If you want to build a home server, it may be advised to actually use server-grade components. I documented the reasons for choosing server-grade hardware already in an earlier post on this topic.
It is recommended to read the old post first. In this new post, I only show new hardware that could also be chosen as a more modern hardware option.
My original post dates back to December 2013 and centers around the popular X9SCM-F which is based on the LGA 1155 socket. Please note that the X9SCM-F / LGA 1155 based solution may be cheaper if you want the Xeon processor.
So I'd like to introduce two Supermicro motherboards that may be of interest.
Some key features are:
- 2 x Gigabit NIC on-board
- 6 onboard SATA ports
- 3 x PCIe (2 x 8x + 1 x 4x)
- Costs $169 or €160
This board is one of the cheapest Supermicro boards you can get and it has 3 x PCI-e, which may be of interest if you need to install extra HBA's or RAID cards, SAS expanders and/or network controllers.
This board is about $80 or €90 more expensive than the X10SLL-F but in return, you get eight extra SAS/SATA ports, for a total of 14 SATA ports. With 4 TB drives, this would give you 56 TB of raw storage capacity. This motherboard provides a cheaper solution than an add-on HBA card, which would occupy a PCIe slot. Hoever, the's a caveat: this board has 'only' two PCIe slots. But there's still room for an additional quad-port or 10 Gbe NIC and an extra HBA if required.
- 2 x Gigabit NIC on-board
- 6 onboard SATA ports
- 8 onboard SAS/SATA ports via LSI 2308 chip
- 2 x PCIe (8x and 4x)
- Costs $242 or €250
Overview of CPU's
CPU | Passmark score | Price in Euro | Price in Dollars |
Intel Pentium G3420 @ 3.20GHz | 3459 | 55 Euro | 74 Dollar |
Intel Core i3-4130 @ 3.40GHz | 4827 | 94 Euro | 124 Dollar |
Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 @ 3.30GHz | 9459 | 216Euro | 279 Dollar |
- Dollars are from Newegg, Euro's are from Tweakers.net.
- Euros are including taxes.