i5/7 MOBO recommendations for Dual NIC Roon core server?

[davide256]

Wondering if anyone else has been down the path of building their own PC for Roon core server and if they did

bridged Ethernet where they ended up for MOBO solution.

         NUC's don't look too attractive as Roon server because (a) they only support  1 internal slim 2.5  SATA drive (b) only have 1 NIC.

 

As I've read through the Roon core build descriptions for NUC, I'm coming up with the following as a requirement

 

a) Support for M.2 drive to house OS

b) 8gb RAM to allow WIndows Pro OS use

c) at least 2 SATA bays that allow 3.5 HD's 

d) 2 Gb Ethernet NIC's built in

e) i5 processor seems future proof  given that I don't use DSP's/oversampling

 

Opinions, anyone have experience they want to share?

 

My current server uses an AMD FX 8300 processor, 8gb, Win10, SSD for OS, 1 onboard NIC, 1 PCI slot NIC.... no observed Roon performance issues but its unstable with 2 bridged NIC's

 

[plissken]

What do you mean by unstable with two  bridged NIC's? What NIC's are you using? Have you attempted to Nuke and Pave your current rig to see if the instability issues go away?

 

Your setup should be fine for Roon Core. 

 

I swear by the Intel Dual GBe and even have an extra I could ship you. Just pay postage. 

[davide256]

I don't think re-imaging will help with BSOD crashes, already have  PCI and PCIE NIC cards at hand that I've tried. Usual error message after bridging is "driver corrupted expool" and occasionally a power related error message. Will try an experiment today, remove AMD graphics card and use MOBO graphics... that should rule out too much demand on the power supply . But I still want to go the route I described above for a separate dedicated/ always on server .

[plissken]

What's your budget? I personally like SuperMicro.

[davide256]

I'd like to stay around $800 for the build, excluding media storage drives. If the Sonic transporter i5 had dual NIC's I would have been tempted to go that  route as meeting all my requirements, and working out of the box for Roon core. Windows use only becomes important if DIY OS install, as I have no experience with Linux

[plissken]

With $800 budget:

 

MSI Mainboard (M.2, USB 3.1) $60

 

8GB DDR4 $70

 

Fractal Design Full ATX Case (6 internal 3.5)  $130

 

EVGA G3 550 Watt Modular Power Supply $60 after rebate

 

Intel i7 Coffee Lake $359

 

Silicon Power 120GB M.2 $32

 

I have a dual Intel GBe that will work for you instead of burning your budget on a mainboard with two NIC's. That's just a waste of $$ vs going with an add in card. Plus someday you may want 2.5 or 10GBe. 

 

Get's you to $711

[davide256]

On 8/25/2018 at 1:39 PM, plissken said:

With $800 budget:

 

MSI Mainboard (M.2, USB 3.1) $60

 

8GB DDR4 $70

 

Fractal Design Full ATX Case (6 internal 3.5)  $130

 

EVGA G3 550 Watt Modular Power Supply $60 after rebate

 

Intel i7 Coffee Lake $359

 

Silicon Power 120GB M.2 $32

 

I have a dual Intel GBe that will work for you instead of burning your budget on a mainboard with two NIC's. That's just a waste of $$ vs going with an add in card. Plus someday you may want 2.5 or 10GBe. 

 

Get's you to $711

I think the watts demand looks like

 

CPU = 95W

8Gb DDR4 ~10W

mobo~ 60W

m.2~25W

2x512gb SSD (existing media drives)~50W

which comes out to about 250W, should work with the 500W fanless Rosewill supply I already have.  I find Noctua CPU coolers a must for quieter server build,

should cost about the same as the EVGA power supply

 

don't see desirability in an add on video card as it won't be used and could drive power consumption up another 100W.   Roon GUI does requires Open GL 3.0 on PC,

so have to verify that any built in graphics also supports, else more cost/power demand.

 

My existing system BSOD errors are still a problem so it looks like bridging just exasperated a problem that was  there before, i'll reuse the dual PCIE Rosewill NIC.

Appreciate the help, still delving into if the Intel chip set built in graphics supports Open GL 3.0

 

 

 

[plissken]

The mainboard has built in HDMI/DVI

[billg]

You could use a usb 3.0 to ethernet adapter for the second nic like I do on my jplay control pc.  Mine is an Edimax which I bought to try out the idea and like it so much it stayed. There are probably high priced "audiophile" versions available.