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wsume99 · (This post was last modified: 2012-05-17, 13:44 by wsume99.)

Why go with a Sempron when you can have a G530 for close to the same price and get lower power consumption and the power to run add-ons if you want to move in that direction? I can speak from experience given that my first server had a Sempron chip and I switched to a Intel E5500. The E5500 actually uses less power than the Sempron did. A SandyBridge would do even better. Don't get me wrong - a Sempron will be just fine - but I think the G530 is probably the best choice for what you are after. It is cheap, low power, and gives you the most flexibility.

KraziJoe · 2012-05-17, 13:51

(2012-05-17, 13:43)wsume99 Wrote: Why go with a Sempron when you can have a G530 for close to the same price and get lower power consumption and the power to run add-ons if you want to move in that direction? I can speak from experience given that my first server had a Sempron chip and I switched to a Intel E5500. The E5500 actually uses less power than the Sempron did. A SandyBridge would do even better. Don't get me wrong - a Sempron will be just fine - but I think the G530 is probably the best choice for what you are after. It is cheap, low power, and gives you the most flexibility.

What MB would you pair it with?

**Beer40oz** · 2012-05-17, 17:19

(2012-05-17, 13:43)wsume99 Wrote: Why go with a Sempron when you can have a G530 for close to the same price and get lower power consumption and the power to run add-ons if you want to move in that direction? I can speak from experience given that my first server had a Sempron chip and I switched to a Intel E5500. The E5500 actually uses less power than the Sempron did. A SandyBridge would do even better. Don't get me wrong - a Sempron will be just fine - but I think the G530 is probably the best choice for what you are after. It is cheap, low power, and gives you the most flexibility.

When I built my server everyone on the unraid forums praised the Sempron... that is why I headed that way!...

As less power .... how much less power are we talking about?

Will it really make such a difference on the power bill?

cwide · 2012-05-17, 17:48

I would probably go G530 just because they are roughly the same price and the passmark is 870 (Sempron) vs 2200 (G530).

It may be more than he needs right now, but the G530 should provide similar power consumption (or maybe better) and more options for the future.

As for motherboards... I would just go with the cheapest LGA1155 that fits your HDD set up and has the right video outs that you want. Unless you want SATA 3 you can probably find an acceptable board for ~$50.

KraziJoe · 2012-05-17, 19:17

Refurb drives? Anyone ever buy any?

wsume99 · (This post was last modified: 2012-05-17, 20:16 by wsume99.)

(2012-05-17, 17:19)Beer40oz Wrote:
(2012-05-17, 13:43)wsume99 Wrote: Why go with a Sempron when you can have a G530 for close to the same price and get lower power consumption and the power to run add-ons if you want to move in that direction? I can speak from experience given that my first server had a Sempron chip and I switched to a Intel E5500. The E5500 actually uses less power than the Sempron did. A SandyBridge would do even better. Don't get me wrong - a Sempron will be just fine - but I think the G530 is probably the best choice for what you are after. It is cheap, low power, and gives you the most flexibility.

When I built my server everyone on the unraid forums praised the Sempron... that is why I headed that way!...

As less power .... how much less power are we talking about?

Will it really make such a difference on the power bill?

I'll start by saying that your server's power consumption only really matters if you are running it 24/7. If you are putting it to sleep then I would not worry about it at all. That said, I saw about a 30w decrease in idle power consumption (70w to 40w) when I switched from a Gigabyte MB w/ a Sempron 140 to a Supermicro MB w/ an E5500. This is what I observed with my hardware so YMMV. As I said before I think that the Sandy Bridge Pentium/Celeron chips are just about the best option out there when it comes to a low power server. I'd say that with a G530 your idle power (for a 3 drive server) would be in the low to mid 20's. One reason why so many people praise the Sempron on the unraid forums is because it is been around for a few years now and it is so cheap and there are tons of cheap AMD boards out there to pair it with. The problem with Intel is their products are usually more $$$ but the G530 is a very compelling price for the performance you get. If you live near a MicroCenter you can get one for $40 otherwise it's on Newegg for $50. So for just about the same price or slightly more then a Sempron you can get more than twice the computing power and better power consumption.

How much of a difference will this make in your power bill? Well that depends on how much you use the server and your electricity rate. If you use it 24/7 and you pay $0.10/kwh then every watt you save equals about $1 per year. So in my case I'm saving about $30/year. The best time to consider power consumption is when you are building a new system. I would not recommend replacing your CPU/MB simply to lower your power use unless your electricity rate is a lot higher than $0.10/kwh. It doesn't make much sense to me to spend >$120 replacing h/w to save $30/year. That would be a 4 year payback and most likely you would have upgraded your hardware for another reason during that timeframe anyways. So my advice would be to wait until you have another reason to upgrade your hardware.

(2012-05-17, 19:17)KraziJoe Wrote: Refurb drives? Anyone ever buy any?

No, but as long as they have the same warranty as a new drive I don't see why it would be a bad option.

spencers · (This post was last modified: 2012-05-17, 20:42 by spencers.)

(2012-05-16, 23:10)eskro Wrote: Sempron is perfect if u want to use your NAS as server only. (no sick/ no couch/ no sab....).

+1
Well, the Sempron 130 I'm running is more than enough for Sick/Couch/SAB.

Heck, it even runs Plex Media Server and streams to my iPad/iPhone without any problem.

KraziJoe · 2012-05-17, 21:49

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EADS 2TB---REFURB

wsume99 · 2012-05-18, 01:37

It only has a 90 day warranty. I've seen new 2TB HDDs on sale recently for $110. I don't think it's worth saving $20 for a much shorter warranty on a device that has already been found defective once. I think you'd be better off buying a used HDD for $90 that is still under the original warranty. But that's just my opinion.

KraziJoe · 2012-05-18, 13:44

(2012-05-18, 01:37)wsume99 Wrote: It only has a 90 day warranty. I've seen new 2TB HDDs on sale recently for $110. I don't think it's worth saving $20 for a much shorter warranty on a device that has already been found defective once. I think you'd be better off buying a used HDD for $90 that is still under the original warranty. But that's just my opinion.

Didn't notice that. Saw it said 3 year limited warranty and went with that. Called them and cancelled it.

**Harro** · 2012-05-18, 14:53

Samsung 2TB for 99 with this code EMCNEJB48. 60 hours left on this deal

KraziJoe · 2012-05-18, 14:56

(2012-05-18, 14:53)Harro Wrote: Samsung 2TB for 99 with this code EMCNEJB48. 60 hours left on this deal

Yeah, got that email this morning. Was wanting some Hitachi's(WD) but these will do.

**Beer40oz** · 2012-05-18, 19:33

Heard so many bad reviews on them Samsung F4 drives... on the unraid forums.

wsume99 · (This post was last modified: 2012-05-18, 19:53 by wsume99.)

(2012-05-18, 19:33)Beer40oz Wrote: Heard so many bad reviews on them Samsung F4 drives... on the unraid forums.

The only issue that I am aware of was a firmware problem that could result in data corruption but that was corrected about a year ago with updated firmware. AFAIK the Samsung drives are reliabile but I'm only basing that off of what I've read on the unraid forums because I have ony used WD, Seagate, and Hitachi drives so I don't have any first hand experience with Samsung HDDs.

KraziJoe · 2012-05-18, 20:31

the samsungs are just rebranded Seagate drives, right?