Welcome to my semi-ambitious, semi-passively cooled X99 Server build log. This will take a long time to reach 'endgame' completion levels, but that's fine with me.
Some of the Why behind this build:
I have a lot of physical media. My parents collected CDs and DVDs like crazy and I have a decent amount of Blu-Rays. However, physical media takes up a lot of room, so I want to digitize all of them. That way I can keep what I want physical copies of, and do whatever with the rest. I have a full tower that has been helpful for starting to things, but I want to go SFF/more space efficient.
Why the HDPlex H5.2?
PCPartPicker Part List for SolidServe.v1 (updated 21/1/16): https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mfMqNP
PCPartPicker estimates wattage of this build at 265W so I can probably run the PSU without a fan, but I'll probably use the stock fan anyways. I have a set of what Larry at HDPlex calls 'racks' for mounting the cpu copper block to the LGA2011-v3 socket. Yes, I know that my cpu socket is rotated sideways. I got the motherboard specifically because it's rotated. I love gimmicks like that, but it requires the VLP RAM. All in all, I should be able to fit what I need on the motherboard and still cool the cpu.
The spare full height pcie slot over the motherboard is where I plan to install the PCIe slot case fan. Not sure if I can adjust the speed of the case fan I have listed (it has Molex connector for power but only uses +/-), but I plan to mod the connector to plug into the cpu fan header anyways. I'm hopeful I can use voltage control to change the speed, but if anyone knows of an off-the-shelf, pwm, pcie slot fan, drop a comment so I can get that instead.
Why do I want half height pcie slots so badly? Well, apart from using a low profile gpu (the wx3100 is hh/hl and powered by the mobo), I want to move the HDD bulk storage to a JBOD or similar enclosure and use solid state drives on the local machine. It just so happens that Icy Dock released a half height, pcie expansion card that mounts m.2 SSDs into a hot swappable chassis. Like I said, gimmicks. So, the only change from v1 to v2 is the storage. See parts list for SolidServe.v2:
PCPartPicker Part List for SolidServe.v2 (updated 21/1/16): https://pcpartpicker.com/list/pZCgqp
Some of the Why behind this build:
I have a lot of physical media. My parents collected CDs and DVDs like crazy and I have a decent amount of Blu-Rays. However, physical media takes up a lot of room, so I want to digitize all of them. That way I can keep what I want physical copies of, and do whatever with the rest. I have a full tower that has been helpful for starting to things, but I want to go SFF/more space efficient.
Why the HDPlex H5.2?
- Passive Cooling (advertised up to a 95W TDP CPU)
- It can fit an ATX motherboard
- Rackmount form factor (<20L is a huge bonus, and the case is 18.3L with/16.8L without the front handles)
- Two backplates allow for different expansion card configs, but I mostly want the plethura of half-height slots.
- Space for 2.5" or 3.5" drives and maybe a slim optical drive with some modding of the front panel. Might go external drive... we'll cross that bridge later.
PCPartPicker Part List for SolidServe.v1 (updated 21/1/16): https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mfMqNP
Case: HDPlex H5 Gen2
PSU: [have] HDPlex 400W AC/DC/ATX Combo
CPU: [have] Intel Xeon E5-2640 V3 2.6 GHz 8-Core Processor
Motherboard: [have] Asus X99-WS/IPMI ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard
RAM: [have] VLP DDR4
Boot SSD: [have] MyDigitalSSD SBXe 960GB
PCIe Card: [have] Asus PCE-AX58BT PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi Adapter
PCIe Card: [have] AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 4 GB Video Card
PCIe Card: [have] LSI 9207-8e
PCIe Card: [have] Icy Dock ToughArmor MB840M2P-B
PCIe Card: [have] Icy Dock ToughArmor MB840M2P-B
Bulk Storage: [have] Toshiba X300 5 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Bulk Storage: [have] Toshiba X300 5 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-XS07UHD
Case Fan: Startech PCIe Slot Rear-Exhaust Fan
Operating System: [have] Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Full - USB 32/64-bit
PCPartPicker estimates wattage of this build at 265W so I can probably run the PSU without a fan, but I'll probably use the stock fan anyways. I have a set of what Larry at HDPlex calls 'racks' for mounting the cpu copper block to the LGA2011-v3 socket. Yes, I know that my cpu socket is rotated sideways. I got the motherboard specifically because it's rotated. I love gimmicks like that, but it requires the VLP RAM. All in all, I should be able to fit what I need on the motherboard and still cool the cpu.
The spare full height pcie slot over the motherboard is where I plan to install the PCIe slot case fan. Not sure if I can adjust the speed of the case fan I have listed (it has Molex connector for power but only uses +/-), but I plan to mod the connector to plug into the cpu fan header anyways. I'm hopeful I can use voltage control to change the speed, but if anyone knows of an off-the-shelf, pwm, pcie slot fan, drop a comment so I can get that instead.
Why do I want half height pcie slots so badly? Well, apart from using a low profile gpu (the wx3100 is hh/hl and powered by the mobo), I want to move the HDD bulk storage to a JBOD or similar enclosure and use solid state drives on the local machine. It just so happens that Icy Dock released a half height, pcie expansion card that mounts m.2 SSDs into a hot swappable chassis. Like I said, gimmicks. So, the only change from v1 to v2 is the storage. See parts list for SolidServe.v2:
PCPartPicker Part List for SolidServe.v2 (updated 21/1/16): https://pcpartpicker.com/list/pZCgqp
Case: HDPlex H5 Gen2
PSU: [have] HDPlex 400W AC/DC/ATX Combo
CPU: [have] Intel Xeon E5-2640 V3 2.6 GHz 8-Core Processor
Motherboard: [have] Asus X99-WS/IPMI ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard
RAM: [have] VLP DDR4
Boot SSD: [have] MyDigitalSSD SBXe 960GB
PCIe Card: [have] Asus PCE-AX58BT PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi Adapter
PCIe Card: [have] AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 4 GB Video Card
PCIe Card: [have] LSI 9207-8e
PCIe Card: [have] Icy Dock ToughArmor MB840M2P-B
PCIe Card: [have] Icy Dock ToughArmor MB840M2P-B
Internal Bulk Storage: M.2 SSD >2TB
Internal Bulk Storage: M.2 SSD >2TB
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-XS07UHD
Case Fan: Startech PCIe Slot Rear-Exhaust Fan
Operating System: [have] Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Full - USB 32/64-bit
External Bulk Storage: Silverstone RS431S or similar chassis
External Bulk Storage Drives: multiple [have 2] Toshiba X300 5 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drives
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