Build Looking for some suggestions & input

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1

Hello!,

I have finally sat down & figured out what my build will be for the server / Nas I am attempting to build.

So far the:

OS: FreeNas

CPU:
Intel Core i7-4790K Devil’s Canyon Quad-Core
with:
CORSAIR Hydro Series H75 CW-9060015-WW Water/Liquid CPU Cooler 120 MM

Intel Xeon E3-1241 v3 Quad-Core Haswell Processor 3.5GHz 5.0GT/s 8MB LGA 1150 CPU, OEM
with:
CORSAIR Hydro Series H55 Quiet Edition Water / Liquid CPU Cooler. 120mm

MB:
ASUS Micro ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97M-PLUS
Supermicro X10SLM+-F-O LGA1150/ Intel C224/ DDR3/ SATA3&USB3.0/ V&2GbE/ MicroATX Server Motherboard

HDS:
WD 2TB WD Red SATA 3.5" NAS OEM Hard Drive x4
Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3TB IntelliPower SATA3/SATA 6.0 GB/s 64MB Hard Drive (3.5 inch) x3

RAM:
Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800)
&
Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800)
Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Server Memory Model
&
Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Server Memory Model

(Ensure I have enough to expand to more storage later.)

PSU:
CORSAIR CX series CX750 750W
SeaSonic SS-460FL2 460W Active PFC F3 80 PLUS Platinum Fanless ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply

Coolant:
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - OEM

Fans:
Noctua NF-P12-1300 120mm Case Fans

Case:
Fractal Design FD-CA-DEF-R4-BLO-W
BitFenix Phenom BFC-PHM-300-KKXKK-RP No Power Supply MicroATX Case (Black)

Total:
~$1,270
~$1,400

Any suggestions on hardware is welcomed & as well should I get a network switch? Also should I get a 10GB network card?

I shouldn't have a lot of traffic on the plex side (4 People max) & mainly using it for Plex & Back ups.

Lemme know what ya'll think & any suggestions.

Also I do plan to run it headless.

Question about the motherboard, if I am reading that right it has on board video right? So, I don't need to spend like $30 on a graphics card. . . Yeah?

2

Do you care about the integrity of your data? because you'll want EEC in that case.

Otherwise check out the HAF stacker series of cases, you can make a fairly neat and expandable NAS set up with them. You'll want the 915r version for the additional hard drive bays though

And I don't think you need a very strong CPU for a NAS, you'd probably want to get something low power.

And the general rule for a NAS I believe is 1gb of RAM per 1TB of storage, so you'd only really need 16gbs at the most for a while.

And if you're running freeNAS, get a cute flash drive to run it off of, it doesn't require a boot drive since it sits in the RAM.

1 Like
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Looks like a pretty badass build so far. Damn, throw a Quadro in that thing some day and I have plenty of CAD heavy buddies that would love something like that.

Also, I agree to an extent with @Streetguru about ECC RAM, but 32GB of ECC DDR3 is going to be pretty pricey.
EDIT*: Also, your processor doesn't even support it anyway. Speaking of which, if you're going for a K series intel processor, you can't possibly not overclock it. Therefore I would jump on a 240mm water cooler first. I believe that the R4 should support it in the front? If you need any software ideas too, I posted my media server setup a while back.

I'm more of a value for my money kind of guy so as far as cases go, for my next NAS build I plan on using something like this. Although in my use case I have somewhere very specific that I'd put it where it would fit great, but my NAS builds don't typically end up being as high end.

4

The CPU It doesn't support it, although I wish it did because I would be on that. All-in-all I see people saying you need ECC & people that run it with out ECC with out an issue. I think I will skip on it but, if the CPU did support it I would be on it like hot-cakes.

5

I appreciate the idea, I am attempting to stay away from the server racks only because I don't have a good play to put it.

1 Like
6

You only really need it if you care about your data integrity. But ya, your CPU is pretty overkill though.

Also you might want a platinum rated PSU for maximum efficiency
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cp9020073

7
  • grab a xeon 1231v3 if you want ECC ddr3 RAM. imho a 'k' i7 is a waste of money for a server. Otherwise for 4 people and bugger all traffic a vanilla i5 would suffice. Then have a h97 board instead, & save $$$.
  • no need at all for as5 paste.
  • do you plan on having a RAID setup? if so dont rely on the motherboard - grab a standalone card.
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Plan to have it run ZFS not raid since I am using FreeNas. What would you recommend that can stream up to 4 people & back-up with over head? I am all about saving money:D

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Updated main post please review it & let me know what ya'll think.

What would ya'll recommend for processor, motherboard, & ECC ram then?

this ram would be good ya'?

Option #1 ECC Ram (Any good?)
or
Option #2 ECC Ram

Option #1 1231 V3 CPU (As suggested)
or
Option #2 1241 V3 CPU (~$20 more & better performance)

Asus Motherboard (looks good to me, but just want another set of eyes on it)

Also should I get a WD 'Green' drive or the WD 'Red' drive? The both seem to fit the means of what I want. Also, 4TB x2 or 2TB x4?

P.S. I really appreciate everyone's suggestions & help:D

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