Mooglestiltzkin's Build Log: Truenas build recommendation am5 2024?

TrueNAS General
41

“And now for something completely different…”

1U server with 4 HDDs, on-board 10G (use a short Cat.6A/7 cable and a RJ-45 transceiver in your SFP+ switch)
should take 4 M.2 in an adapter card on the riser
(BIOS output from VGA, or with the Java-based IPMI)
$200 complete (chassis, motherboard, CPU, RAM, even TrueNAS installed), save for drives

Warning: This is going to be NOISY and you can NOT change the fans for quieter ones or you’ll cook the hard drives. (I know: I have one such system, but I only wanted the motherboard, which I put in a Node 804 to host more drives.)

2 Likes
42

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+D-1541+%40+2.10GHz&id=2718

:eyes:

looks nice. good budget for backup. is this 10g capable?

only has 1 pcie slot i can see, for a sfp+ card but nothing else. Is that a 2x m.2 nvme slots i see there on the board? i cant get a good look. they didnt specify what motherboard that is so i can check specs

i found a different case. not from aliexpress, its local stock

https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/server-nas/RM400/

https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/server-nas/RM41-H08/

the first case has a front cover lock. i don’t really need that but it’s neat.

the 2nd one has hot swap hard drives. i really, really like this one.

for storage it has

External

5.25" x 3

  • 3.5" x 5 (Hot-swappable)

Internal

  • 3.5" x 4
    2.5" x 2 (Support up to 15mm)
    2.5" x 1 (Support up to 15mm) or slim optical drive (Support up to 12.7mm)

not sure what the 5.25’’ are.

it supports 6 sata for the hot swap (the mobos i looked at previously topped out at 4-6 which should be fine)

it even has extra for internal though i probably wont use those.

also has internal 3.5’’ but without the extra sata ports probably wont be able to use them (will have to rely on the pcie addon to add m.2 nvme ssds (the motherboard probably supports 1 only on the board).

*update

oo the 5.25’’ if for this to add more hotswap bays
https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/storage/FS204/

not enough sata ports probably dont need it. but its there if you need it.

1934×754 179 KB

Motherboard

SSI-CEB (12" x 10.5"), ATX (12" x 9.6"), Micro ATX (9.6" x 9.6"), Mini-ITX (6.7" x 6.7")

Limitation of CPU cooler
Height w/ expansion card retainer: 130mm
Height w/o expansion card retainer: 148mm

Expansion Slot
7 standard PCI / PCIe expansion slots

Dimension
430mm (W) x 176mm (H) x 446mm (D)

downside it’s a 4U. A 2U would have just fit without issue, but with a 4U i may have to make big changes.

Currently i have a ts-877, Tl-D400S, 453DX all inside my server rack on the shelf just below my switches. But i would have to kick those out to make room for this 4U.

I don’t mind getting a metal shelf and relocating it beside the server rack. then i’d have the 4u space to add this new rack in.

But with 2U i could have just install everything together :smiling_face_with_tear:

43

For optical drives. Remember CD-ROM? DVD? Blu-Ray?

I have very bad experience of desktop Silverstone cases. Let’s hope that their racks are better… Looking at pictures, I have doubts about drive cooling with a single 80mm fan behind the cage, but you’ll likely appreciate that this 4U takes consumer-class fans, CPU cooler and ATX PSU.

1 Like
44

but i would have been fine with the 2u innovision i was looking before. but the shipping is killer.

oo the silverstone is 230 usd (with coupon discount). free shipping.

If i had ordered the inno, it would have cost almost the same (due to the shipping costs, and rails included).

I’ll check first with seller if it will fit in my open server rack. the depth looks fine, but just to double confirm. i dont want to invest in this and find out later it wasnt gonna fit :grimacing:

i dont mind kicking the qnap stuff to the curb. im relegating them to backup anyway. so im fine with that.

all my backups r slow turtles, so using this to replace my main truenas basically.

i want to stop using hbs and just stick to truenas rsync task in the UI instead. But it only works best with another truenas.

45

@mooglestiltzkin Out of curiosity, has the original question been answered to your satisfaction? Also which way are you leaning?

46

well i liked ur xeon suggestion. not looking down on it.

but i’m set on ryzen 65tdp cpu with igpu. am5 (am4 possible if its a price deal)

i think ill have to pass on ecc for now and just get non ecc. i cant find a good source for ddr5 ecc. later i can get ddr5 when it becomes more available. no rush. just don’t want to close the door shut, so next i can simply get ram and be done with it for a future easy upgrade.

I like this MATX, it does everything i needed, but it had only 4 sata. the case im looking at for hotswap has 5 sata, so looking for a 6 sata mobo which then makes the choice a X670 if not mistaken?

And because i now switch case to a 4U (this silverstone), it supports atx mobo, so now i’m looking at this

https://www.asrock.com/mb/compare.us.asp?Models=X670E%20PG%20Lightning,X670E%20Pro%20RS

either the X670E PG ligthning or X670E Pro RS

i know its not intended for server, but it just works :sweat_smile: but unlike GregSalazar (who did the youtube for the silverstone casing im interested in), he opted for a gaming cpu. i dont plan to use my nas for that. its strictly just for truenas as a storage and docker containers, thats all. i might dabble in making a VM to test linux os once in a blue moon). thats my current usage for it. Im guessing for that either a 600 watt or 750 watt seasonic atx 3.0 psu would suffice?

the main diff between the 2 boards is the pcie slots. i’m leaning toward the X670E PG Lightning.

but etorix made a great point, B550, but don’t really want to deal with ebay x-x; do u have any other b550 with 5-6 sata? then i can check for availability.

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/1b6rud1/gigabyte_mc12le0_b550/

i checked for the MC12-LE0 no local stock, that is another problem for me. good suggestions but… :sweat_smile:

if you are willing to import a MC12-LE0 from Germany, you can go for, say, a Ryzen 5600(X) CPU, use the BMC video output to set the BIOS (no iGPU),

bmc video output how does that work? yeah as long as i can get bios to show on monitor (for me to setup truenas) then that’s all i need. any other motherboards can do this? i have a spare 5600x lying around (i replaced my desktop to a 5700x3d from this cpu)

:eyes:

Or i’m willing to just get a new cpu with igpu if the other option is gonna be hard to get. AMD Ryzen 5 7600 how about this? igpu with ecc support.

Really confused which cpu and mobo combo to get :grimacing:

4u case is chunky but im ok with that. ive seen enough homelabbers using something similar, so it wouldnt be an unusual pick.

47

More importantly, you can get bay converters, eg 4 2.5” hot swap bays in a single 5.25” or 5 3.5” in 3 5.25” or m.2 bays etc

48

Worth pointing out, if it wasn’t obvious that that CPU (and its siblings) are what are used in the X10SDV boards which just keep on coming up.

1 Like
49

I didn’t look that deeply, but I thought the main diff was WiFi on the RS? Or is that just a bundled card?

50

yeah definitely dont need wifi. ill be rocking sfp+ 10g om3 fiber (wired).

anyway those kind of wifi motherboards come with the antenna for the mobo. but for me i dont need the wifi.

the shop selling the case also sells other components. im checking if i can get it all from there and ask if they can install it for me or not.

that would save me a big hassle.

just figuring out on

  1. cpu am5 preferably. am4 maybe
  2. motherboard (5-6 sata port, 1x x16/1x x8 or x16/1x 4 pcie slots)
  3. ram. ddr5, ddr4. ecc preferred but non ecc is fine. 16x2 = 32gb. crucial or kingston brand.
  4. psu seasonic GX 650 (or should i got 750? )
51

Hum… I gave examples on eBay for a C246 AsRock Rack board, because I know there are plenty of these, and a refurbished Datto S3 server (lucky find).
For the B550 MC12-LE0, you’d be buying directly from the reseller who’s liquidating the stock. Even with international shipping and custom duties this should still be a good deal. This being a server board you get IPMI output to configure and can go with a desktop Ryzen for 4 M.2 in the x16 PCIe slot.
Otherwise, go for any (consumer) B550 board which you can find locally and has 6 SATA ports. You’d then need an APU to have video output for the BIOS, and be limited to x8x4x4 bifurcation.
(I don’t know these KVM-over-IP dongles, but I suppose that the motherboard has to have some GPU to give a video output in the first place, and consumer motherboards may not boot without a GPU. Server motherboards can boot headless.)

Regular video signal out of the 15-pin VGA port. Do you have a cable (or an adapter) for that?
Or (again), plug an Ethernet cable into the management port and do it remotely (video output in a browser window on your desktop/laptop).

Any motherboard with IPMI… But for AM4 you’re looking at AsRock Rack X470D4U / X570D4U / B550D4U boards, and these cost 400-500€ at retail here—probably about as many $ in the USA. Which makes the MC12 such a great deal right now.

If you have a Ryzen 5600X lying around (which you can downrate to 65 W TDP in BIOS if you want), just go for AM4.

AM5 is going to cost you more because it’s new, possibly engineered to PCIe 5.0 standards, and you’d need to go for higher end X670 instead of B650 to have more than 4 ports. A server is build to last 5-10 years. In 2030, an AM5 NAS from 2024 will look just as “outdated” as a AM4 NAS, so forget the bells and whistles of what’s new and shiny in 2024.
If a Ryzen 1400 fits your needs right now, you do NOT need the computing power of a 7000 in the new build.

2 Likes
52

Only time I ever plugged a monitor into a system with an IPMI KVM was when I bricked the BMC bios once attempting to upgrade it to redfish, and had to reflash it. Was tense :wink:

Generally, you just fire up a web browser and point it at the IPMI IP, then login and click “kvm” and it’s a bit like having a VNC connection to the system, that allows you to even get into the bios and turn on/off over Ethernet.

1 Like
53

X670 instead of B650

If a Ryzen 1400 fits your needs right now, you do NOT need the computing power of a 7000 in the new build.

ok so ill try find a 5-6 sata B550 (i assume u meant this for am4?). thx

and use it with my existing 5600x i got lying around.

does the mobo matx vs atx matter? the case says it supports atx. thats what salazar used in his build i believe, and he could fit a decent cpu cooler too.

2 Likes
54

You mean “B550”, right?

AM4: X470/X570 = 8 SATA; B550 = 6 SATA
AM5: X670 = 8 SATA; B650 = 4 SATA
So if you go AM5 rather than AM4, you have to shop for the more expensive X chipset rather than the cheaper B chipset to get the number of SATA ports you want.

1 Like
55

ATX boards are bigger. They don’t fit in an mATX only case. MicroATX (mATX or muATX (can’t find mu on my iPhone :-/))

ATX can fit more slots and “stuff” which means more chance of exposing the full capability of your CPU in a usable fashion.

But not all cases can fit ATX boards.

1 Like
56
1 Like
57

Asrockrack makes reputable server grade motherboards.

https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=X570D4U#Specifications

https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=B550D4U#Specifications

Not even looking at the price, I know which one I’d pick, and it’s not the B550 :wink:

1 Like
58

i was also comparing these

https://www.asrock.com/mb/compare.us.asp?Models=B550%20PG%20Riptide,B550%20Phantom%20Gaming%204/ac,B550%20Phantom%20Gaming%204,B550M-HDV

asrock b550 PG riptide
https://pg.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B550%20PG%20Riptide/index.us.asp

its got some unnecessary things like wifi antenna. but it at least has the 6 sata ports and pcie slots i need.

it has a gen4 and a gen3 slot for 2 m.2 But if you use the 2nd m.2 slot (gen3) it will deactivate 2 of the sata ports. So it’s either one or the other.

With that in mind, i’d just get the pcie addon card to be able to install 1 + 2 m.2 nvme gen4. should be ok…?

im checking out your reco and will also check gigabyte. gigabyte can select how many sata ports u want. i didnt see that on asrock.

ATX can fit more slots and “stuff” which means more chance of exposing the full capability of your CPU in a usable fashion.

thought so. may as well go with this then

@stux

i checked those 2 no stock. looks nice but the price :grimacing:

59

The CPU being consumer class (16-24 PCIe lanes), µATX is already large enough to expose all. ATX just put more space between slots and/or adds x1 slots from the PCH (no use in a server, except for boot).

At risk of repeating myself, @mooglestiltzkin should mind the permutations while shopping around:

server B550 motherboard + his 5600X
OK, no GPU needed, 6 SATA, 4 M.2 in x16 slot (DDR4 ECC UDIMM possible)

consumer B550 + 5600X
needs a dGPU! (= less lanes for extra M.2 drives)

consumer B550 + Ryzen 4000G APU
OK, 3 M.2 in x16 slot (DDR4 ECC UDIMM only with Ryzen PRO 4x50G)

going AM5: new CPU, no dGPU needed, DDR5 UDIMM, 4 M.2 in x16 slot, X670 required for >4 SATA (or an extra controller, taking lanes which could have been used for yet another M.2 drive…)

I expect options 1 and 3 to make the most economical sense—but may be wrong in my estimates.

2 Likes
60

the other reason for the am5 is the 7000 series cpu has igpu on it.

for the am4 they dont? also the g series, only the pro has ecc support

ipmi seems its not as simple

:thinking:

if i went with 5600x without graphics, then id be solely at the mercy of a mobo needing ipmi.

is jetkvm safer? i only need it for local lan. i dont want to create a remote for hackers to be able to exploit :sweat_smile:

this was why i was leaning to the 7000 series. its just simpler x-x; yes it will cost more but i can afford it xd. less stressful for me.

is that Gigabyte Mainboard MC12-LE0

55.20 euro?

60.31 USD ? did i see that right.

Piospartslap.de is my go to used server retailer in Europe.

I’ve compared almost all major and even minor used retailers in Europe and they seem to be the best one price wise. I buy and sell server equipment to fund my lab so i do loads of research.

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/xzksl1/my_first_server_should_i_buy_it/

:thinking: