Topton 'NAS' motherboard.

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Camprr23

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Nov 20, 2019
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Considering the area around SATA controller's heatsink is nearing 50's, I'm not sure if that's even gonna improve anything.
Maybe this is the best reason to keep the CPU fan 'ticking over' rather than completely off. I'll have some time to do this tomorrow and get back to you.
 

Camprr23

Member
Nov 20, 2019
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Turns out I had some time today. Yes the staggered spinup is possible on _all_ SATA ports:
1668274155292.png
The motherboard also supports a PWM fan as the CPU fan:
1668274207656.png
Also the position of the NVME storage next to the CPU fan is much better for the heat:

1st picture is just after boot-up:
1668274232250.png
Second one is after a while when the CPU fan has had a chance to cool the NVME drive (airflow does not reach the sata controller, as you can see).
1668274553331.png

That SATA Controller is just _nuts_ in terms of the heat it puts out. I would almost put a fan on that, just to help it along.
You can quite obviously see the heat generated by the 2.5Gbit network controller, even if only running at 1Gbit.. The network cable is plugged into the one on the left. (obviously) The heat 'bleed' is also quite interesting. I would seriously consider getting a 120mm PWM noctua fan over the top of the SATA chip, the NVME drives, CPU and the network controllers and connecting it to the CPU header. And then just letting it run _really_ slowly.

Just trying find the power consumption of the JMB585 controller, and it seems it uses ~2.2W when idling, which is pretty 'nuts' compared to the rest of the components (10W total load with 2.2W just the SATA controller). https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeServer/comments/pus673
 
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Yuki Iwatani

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Nov 7, 2022
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Both SSD and SATA controller should have internal temp readings. What do they show? At least a hot heatsink means it transfers heat efficiently from an even hotter chip, although you should look if there's any thermal paste at all. All 4 NICs and adjacent inductors would really benefit from a heatsink too.

For those looking for a sub-$100 1TB 2280 SSDs:
  1. Samsung PM981A, OEM version of 970 EVO Plus on PCIe Gen3x4 interface with same 600TBW per 1TB of volume specs. Sold on Ali for as low as $93 or $94
  2. PM9A1, OEM version of 980 Pro (PCIe Gen4x4) goes for under $110
  3. SK Hynix PC711, OEM P31 Gold (supposedly 750TBW), can be found even cheaper on Ebay and local Craigslist-style marketplaces.
True server drives are usually 110 mm long and have DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) per warranty period characteristic instead of TBW which makes their TBW 3-4 times higher. If you live in USA, Ebay deals with local pickup are posted on the neighboring forum sections.
 

Camprr23

Member
Nov 20, 2019
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@Yuki Iwatani
Can't seem to find the SATA controller temp sensors using lm-sensors on Linux:
Code:
sensors
coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Package id 0:  +35.0°C  (high = +105.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 0:        +30.0°C  (high = +105.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 1:        +30.0°C  (high = +105.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 2:        +30.0°C  (high = +105.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)
Core 3:        +29.0°C  (high = +105.0°C, crit = +105.0°C)

acpitz-acpi-0
Adapter: ACPI interface
temp1:        +27.8°C  (crit = +119.0°C)

nvme-pci-0200
Adapter: PCI adapter
Composite:    +38.9°C  (low  = -273.1°C, high = +84.8°C)
                       (crit = +84.8°C)
Sensor 1:     +38.9°C  (low  = -273.1°C, high = +65261.8°C)
Sensor 2:     +30.9°C  (low  = -273.1°C, high = +65261.8°C)
 

Camprr23

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Nov 20, 2019
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I've added another 5 SATA ports, with another JBM585, connected through just 1 PCIe lane.
It works. Performance is just as 'bad' as the motherboard mounted JMB585.
But I now have 11 ports, which means I can switch to the slightly more cost-effective 4Tbyte drives, instead of paying the premium for the 8Tbyte drives (about $50/8tbytes more compared to the 2x4Tbyte drives). It comes at a slight cost in power, but the QVO drives are quite power-efficient. When not in 'use' they hardly use any power.
So now the PCI lanes are _all_ used:
Code:
01:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB58x AHCI SATA controller
02:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB58x AHCI SATA controller
03:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd NVMe SSD Controller SM981/PM981/PM983
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Device 125c (rev 04)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Device 125c (rev 04)
06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Device 125c (rev 04)
07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Device 125c (rev 04)
 

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vamega

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Nov 8, 2022
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I do wish someone would make a version of this board with only 1 or 2 ethernet ports, and more PCIE lanes available via the m2 slots
 

Camprr23

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Nov 20, 2019
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What would you do with the available bandwidth? 750Mbytes a second is enough to 'fill' 3/4 ethernet interfaces. That would give you 1500Mbyes per second. To do what? I'm quite happy to be able to use the extra lane to add 5 more SATA ports. Let's not forget, this is a 'desktop' processor. If you want that kind of bandwidth and the processing power to handle it, go to something like XEON E5. Horses for courses. The reason I bought this motherboard is the ability to add many devices without the need for additional cards/slots. What is your use-case for a tiny motherboard with that kind of bandwidth? Just curious.
 

elvis_saya

New Member
Oct 21, 2022
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I haven't had much time to work on my board but I'd like to report my initial findings with an ESXI 7.03g install. Passthrough works very well (details below). I created a custom ISO with the fling community networking driver for i226 support. According to fling creator William Lan, with version 8 that driver is already productivized.

1. I created an OPNSense VM and passed through one i226 (router on a stick config using 2 VLANs and a Gb switch). I do not have gigabit internet but can confirm 400Mb up / 400Mb down simultaneous speeds (max for my connection).

2. I created a Debian 11 VM ("NAS") and passed through the onboard JMB585. Currently working at expected speeds though at this point I only have 3 8TB HDDs connected (no raid right now, I am using JBOD mergerfs). As NFS server I'm getting ~117MB/s write and ~120MB/s read with the gigabit switch.

3. I created another Debian 11 VM (media server) and passed through the iGPU. After install, I can see the device via lspci, but for Jellyfin (maybe Plex too) transcoding to work properly, i915 has to be properly configured. First, I had to update the kernel to the one in bullseye-backports (5.19) to get the /dev/dri device. Second, in order for GuC/HuC to work properly with low power transcode, I copied in missing elkhart lake firmware files from linux kernel sources and set enable_guc=2 for i915 module. Transcoding works very well - I'm getting ~250fps for a 1080p HEVC 10bit transcode to 1080p H264.

One issue I encountered is that ESXI reboots the machine if I issue a shutdown command.
 
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BarbaGrump

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Dec 13, 2022
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elvis_saya

New Member
Oct 21, 2022
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Other topton-board(changwang) are fixed through bios ug...have you tried that?
Here's the version I have (v1.0 08/31/20122)
cw.jpg

On the Changwang site BIOS downloads, I can't find one specifically for CW-N5105-NAS. I won't risk using these newer versions, it seems these are for the router/firewall appliances:

Screenshot from 2022-12-14 14-12-24.png
 

DanielL

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Nov 3, 2022
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From Innovision

I will not buy but this ;), but it is good to know it exists
 
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PigLover

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Jan 26, 2011
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It would be a lot more interesting if the NICs were i225/226 instead of 1g (and likely Realtek).
 
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Petrer

New Member
Dec 25, 2022
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I just received mine last week. IT came with a heatsink preinstalled on the sata controller. New revision already or has this always been?
 

LaunderedShirt

New Member
Dec 28, 2022
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I just ordered one to play around with. What cases are you guys putting this in? I'm thinking of using the iStarUSA 1U chassis.
 
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sjoerd

New Member
Dec 29, 2022
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Hi -

I received this board (but equipped with the n5105)
Just wondering as the cpu's do not really differ that much (right?)
- can i really add 64G or should I got safe add use 2x 16G
- can i add 2x 1T nvme and 6x 4TB wd nas drive (lanes are not shared or something)
- can i boot from usb using the internal usb port (for unraid)

Any of you guys using a PicoPSU. If so which one (power, and which powerbrick)
 
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MXM-7

New Member
Dec 31, 2022
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Hi everyone,
Sorry if my question is not relevant for this thread.
I received this Board few days ago but I struggling to find wiring diagram for the F-Panel, was not enable to decode what was written on the board it self.

Sorry again but any help would be much appreciated.

Regards