Feel free to call me crazy, but I'm thinking about replacing my current motherboard/cpu with the Intel S1200BTS motherboard and the E3-1220L XEON cpu (when both are available).

What do people think about this combi? Low idle power and max power?

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=53558
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=53 ... odes=SR070

S1200BTS features I like
6 onboard sata ports
SM712 graphics controller (designed for ultra low power mobile platform)
ECC memory support
Dual Gigabit (both NIC's are intel chips)
VT-d support (for those who like to use VMDirectPath for VMware ESXI)
Hopefully very low power consumption
Looks like it is priced very nicely for a server board

E3-1220L features I like
20W TDP
AES New Instructions (supported by solaris and ZFS encryption, which I use, very good performance)
ECC memory support
No integrated graphics (its a server, I don't need fancy graphics)
Two cores with Hyperthreading (plenty for my needs)
VT-d support
About the same price as an i5-2400

I'm hoping this will idle similar or lower than my current setup (DQ57TM+i5-650). I will use the old hardware for a gaming rig.

There must be a reason most consumers don't buy Xeons... other than lack of availability in consumer channels. Do you know why that might be. I have often wondered... but never really paid much attention to finding out why I might want a Xeon. I guess its just safer running with my fellow lemmings.

Well, I must admit that I have had the same view untill I started reading a bit more about the E3 series, and what Intel is hoping to accomplish with the new line.

They are working on products for the Micro Server category, and it looks like the E3 is the first result of that focus.

As far as I can see the E3 is basically a Sandy Bridge CPU?

UPDATE: Also looks like the hardware will be available in consumer channels. Already popping up on sale in the Danish consumer hardware sites (not in stock yet, but already on their sites).

I might sound a bit too "pro" E3? But it just fits perfect into what I need (see above)

Only a tad more expensive than sandy bridge desktop cpu's
ECC support (usually what xeon brings)

I hope someone will test the combo I mentioned, once they are available. If not, then I will have to get hold of a sample myself

More info:

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/int ... r-strategy

Hi. I'm also interested in this mb. and tried to find some reviews but with no luck so far. I did find something interesting with Vmware, it seems that this mb. is in the certifying process at the moment. Also there seem to be problems with the nics, only one is recognized by esxi 4.1. Still it's an interesting board though.

Well - it may actually boil down to however much power the chipset uses.

(Assuming no ECC ram, power sucking 15k RPM SAS drives, Redundant PSU ect...)

One of my colleges have the S1200BTL board, and is quite happy. Not the lowest power system, because of the CPU he chose, and the Intel RMM that the motherboard also contains. Because of the RMM it also boasts a more beefy onboard graphics chip.

I still considering the S1200BTS. It have just arrived in stock at one of the web stores here in Denmark.

One important note about the S1200 series board, is that it will ONLY! work with ECC memory (can't boot on non ECC memory modules).

So I'm still holding off a bit because of two reasons. The memory requirement above, and the fact that it doesn't have AMT (like the business class desktop motherboards from Intel).

My current system supports AMT 6.0, and it works perfectly. I can poweroff my system, and turn it on again from a web interface, and can get a remote console using VNC.

So I'm still looking for the perfect system that will idle at around 10W (no disks), and support SSL encryption like my current system (AES-NI). If just AMD had included instructions for this in their Zacate, then it would have been a winner, but sadly NO.

/a

Remote rebooting can be done with some UPS models and specialized devices.

The regular 1220 might be better with some workloads if you underclock it (twice the cores with more cache on each but no HT and presumably higher voltage).
Other than that, this is probably the small server board/CPU I'd choose if I was buying new, wanted ECC and didn't want to get a built server from HP.

@alewinsky
Can you tell me please what is your latest computer configuration ?
Does it works nice with ESXi 5 ?

I need VT-d, AES-NI, low power consumption.

Thanks.

@anickname

I'm in the process of upgrading/moving to a new system. Still a little bit in the design phase.. But have most of the parts.

I have moved to a new apartment, and need a smaller server (the Antec P182 case is fantastic, but too large). So I'm challenging myself to build a small server that can sit on a shelf in my living room. And therefore needs to be completely silent (like the my current build).

The space available is max 30cm x 30cm x 40cm (w x h x d)

If I'm successful, then my new build will be something like this:

Parts

Fractal Design Array R2 (purchased without PSU, wouldn't need it anyways, have the Pico psu from a previous build)
Intel DQ67EP (supports AMT, VT-d and is mini-itx)
Intel E3-1220L or E3-1260L (still not decided, most likely the E3-1260L, but I have the option to test both CPU's. The E3-1260L has double the cores and supports VNC over AMT)
Intel SSD 510 120GB
4 x WD Green 2TB
2 x 4GB Kingston Valueram (KVR1333D3N9/4G)
1 x Antec TriCool @ 5V with regulator (plan to add it as exhaust fan)
Pico PSU 120 with 80W power adaptor
Scythe Mugen 2 (Yes it fits!! just.. If I need an expansion card then I will need to use a Zalman 9500 instead)

Other parts also going into the case

Apple Airport Extreme (should be able to sit on the floor, under the hard drive case
Soekris NET5501 (firewall, I think it can be placed up the side of the case, where the extra expansion slot is located)

So as you can see I'm hoping to build a truly AllInOne system Its going to be a very tight fit, but I'm optimistic, and will post images when done Will update again in 2-3 days.

EDIT:Sorry, the info below is wrong, the onboard nic isn't supported by default on the DQ67EP

As for your question regarding ESX 5. I know that the ethernet is supported natively from ESXI 4.1 latest update, and also in ESXI 5.0. So it works perfectly with any of the Business series intel motherboards (DQ67*/DQ57*).

Surely it's the amount they cost, given the advantages they provide? Granted, the lower end ones (such as those discussed here) aren't much in absolute terms, but relative to the 'desktop' processors they're a lot more expensive. (According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge ).

Well, my attempt at building a small server in the Fractal Design Array R2 didn't go as well as I had hoped. The stuff did fit, but the hard drive cage doesn't do much about vibrations from HDD's, so it was far from quiet!!! So I have abandoned the build, and are now going a different way with my home server, more on this later

I'll post a few pictures of the build here later today. I was actually quite happy with how the components was able to sit in the case, and cooling wasn't an issue, only HDD noise...

Oh and the 140mm fan does have a ticking noise, as the review also noted http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1041-page4.html (they call the fan clicky)

Fractal Design Array R2 (motherboard+cpu+memory+heatsink+soekris net5501+cable modem):


Fractal Design Array R2 (fully assembled):


EDIT: Images added..

Now to the fun part, the above was, as you can see not the best result....

So going for a new direction:

S1200BTS (the one mentioned in the beginning of the post)
E3-1230 (4-core with hyperthreading)
8 GB ECC memory (KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G)

Putting it all into the case I have from my previous build (P183), so going to be super quiet.

I have the parts, and assembled the motherboard+cpu+heatsink+intel 510 ssd+pico psu 120:

Idle at 17,2w (running Solaris 11)



Idle at 15,8w (running ESXi 5.0, power set to low)




EDIT: Added picture of power consumption running VMWare ESXi...

Grats, seems like nice small server, btw

What cpu did you finally go for? i wanted to try the E3 1220L there were 2 on ebay, but while i was thinking they sold out , so ended up with E3 1230, but im still considering one if i move to unRaid.

Edit:


So you didnt go for 1220/1260?

No, too expensive and since I abandoned the DQ67EP build, I don't need onboard graphics. When building in the P183 I only worry about idle power consumption (where it is 99% of the time), so no need for a low TDP processor (saving quite a bit of money there).

I plan to run VMWare ESXi 5 on the server, and is to my experience very stable, so would almost never need to plug a monitor in the server.

Lets see how much I can virtualize

1. VM: Fileserver - Solaris 11 with onboard SATA controller mapped with VT-d
2. VM: Firewall - OpenBSD 5 with onboard NIC mapped with VT-d
3. VM: Jumphost - Windows 7
4. VM: HTPC - With graphics adaptor, ATI 5450, mapped with VT-d (this one is a bit experimental!!)
5. VM: ...

Having fun

Hi. I tested a 1220l with the same kill a watt meter (are you danish btw), i got 24,8 watts with a 2,5" disk. So i guess the rest must be the psu.

Yeah I'm danish

I actually ended up ditching the E3 setup completely. There were issues with VMWare/VMDirectPath, more specifically with mapping of storage controllers. Not necessarily the hardware to blame. Either the vt-d implementation on the motherboard or the implementation in VMWare.

So now I'm running a barebone fileserver of a AMD fusion board (had it lying around from a previous project). Very low power consumption, so happy for the time being.

What are you running of your E3-1220L?

I'm running esxi off course

And on top off that, astaro, ubuntu's & debian's with tvheadend,plexmediaserver and other stuff.

I'm pretty impressed with your idle result on the 1230, I got the the 1220L. but with a seasonic psu. With those idle results the 1230 should be a better deal for virtualization.

Have you modded your pico psu in regard to motherbaord connectors ?

/Svend

I wanted to do something similar, just didn't work properly for me Do you use VMDirectPath/VT-d?


I think you will get very close to the same idle result with any of the E3 cpu's. A lot more to gain in the motherboard/PSU. Which motherboard are you running by the way? Also the S1200BTS?

Oh, and did you remember to set power management to low power? If you don't then vmware will not drop the CPU to the lower power states.


Nothing modded, I only use a molex to P4 connector to give the cpu the needed power.

/Anders

Thought I might share my plans with you all.

So I have a Norco 4224 chassis already, and a Tyan Micro ATX S5510GM3NR motherboard (reviewed here): http://www.servethehome.com/tyan-s5510- ... rd-review/

I have an Intel E3 1260L on the way... Someone here confirmed that the onboard video doesn't chew up additional power if it is not active, so i went ahead with the order

I would *love* to drop in a massive heatsink and fan, however from what I have read on other forums, the chassis space on the Norco 4224 is limited, and the most common heatsinks that take 120mm fans *just* don't fit.

VT-d, i share the usb controllers with a guest.



Yes i use the same motherboard, to be honest i forgot to look at the power management tab. I have tested so many motherboards were it had no effect.




ok, so it dosn't need a 8 pin eps ?

Wkr.

Nice board !

/Svend

You should check the setting, I think it is almost a 10W drop in idle consumption. It most definitely makes a difference.


It worked fine with just the P4 connector, and with the pico-psu only being a 20pin ATX.


I must agree with Svend, very nice looking board. I would very much like to see some power consumption figures (haven't been able to find any just yet).

/Anders

Is this the chassis you are talking about:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811219038

In what dimension does it not have enough room for a CPU cooler? it is 7 inches high. It must have at least 150mm of headroom for a CPU cooler.

Hi,
I am going to build the same server as alewinsky only with E3 1220l, Is Pico PSU 120 with 80W power adapter really powerful enough?

depends on how many disks you plan to use. 3 sata disks should'n be a problem.

Wkr.

one 2.5" 5400 for system and maximum four 3TB 3.5" green HDDs, like this http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/3tb ... 82-11.html, disks will be 80% time in idle mode.

alewinsky, can you summarize why one would go out of their way to buy a Xeon cpu and Xeon motherboard as opposed to just using a Sandy bridge or an ivy bridge.

I think you would have to test it with 3,4 & 5 disks and measure the consumption. But i think it's feasible. It's not the idle consumption you should worry about.