What ASRock motherboard? I'm curious.

If you buy a 1U prepare for high RPM super winey fans. I'd go at least 2U so there's a little breathing room and the space to fit 80mm fans which are a fair bit quieter.

@Windows7ge i already have the chassis, i got one for free, and it is exactly why i was going for one of the many low power asrock boards.

I see, and that ASRock motherboard model # is...

J3455-ITX if i recall.

Yeah that's weird. Reviews of the motherboard show people using 16GB no problem.

A little digging brought me to this:

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Hello FTP,

Thank you for joining the Processors Community. I can sure help you with you inquiry.

I would like to let you know that the processor in question is an Intel® System on Chip (SoC) processor. For this model there is a Max Memory Size supported; however, in this case it is dependent on memory type used for the SoC. And, in this case the computer manufacturer in the one that decides which memory type and the maximum supported for their particular computer model. Our datasheet: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/pentium/pentium-celeron-n-series-j-series-datasheet-vol-1.html Intel® Pentium® and Celeron® Processor N and J Series: Datasheet 1, states that the maximum size supported is 8 GB, and that the densities (4,8,12 or 16 GB) varies depending on the memory used(LPDDR4, LPDDR3 or DDR3L), but it is up to the computer manufacturer to define which will be the maximum for their specific model. See below for the table 3.2 Specifics of Supported Memory Technologies(page 63).

Please let me know if this helps.

Regards,

Amy C.

Sause

So like the Intel.ark says it's dependent on what memory type you use.

In light of that if you're concerned about what type I'd stick to the QVL.

i've read that one, and for as much as i can figure that guy's marketing blurb out.. it says 8GB across the board.

Wherever it says "computer" replace it with "motherboard" and it makes more sense.

He/She's basically saying the motherboard manufacturer is responsible for dictating the maximum amount of memory the CPU can handle. This is probably due in part to the fact it's a BGA. If it were socketed Intel would probably make the fixed spec of (You can't use more than X).

But if you rather build something more powerful I'm all for hearing about it. You can find E5 2670's for $75~100. They have 1U coolers. Then the server could handle 384GB of RAM.

i've dug out the entire PDF, on all layouts the chip supports, it states 8GB max system memory.

and if it was about *any* 1u chassis i'd get a proliant DL360 G7 from work, i got this nice NAS chassis, i'd like to make it useful. i dont need beastly processors with endless amounts of ram, i need something that'll hold enough ram to at least somewhat follow freenas spec..

There's a lot of misconception surrounding the FreeNAS spec. 8GB would be more than enough for any amount of data you want to store (10, 20, 30,...100TB) but the more you have the more data you can cache in memory which is nice for 10Gbit networking.

I always like to recommend either the C2750D4I or the C2550D4I but both come with a bitch of a price tag. Amazing little boards though.

the thing is.. ZFS.. if i were just doing some form of raid or not targetting optimal performance, i'd keep using the *hilareous* hardware that's in the box now.

and for as much as both options you sent me may make sense, they have WAY too many sata ports for what i need given the price of options without additional 3 SATA controllers, and the entire range of boards are pretty much unfindable here.

the closest i've come to finding a small form factor NAS/Server oriented board is 2 supermicro boards on azerty.nl that *may* arrive in a week.

I have a Ryzen 2400G in mine and no issues so far. The thing is also plenty fast for pretty much anything. It's good that it has onboard Video aswell for the initial setup or whenever you have to access it later. 

The thing that is not so great is the amount of pcie lanes on these Ryzens. 

It also took me some time to find a motherboard with more than 6 sata ports that are always usable.

"It's good that it has onboard Video aswell for the initial"

turn that into "its good that it has onboard video" because you actually need video out to make a computer post at all.

Yeah it's a little board intended for use in fairly big storage type applications that aren't massively CPU intensive. The mix of different controllers doesn't matter to ZFS it'll RAID them together without a care. If you only plan to use 1, 2, 3 maybe 4 drives then it's not worth the cost.

Also something about not being easily available to your country.

Ever use a friend like a proxy to get something delivered?

@Windows7ge two things you seem to be missing:

- its not that the extra sata controllers are a problem, its that i dont wanna pay for something i dont need, if there's options where i dont.

- the entire range of asrock rack boards, and i've researched basicly all of them at this point.. are highly specialized boards, that are essentially only easily accessible as B2B, trough a very limited amount of suppliers. it's not my country, it's not even really the EU, it's a worldwide issue. 

No retailer would sensibly bother getting stock of them due to the extreme amount of slightly different boards, and the extremely small market for them. case in point, my preferred retailer actually got (presumably) small stock of before mentioned boards back around when linus did the tiny storage server video, and it took them until sometime last year to get rid of all of them. 

also, it would beat the point going for an all in one board that provides a logical budget option, if the amount of shipping cost would mean i could buy consumer (gamer?) hardware, and tone it down until it doesnt turn the chassis into a furnace.

trust me, i'm well past a month into research on this stuff, if it was as simple as thinking out the box for shipping solutions, i'd have a NAS already.

I understood your point perfectly:

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they have WAY too many sata ports for what i need given the price of options without additional 3 SATA controllers

As I reiterated it here:

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If you only plan to use 1, 2, 3 maybe 4 drives then it's not worth the cost.

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- the entire range of asrock rack boards, and i've researched basicly all of them at this point.. are highly specialized boards, that are essentially only easily accessible as B2B, trough a very limited amount of suppliers. it's not my country, it's not even really the EU, it's a worldwide issue. 

Each country has it's short comings in terms of "local" suppliers. I've had to buy some things internationally over the years because the U.S. didn't have any easily findable suppliers. If shipping costs are that bad where you live then I guess that's out the window.

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trust me, i'm well past a month into research on this stuff, if it was as simple as thinking out the box for shipping solutions, i'd have a NAS already.

Over a month. Due to finances or your country is just that limited in easily locally acquirable goods?