Is anything missing from my shopping list?

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matthelliwell
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:33 am

Is anything missing from my shopping list?

Post by matthelliwell » Wed Apr 02, 2014 12:01 pm

As discussed over at the mobo forum, I' building a server to replace by defunct Synology NAS. If people would like to review my shopping last and suggest any improvements or anything I've missed out, it would be appreciated.

My aim is to build a server with low idle power consumption and plenty of room for expansion over the next five years. Initially load will be light (file server, media server, mail server, download server and the like) but I want enough power and space to expand as my fancy arises.

Motherboard: Supermicro A1SAM-2550F: £220 from server case. Its a bit pricey but does have good power consumption, power and expansion possibilities.

Memory: 2x4GB DDR3 1.35V-1600. Hynix is listed as the tested RAM - does it really make any difference for home use what make the RAM is? I can't see any point ECC ram unless anyone disagrees. Cost about £50?

PSU: 150W FSP PSU. £27 from linitx. I could get a more efficient higher powered one. However at the power I'll be running it at, I suspect this will be better. At £27 I don't mind experimenting a bit if its too noisy.

Case: A SilverStone Temjin TJ08-E. I've got one of these on another PC so I might as well get a matching pair. Cost is about £65. I plan to use the single fan that comes with it.

Drives: 4 500GB 2.5 inch Samsung drives. These were in my NAS so I might as well re-use them. I'll replace them with a pair of 2TB drives and an SSD for the OS in due course but they'll do initially. Do I need a adapter cable to plug them into the SATA ports? I never seem to have the right cables when doing all this!

Cables: I think I'll need a pair of SATA power splitters for the 4 drives.

Backup: I've got a 2TB WD Green drive in a USB enclosure that I can use.

OS: Not sure. Anyone have any suggestions?

Have I forgotten anything or got anything hopelessly wrong?

Matt

(Apologies if this got posted twice, I had login problems)

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: Is anything missing from my shopping list?

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Apr 03, 2014 2:03 am

Has that server to be quiet?

matthelliwell
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:33 am

Re: Is anything missing from my shopping list?

Post by matthelliwell » Thu Apr 03, 2014 2:33 am

quest_for_silence wrote:Has that server to be quiet?
Yes - I forgot that bit in the original message. It'll be going in the loft room which is use as my daughter's TV, homework and general hangout room so it doesn't need to be silent but it needs to pass the quietness test of an 11 year old girl. A gentle hum of fans is ok.

matthelliwell
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:33 am

Re: Is anything missing from my shopping list?

Post by matthelliwell » Mon Apr 07, 2014 2:01 am

Well I've ordered it all. I went with 2x Kingston 4GB EEC 1.35v RAM in the end as that's what popped up on the compatibility chart, though I suspect 8GB is a bit excessive. I'll let people know how noisy the PSU is what the the power consumption is like once it's all together.

matthelliwell
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:33 am

Re: Is anything missing from my shopping list?

Post by matthelliwell » Sat Apr 12, 2014 11:40 pm

Right, everything has turned up and its ll built. There's certainly no shortage of space in the case which is nice.

Power consumption is 4 watts when powered down but plugged in (presumably that's the IPMI interface still doings its stuff). With one 2.5" SATA drive installed, idle power was 19 watts. With all four of the 2.5" drives installed this is up to 23 watts when idle. Copying a bunch of files off my backup took the power up to a huge 26 watts.

Idle power consumption is a bit higher than I was aiming for but I suspect that's down to the PSU. It's listed as 150W and 78% efficient but I assume that down at 20% load I'll be lucky if its 50% efficient which means its probably wasting about 8 watts by itself. It's also far too loud. The fan is on permanently and has a high pitched whine. Every now again, it gets out of balance get sets of a really loud buzzing resonance. Either the fan or the PSU needs to go! What I need is a passive low power 80+ gold PSU.

The other power saving is the case fan. It won't go below 800 rpm. I suspect that most of the time it could be off completely.

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: Is anything missing from my shopping list?

Post by quest_for_silence » Sun Apr 13, 2014 12:43 am

matthelliwell wrote:The other power saving is the case fan. It won't go below 800 rpm. I suspect that most of the time it could be off completely.

Of which fan are you talking?

CA_Steve
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Re: Is anything missing from my shopping list?

Post by CA_Steve » Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:32 am

How about the Be Quiet! Straight Power E9 400W? It's not fanless, but the low rpm fan is darn quiet.

matthelliwell
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:33 am

Re: Is anything missing from my shopping list?

Post by matthelliwell » Mon Apr 28, 2014 6:34 am

quest_for_silence wrote:
matthelliwell wrote:The other power saving is the case fan. It won't go below 800 rpm. I suspect that most of the time it could be off completely.

Of which fan are you talking?
Sorry, the front case fan (which is the only one in the system now I've got a PicoPSU installed). I've just ordered and fitted a Phobya G-Silent 18 as for some reason I was convinced it was a 4-pin fan. Anyway its not but as its idling at just under 18.5W I'll leave it alone and get on and actually use the thing.

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