Supermicro mini-itx MB and Intel Xeon compatibility


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I hope someone can help me out. My Supermicro board running Intel Atom processor C2758 just failed completely and it would not post at all. I had to swap mobo for older Atom version, but it is so slow and occasionally entire system freezes that I decided to upgrade my system to something more powerful and more reliable. I do not want to replace chassis and power supply, therefore I need mini-itx motherboard. I was able to find this Supermicro motherboard:

 

SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SSV-Q-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel Q170

 

According to specs it takes whole range of CPU's

 

Intel 6th Generation Core i3 series
Intel 6th Generation Core i5 series
Intel 6th Generation Core i7 series
Intel 7th Generation Core i3 series
Intel 7th Generation Core i5 series
Intel 7th Generation Core i7 series
Intel Celeron
Intel Pentium
Socket LGA 1151 supported; CPU TDP support Up to 91W
 
 

I was thinking about getting this CPU:

 

Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5 3.4 GHz LGA 1151 80W BX80662E31230V5 Server Processor

 

It's the same socket, so in theory it should work? Unless there is some compatibility issue.

 

The same goes for memory. I checked on pcpartpicker.com for available ram modules an it looks like there is plenty to choose from. And again I'm worry about compatibility issues.

 

Does anyone build something similar and can recommend some parts. Thank you 

 

           

              

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Hi -

 

I don't have experience with that board, but I don't think it's safe to assume a Xeon would work.  More to the point, why bother?  The 1230 doesn't have onboard graphics, and if you aren't using ECC then there's really no point in an E3 Xeon.  I'd put a Core i7 on that one.  Or get something like this and put a Xeon E3-12x5 (where the last digit of 5 or 6 means onboard graphics).

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The ASRock board you mentioned looks very interesting and as per their support page it works also with other i3/i5/i7 CPUs which is a big plus. I may have to rethink my design.

 

How is the noise level of E3 Xeon CPU with running stock fan? Xeon TDP is rather high, so my concern is that fan would be pretty loud. I cannot put my server in other room or closet. 

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I reached out to Supermicro Support to find out about the Intel Xeon support for this particular board and I do not have a good news. This motherboard is not compatible with Intel Xeon E3-1230 v5.

 

It does support Intel Kabylake CPU's but with BIOS 2.0 or above. Supermicro has a tutorial how to create bootable USB flash drive for the purpose of updating BIOS.

 

At this point I think that ASRock motherboard that tdallen recommended is a much better option.  

 

@tdallen Thanks for your mobo recommendation

@t33j4y  Thanks. I will consider this cpu fan.

Edited by talkto_menow
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I'm almost done swapping out my C2750 cause of sensor issues. I went used, with a X10 board ($109) and a Xeon E3-1240 ($152). Kept my ram but had to get a new case. Ebay has used X10 micro-atx 1150's for $80-100. I'm selling my old case and C2750 (when it gets back from RMA) to offset costs. They have a 3 year warranty.

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@dmacias I will definitely request RMA from Supermicro

 

This is what I ordered:

ASRock E3C236D2I Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel C236 

Intel Xeon E3-1230 v6 Kaby Lake 3.5 GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1151 72W BX80677E31230V6 Server Processor

Crucial 8GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Server Memory Model CT8G4RFS4213

Noctua NH-L9x65 92 x 92 x 14mm, 92 x 92 x 25mm SSO2 Low-profile Quiet CPU Cooler, NF-A9x14 PWM fan

 

I'm hoping that this build will last more than 4 years. CPU has Passmark score of little over 10,000. I was looking for some way to cut corners, but at the end I decided that 16GB of RAM memory should be sufficient for 15TB array. I'm running 10+ dockers and I'm hoping that system will be good enough to record TV using Plex or HDHomerun docker. I wanted to have stable and reliable system, that's why I went with Intel Xeon and ECC RAM. I was also considering i3 CPU with 35W TDP. I have similar chip in my HTPC and I was not impressed with WTV streaming (browser). HTPC was pretty much choking when I was watching TV and doing streaming at the same time. Suprosingly, there were really good transcoding speeds when system was doing one job only .

 

ASRock motherboard supports Kaby Lake CPU from BIOS 2.20. I hope that I will not have to flash BIOS. Otherwise I will have to use that HTPC i3 chip to do the job

 

Edited by talkto_menow
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a new server running right now, but unfortunately I was not able to install the memory I bought. Every time I put the either 8GB module in memory bank I was getting error message "Memory not installed PEI-Intel Reference Code Execution ...55" . I was not even able to get to BIOS. Motherboard was not responsive. I took out 4GB non-ECC memory from HTPC and put it into server and bingo everything works. I checked in BIOS and motherboard should recognize ECC automatically. So disappointed. I had to return it to Newegg. I'm not sure what to do. ASRock has a short list of compatible RAM, but on the other hand I'm worried it may not work just like the one I ordered. Plus DDR4 memory is so expensive right now, that you have to think twice before you purchase anything.

 

Good news is that this motherboard supports KabyLake processors out of the box. It has BIOS v.2.30.  

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Thanks for the article. It looks like it might be the issue. Anyway. I requested RMA from Supermicro and it was approved. I will be shipping the motherboard next week.

 

I also ordered memory that should be compatible with Intel Xeon CPU. It's pretty hard to find and based on other people reviews and experiences there should be no hiccups this time. I purchased the memory directly from Kingston. You have other resellers on Newegg and Amazon, but beware that most likely all of them buy these modules directly from Kingston and than they will mail it to you.  

 

You can search for compatible memory on their website

https://www.kingston.com/en/memory/search?DeviceType=&Mfr=ASR&Line=Motherboard&Model=96303

  

 Buying 16GB module is the best option. This way you can add one more module later to max out RAM requirement. 

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I received ECC memory from Kingston (2x16GB) and I have to say installation was not that straight forward as I thought it would be. At some point I thought I have a defective RAM module or something is wrong with motherboard. I put first module (bank 1) and there were no issues with booting. Memory was recognized. Now I put the second one (bank 2) and to my surprise I got the error message that memory is not installed. This is exactly the same message that I saw with registered memory I had before.

 

I swapped the memory modules (bank 1) and still error. I removed the memory that I know is working and left the other one. Again error. I made couple attempts removing and putting it back and finally it booted up. Now I know that both RAM modules are working correctly. I put second module (bank 2) too and again I get error message. Just like previously I had to remove and put it back couple times. Finally both modules were recognized.

 

32BG of RAM is maybe overkill, but I'm planning to run WIn10 VM with allocated 8GB + bunch of dockers including Plex server. 16GB is way to little for this setup. I've been running unRaid on 4GB memory and that is just not enough. It does affect responsiveness and Plex transcoding as well.

 

Final thoughts: I'm glad I decided to go with this Intel Xeon. This is perfect CPU for the average user. It has enough horse power to do 3-4 (maybe more) simultaneous Plex stream. Previously when I was streaming something at my workplace performance was choppy and sometimes I was not being able to do that at all. I thought it was due to bad cell phone connection coverage. The reason for this was that my older server was not able to keep up with transcoding video. 

 

Thanks to the recommended Noctua CPU fan, the server stays quiet and temps are around 35C  

Edited by talkto_menow
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