SUPERMICRO MBD-C2SEA-O vs JetWay JHZ03-GT-V2-LF

I'm new to Unraid and also new to building a computer. I've been reading the boards for about a week and decided to start putting together a list of components I'll need. I've been using Raj's Prototype Designs to help me decide what I'll need. I'd like some advice on what motherboard I should use.

SUPERMICRO MBD-C2SEA-O LGA 775 Intel G45 HDMI ATX Intel Motherboard w/ dual core

or

JetWay JHZ03-GT-V2-LF AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard w/ single core

I like the SUPERMICRO because it comes with Super Doctor III which allows you to monitor the servers health using a web browser but it looks like it will cost about twice as much as the JetWay/single core combo. I'm wondering if that's enough to spend the extra money. Does anyone have any thoughts on the two boards to help me decide which one to buy?

Server component list so far:

Motherboard:

TBD

CPU:

TBD

RAM:

TBD

PSU:

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

Case:

NORCO RPC-4224 4U Rackmount Server Case with 24 Hot-Swappable SATA/SAS Drive Bays

SATA Expansion Cards:

SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 PCI Express x4 Low Profile SAS SAS RAID Controller x 2

SATA2 Serial ATA II PCI-Express RAID Controller Card (Silicon Image SIL3132)

Cables:

House Brand Molex 79576-3007 Mini SAS / SATA Cable x 2

SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Internal Multilane SAS Cable x 4

Fanplate:

TBD

Fans:

TBD

Hard Drives:

TBD but all green drives

UPS:

TBD

Unraid Addons:

UnMENU

SNAP

Preclear Disk

Monthly parity check

I'll be using J. River Media Center to access/manage most of the files in my Unraid server.

The Supermicro board uses the Realtek 8111C nic. There seems to be a number of people on these boards having odd issues with that nic. I'd go with the Jetway board, myself.

Also, I'm not sure why you are selecting a dual core chip for the SuperMicro, and single for the Jetway. If you're looking to run addons etc, there's lots of great multi core chips on the AMD side... I'd look at some of the low-wattage models to save a bit of cash over the long run (I'm using the x4 600e, and I'm very pleased with the performance and wattage consumption vs. the Sempron 140 I had before)...

I'm not sure why you are selecting a dual core chip for the SuperMicro, and single for the Jetway.

I was looking at the prices and the dual core seemed to be only slightly more expensive than the single core. I figured if I'm going to spend that much money on a motherboard I might as well get a more powerful cpu.

If you're looking to run addons etc, there's lots of great multi core chips on the AMD side

So far the only addons I'm planning to use are UnMENU, SNAP, Preclear Disk and Monthly parity check. I'll most likely add some more to the list and if anyone has any recommendations it will be much appreciated. I'm only looking for addons that will help me run Unraid more easily. I doubt any of these addons will need multi core chips.

The Supermicro board uses the Realtek 8111C nic. There seems to be a number of people on these boards having odd issues with that nic.

Thanks for the info, one of the reason I picked this board was because it was listed on the wiki

Hardware Compatibility

Thanks for the info, one of the reason I picked this board was because it was listed on the wiki

Hardware Compatibility

I believe it's one of those weird issues where most people are using it without problem, but a few isolated cases are having issues. Though I haven't looked into it in depth, it may also be related to what add-on cards are being used in the systems. Between the 2 boards you listed, I would go with the Jetway, simply because it seems to be problem free.

As far as single and dual core, the single core Sempron 140 should be fine for what you want to currently use it for. The dual core chip would help if you start doing more processor intensive stuff like video processing, unRaring etc...

Here in Canada, you're looking at about a $10 premium between the Sempron 140 and a x2 245 (The x2 has a higher maximum power draw, but not significantly more - 45w vs 65w). A comparable 45w multicore chip is going to run you closer to $100.

I think either boards are good choices, so you might as well go with the cheaper one.

Thanks for the replies, looks like I'll be getting the following:

JetWay JHZ03-GT-V2-LF AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Processor SDX140HBGQBOX

Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9K2/2G

unless there is a reason to upgrade the cpu or memory.