Mobo (uATX, mITX) options for workstation/ECC/E3 or E5 xeon support?

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caycep

Weaksauce
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Thinking about a NCase based build with ECC memory support basically, but can also have onboard sound that doesn't suck, and a full x16 PCI 3.0 slot for video cards, and maybe a NVME, or M.2 option....

Looking through the options, AFAIK, the workstation crowd is late to the SFF party.

Ivy Bridge/1155: just supermicro, and a Gigabyte board which are really designed for server/headless applications, looking at the feature specs, they would suck for desktop work. Only Dell had custom boards for their Precision line...

Haswell/1150: OK, now there are a couple of decent boards, from ASUS and Asrock. P9D-I but with lousy sound, and bad graphics. Asrock C226M WS - uATX, OK sound, good card slot.

It may be getting slightly better per generation but it is quite sad...and the consumer boards don't seem to know ECC from their own asses....
 
Check out ASRock Rack. They have several mITX server boards, including interesting ones like the EPC612D4I: an Thin-ITX 2011-3 Narrow ILM board, using the C612 and with quad channel SODIMM slots (accepting ECC). No on-board sound, but that's a given for a workstation board. It's got an internal USB port and spare I/O space, so stick a USB soundcard in there.

Consumer Intel boards - apart from a the Xxx line - are pot-luck when it comes to ECC support. It might work, it might not (e.g. my GA-Z77N-WIFI works with an E3-1240 and a apir of 4GB ECC sticks, but that's not a supported configuration). If you want ECC and reliability, then get a board with a workstation chipset or be prepared to waste time (and money) testing boards to see what works stably.
 
The ASRock X99E-ITX board has everything you want. I just built a similar workstation using one:

NCASE M1
ASRock X99E-ITX
Xeon E5-1620v3
2 x 16GB DDR4 Samsung ECC Reg
nVidia GTX 970 (reference)
Intel 750 400GB NVMe SSD 2.5"
ASRock U.2 Kit
Corsair H105
Silverstone ST45SF-G

The board will actually support 64GB of ECC Reg DDR4 too. Any 2011-3 Xeon will work, so you could even go for one of the 18 core ones if you really want.
 
Hm, yes, was eyeing the X99 vs. the server/workstation grade LGA 1150 socket boards. Was a little worried re power consumption with the SF45-G PSU, but you got it all to fit? Would it work with a 980 or 980ti or would that be cutting it close?

The Asrock also has its own little cooler; not sure if that is compatible with the Noctua L-12 I've been using; you have it rigged with the Corsair radiator?

The other thing is...what is this rumor about DDR4 and built-in ECC?
 
caycep said:
The other thing is...what is this rumor about DDR4 and built-in ECC?
Click to expand...
What rumour? DDR4 is like DDR3: you get regular DIMMs (UDIMMs), ECC DIMMs (UDIMMs), RDIMMS (generally ECC) and FBDIMMs/LRDIMMS (again, ECC). The X99E-ITX accepts non-ECC and ECC UDIMMs and RDIMMs.
 
Yep, have it working pretty nicely actually. The 450W PSU is plenty and should handle a GTX 980 no problem as well. 980 Ti would be pushing it however and I wouldn't recommend it.

The ASRock heatsink is adequate if you're not overclocking, albeit not the quietest (but not that bad either). Your Noctua heatsink will not fit as it doesn't support the narrow 2011-3 socket. My Corsair setup isn't exactly rigged since it supports narrow 2011-3 with an official adapter.
 
EdZ said:
What rumour? DDR4 is like DDR3: you get regular DIMMs (UDIMMs), ECC DIMMs (UDIMMs), RDIMMS (generally ECC) and FBDIMMs/LRDIMMS (again, ECC). The X99E-ITX accepts non-ECC and ECC UDIMMs and RDIMMs.
Click to expand...

Some podcast, don't have exact sources unfortunately, but something about DDR4 having some sort of on-dimm ECC capability that doesn't require motherboard support...sounded tasty but still just a rumor....
 
caycep said:
Some podcast, don't have exact sources unfortunately, but something about DDR4 having some sort of on-dimm ECC capability that doesn't require motherboard support...sounded tasty but still just a rumor....
Click to expand...
Sounds like they've gotten confused with Write CRC. It's easy to tell the difference between ECC and non-ECC UDIMMS: non-ECC will have a multiple of 8 RAM chips soldered to the UDIMM (generally 8 or 16), ECC will have a multiple of 9 (9 or 18).
Write CRC is something different from ECC. Write CRC consumes a big chunk of available memory bandwidth (up to 25%), has to be supported by the memory controller on the CPU (to calculate the CRC) and isn't any good to you if you don't already have ECC RAM. It allows the RAM to detect if data was corrupted 'in flight' between the CPU and the DIMM. Unless you're running a high-reliability server in a noisy RF environment, you're probably not going to even consider using it.
 
I suppose. I figured it's worth keeping an eye on it for now; if it's real and the next best thing since sliced bread, can always upgrade.

At any rate, I suppose the main debate in my head is:

X99/ITX with a larger TDP for the processor/motherboard (and thus higher load on the SF45SF-G PSU and power consumption)

vs.

C226/ITX which doesn't really have great desktop workstation options, but has a lower TDP processor.

I have a Haswell Z87 or 97 or whatever at home that I might move to the office, leaning towards just trying X99/ITX for the home/messing around...
 
I have a Xeon E3 1230 V3 and Asrock E3C226D2I that I'll be putting in my old V1 NCASE M1 in the near future. That and the E3C224D2I are the only LGA ITX boards with ECC support for E3 procs that seem to be worthwhile.

The SF45SF-G will have no problem with a stock E5 setup. Now, if you want to overclock, that's a different story, and yes, the single socket Xeons can be multiplier overclocked (E5 1xxx chips).
 
The ASRock x99 boards in general support ECC. I have the X99M Extreme4 (mATX) running registered DDR4 ECC with a Xeon E5 in my current box. They also have a "Purity Sound" (ALC1150 with nicer caps and a headphone amp) on the board.

Edit: And you get Ultra M.2 support (SATA or PCIe SSD). Forgot to add that.
 
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I think looking at all the PCIe storage and the lane requirements, I suppose that may be the way to go, w/ the Intel nvme drive....

How important is registered memory for 2 8 gb ECC sticks? Worth it or just do unbuffered?
 
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