. Costs the same $150, minus whatever you get from selling stuff.
4. Buy that whole server, sell off all the old stuff and the fractal (or return it). Still costs you $150, minus whatever you get from selling stuff. If the fractal is in the return window, you're up $50 right off the bat.

 

[Sean Ho]

Matt's summary is good. My comments were intended to supplement, not contradict, suggestions by others. Unless you're not in the US, the pricing for 2011-0 is not as high as perhaps you might be assuming. You can reuse the DDR3 RDIMM. If your 1366 coolers were active tower coolers, they may have brackets + screws for 2011. If on the other hand you were planning on using passive heatsinks with a custom fan shroud for your case, you can look for a motherboard listing that includes heatsinks; many do. If you do need new coolers, the venerable CM Hyper 212 can often be found very cheaply, or the ThermalRight linked below. You could also run single-CPU for the time being until funds become available.

Component	Model	Notes	Price	Link
MB	X9DRH-7F	hs, SAS 2208	$54	MBD-X9DRH-7F SUPERMICRO SYSTEMBOARD MOTHERBOARD LGA-2011 ATX 2x HS | eBay SUPERMICRO X9DRH-7F SYSTEMBOARD. 2x HEATSINK. SUPERMICRO SYS-1027B-M7UF X9DRH-7F 8SFF 2x12C E5-2697V2 2.7GHz 64GB RAM NO HDD. SUPERMICRO SYS-1027B-M7UF X9DRH-7F 8SFF 2x12C E5-2697V2 2.7GHz 128GB RAM NO HDD. www.ebay.com
CPU	2650 v2		$8 OBO	BX80635E52650V2 INTEL XEON E5-2650V2 8 CORE 2.60 GHz 20M 8 GT/s 95W PROCESSOR | eBay PART NUMBER BX80635E52650V2. CLOCK SPEED 2.60GHz. PROCESSOR NUMBER E5-2650V2. INCLUDE WITH PROCESSOR. QPI SPEED 8GT/s. INSTRUCTON SET 64-BIT. WEIGHT 1LBS. www.ebay.com
Cooler	TR AX120	or CM 212	$18	https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Z7SKG2B

 

[kaitlin4599]

@Sean Ho can you please clarify for me how i can reuse my DDR3 RDIMM im a bit confused

 

[kaitlin4599]

@Sean Ho also the motherboard you linked me to looks like it uses a narrow ILM i dont have any cpu coolers that support narrow ILM

 

[kaitlin4599]

@Sean Ho heres pics of the only cpu coolers i have

 

[Sean Ho]

Oh yep my bad on the narrow ILM. The X9DRH-7F is otherwise a good board. Lemme see if I can find you a cheap square ILM one. Active coolers for narrow 2011 exist, but options are limited and more expensive.

2011-0 uses DDR3 RDIMM (also LRDIMM and UDIMM, just not mixed). Limit of 8 ranks per channel; unless you have a 3DPC board (e.g., dual-processor with 24 DIMMs) you won't run into that limit.

Yes, your coolers were for a specific Lenovo system and won't do 2011, unfortunately.

 

[kaitlin4599]

@Sean Ho heres the ram i have will it work with 2011?

 

[Sean Ho]

X9DRi-LN4F+ $99, also options with heatsinks and/or CPU+RAM. It's SM's EE-ATX form factor, which won't fit in most non-SM cases, but will fit in the Define 7 XL: Supermicro X9DRi-LN4F+ V1.20A LGA 2011 X79 FW Updated Includes CPU 1 Year War! | eBay

That RAM is slow but will run just fine on any 2011-0 board. DDR3 RDIMM is also very affordable nowadays if you do need to upgrade down the line.