I am still learning about the different caveats of building a NAS PC, which will only be used for network storage access. However, it seems like there are watch-outs in terms of CPU, motherboard, and RAM compatibility for a 24/7 system. The basic requirements are:
- CPU integrated GPU
- ECC RAM support
- [Preferably] x16 PCIe bifurcation support (x4/x4/x4/x4 or x8/x8)
- Low idle power consumption
- mATX or mini-ITX form factor
- 2 or more M.2 PCIe3.0 x4 slots and/or single x16 PCIe4.0 slot
- No need for transcoding or multi-threaded load applications
Below are what I think are the pros/cons with each platform, but I would like to know if there is anything missing:
Intel (LGA1700)
Pros: DDR4 support, usually more M.2 slots than AMD boards, low idle power consumption as consumer CPU on low-end
Cons: No CPU ECC RAM support for 1x500 and below CPUs, ECC RAM support only for W680/W780 chipset, PCIe bifurcation only available on Z690/Z790 consumer boards
- CPUs: 13500, 13600K, 14600K
AMD (AM5)
Pros: Most motherboards support PCIe bifurcation, newest platform, iGPU on almost all CPUs, ECC support on all CPUs
Cons: Higher platform and DDR5 cost, ECC RAM support is mostly only supported by ASUS boards, highest CPU idle power consumption?
- CPUs: 7600, 7600X, 7900
AMD (AM4)
Pros: DDR4 support, most motherboards support ECC RAM, most motherboards support PCIe bifurcation
Cons: No CPU ECC RAM support for non-PRO CPUs, PCIe gen 3 for APUs, very limited iGPU options, conflicting reviews on idle power consumption vs. AM5 CPUs
- CPUs: PRO 5750G, PRO 4750G, PRO 4350G
Based on the above, it seems like AM5 is the easiest to obtain the hardware but with highest idle consumption, Intel is the most limited in motherboard options, and AM4 is the most limited in CPU options?
Do you really need an integrated GPU for GPU purposes? If not, consider the Asrock Rack X470/X570 motherboards + a 5950x or something. They come with real IPMI, explicitly support ECC, and have an onboard VGA output driven by the BMC.
AM4 CPUs have also gotten really cheap these days for how much compute you can get out of them. The only downside here is that the board is relatively expensive.
It’s also worth pointing out that DDR5’s on-die ECC (this is what you get on consumer platforms running consumer RAM) does not provide the same level of ECC protection as the traditional DDR4 ECC UDIMM/RDIMM (and prior) implementations.
Alternately, do you really need this level of performance? “will only be used for network storage access” suggests that you could get away with far far less CPU performance. If it’s truly only used for ZFS and file serving from HDDs, then you could go as old and as cheap as Haswell or Skylake and still have enough performance.
Yeah CPU performance is not really important since it will only be used to access SATA drives and possibly a HBA card. I was not aware the AsRock Rack AM4 boards had a motherboard iGPU either, since the iGPU will only be used to see the OS. I will probably go with one of the cheaper 5000 series CPUs in that case with AM4, since I do want more CPU lanes for the M.2 and I/O. The higher lane count is needed to access 2.5" SSDs and preferably at least 16 drives. Yes, DDR5 ECC protection is not really good enough so the board will need to support actual ECC DIMMs (i.e. only ASUS and AsRock Rack).
I think the board price is expected to be expensive regardless of whether it is ITX or mATX since with LGA1700 you have only the W680 mATX or ITX, AM4 requires a relatively expensive PRO chip or AsRock Rack board, and AM5 is just expensive. That being said, AM5 seems to only have the downside of high idle power draw whereas the other 2 options seem very limited in board or CPU choice if pricing is ignored.