Intel Mini-ITX Atom 8-core Hardware Build Recipe Available Here

Sir Loin

I recently built my pfSense router server and found all the information on this forum I needed, but not in one place. So I am putting the recipe here for future builders as a reference:

Motherboard: Supermicro A1SRi-2758f
RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L PC3-12800 ECC CL11 1.35V SODIMM KVR16LSE11/8.
- It is best to run 2 sticks of SODIMM to get interleave memory access through both channels. If you want less RAM, get 2 sticks of 4GB SODIMMs. Or, if you forgo interleaving, get just 1 stick of 8GB SODIMM so you can upgrade later without throwing away 2 sticks of 4GB SODIMMs.
Case: M350 Universal Mini-ITX enclosure
This case is very small and well built. Keep in mind though it doesn't have room for any expansion card to utilize the PCIE slot.
Case Accessories: M350 HDD/Fan bracket and one or more 40mm fans.
- If you have one drive installed, you can install 2 more fans on another bracket and 1 fan on the front of the case for a total of 3 fans. You may need a fan splitter cable. I think there are only 2 fan headers on the motherboard. The M350 comes with 1 bracket so you will only need one more. The CPU runs at about 70 degrees C without any fan at about 15% CPU utilization. A fan or two will help a lot in lowering the temp.
Power Supply: 150w AC-DC Power Adapter, 12v 12.5A with 4-pin connector
- The A1SRi-2758f works with either the 4-pin connector or the 20-pin connector, but not both at the same time (per motherboard manual chapter 1-6 on page 1-12). This power supply works with this motherboard. You will need a 4-pin power cable extender. Additionally, you will need a Serial ATA 15 Pin Female to LP4 Female Power Cable to connect power to the hard drive or SSD of your choice, if you are not using only USB memory stick for boot or storage. Alternatively, this power brick + picoPSU combo will work and has the hard drive power connector built in.
I hope this is helpful for other folks who are looking to build one of these 8-core monsters! :)

scuzy

i am about to build my new pfsense box using similar hardware except i got the inwin BQS656.dd120bl case since it came with a external 120watt power adapter.

jasonlitka

There's something wrong with your build, or your climate, if you're at 70C. You really don't need multiple fans. In some installs you won't need any at all.

Sir Loin

The 40mm fans are on their way to me. I have the box in a closet that is kind a hot without any air circulation. I have a 120mm fan on top of it now blowing down, and it runs at 32 degrees C at low CPU utilization. I will have a better idea how it runs with 1, 2, or 3 fans when I receive my fans later this week. I think I will really only need 2 fans at most.

Sir Loin

Two fans came in tonight. Installed them just now. The 8 cores are running at between 27 to 29 degrees C with 2% of CPU utilization. Even with the fan speed set to Standard (slowest) through IPMI, the fans are noisy. The box is in a closet so it is okay for me.

Sir Loin

Here are a few pictures with a picoPSU. I will have the 4-pin power brick and wires tonight :D

Jailer

Nice pics Sir Loin. What's the front USB for?

I really wish Supermicro offered this mitx board with a 2358 CPU. Even if they did it would be overkill for my needs but at 7w TDP cooling wouldn't be an issue.

robi

@Jason:

There's something wrong with your build, or your climate, if you're at 70C. You really don't need multiple fans. In some installs you won't need any at all.

It's the climate. I've got two of these motherboards (in different cases, one of them is the 1U Rack case from Supermicro itself) and they both run at 70C temperature. None of these boxes operate in air conditioned server rooms.
Throwing a fan on top of them reduces temperature drastically.

Sir Loin

Got the new power brick that Jason recommends last night. Now I have 3 fans installed, too. I added a couple Low-Noise-Adapter (L.N.A) from my other Noctua NF-F12 fans and now they run very quiet in the closet and at about 32 degrees C at about 3% CPU utilization. Pretty good. I have a couple more pictures to post later with the new power brick and fans. :D

Sir Loin

@Jailer:

Nice pics Sir Loin. What's the front USB for?

The front USB can be used for your USB memory stick boot drive or a USB wifi stick. The case comes with a USB extension cable that you can plug into the motherboard. Unfortunately this is USB 2.0 only (on the case) and there isn't a USB 2.0 header on this Supermicro motherboard, so it is left unconnected on my setup.

Red Boll

Thank you for sharing! Nice pictures.

My MSI Z97I AC with a dual core Intel Pentium G3460 is running at 45°C-47°C at 3% CPU usage with just the stock Intel cooler and one intake fan provided with the case. Since I have just 2 fan headers on the mobo I am not using the include case outtake fan.

I will add some extra (LED) fans for some "extra coolness" 8) in the near feature. ;)

(Case is not in a closet but "on display" in my computer room)

Sir Loin

Here are a few more pictures with the new power setup.

The complete setup. The new 4-pin power supply and a 4-pin extension cable. I added one Y-cable and two low noise cable from my Nortura fans. Also you can see the cable that draws power from the motherboard to the SSD. picoPSU is no longer needed.

From the side, you can see the 4-pin extension cable connected to the 4-pin connector on the motherboard. You can also see the fan Y-cables.

I need to find a very short SATA cable. Not sure if one exists.

The third fan installed, configured to blow outward. The top two fans are configured to blow down and into the case.

4-pin power connector installed on the back of the case. Had to cut the center part of the hole off.

Sir Loin

BTW, I had this error from the VGA output:

Igb3: Could not setup receive structures

I needed to do this below to get the system to work. It is from https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Tuning_and_Troubleshooting_Network_Cards

Intel igb(4) and em(4) Cards

Certain intel igb cards, especially multi-port cards, can very easily exhaust mbufs and cause kernel panics, especially on amd64. The following tweak will prevent this from being an issue:
In /boot/loader.conf.local - Add the following (or create the file if it does not exist):
kern.ipc.nmbclusters="1000000"
That will increase the amount of network memory buffers, allowing the driver enough headroom for its optimal operation.

To avoid this, only enable WAN and LAN during setup, then go to the shell to create the file (if it isn't there already) and edit it. I went to the shell (use VGA out or IPMI) and downloaded nano editor (I don't use VI, which is built in already).

pkg_add -r ftp://ftp-archive.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/ports/i386/packages-8.1-release/Latest/nano.tbz

pkg is not part of pfsense. Follow the steps in this link to bootstrap pkg on pfsense:

https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Installing_FreeBSD_Packages

robi

@Sir:

BTW, I had this error from the VGA output:
Igb3: Could not setup receive structures
I needed to do this below to get the system to work. It is from https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Tuning_and_Troubleshooting_Network_Cards

I really don't see what triggers this at certain people.
I've got the very same motherboard using gigabit internet and dual WAN on two of the ports, using VLANs on the others, and my MBUFs are only at 14%. No tweak needed.
I start fearing that this is gonna hit me unexpectedly one day, so I'm trying to understand what's the logic behind.

Fredster

@Sir Loin: Do you have a wattage meter available to you to measure how much power your setup draws from the wall? Thank you for sharing your build!

Sir Loin

Yes, I do have a Killawatt. I can plug it in to see what kind of wattage it is pulling. It should be less than 20W.

scuzy

here is mine in a inwin BQ656.DD120 case that comes with an external powersupply for $64
i added a noctua 40mm cpu cooler to keep my board running at 31C

Sir Loin

@Fredster:

@Sir Loin: Do you have a wattage meter available to you to measure how much power your setup draws from the wall? Thank you for sharing your build!

I plugged in my Killawatt yesterday when I installed a new, shorter SATA cable. It is about 16 to 20 Watts during boot up, and about 21-22 watts at about 3% CPU utilization. The only thing drawing power besides the motherboard and the RAM is a Samsung 850 Evo 250GB SSD. This SSD draws on average 4 Watts and 50 mWatts during idle. I only did a quick look last night. I will check again to night.

For shorter SATA cables, I found two that work.
6-inch: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009GUKTQK
4-inch: http://www.amazon.com/Pack-Double-Locking-SATA-III-Cables/dp/B00KRSM3JG/ (this is a 5-pack)

I would rather have the 4-inch one, but I only needed one, so I got the 6-inch cable instead. Beats having a 10-inch, 12-inch, or 18-inch SATA cable in the case blocking air flow.

The absolute shortest SATA cable I can find is this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-SATA-Data-Cable-for-XBOX-One-Disk-Drive-DG-6M1S-/221778473401

It works if you connect to port 5 or 6, but not port 0.

Sir Loin

Checked again tonight.

2% CPU
CPU cores at 31C to 34C
Killawatt shows 17.7W to 18.0W

scuzy

i added a noctua 92mm case fan that's near dead silent to my case and now all 8 cores runs at 25-28c which is perfect.