Hi, I've been toying with the of building a new PC (Mixed purpose). I would like to use ECC RAM so that I can use ZFS (Linux) properly and was wondering what CPUs/Motherboards are suitable. I think if I go Intel it has to be a Xeon? My existing machine is a i7-4770K running at stock and it is easily fast enough to the few games I like ( gw2 runs fine, though the GTX 760 might be struggling). So if I have to get a Xeon, what would you recommend to say give me 75% single core performance at not silly prices? I'm guessing that an older generation would be fine, but I'm not that savvy when it comes the xeon naming. Best Regards
Strictly speaking you don't need a Xeon. A lot of the i3 range support ECC on LGA1150. Interestingly, only a very select few of the i5s and i7s do (I doubt you'd be able to source one through standard retail). Here's a list of all the 1150 CPUs which support ECC RAM. Boards tend to support ECC RAM just because they can, though always worth a double check.
Nice, Thanks for the pointers. From the list if I want 4 cores I'll need a Xeon. My current MB is a Maximus VI Gene which supports a E3-1270 v3 but 'not all the features' A look on the ASUS web site states Non-ECC, Un-Buffered Memory, so maybe its not supported. I could go for a 2011-V3 MB and proc, the Asrock ones spec ECC with Xeons.
Yeah you would likely be right on your board not supporting it. Seems likely a ton of money just to get ECC RAM. Why do you need ZFS so badly?
IIRC you need a server/workstation chipset for ECC... so essentially one of the C2xx series chipsets for s115x or x99 [but iirc only some X99 boards support ECC ram properly...]
I guess its a bit of a project. Compression and Dedup are quite rare for Linux file systems. I've been testing a bunch of 2.5" 2TB drives and its about time I put them to proper use. ZFS seems to give me flexibility I might need. Its also something new to learn. With luck I can squeeze everything into a small uATX case so I can transport things practically.
If you want cheap - get AMD AM3 mobo + cpu. Pretty much all AMD MB up to/including AM3 support ECC RAM. Any Intel solution will require motherboard with server/workstation chipset (i.e. expensive). p.s. ZFS Cheesecake. The only real alternative is BTRFS, but its, imo, not stable enough. p.s.s. make sure you really need dedup, its a RAM hog. 2GB/TB is a bare minimum.
Thanks for the suggestions. Its a shame the amd single core performance is so low, wine doesn't do multicore that well. I guess the most sensible one is the FX-8370E?
No. The most sensible option is the cheapest, 8320E and spend about ten seconds overclocking it yourself
To clarify, are you replacing your gaming machine with this new workstation? If so I may have a suggestion you might approve of
If I remember corectly, FX series CPUs dont support ECC. ECC memory on AM3+ mobos only works if you use AM3 ( i.e Phenom II) or Opteron CPU and even then its not guaranteed.
new box -> primary machine primary machine -> secondary machine at 2nd address secondary machine -> backup box backup box -> spares Well thats the plan.
I think it looks like ECC support is officially supported only on 'server' boards. However I've seen reports that Unbuffered ECC ram is unofficially supported by the GA-990FXA-UD* mbs but I'm not sure with which processor family.
There are considerably more choices for ECC ram on crucial's website for the X99 ASRock X99 Extreme 4 than the AM3+ GA-990FXA-UD7. Strangely one of the options for the AM3+ board is for 3 sticks. I wonder if thats a limitation (channels perhaps).
