Zeus V2 : U-NAS NSC-810A | X10SL7-F | E3-1265 V3

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seedzer0

New Member
Aug 16, 2018
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Hi K D,

I've purchases the NSC-810A with the SS-350M1U PSU and a Supermicro X11SSH-F. Looking at your build, you have a similar setup with you Motherboard, where you have an 8-pin connector. My PSU only has a 4-pin connector, which looking at some of your images is the same as your PSU? How did you get around this? A 2 x molex to 8 pin? I'm trying to avoid drawing too much current from one circuit, so interested to know how yours was arranged. Thanks.
 

seedzer0

New Member
Aug 16, 2018
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@seedzer0 See Image #9 in the OP. It is a split (4+4) molex connector. You should have 2 of the 4 pin connectors that you use together.
@ K D Sorry, I'm still a little unclear. I only have 1 of the 4 pin atx connectors. Are you using something like this:

or do you have 2 of these 4 pin atx from the PSU:

upload_2018-8-25_1-24-52.jpeg

My PSU only has the one 4 pin ATX connector.
 
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seedzer0

New Member
Aug 16, 2018
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So looking closer at some of the photos it appears I have a newer revision of the PSU which has a 4-pin connector instead of a 4+4 connector. There are two empty pins on the PSU side which I think are 12V lines, so I'm going to have to work out how to modify the loom or get another PSU. Either that or use a molex to 8-pin adaptor :/
 

EffrafaxOfWug

Radioactive Member
Feb 12, 2015
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Does the X11SSH-F not run with only the 4-pin connector...? Its predecessor certainly did, and I can't see a mATX platform drawing that much current anyway...
 

seedzer0

New Member
Aug 16, 2018
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Does the X11SSH-F not run with only the 4-pin connector...? Its predecessor certainly did, and I can't see a mATX platform drawing that much current anyway...
I haven't started the build yet, but reading the manual:

Be sure to connect the power supplies to the 24-pin power connector (JPWR1), and the 8-pin power con- nector (JPWR2) on the motherboard. Failure in doing so may void the manufacturer warranty on your power supply and motherboard.
I can't imagine the CPU drawing all the current of an 8-pin connector, especially as I'm only going to be using an i3, but I don't really want to cause any issues. I've seen in some other threads with other boards not booting when only using a 4-pin connector, but nothing specific pertaining to the X11SSH-F.
 
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Ixian

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Oct 26, 2018
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I'm looking at the NSC-810a for a D-1541 MATX Nas build. Can anyone answer a couple questions?

The fan on the side (70mm?) - is it meant for intake or exhaust?
Are there vents on the other side of the case from said fan? I can't find any pictures that show it. I'm confused how airflow over the motherboard works - where is it getting air from (or where does air exhaust out of if the fan is intake) if there are no vents?

The 1541 is only 45w TDP so based on the builds here I'm assuming it'll be fine but puzzled over airflow with this case. I plan to replace all 3 fans with better PWM based ones and route cables, etc. accordingly.
 

EluRex

Active Member
Apr 28, 2015
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1. you can swap the direction of the 70mm fan
2. no.. it does not... all cpu/mobo air flow all goes out on the side... rear fan is for hdd
 

tlwizard

New Member
Mar 10, 2017
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Been looking at building a server using the NSC-810a and have been keeping tabs on this and other similar threads. So first, thanks for all the great information!

I just read a review on the U-NAS website where someone said that the 810a wouldn't read or work with 10TB drives. Has anyone tried a 10TB drive with their setup? The reviewer mentioned being connected by SAS. Would it be different if you skipped the SAS and did direct SATA for each drive?
 

Ixian

Member
Oct 26, 2018
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Someone would need to test to be sure but yes, it could be isolated to just SAS. Why anyone would put 10TB SAS in this case is a better question; even though the 10TB models have lower power consumption (as do the SATA versions) they still run pretty hot and I'd wonder at the ability of this case to keep 8 of them cool.

I ended up passing on it myself because I don't need the extra space savings and this case looks like a PITA to deal with. I went with a CS380B, which has its own known problems but those are fairly easily corrected.
 

Ixian

Member
Oct 26, 2018
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The problem is actually that the backplane doesn't block enough airflow, actually, because the fans are on the side and direct air left to right not front to back :)

The CS380B (and the smaller DS380B) flaw is there is a gap between the 2 120mm side fans and the drive cage, which allows air to escape, which for a design like this which relies on high static pressure to move air between closely packed drives is a problem. This is easy to correct with duct tape, 3d-printed plastic shields, or cardboard, all of which has been done successfully and posted about here.

The Silverstone's have their flaws for sure and you need to know how to deal with them going in, but they are fairly easy to correct. And there's very few, if any, 8-bay MATX hot swap cases in a small form factor (or semi-small in the case of the CS380) on the market.
 

jingram

Member
Oct 21, 2018
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I recently put together a build around the 810a case after scouring the net for feedback on builds. Here is what I can say about it. The quality of the case is pretty good. I bought it with a PSU from UNAS. Shipping was quick, packaging was good, and they were responsive. I ordered NFs for the 120MM fans, but didn't bother to swap them in.

The system overall is pretty quiet and I am one of those folks fortunate enough to have a closet were all of my network homeruns to and I have a small bakers rack in there with the rest of my kit. I migrated over from an old Chenbro 4U case from work that we used years ago and had stuffed in a rack in my garage, but no room for it now, hence the swap.

Board is consumer grade Asrock mITX running an i5-6500 (stock intel HSF) and Server 2019. Due to limitations on the board, I am only driving 4 drives (6TB HGST NAS) and an m2 on the board. As I look at alternatives like FreeNAS, Unraid, OMV, etc. I recognize a new MB will be in order. Will be leaning towards a 2146g since it gives me everything I need in a low enough TDP package with iGPU for decent transcoding.

Overall it was a quick and simple swap over. Cable management is a minor pain, but certainly not some insurmountable challenge. No cut fingers or scrapes. Temps on both proc and drives are very cool. No sign of any kind of thermal throttling. Uptime has been as good as it was before, which has been fantastic for the little consumer itx board that is getting a bit long in the tooth.

Big thumbs up from me! No other comparable chassis like it on the market at the moment.
 

Ixian

Member
Oct 26, 2018
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2146g is overkill for most SFF NAS solutions built around Unraid, FreeNAS, etc. unless you are looking at some heavy-duty VM usage. For lightly-threaded media center stuff (like most Dockers, etc. plus the occasional VM) you can save on power, TDP, and budget. You also don't need an iGPU for transcoding; software transcoding with Plex, Emby, etc. will give you better quality and work fine with the right CPU.

A D series, like the 1541, would be fine for this. In fact even that is slightly overkill. You'd probably do just fine with a 1521 or similar. And those will be a heck of a lot easier to deal with in the small confines of a case like this, which is also limited by the Flex-ATX 1u power supply - I believe they top out at 350w, and a 2146g + 8 drives + ssd + whatever else will push you close to the edge power wise (though it will work). You might need to stagger-spin your hdds at startup.

Everyone overestimates the CPU needed for apps like Plex. Even a 2750 Atom can handle a couple simultaneous transcodes, and the Xeon-D's do far better than that.
 

jingram

Member
Oct 21, 2018
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Seems to me that the 2146g with board is certainly cost effective (if you could buy them). No worse than a 1541 with board from SM, but I get substantially better single thread performance, which to most seems to matter far more day to day when choosing a chassis like the 810a.

The i5-6500 is a 65w TDP chip and is running cool as a cucumber with a stock HSF in this case. I have a hard time imagining an additional 15w TDP is going to be a deal breaker by moving to something like a 2146G. I do give up 10Gb ethernet onboard, but frankly, I am not pushing that anyway and I have the iGPU if needed, which gives me flexibility since it leaves all of my PCIe slots open if I choose to go 10Gb in the future.

The Intel D series seems like a waste of time and money, unless one really needs all of those cores. I feel most folks would be far better served by 6 fast cores than a number of low frequency cores. The Intel D Series is expensive, not nearly as fast in single threaded performance, and outside of the slightly lower TDP, I am not sure what most folks would get out of something like a D-1541.
 

Ixian

Member
Oct 26, 2018
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Depends on use case and where you get it. I got a used 1541 board with dual 10G-T (which I have the network setup for) and LSI 3008, plus 6 additional Sata ports, 2 M2, and 2 8x PCIe, for about $500. If you didn't need 10G-T and/or the JBOD controller, or if you are staring at full retail for one, then sure, get an Xeon E, though for a mixed-usage media server that extra single-threaded horsepower is probably going to go to waste.

Remember as well with the U-Nas though it technically can take two single-slot expansion cards using risers they are going to be one tight fit and probably obstruct the side fan to a degree. Not saying it can't, or hasn't, been done, just be aware of what you need to deal with.
 

Ixian

Member
Oct 26, 2018
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Also, because I'm often wrong and don't know everything, I looked harder at the E series and related mb options wondering, perhaps, if I missed something during my own recent upgrade journey, and I can't help but notice you can't really find many boards for them yet, and the CPUs don't appear to be in wide circulation either. I'm assuming they'll be out in the usual channels over the next few months but....you can get a D board, loaded with features, that would make a killer media-centric NAS with VM/Container support, today, and fairly cheaply if you are looking aftermarket. In the case of my board the retail cost of a dual x540 alone is nearly half what I paid for the entire board/cpu that includes it.
 
Jun 5, 2017
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@EluRex @K D Hey guys. Coming to this thread after a while, what booting solution did you put into your UNAS 810A boxes? My board is the Supermicro X11SSH-LNF4-O, just as @EluRex, and I'd been using a thumb drive connected to the onboard USB 10 port for awhile, but it recently died so I'm looking for something a little more robust.

Compatible options from people with other boards, but that still fit into this box, are more than welcome too.

Thanks!
 

K D

Well-Known Member
Dec 24, 2016
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Mine is currently running FreeNAS, booting off mirrored Samsung FIT drives,