# Low power server motherboard - ECC support?



## mefizto (Jun 24, 2019)

Greetings all,

since my old backup computer appears to be dying, I would like to build a replacemnt.  I have looked at some builds, however mpost of them do not use motherboards supporting ECC. (Please let us not turn this into ECC necessity discussion).  In addition to ECC support, I need at least 6 SATA/SAS ports for storage using ZFS, plus one for separate OS drive.

Although I had used amd64 architecture, namely on Supermicro motherboards, my research suggests that ARM based motherboards are more power efficient, and "FreeBSD/arm64 is on the path to becoming a Tier 1 architecture".   Thus, I am not opposed to try one.

Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Kindest regards,

M


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## gpw928 (Jun 26, 2019)

Hi,

I can't comment on ARM, but... my ZFS server has roughly the spec mentioned above, and I have spent some time thinking about "what next" (ECC, power loss protection, some NVMe).

Please take care with the concept of "ECC support" on AMD CPUs and motherboards.   According to oc3d, AMD said this on their Reddit AMA:


> ECC is not disabled. It works, but not validated for our consumer client platform.
> 
> Validated means run it through server/workstation grade testing. For the first Ryzen processors, focused on the prosumer/gaming market, this feature is enabled and working but not validated by AMD. You should not have issues creating a whitebox homelab or NAS with ECC memory enabled.
> 
> yes, if you enable ECC support in the BIOS so check with the MB feature list before you buy.



They have not disabled it.  So you might think it should work.  Thus it's up to the motherboard maker.

I found this deep dive by HardwareCanucks on the subject pretty chilling.  Double bit memory errors were getting ignored on an AMD Ryzen platform where the CPU, motherboard and memory were all "ECC capable".  Their conclusion was:


> While actual ECC validation will likely never occur on this consumer platform, if public interest in this feature keeps growing we fully expect motherboard manufacturers to step up to the plate and improve their ECC support. However, we strongly suspect that AMD will first have to release an update to their CPU microcode to fully unlock all of the necessary settings. Furthermore, there definitely needs to be some work done at the operating system level to let users know when ECC is enabled and what it is doing, more so on the Windows side than the Linux one.



On the basis of all that I decided that the only way for me to go on the next hardware upgrade is with both CPU and motherboard that have certified ECC support in the vendor's specs (read Xeon, or maybe Celeron).

And... the SSDs will need "power loss protection"...  and I really have not looked into what that means for NVMe...

Cheers,


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## mefizto (Jun 26, 2019)

Hi gpw928,

agreed; the solid support for ECC was the reason for selecting Supermicro and Xeon.  So, it appears that it is still the preferred system.  My main issue now is the number of SATA/SAS ports.  Perhaps a board with 2 or so ports on board and an add-on SATA/SAS controller is the answer?  Have you made any progress in your research?

Hi client,

I am little confused how is your reply related.

Kindest regards,

M


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## User23 (Jun 27, 2019)

Take a look at the Xeon-D 1500 or D-2100 Boards from Supermicro.
There are some options that may meet your needs.






						Motherboards | Supermicro
					

Supermicro’s in-house design superiority is tailored for the needs of gaming, IoT or Enterprise; consistent highest-quality and production expertise




					www.supermicro.com
				








						Motherboards | Supermicro
					

Supermicro’s in-house design superiority is tailored for the needs of gaming, IoT or Enterprise; consistent highest-quality and production expertise




					www.supermicro.com


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## malavon (Jun 27, 2019)

If you want low-power with ECC, you can also choose a Core i3 processor. Most people don't know these also support ECC memory (on the right motherboard).


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## 6502 (Jun 27, 2019)

ECC + low power are rare combination. Maybe you can buy FreeNAS enclosure and use it for your purpose, like this:



			Robot Check
		


Here is a mainboard, I hope low power:






						Amazon.com: ASRock Intel Avoton C2750 2.4GHz/DDR3/SATA3/V&2GbE/Mini-ITX Motherboard and CPU Combo C2750D4I Color Box : Electronics
					

Buy ASRock Intel Avoton C2750 2.4GHz/DDR3/SATA3/V&2GbE/Mini-ITX Motherboard and CPU Combo C2750D4I Color Box: Computer Components - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases



					www.amazon.com


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## mefizto (Jun 28, 2019)

Greetings gentlemen,

thank you very much for the motherboards and CPU suggestions.

Hi Malavon,

will the support for ECC memory with i3 processor listed in the motherboard specification?  I will look.

Kindest regards,

M


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## Phishfry (Jun 28, 2019)

For socketed CPU's the Xeon E3-1220L is spectacular. Every generation they got lower TDP.
I use 1220LV3 they were TDP=13W. These are IvyBridge with no video onboard.
The 1240LV5 is probably what I would recommend for LGA1151..
That and C236 or C246 Chipset for ECC support.
Not really powerful but it is not bad:


			PassMark - Intel Xeon E3-1240L v5 @ 2.10GHz - Price performance comparison
		


This is the CPU I use in some rack mounted Lanner routers.


			PassMark - Intel Xeon E3-1220L v3 @ 1.10GHz - Price performance comparison
		

Half the wattage but only one third the performance.

As for Socketed E5-Xeon LGA2011 the lowest TDP I have used is a pair of 2608LV3.
Compared to LGA1151 it has twice the TDP for roughly the same performance.


			PassMark - Intel Xeon E5-2608L v3 @ 2.00GHz - Price performance comparison
		

So nothing worth using on LGA2011 for real low voltage. Lots of PCIe lanes on E5 Xeon though.


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## Phishfry (Jun 28, 2019)

Here is a nice SOC Xeon the 1585L


			PassMark - Intel Xeon E3-1585L v5 @ 3.00GHz - Price performance comparison
		

When you look at the cost I don't see the value.








						Product Specifications
					

quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.




					ark.intel.com
				




I don't like being hemming in by SOC. I like sockets.


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## Phishfry (Jun 28, 2019)

The C2750 at 20W TDP was nice. The problem is they had a faulty clock on C2XXX.
Supposedly an errata and fix happened but many motherboards in the channel are not fixed.





						Intel's Atom C2000 chips are bricking products – and it's not just Cisco hit
					

Chipzilla and Switchzilla won't confirm connection but the writing is on the wall




					www.theregister.co.uk
				




There is a revised version of this series CPU called C3XXX. That would be a better choice,


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## Phishfry (Jun 28, 2019)

Here is the hotrod of the Denverton C3xxx class.


			A2SDi-16C-HLN4F | Motherboards | Products | Supermicro
		

16 cores yet only 32W and fanless.









						Supermicro A2SDi-16C-HLN4F 16-core Intel Atom C3955 mITX Motherboard Review
					

Our review of the Supermicro A2SDi-16C-HLN4F 16-core Intel Atom C3955 mITX motherboard with a top of the line CPU and improved virtualization features




					www.servethehome.com


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## mefizto (Jun 28, 2019)

Hi phishfry,

thank you for the detailed review of the different processors.  Since as note this will be a backup server, I do not need a powerfull processor. Regarding the 1151 socket motherboard, any that you would recommend?

Kindest regards,

M


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## Phishfry (Jun 28, 2019)

The real question is how many PCIe slots you need for your server. Then work back a board requirement.
Remember E3-Xeons only have 20 lanes of PCIe available to all slots..


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## Phishfry (Jun 28, 2019)

Opps my bad, make that 16 Lanes of PCIe on the E3 Xeons.
That is so pathetic of Intel.
One video card and you eat up all lanes on your CPU.
That is a sad testament to Intels disregard for I/O on modern CPU's.


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## Phishfry (Jun 28, 2019)

I wanted to follow up on my beef. 16 Lanes of PCIe 3.0  from the processor. Also 4 Lanes of PCIe 2.0 from the chipset.

So what manufacturers do is ship boards with 16x slots but only 8x electrically.
That way they can divide the CPU 16x lanes over two or more slots.
Then they use the PCIe 2.0 lanes for another low bandwidth slot.

This is what I have found typically.
It is really a horrible state and shows what true lack of CPU competition looks like.


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## Phishfry (Jun 28, 2019)

What you do find on some quality boards is a PLX PCIe bridge chip. This allows the manufacturer to add PCIe lanes.
Problems is the bridge chips add to PCIe latency I have seen with NVMe.
You can only multiplex your PCIe lanes so much as they still have to funnel through your CPU's 16 Lanes eventually.


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## rotor (Jun 29, 2019)

mefizto said:


> Greetings all,
> 
> since my old backup computer appears to be dying, I would like to build a replacemnt.  I have looked at some builds, however mpost of them do not use motherboards supporting ECC. (Please let us not turn this into ECC necessity discussion).  In addition to ECC support, I need at least 6 SATA/SAS ports for storage using ZFS, plus one for separate OS drive.



Take a look here:








						Supermicro A2SDi-8C+-HLN4F Review Intel Atom C3758 Power
					

Our Supermicro A2SDi-8C+-HLN4F review finds a well-balanced platform with high storage I/O and memory capacity alongside the 8-core Intel Atom C3758 SoC




					www.servethehome.com
				




I've got the prior generation of that board (Atom C2000 series) and it runs FreeBSD and ZFS quite nicely for my data server.


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## leebrown66 (Jun 29, 2019)

Supermicro A1SRI 15W
I am building a VoIP server interconnected with 4 other sites via VPN using FreeBSD.


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## rotor (Jun 30, 2019)

One general comment that just came to mind...

If you will be using disk encryption, then a CPU that supports the AESNI instructions should be a requirement.

I use FreeBSD's geli to encrypt the removable drive I use for off-site backups, and geli makes good use of the hardware AES instructions in the Atom C2000 series.


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