Frank Steinmetzger wrote: > Am Sat, Apr 13, 2024 at 08:23:27AM -0500 schrieb Dale: >> Rich Freeman wrote: >>> On Sat, Apr 13, 2024 at 8:11 AM Dale <rdalek1...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> My biggest thing right now, finding a mobo with plenty of PCIe slots. >>>> They put all this new stuff, wifi and such, but remove things I do need, >>>> PCIe slots. >>> PCIe and memory capacity seem to have become the way the >>> server/workstation and consumer markets are segmented. >>> >>> AM5 gets you 28x v5 lanes. SP5 gets you 128x v5 lanes. The server >>> socket also has way more memory capacity, though I couldn't quickly >>> identify exactly how much more due to the ambiguous way in which DDR5 >>> memory channels are referenced all over the place. Suffice it to say >>> you can put several times as many DIMMs into a typical server >>> motherboard, especially if you have two CPUs on it (two CPUs likewise >>> increases the PCIe capacity). >> I see lots of mobos with those little hard drives on a stick. I think >> they called NVME or something, may have spelling wrong. > The physical connector is called M.2. The dimensions of the “sticks” are > given in a number such as 2280, meaning 22 mm wide and 80 mm long. There are > different lengths available from 30 to 110 mm. M.2 has different “keys”, > meaning there are several variants of electrical hookup. Depending on that, > it can support SATA, PCIe, or both. NVMe is a protocol that usually runs via > PCIe. So for a modern setup, one usually buys NVMe drives, meaning they are > connected via PCIe either directly to the CPU or over the chipset. >
Ahh, that's why some of them look a little different. I was wondering about that. Keep in mind, I've never seen one in real life. Just pictures or videos, or people talking about them on this list. >> For most >> people, that is likely awesome. For me, I think I'd be happy with a >> regular SSD. Given that, I'd like them to make a mobo where one can say >> cut off/disable that NVME thing and make use of that "lane" as a PCIe >> slot(s). Even if that means having a cable that hooks to the mobo and >> runs elsewhere to connect PCIe cards. In other words, have one slot >> that is expandable to say three or four slots with what I think is >> called a back-plane. > There is also the other way around that: an adapter card for the M.2 slot > that gives you SATA ports. > I didn't know that. I looked on ebay, not sure exactly what to search for or what they look like but, I found something that looks like adapter. I only see one SATA connector but more searching could find something else. >> I have considered getting a server type mobo and CPU for my new build. > The only reason I got a server board for my little 4-slot NAS is to get ECC > support. (Plus you don’t get non-server Mini-ITX with more than four SATAs). > But it runs the smallest i3 I could get. It’s a NAS, not a workstation. It > serves files, nothing more. I don’t mind if updates take longer than on a > Desktop, which is why I don’t see a point in speccing it out to the top > CPU-wise. This only adds cost to acquisition and upkeep. > > I just did the profile switch to 23, and it rebuilt 685 packages in a little > over six hours, plus 1½ hours for gcc beforehand. > >> As you point out, they are packed with features I could likely use. > “Could likely”? Which features exactly? As you say yourself: > I've seen some server type mobos that have SAS connectors which gives several options. Some of them tend to have more PCIe slots which some regular mobos don't anymore. Then there is that ECC memory as well. If the memory doesn't cost to much more, I could go that route. I'm not sure how much I would benefit from it but data corruption is a thing to be concerned about. >> Thing is, the price tag makes me faint and fall out of my chair. Even >> used ones that are a couple years old, in the floor I go. -_- I looked >> up a SP5 AMD CPU, pushing $800 just for the CPU on Ebay, used. The mobo >> isn't cheap either. I don't know if that would even serve my purpose. > Exactly. Those boards and CPUs are made to run servers that serve entire > SMBs so that the employees can work on stuff at the same time. As a one-man > entity, I don’t expect you’ll ever really need that raw power. If it’s just > for SATA ports, you can get controller cards for those. > The problem with those cards, some of the newer mobos don't have as many PCIe slots to put those cards into anymore. I think I currently have two such cards in my current rig. The new rig would hold almost twice the number of drives. Obviously, I'd need cards with more SATA ports. >> The biggest thing I need PCIe slots for, drive controllers. I thought >> about buying a SAS card and having it branch out into a LOT of drives. >> Still, I might need two cards even then. > But it would be the most logical choice. > >> It's like looking at the cereal isle in a store. All those choices and >> most of them . . . . are corn. ROFL > Nice one. > One reason I'm trying not to move to fast right now, besides trying to save up money, I'm trying to find the right CPU, mobo and memory combo. None of them are cheap anymore. Just the CPU is going to be around $400. The mobo isn't to far behind if I go with a non server one. I'm trying to weigh out lots of options at this point. My budget keeps getting in the way tho. LOL Dale :-) :-)
