Xeon D-1540 vs Xeon E3-1245v2

jimphreak

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 27, 2012
Messages
1,714
My current VM Server has an Xeon E3-1245v2 in it and I'm looking to downsize both physically and power-wise without losing much performance. I also am drawn to the 10Gig functionality of the Xeon D-1540 as well as twice the cores and memory support.

However I have one main concern. My most used VM is a Plex Media Server (In a Windows 7 VM) that often does 3-5 concurrent transcodes of 720p-1080p movies and TV shows. Will the Xeon D-1540 provide me enough power in this regard?

The other VMs I have running are pfSense, Windows Server 2012 R2, and a few other test VMs (Win 8, Win 10, Mac OS X, etc.).
 
Last edited:
I guess with the D-1540 being so new, no one has it yet to speak off experience. I found some more reviews and it looks like it should outperform it or at least equal the E3 in most areas while being much more power efficient. So I placed my order this morning :D.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/midtower/5028/SYS-5028D-TN4T.cfm

Now my only debate left is whether or not I should combine my storage server into this one as well. I'd need to go with 4x 8TB Seagate's shingled drivers which actually perform well for my use case (mostly static media storage). Decisions decisions. Certainly would be nice to clear up some physical space. Right now my storage server is in a Fractal Arc Mini.
 
That looks nice, but it seems a tad expensive for only 4 bays.

The board itself is what's expensive. Running $900 retail right now. However, usually the point of a mini-itx build is to keep things small so using and more than 4 bays takes away from my main purpose.

The only mini-ITX case I've seen that has more drive bays is the Silverstone DS380 but there are serious issues with airflow and PSU support with regard to the hot swap backplane. Considering this is going to be a heavily used VM server airflow is important. Otherwise I'd just stick the SM board into any 8-bay NAS case.
 
Last edited:
The board itself is what's expensive. Running $900 retail right now. However, usually the point of a mini-itx build is to keep things small so using and more than 4 bays takes away from my main purpose.

The only mini-ITX case I've seen that has more drive bays is the Silverstone DS380 but there are serious issues with airflow and PSU support with regard to the hot swap backplane. Considering this is going to be a heavily used VM server airflow is important. Otherwise I'd just stick the SM board into any 8-bay NAS case.

We wouldn't recommend stuffing the DS380 with hot server drives, but most desktop drives should run without problem in the case. Please remember that it's actually better to run drives at slightly warm temperatures than to have them run close to room temperatures.

As for the PSU compatibility with DS380's included hot-swap backplane, the only model that has had issue was the ST45SF-G (due to lower +5V output). We have many other PSU options that will work without any issues (ST30SF, ST45SF, SX600-G).
 
I wish the price was lower too, would be awesome for 3 of these at a home lab/setup.
 
I guess with the D-1540 being so new, no one has it yet to speak off experience. I found some more reviews and it looks like it should outperform it or at least equal the E3 in most areas while being much more power efficient. So I placed my order this morning :D.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/system/midtower/5028/SYS-5028D-TN4T.cfm

Now my only debate left is whether or not I should combine my storage server into this one as well. I'd need to go with 4x 8TB Seagate's shingled drivers which actually perform well for my use case (mostly static media storage). Decisions decisions. Certainly would be nice to clear up some physical space. Right now my storage server is in a Fractal Arc Mini.

Awesome, I'm glad you went for it. I have been intrigued by the Xeon D series ever since I heard about it. Seems like a way cool chip. Also, I am sure that it will run Plex just fine as long as you give the VM enough cores.

Definitely post pics and your impressions and stuff when you get it!
 
Back
Top