Cheapest DDR3 ECC 4 DIMM server

[badass]

Hi All,

I have 4 or more 4GB DDR3 ECC unbuffered DIMMS from various lab machines.
This extra 16GB will be very useful for my lab, however some important data may be processed by the host, so the ECC actually being used is very important. I believe all AMD FX processors support ECC and all motherboards do but a lot don't do anything with the ECC information - i.e. memory could be suffering constant errors and you will be none the wiser. I need to know if there are problems.
This will be on 24/7 so low idle power is important

I am after the cheapest way of using them to replace my HP G7 microserver.

Its replacement needs to have 4 threads (or more) i.e. quad core is fine as is dual core with 4 threads.

I have an Antec micro ATX case which I plan to use.

I have looked into getting a Dell Poweredge T20 but they are no longer cheap. Same goes for Lenovo TS140's.

This motherboard looks like the cheapest Intel one that meets my criteria https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASROCK-E3C2...RBF8GMS3SVB2KH
With this processor https://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-BX806...ywords=i3+4330

However at a total of £230 it's a bit pricey

If I can find an AM3+ motherboard that actually reports ECC errors I suspect it'll cost half that. Does anyone know of any AMD micro ATX Motherboards that support DDR3 ECC and report errors?

EDIT:
This motherbaord looks hopeful https://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-M5A78L...5A78L-M%2FUSB3

based on: https://forums.lime-technology.com/t...g-mobo-advice/
With https://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FX6300-...ywords=fx+6300
6 cores!

Thanks!

[scaryjim]

Can't suggest a specific board with any confidence, but I beloieve ASUS are meant to be best for actual ECC support in their AM3(+) boards, and the ASUS boards I've had have always been rock solid.

That said, finding an mATX AM3+ board with 4 RAM slots might be a struggle in itself...

[badass]

I purchased the ASUS M5A78L-M Plus/USB3 in the link in my OP.

It definitely supports EEC RAM. There are BIOS options to turn on the ECC. All 16GB is working.

I bought the FX-6300 as well. It's (obviously) way faster than the 1.5GHz N40L Dual core CPU.

The fan that comes with the CPU is incredibly noisy though! At first I thought I was just thrashing the CPU when I heard the fan in an adjacent room. Then I did load it up and it sounded like a jet taking off!

For comparison, in the same customised cupboard (with decent airflow) I have a Lenovo T140 and did have an HP Microserver that I couldn't hear. If noise is important, get a replacement cooler!

Total cost was less than £125 so I'm happy. I'm probably going to get one of those fans that you stick on the back PCIe slots on the case to ensure more airflow through my NSK-1380 though. The PSU fan is barely moving.

If anyone's wondering - yes - it takes me aaaaaages to buy anything!

[scaryjim]

... I bought the FX-6300 ...

... The fan that comes with the CPU is incredibly noisy though! ...

... I'm probably going to get one of those fans that you stick on the back PCIe slots on the case to ensure more airflow through my NSK-1380 though. ...

You put an FX 6300, with a stock AMD cooler, in an NSK 1380?!

You'll melt it! No wonder it sounds like a jet taking off. AMD's old stock coolers always were noisy and sub-optimal, the 760G chipset actually generates a surprising amount of additional heat, and the case has virtually no ventilation!

A PCI slot blower will help a little, but it won't shift much air and it will be loud. It certainly won't help make the AMD stock cooler any quieter, because the ambient temperature in the case is going to be too high for it to maintain low temperatures regardless of the CPU load.

In your position I took the only sensible option, and stuck a HUGE Zalman flower-style cooler in mine, which handled both the temperatures and the noise. It's tricky on AM3 boards because the RAM slots are pretty close to the CPU socket, but it's the only real way you're going to tame what is going to be a very hot build whatever you do...

[badass]

You put an FX 6300, with a stock AMD cooler, in an NSK 1380?!

You'll melt it! No wonder it sounds like a jet taking off. AMD's old stock coolers always were noisy and sub-optimal, the 760G chipset actually generates a surprising amount of additional heat, and the case has virtually no ventilation!

A PCI slot blower will help a little, but it won't shift much air and it will be loud. It certainly won't help make the AMD stock cooler any quieter, because the ambient temperature in the case is going to be too high for it to maintain low temperatures regardless of the CPU load.

In your position I took the only sensible option, and stuck a HUGE Zalman flower-style cooler in mine, which handled both the temperatures and the noise. It's tricky on AM3 boards because the RAM slots are pretty close to the CPU socket, but it's the only real way you're going to tame what is going to be a very hot build whatever you do...

Duly noted! I've taken both of the sides off for now and left it. Still noisy when the CPU is busy but otherwise OK at idle now.

[DanceswithUnix]

I would suggest looking in the BIOS power profiles as well, My wife's PC has an FX-6350 in it with the largest cooler I could get into the shoebox case. Playing with power profiles etc helped

[Pob255]

Yes the NSK-1380 looks good on the outside but the internal layout wasn't good, also non-standard psu doesn't help.

replacing the stock cooler should help, However double check the clearance before you buy.
Get out a tape measure to check the clearance space you have on that board esp with the psu.

The only good cooling builds I've seen with the NSK1380 involve swapping the stock psu for an external psu and a 120mm fan

[scaryjim]

I've been doing some digging: you might find this review interesting: http://techreport.com/review/6700/antec-aria-enclosure

The Aria is the predecessor to the NSK 1380, but it's pretty much identical in terms of design. It's also my favourite case in the world ever - mine's still going strong, although it's currently on its second PSU and I'm thinking about modding it to take an SFX one next time I rebuild (which probably won't be far away).

Based on wikipedia and techpowerup, the TDPs for the two systems are ~90W for the mid range (2500+ (68.3W) + 9600 XT (22W)) and around 150W for the high end (3200+ (76.8W) + 5950 Ultra (74W)). Given they reckon the high end rig can't manage 10mins of load without thermal corruption but the midrange is OK if a bit warm, I'd say that the case probably struggles to dissipate more than ~ 100W. IIRC the FX 6300 is 95W, and the 760G IGP on the motherboard is ~ 15W, so ... 110W. You're right on the edge of the case's thermal tolerance.

That said, if you don't need absolute performance, with a bit of judicious downward tweaking of both the CPU clocks and the voltage you should be able to shed a lot of that heat output and still have a reasonably quick CPU. You might even find configurable TDP options in the BIOS, but if not simply reduce the default multiplier. You could also try tweaking thye voltage downwards, but that could lead to instability, so you might be better off leaving that alone.

[Pob255]

AFAIK the only difference between the Aria and the NSK 1380, is they removed the card reader from the front and added a top vent for the psu (to help cool it)

I do like the look of them, they just such a botch job of the internals.
Antec just seemed to of copied a shuttle, widened it slightly to fit mATX then reshaped a psu to fit in the space leftover.
I'm sure they could of moved stuff about to fit it in better.

It is very pretty though.

[scaryjim]

... Antec just seemed to of copied a shuttle, widened it slightly to fit mATX then reshaped a psu to fit in the space leftover.
I'm sure they could of moved stuff about to fit it in better. ...

tbh I'm not sure they could. It remains to this day the smallest mATX cube case on the market by some distance, and it's even smaller than a lot of mITX cubes. That's inevitably going to lead to some compromises along the way.

I'll be interested to see if switching to an SFX PSU changes anything. The last time I was messing with it I took the PSU mounting out completely so I could get an unobstructued 120mm exhaust in, but that meant moving the 1U PSU I'm using in it to the 5.25" drive bay ... hardly an ideal situation! I've measured up and there's space for SFX, which makes me wonder why Antec didn't use it in the first place - I can only assume they felt the 120mm fan would provide better cooling, despite the lack of venting around the PSU casing...

Anyway, speaking of, there's plenty of pics of options in my Hexus bundle review thread: https://forums.hexus.net/reader-revi...le-review.html

Of particular interest will be that huge Zalman lump. Although I didn't get any pics of it, it fits in there with the standard PSU brackets in place and works wonders to control temps and noise - although that's with a much lower power profile overall. Definitely something to think about though.

[Pob255]

Anyway, speaking of, there's plenty of pics of options in my Hexus bundle review thread: https://forums.hexus.net/reader-revi...le-review.html

Umm I'm not seeing any pic's in that thread
EDIT: sorry never mind I can see them now


As to the layout, best mod I remember was where someone removed the hanging drive cage, and put an SFX in the space to one side and 3 hard drives on the other side, original PSU removed for a 120mm fan and made space for a scythe ninja 2 cooler. (gives you an idea of how long ago that was).
edit: here it is, not the ninja2, there was one with a ninja2 but remove the psu to do that.
https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...act=mrc&uact=8
posted the google image link as the original is on photobucket, and that a site you really don't want to visit anymore


edit: looking at it some more, I bet with a bit of modding you could get a FLEX (1U) psu in above pci card slots and 120 rad in the back