Wanted to keep it around 1000 EUR. Performance is not a huge issue … key points are:
-volume (QUIET please)
-reliability (within reason)
-8x 3.5" bays, 2x 2.5" bays.
I will use this box mainly as a NAS (TrueNAS Scale), only running Plex/Jellyfin type stuff serving mostly music. If I need more power for VMs I’d build a dedicated machine, or at least get a NUC for transcoding if the need arises. I have no hardware lying around (this is my first ever build lol) so everything needs to be bought new or used.
Case: Fractal Define R5
PSU: BeQuiet! Straight Power 12 750W (overkill, but quiet…)
Motherboard: ASRock B550M PG Riptide (don’t need any of extras from the ATX version and mATX is cheaper/more airflow)
CPU: Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G (ECC support and onboard GFX)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S (…quiet)
RAM: 2x Micron VLP DIMM 16GB, DDR4-3200, CL22-22-22, ECC (VLP is a bit cheaper where I am)
Boot Pool: 2x Transcend SSD370S 32GB
SSDs for VMs: 2x Lexar NM620 256GB (also to be mirrored)
HBA: LSI 9207-8i based (e.g., Fujitsu)
HBA Fan: Noctua NF-A6x25 (either gonna zip-tie it down or use HVAC tape)
Case Fans: 3x NF-A14x25 G2 (if the 2x Fractal Define GP-14 that come with the case are too loud, then 5x NF-A14x25 G2).
Sanity check on the HW would be appreciated…it took me awhile to make sense of all the bits and pieces and compatibility. Not intimidated by the building or configuration aspects, I’ve upgraded PCs before and run some Linux VMs in the cloud. Thanks yall.
Not a critique, just an observation: in 2025 I would not buy a SSD that is 250 GB in size. The last time I bought SSDs was a couple of years ago and they were 2 TB, the last 500 GB I bought more than 5 years ago, the way prices work for SSDs you get better value and better performance per dollar from larger sizes. I have an old 500 GB drive in my NAS just because it was sitting in a drawer, but the nVME is 2 TB and it is already half full with VMs storage.
Nothing wrong with the list, but I’d suggest an AsRock Rack E3C246D4U2-2T instead, with a Core i3-9100: True server MB, with BMC, 8 SATA ports (drop the HBA!), Intel iGPU for transcoding if need be, and a 10G NIC that should be compatible with 2.5G.
@AdrianB1 yeah I was just being cheap … it’s 30 bucks more to go 512 for the mirrored pair…but I really don’t need the space or any more performance for this box. We’ll see how spendy I feel on purchase day
@etorix Thanks for the suggestions, I feel you, however:
The cooler is ridiculous, I know, but the system has to be as quiet as possible…I looked at several other options but they were all louder. Plus, I don’t have aircon and amb temps can reach 30C easily in summer…might have to add more case fans if anything. I could go with an NH-L9x65 but it’s a bit louder and only 20 bucks cheaper…
10G would go totally unused for what I’m doing and for the foreseeable future…
I need 10 SATA ports for 8 HDDs + 2 SSDs for the handful of VMs I’ll run.
The MB would push me solidly 200 bucks over budget after I manage to import the thing , there are definitely good deals to be had locally on the i3-9100 though!
It’s food for thought but I’ll probably stick with the plan, although get a tiny bit more spendy with an LSI 9305-16i instead for future-proofing.
Do not confuse noise under maximal load with actual noise in operation (or TDP with actual power use, etc.).
Anyway this was a comment rather than a critique.
Er… “bucks” and feared import issues but “1000 EUR” in title? In which area are you building???
Put these on NVMe if you have any option. SATA SSDs are a dying breed.
With those Noctua fans, fan noise under modest load should be inaudible assuming you have a way of controlling RPMs. I’d be a bit wary of gaming motherboards, look at upgrading to a server board maybe?
For what it’s worth, I’ve built all the servers in 19" rack at home from parts and it’s Noctua everywhere, with motherboards from ASRock and SuperMicro. The loudest part in the rack is one of the switches, and a couple of spinning disks.
Hmm I see … I just ordered everything last night haha, but I can return anything if needed. I’m slightly over budget already and hope the B550M can do the trick … it says it has temperature-based fan control configured in the BIOS (4 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) with “Smart Fan Speed Control”.)
I don’t know what extra control a server MB offers, but hopefully that should be enough? As long as I configure it in a sensible manner.
You could try to find the MB manual online to figure out how sophisticated the fan control is. If you can set speed as function of temperature, with some flexibility as to what the fan curve should look like and which sensors to use etc, then you’re golden.
The last time, I checked, TrueNAS was forcing ALL fans in the system to run 100% PWM all the time. Even the BIOS fan control is overridden.
You have no SW means to change that behavior.
Please, tell me, they changed this in this release!
Otherwise my conclusion is that there is ONLY the “Under full load” scenario with TN on bare metal.
I would not bother with a mirrored boot drive honestly.
After you successfully installed the full system, you only have to save the configuration of TN.
If the boot drive dies, you just pop in a new one, install the OS and import the saved settings. Backup done in about 30 minutes.
Also, I agree, not to buy 256GB SSDs
Go for at least 2x 1TB in a PCIe8x adapter card.
It will be lightning fast for your VMs, however I would recommend to use Plex/Jellyfin from a container and avoid VMs under TN.
The hypervisor function was really buggy and I have no high hopes, they fix it any time soon.
Couldn’t tell you if TrueNAS tries to do this or not but at least in my case unsuccessful in that case - I control the fans via IPMI from a script and have done so both bare metal and as currently in a virtualised environment. Many examples on the internet from others doing similarly.
Yes, if have IPMI.
That is the only way, you can MOSTLY override TN in that.
The poster did not plan to use enterprise grade HW for his system.
And then it is not an option.
, there are definitely good deals to be had locally on the i3-9100 though!