Socket A system with XP-M and IDE RAID?

[Brian Scharling]

Hi!

I'm upgrading my old web/ftp/IMAP server (K6-2-350, AT, 31 watts total) to something faster and more secure.

I want a system with low power consumption and low noice level and to use IDE RAID of security reasons. Preferably cheap.

I consider a system of a socket A motherboard with onboard RAID and an Athlon XP-M processor. I've found Soltek's SL-75FRN2-RL or SL-75FRN3-RL, but can they handle an XP-M? And are they undervoltable down to 1.1 V? I'm considering an Athlon XP-M 2400+ or 2500+.

Do you have any recommendations? Perhaps for another motherboard? Or comments?

/Brian

[Tigr]

I am currently using an Abit NF7-S (don't mix up with NF7-S2!) and I am very happy with it. An excellent board once you remove the stupid fan on the northbridge and replace it with a Zalman heatsink. It runs easily at 200 FSB with my XP-M 2600 and supports undervolting down to 1.1 V.

I did not have any experience with the NForce boards from Soltek but I did not like their boards with the Via chipset.

Here it is right now happily folding away at 1 GHz (200x5) and 1.15V almost passively cooled (with only an exhaust fan at a low speed):
VCore 1: +1.14 V
temp1: +32°C (case)
temp2: +41.5°C (CPU)

I'll tell you, a Barton with 200 MHz FSB even at 1GHz is more than enough for the everyday things like storing files, browsing, e-mailing etc. This machine is also my web and e-mail server and runs Folding all the time. With a software RAID. No sweat

[elasticdog]

With my setup (System 1 below) I can run it at 7 x 200 = 1400 MHz @ 1.175V, which is equal to about 22.22 max wattage or half of what it draws at stock settings. It has been extensively tested for stability and errors, with absolutely no problems. The performance loss is only about 20-25% lower than stock despite the huge power consumption drop.

I built the system for the purposes of a server, but also had a fairly low budget. I decided to go with the DFI LANParty NFII Ultra B (which was the most expensive part of my system) and I couldn't be happier. My temperatures at the undervolted setting haven't gone above 32°C under full load with ambient temps around 21°C.

You might be hard-pressed to find a decent Socket A mobo that has onboard IDE RAID, but you can always use software, or an additional PCI card. Serial ATA RAID however is much easier to find these days. For the record, my DFI board has 4 SATA connectors and supports multiple RAID formats.

[Brian Scharling]

Thanks for your answers.

I have found 2 motherboards with IDE RAID, Soltek SL-75FRN2-RL and SL-75FRN3-RL, which are still produced. However I can't find them in DK, so I kind of dropped that idea.

I've found these sites with Vcore results:
http://www.silenthardware.de/forum/lofi ... t2034.html (German) and
http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.p ... =69&page=1
The Abit NF7 and KV7 seem to be 2 alternatives (still with seperate PCI IDE RAID controller).

Now, I would like to be able to change frequency, multiplier and Vcore on the fly with eg. 8rdavcore. Apparently, that is possible with the NF7:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=8561

I guess the best thing is to choose a board known to be supported by 8rdavcore.
http://www.hasw.net/8rdavcore/

How about the XP-M processor? I know that there are different wattage models, but how do I distinguish between them and find the right one?

/Brian

[Linus]

I'm pretty sure that 8rdavcore now works with lots of boards that aren't on the compatibility list. My Biostar M7NCG 400 wasn't listed until I sent the author an email.

Keep in mind that 8rdavcore can't adjust the multiplier, just the FSB, Vcore, and a few miscellaneous RAM & AGP settings. There are other programs out there that can supposedly adjust the multiplier in windows, but to the best of my knowledge no one's figured out how to do it with an nForce2 board like the Abit NF7.

Good luck!

[Brian Scharling]

Hi Linus!

Sounds good about 8rdavcore and board support. Just not the multiplier thing.

Do you know of any boards/chipsets which allow change of multiplier in windows? What programs?

/Brian

[VERiON]

I want [...] to use IDE RAID of security reasons.

If you are after security DON'T use onboard (mobo) raid, because if your mobo dies you will have to find exactly the same mobo (or at least chipset - but it is 50/50) to gain acess to your hdd's. It could be difficult after few years - only used ones mobos @ ebay/similar. And mobo raid usualy suport only raid 0 or 1 but the only raid worth trying is RAID 5 (5 hdd's).
If you are thinking of raid 1 (2 hdd's, second is the mirror of first one) you better use external backup hdd in usb/firewire enclosure for backup. It is more secure since dying PSU can't kill your 2nd backup drive.

When you are thinking of RAID 5, then separate pci card raid is better option because when your mobo dies you simply put your pci raid + hdd's into another computer and you are ok.

To be on a safe side put the system on the separate pata/sata hdd an keep ONLY data on your raid. And for the security make image (ghost, partition image...) of that system disk.

I know you said CHEAP, but it is good to know what you are dealing with.

[VERiON]

sorry, double post - moderator please delete

[Linus]

Do you know of any boards/chipsets which allow change of multiplier in windows? What programs?

CPUMSR and CrystalCPUID are the two I know of. It seems that CrystalCPUID is used mostly by those with the newer Athlon64 processors, but I think it works on other chipsets as well - poke around the site I linked to above (there's an Engrish translation link). CPUMSR lists compatible chipsets on this page.