4220 build, CPU advice

H

hmchk

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
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Hey guys,

Been piecing together a 4220 build for a few months but am having problems picking a processor (and for that matter mobo). I have included some details about the machine and what it might do below but also am trying to pick a processor with value in mind. Being less saavy than most I figured I'd see what everyone recommends.

Machine's Purpose:
Primary: Movie/File server to multiple machines on local network
Secondary: Serve as a development/beta server for a SQL & PHP based internet site
Future: Virtual Machine host

Goals:
Low power usage (24x7 uptime)
Expandable (would like primary components to last at least 5 years)

I have made a few power searches (ok maybe more than a few) but am still running into the question about desktop/server CPU (by newegg's definitions) and feature set needed.

I have tailored the choices down to about 9 CPU's based on the following limits:
$150 (could consider up to $300 but thought about dual processors)
64 Bit support (no 32 bit limits)
Virtualization Support (not exactly sure if this is an AMD specific buzzword, but being able to possibly virtualize this box is a probable future purpose)
45nm or 65nm manufacturing

And here is what I have come up with:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Value=6544:47573&PropertyCodeValue=6544:41825

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Value=4459:32492&PropertyCodeValue=4459:32490

I would like to keep the CPU(s) and Mobo under ~<$500 if possible.

Other considerations:
Have thought about trunking or NIC bonding for increased throughput and a mobo or expandable NIC might be considered (have a HP procurve 32 port router)
Likely going to go with an single Areca card but am strongly considering using multiple cheaper cards or a chenbro expander. SAS is a must. (for mobo pci slot consideration)

Any thoughts, feedback and or specific suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for any help you may give.
 
well I personally think Intel is better for VMs.
I would have gone with a q6600 its cheap and does it all.
Thats what i run on my WHS....it also does VM's and encoding.
 
I've very happy with my E7200, and the previous E6600. The box just sits there and serves files so it doesn't need much horse power.

For what you're looking at I would get a good solid Mobo (I picked the GA EP45-DQ6 because of the quad NIC and PCIe slots (two 4x (may run at 1x though) and two 16x), and the Q8400 (yes it has VT support). Then add as much RAM as you can - the board supports 16g.
 
I've been looking at that cpu/mb combo too, did you have to flash the motherboard with an updated bios to get it working with the quad core?
 
Oh, and are you SURE that Xig will fit? I ended up putting a TR Ultima 90 in mine (the Zalman 8700nt was too big for the heatsinks on the mobo...) and it almost touches the case lid, like just a couple mm of space.
 
I'm running the E7200 without touching the BIOS, so the E8400 should (in theory) work. No idea though.
 
What OS?

You might want to figure out what SAS card you're going to use, the M2N-LR has 2 PCI-X slots, but if you're going to drop the money on a HW Areca card, you might as well go PCIe and skip over the older tech.

That Corsair seems unnecessarily expensive. I don't know what the rails/specs are like on it, but I would highly recommend the PC Power & Cooling 750W. It's single rail and has a good amount of Molex connectors for the Norco backplane. It's a bit louder than power supplies with 120mm fans, but the 4220 is supposed to be a loud unit so I doubt that even matters.
 
drgnfang said:
I've very happy with my E7200, and the previous E6600. The box just sits there and serves files so it doesn't need much horse power.

For what you're looking at I would get a good solid Mobo (I picked the GA EP45-DQ6 because of the quad NIC and PCIe slots (two 4x (may run at 1x though) and two 16x), and the Q8400 (yes it has VT support). Then add as much RAM as you can - the board supports 16g.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll look into that. I'll update my build depending on what I find.

Shane_c82 said:
I've been looking at that cpu/mb combo too, did you have to flash the motherboard with an updated bios to get it working with the quad core?
Click to expand...

If the BIOS is not the latest I will need to flash it to 0515... which might be very hard as you need a CPU to update the BIOS to support your CPU. (yes thats a catch 22) :)

drgnfang said:
Oh, and are you SURE that Xig will fit? I ended up putting a TR Ultima 90 in mine (the Zalman 8700nt was too big for the heatsinks on the mobo...) and it almost touches the case lid, like just a couple mm of space.
Click to expand...

No, but I thought I had read somewhere else that someone ordered this for their 4020 build. Their concern was their original cooler blew down and was messing up the air currents in the box. I figured it wasn't a bad thought and so decided to copy it. I figure a 4U case should be able to fit this thing... I'd be surprised if it doesn't. I'll make sure to report if I have any problems.

latenorgreat said:
What OS?

You might want to figure out what SAS card you're going to use, the M2N-LR has 2 PCI-X slots, but if you're going to drop the money on a HW Areca card, you might as well go PCIe and skip over the older tech.

That Corsair seems unnecessarily expensive. I don't know what the rails/specs are like on it, but I would highly recommend the PC Power & Cooling 750W. It's single rail and has a good amount of Molex connectors for the Norco backplane. It's a bit louder than power supplies with 120mm fans, but the 4220 is supposed to be a loud unit so I doubt that even matters.
Click to expand...

OS will likely be a variant of linux although I am considering a WHS solution. I can always buy and try the WHS later if I'm unhappy with linux first though. As far as the PSU, I got some really good recommendations on the corsair HX models. Granted it was from the #hardware freenode IRC channel but he was talking about the internals at details including differences from year to year between models so I figured I got lucky and found a PSU fanatic! (Kind of like many here being storage fanatics ;))

I am considering an Areca 1680 but they are damned expensive (which I knew). As an alternative I am thinking about getting a single internal SAS port model and going with a chenbro SAS expander.

But in all honesty I'm planning on buying my HD's 1 or 2 at a time... so I won't probably be TOO concerned with the card until I max out my on board SATA ports anyways (plan on getting a reverse breakout cable to begin with). By that time I'll have some reports from others using the chenbro's and might be able to better judge the quality.

Thanks for all the feedback!!! I'll keep you all informed.
 
Question on WHS configurations...

This may become a SQL database backend and webserver. Our current solution uses 4 10k SAS drives in raid 10 for the database. I am not 100% on WHS but what options would you have (if you used WHS) for increased I/O operations (as would be needed with a SQL DB)? Does WHS work with arrays such that I could build a RAID array and then WHS would just see a single volume? Or how might this work. JBOD doesn't really work for the DB as the access times are just too slow.

Thanks for any help.
 
I'm usually an Intel guy, but I went to the dark-side and got a 4450e (45W)+ Asus mobo. Running a Solaris Nevada server, 16x1.5 drives, CPU only gets really busy during filesystem scrubbing. Board has two PCIex16 slots and integrated video (so two LSI HBAs), and a few PCIex1 (Intel Gigabit NICs). AMD was just so much cheaper in this case... (way easier to find multiple PCIe x4+ slots at this price point), and underclocks nicely - I have no need to encode my own rips, so all the box does is file-serve, and Usenet/FTP access.

Only flaw is that they may never implement frequency scaling for my stepping of CPU (I'm an AMD noob - apparently I needed to get a pricier Phenom?).

e: I remember reading that "officially", tricking WHS with RAID volumes was not recommended, but I think several people here have done it anyways, and it works fine.
 
WHS is just Windows server 2003 SB with extra software for the diskpool running on top. So yes, it will see an array. One guy just posted in the storage show off thread with his WHS built on two RAID5 arrays.
 
FWIW,

For my WHS I chose a low power AMD Phenom x4 9150e 1.8GHz quad with 65w rating.

It runs cool and uses much less power than the AMD Athlon x2 7750be I started out with.
 
Regarding the backplane, do you need to run power to all ten molex connectors? I've read that connecting only one per plane is fine, but I'd like more confirmation.
 
GJSNeptune said:
Regarding the backplane, do you need to run power to all ten molex connectors? I've read that connecting only one per plane is fine, but I'd like more confirmation.
Click to expand...

I think the general consensus is that one of the two is fine. Personally, I connected both, less chance of potential problems. See this thread for some discussion of the matter.
 
nitrobass24 said:
well I personally think Intel is better for VMs.
I would have gone with a q6600 its cheap and does it all.
Thats what i run on my WHS....it also does VM's and encoding.
Click to expand...
I'd go with a 9000 or 8000 series quad core, as the new 45nm fab process dramatically lowers idle power consumption on Core derived quad cores.

I have a Q9300 running 2008 as a host OS with 2003 and 2000 VMs. CPU usage stays quite low.
 
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