motherboard: Asrock 880GM-LE

Hello,

I planned on building a raid a few months ago, and i should have given the HDD prices now and the problems getting a mobo.

But i have found this one Asrock 880GM-LE it seems to have the Realtek RTL8111DL network adapter and onboard video. Will it play nicely with unRaid? Also what CPU would i get with it. My starting use for the unraid box to run some addons (sickbeard, couchpotato, sql db, sabnzbd), but i also want to use it as a development server (eg tomcat, jetty, jboss,...). It wouldn't run both as a development server and streaming/other plugins at the same time, but it could happen. Can you give me an idea what CPU and RAM requirements this would ask, and if its even possible at all?

If i posted in the wrong forum, i do apologize.

Mod edit: Fixed the broken URL

- Raj

One thing you did not mention, Approximately how many drives you are thinking of supporting?

That MB has (6) SATA2 connectors, 6 is great, and SATA2 is good. SATA3 is better, but probably not a true issue.

Those 6 will only take you so far, the PCIe 16x will let you expand with controller of your choice.

You'll want 3+ cores for that workload, and might just go ahead with 8GB of RAM considering the tomcat/jboss/etc.

ah the number of drives, that is a good issue of you to raise, how could i look over it.

So i have a NAS now that holds (and is bursting) at 4 terra. So for unraid i would need 3*tb drives (2 data and 1 parity). Then after i pushed everything from the nas I would insert these two into unraid array and I would like a cache drive. So that makes 6. But the more the merrier. As I wouldn't need to update hardware (mobo, cpu,...) if I need more storage space, I want to buy a mobo that can hold as many as i can.

But on the other hand, I am not set in stone that the CPU needs to be an AMD. But most of the mobo's i see passing here, are very hard to get in EU. Maybe i would have more luck if i went the intel route, as they are a bit newer?

That motherboard meets all the right specs, and there's a good chance that it will play nice with unRAID.  I actually tested the board myself, but my tests were inconclusive because I received two defective boards in a row (you can read more in the Greenleaf blog).  Hopefully you will have better luck than I did.

I love to take a gambe, and what is more fun than play the RMA game *grins*.

So taking these considerations in account I came up with these items to shop. Can you advice me if this would work properly?

• a USB stick: sony micro vault sony micro vault
  
• mobo: Asrock 880GM-LE
  
• CPU: Athlon II X3 455
  
• Ram: 8 gig DDR3
  
• Power: corsair cx500 v2
  
• Case: Nexus Prominent 9
  
• HDD 1: 2* hitachi 5k3000 2TB
  
• HDD 2: 1* WD Caviar Green WD20EARX 2TB
  

Then i have 2 more 2TB discs that i ll first have to transfer before i can add them to the array and one 500GB drive that i plan on using as a cache drive. Would this setup suffice for my plans (so mostly streaming + some addins, the server would come later) and is the power sufficient? It has been a few years since i last build a pc (always fun to do during the holidays though, shame about the hdd prices ).

Yep, that all looks good.  The HDDs are actually on sale today:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145475

shame i am EU based

I've been using the Asrock 880GM-LE since June without any issues.

Unless your running a processor intensive add-on a Sempron should be fine.

I am running the AsRock 880 GM LE, Unraid B14. Its a brand new build and I am new to unraid, no issues so far. The AMD Tri core is probably overkill. It was on sale. I may swap it out for a dual and use the tri in another build.

I am using the same processor you llst, same PSU. Running Sabnzbd,Sickbeard, Couchpotato Headphones and PLex Media Server. Prominent 9 is the case I am using. Will be adding 5 in 3 racks soon.

unRAID Version:

unRAID Server Basic, Version 5.0-beta14

Motherboard:

To To Be Filled By O.E.M.

Processor:

3.3GHz AMD AthlonTM II X3 455

Memory:

4864 MB 533 MHz Speed

Network:

100Mb/s Full Duplex

Uptime:

3 days, 7 hrs, 11 mins, 53 secs

I am using this motherboard also.  I have ran into a boot issue when i have more that 12 drives.  I wanted to see if anyone else had the same issue and what they changed to correct the problem.

Many motherboards support only up 12 hard drives for purposes of boot selection.  This is normally not an issue for an unRAID server; however, if your Flash device is recognized by the bios as a "hard drive", you may not be able to boot from the Flash after installing your 12th "real" hard drive.  To avoid this, if possible set up your bios so that the Flash is treated as a removable device.

I am using this motherboard also.  I have ran into a boot issue when i have more that 12 drives.  I wanted to see if anyone else had the same issue and what they changed to correct the problem.

 

Many motherboards support only up 12 hard drives for purposes of boot selection.  This is normally not an issue for an unRAID server; however, if your Flash device is recognized by the bios as a "hard drive", you may not be able to boot from the Flash after installing your 12th "real" hard drive.  To avoid this, if possible set up your bios so that the Flash is treated as a removable device.

Cyber,

Were you able to get around the 12 hard drive issue or are you still stuck?

I just picked up this mobo to build my first unraid server. everything seems fine so far, but I'm still preclearing my disks. NIC seems to be working fine though. I'm running a single core sempron, hopefully i won't need more than that.

I am currently only running 5 drives on my machine at the moment.  Whenever I can get my new Norco SS-500s i'll be increasing up to 7 drives, with my new Supermicro-AOC-SASLP-MV8 card.

All around, has been a stable MB for almost a year running 24x7.

A few caveats, for some reason, my Bios default was set to attempt to unlock cores upon boot. I have a Sempron 140 that it attempted to unlock to an X2. This did not work and caused the machine to lock up. I had to changed the BIOS settings to stop it. Also, I am currently having an issue with a Sil3132-based controller card with WDEVDS and simultaneous reads, so I would be careful if you are thinking about that config.

Other than those two issues, I have been very pleased with the board.

hmm, so i found a an extra hdd lying around (brings the total to 7), but now i need to buy an expansion card. The supermicro mv8 card is impossible to get in belgium and also a bit overkill for what i want.

So i was wondering if this would do:

http://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/eSATA-x2-SATA-x2-PCI-Express-CARD-SiL3132-Chipset-/280590464278?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_InterfaceCards&hash=item41547eb516

(don't worry its in english).

But ixnu you are having problems with it? What kind of problems?

Just an update. I assembled the system and it is preclearing. Well it has been for a while and will for a long time after.

The next upgrade I will do on it, would be an UPS. So can anyone tell me what kind of VA/Watt raitings I should look into? I do live in europe so we use 230V and not 120V. I don't know anything about this stuff. But i know an APC one would be best for support. It doesn't need to be anything fancy either. It just needs to make sure the unraid shuts down properly (no other systems would be plugged into it).

I look forward to your help (and finally copy'ing my data to the array )

Ashaneil,

I have not had a chance to mess with the issue.  I plan on pestering Asrock, maybe they can point me in the right direction.

Cyber,

Were you able to get around the 12 hard drive issue or are you still stuck?

just an update. Everything seems to be going smoothly. Preclear went okay (though longer than i wished) and the transfers were all successful.

This weekend i ll add some expansion cards and move some more HDD into the array.

Long time reader, first time poster. I'm looking at a low power UnRAID system with the same MLB and CPU (although I think I will go with the Corsair CX430v2). What kind of cabling is included in the box? specifically the number of SATA cables?

Long time reader, first time poster. I'm looking at a low power UnRAID system with the same MLB and CPU (although I think I will go with the Corsair CX430v2). What kind of cabling is included in the box? specifically the number of SATA cables?

10 more minutes of better Google skills and it appears it comes with 2.

I had 15 drive running on this board with no problem, 5 drives on motherboard, 4 on highpoint tech 2300 the rest on Rosewill port multiplier.

I had 15 drive running on this board with no problem, 5 drives on motherboard, 4 on highpoint tech 2300 the rest on Rosewill port multiplier.

How is the performance using the port multiplier? Is it an external box multiplier or an internal drive setup?

what cases are you guys using with this mobo?

and whats max hdds you can build in

looking for a good mobo in europe too for a new machine

All around, has been a stable MB for almost a year running 24x7.

 

A few caveats, for some reason, my Bios default was set to attempt to unlock cores upon boot. I have a Sempron 140 that it attempted to unlock to an X2. This did not work and caused the machine to lock up. I had to changed the BIOS settings to stop it. Also, I am currently having an issue with a Sil3132-based controller card with WDEVDS and simultaneous reads, so I would be careful if you are thinking about that config.

 

Other than those two issues, I have been very pleased with the board.

If the sempron does get unlocked into an X2, does it change the power watt usage?