09-25-2024, 02:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-25-2024, 05:34 PM by Joss.
Edit Reason: BMC
)
Hello, my first post… after finally getting around the local watchdog. Glad to be here. Really like all the NASCompares content.
After the recent Intel CPU debacle, I've also been looking at AMD-based systems. (But I'm also waiting to see how the next generation of Intel CPUs will fare.)
Some comments on the ASRock Rack motherboard.
According to the ASRock website and user comments online, standard Ryzen CPUs like the 5700G will not support ECC. This means that you would need one of the PRO variants, for example the Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (65W) or the Ryzen 5 PRO 5655GE (35W). Note: I'm not sure if these CPUs have a configurable TDP like the non-PRO CPUs. (The 5700G can be configured down from 65W to 45W, for example.) So the 35W 5655GE might be a better choice, if you are looking for a low-power build and can't tweak the 5755G TDP down.
Another option I would consider is going with the basic ASRock Rack X570D4U, which doesn't come with two 10GbE RJ45 ports like the 2L2T variant, just two 1GbE ports. Instead, I would add a dual 10GbE SFP+ card. Afaik SFP+ fiber doesn't consume as much power as copper ports. Furthermore, I've been reading that the newer X710 is thermally superior to the older X550 networking chipset. (Another option is to go for a dual 25GbE SFP28 card, because they are backward compatible, so they should work with switches that only have SFP+ ports; however, SFP28 cards consume more power, of course, and personally I'd only upgrade if both my switches and clients would support it too.)
Generally, ASRock Rack motherboards (all?) come with IPMI, and that will consume additional energy, more than 7W on this board, which would be a waste, if you don't need IPMI (or have a PiKVM etc.). Afaik you can't disable the BMC. There are jumpers on some ASRock Rack motherboards, which iirc handle some part of the BMC system, but you can't use them to disable BMC/IPMI completely.
And if you're going for Unraid, which I would, then an internal boot drive would be preferable. (Adding a flash drive to the external I/O isn't too great imho.) But the motherboard neither has an internal USB Type A port nor a USB2 9-pin header, which you could use for a USB2 9-pin-to-dual-Type-A splitter/adapter. There only seems to be a single 19-pin USB 3.2 gen1 header on the board. There are USB3 19-pin-to-dual-Type-A splitters/adapters, but then you'd lose both connections to the front I/O. So you'd first need a 19-pin female to dual 19-pin male splitter, and then use one of the two new 19-pin male headers to add a USB3 19-pin-to-(dual-)Type-A adapter. That way you could add an internal USB flash boot drive, and still retain at least one connection for the front I/O, maybe two, because once Unraid is loaded into RAM, you can saturate a full 19 pin connection again, I think.
Any thoughts/comments? (tia)
After the recent Intel CPU debacle, I've also been looking at AMD-based systems. (But I'm also waiting to see how the next generation of Intel CPUs will fare.)
Some comments on the ASRock Rack motherboard.
According to the ASRock website and user comments online, standard Ryzen CPUs like the 5700G will not support ECC. This means that you would need one of the PRO variants, for example the Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (65W) or the Ryzen 5 PRO 5655GE (35W). Note: I'm not sure if these CPUs have a configurable TDP like the non-PRO CPUs. (The 5700G can be configured down from 65W to 45W, for example.) So the 35W 5655GE might be a better choice, if you are looking for a low-power build and can't tweak the 5755G TDP down.
Another option I would consider is going with the basic ASRock Rack X570D4U, which doesn't come with two 10GbE RJ45 ports like the 2L2T variant, just two 1GbE ports. Instead, I would add a dual 10GbE SFP+ card. Afaik SFP+ fiber doesn't consume as much power as copper ports. Furthermore, I've been reading that the newer X710 is thermally superior to the older X550 networking chipset. (Another option is to go for a dual 25GbE SFP28 card, because they are backward compatible, so they should work with switches that only have SFP+ ports; however, SFP28 cards consume more power, of course, and personally I'd only upgrade if both my switches and clients would support it too.)
Generally, ASRock Rack motherboards (all?) come with IPMI, and that will consume additional energy, more than 7W on this board, which would be a waste, if you don't need IPMI (or have a PiKVM etc.). Afaik you can't disable the BMC. There are jumpers on some ASRock Rack motherboards, which iirc handle some part of the BMC system, but you can't use them to disable BMC/IPMI completely.
And if you're going for Unraid, which I would, then an internal boot drive would be preferable. (Adding a flash drive to the external I/O isn't too great imho.) But the motherboard neither has an internal USB Type A port nor a USB2 9-pin header, which you could use for a USB2 9-pin-to-dual-Type-A splitter/adapter. There only seems to be a single 19-pin USB 3.2 gen1 header on the board. There are USB3 19-pin-to-dual-Type-A splitters/adapters, but then you'd lose both connections to the front I/O. So you'd first need a 19-pin female to dual 19-pin male splitter, and then use one of the two new 19-pin male headers to add a USB3 19-pin-to-(dual-)Type-A adapter. That way you could add an internal USB flash boot drive, and still retain at least one connection for the front I/O, maybe two, because once Unraid is loaded into RAM, you can saturate a full 19 pin connection again, I think.
Any thoughts/comments? (tia)