ASRock Rack E3C236D2I

[ullbeking]

I'm thinking that this looks like an amazing board, and I'd love to pick one up and place a G4560 in there and hope that it's able to be passively cooled in a small case. I can even use ECC RAM which is very cool.

So versatile, I'm looking for a small server that can function as many things to hold me over until I get my real servers sorted out. I'd particularly love to use it as a simple file server, or repurpose it as a very lightweight virt server for some easy experiments.

What's your experience been with it?

 

[jamesv]

I build my own to run alongside of a DSP Rack using 18 x Analog Devices SHARC ADSP-21369 DSP Chips.
I love ASRock Rack Boards because of the perpendicular DIMMs.
That way I can have triple 22k fans sucking dust in the front and blowing it out the back.
I built 4 x of these using Z/H97m WS Boards.
Short trace lines. Zero gunk.
All brand new this summer.
The mATX is nice because I can use Dynatron Crossblower fans for direct M.2 cooling.
I stream audio files from storage devices that use targets placed in RAM.
I have 22GBs of RAM used, and also picked up 4 x i7 4790k CPUs for 1,000 bucks.
I like being behind by a few years.

 

[jamesv]

I love my 1Us to be loud, that way I know they’re running full tilt.

These are nice for those seeking to not offend others with triple 22k fan noise.

 

[ullbeking]

I love my 1Us to be loud, that way I know they’re running full tilt.

These are nice for those seeking to not offend others with triple 22k fan noise.

View attachment 43144 View attachment 43145

Thanks for the excellent report, jamesv. Sounds like this board is a winner then. When I discovered it (after a LOT of research) it was the ideal thing I was looking for.

What exactly is that cooling device you've posted? And what Supermicro chassis is that? (I keep seeing that particular model all over the place.)

Most importantly, is that 1U server loud? Would you recommend or discourage it for home usage, e.g., living room?

Finally, what's the application showing on the monitor? It looks like a Pd type of music and audio DSP system (one of my specialties).

 

[jamesv]

My servers are for loud stages so I want them cool, loud and running @ 4.6GHz.

Supermicro CSE- 512f-600B.
There’s several variants.

I like old mature products. Been using the same chassis since Supermicro P4SCT+II Northwood CPU era.
The fans and PSUs are always what gets updated.
Gold 80 PLUS PSUs get replaced every few years, even though the old units are working fine.

Not a big fan of blinking lights and consumer boards meant for display.
Built some hot rod towers for my kids though.
Even bought RAM with blinking lights.

Just the meat & potatoes for me.
Besides, my DSP Racks run circles around Intel CPUs.

 

[jamesv]

The Dynatron L3 1U Server Water Cooler.
I get them from Japanese distributors.

They’re pretty quiet.
I have to do outdoor work sometimes so I have a high heat high humidity rig.
I swap out their 8k fans with my 22k fans.
On that chassis I dremeled out the front because the fans are much longer.
Sucks bugs in its so bad ass.
Temps stay @ 52C regardless of exterior heat.
That’s at 60% CPU usage across all Cores.

 

[ullbeking]

My servers are for loud stages so I want them cool, loud and running @ 4.6GHz.

Very, very cool indeed. I'm so used to seeing MacBooks at music and performance art, live coding events, that I completely forgot about the fact that you can stick your main DSP stack in a rack on the stage.

Besides, my DSP Racks run circles around Intel CPUs.

These SHARC DSPs are running in your Sonic Core?! Man I am so fascinated by your stack (I am DSP engineer myself and a lover of electronic music).

Can you point me to a link where I can listen to your work?

 

[jamesv]

Not really as I am under NDAs until they expire.
I work with a few touring acts so rules apply.

But years ago I did some demos for the first Digital DSP Based Hardware Synth.
Then performed @ NAMM using the deadly beast.
Scroll down to Solaris.

https://soundcloud.com/jimmyvee

 

[jamesv]

FWIW The USB 3 Hub/LCD Stand is fantastic.
It never sold many so the price dropped from 125 to 50 bucks.
It’s Tempered Glass and has adjustable feet, perfect fit with ATA Cases too.

Jonsbo GA-01
So solid I bought two and hide 2 x analog synths under them.
Here’s the latest rapid deployment rig.