Good homeserver motherboard?

[Fuzzy112]

Hello, I'm looking to buy a low powered home server and I've been looking at different SoC motherboards but I can't quite figure out which one would be the best. I'd like it to have 2-4 sata ports, ITX or mATX size factor and some low powered dual/quad core Intel or AMD processor. 

 

I guess the "best" choice would be one with Bay Trail processor but there aren't many motherboards with those. Gigabyte has a few interesting ones and Asrock aswell but does anyone here have experiences with them?

[H4X3R]

Have a look at some of these:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.aspx?s=47&

Or if you want to build it yourself:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1Mmpw

[Moredeath]

What's your reason not to get an i3/Xeon and an ITX board? Power draw isn't all that higher and you can get the features you'd like

Have a look at some of these:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.aspx?s=47&

Or these are an acceptable option too.

[Unlocker9000]

What about the ASRock C2750D4I? It looks like a real good board, but comes at a high price. Tek Syndicate did a review of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2ERph8v13s

 

Edit: There is also the lower cost quad core version. These are also worth a look.

[ShadowCaptain]

Hello, I'm looking to buy a low powered home server and I've been looking at different SoC motherboards but I can't quite figure out which one would be the best. I'd like it to have 2-4 sata ports, ITX or mATX size factor and some low powered dual/quad core Intel or AMD processor. 

 

I guess the "best" choice would be one with Bay Trail processor but there aren't many motherboards with those. Gigabyte has a few interesting ones and Asrock aswell but does anyone here have experiences with them?

 

Why not just get something like a G3220 and a decent motherboard, my MSI (h87) board was £70 and the pentium was £40 

[Unlocker9000]

Why not just get something like a G3220 and a decent motherboard, my MSI (h87) board was £70 and the pentium was £40 

If you are on a budget, that you be a good way to go, but a G3220 consumes more power (not that it really matters in the us, but where I live we have some high electrical prices) and the consumer chipsets doesn't support ecc ram (which I would recommend for a larger home server).

[Fuzzy112]

Well I actually do have a spare G1620 lying around, what mobo would you guys recommend for it?

[Unlocker9000]

Well I actually do have a spare G1620 lying around, what mobo would you guys recommend for it?

How much do you plan/want to spend?

[Fuzzy112]

Well I don't really have a budget but I don't want it to be really expensive as then it would kind of defeat the whole point of being power efficient as it would take like 10 years to get it back in electricity bill savings

[Unlocker9000]

Well I don't really have a budget but I don't want it to be really expensive as then it would kind of defeat the whole point of being power efficient as it would take like 10 years to get it back in electricity bill savings

I would say something like the Asus H87M-E. The Asus Vanguard B85 would properly also be a good choise for 24/7 operation. Just don't pick a H81 chipset, as it doesn't have the Intel storage technology and only have a single channel for ram.

 

[Fuzzy112]

 

I would say something like the Asus H87M-E. The Asus Vanguard B85 would properly also be a good choise for 24/7 operation. Just don't pick a H81 chipset, as it doesn't have the Intel storage technology and only have a single channel for ram.

 

 

They are the wrong sockets for the G1620 though...I don't want to buy a new processor too if I'm honest, so I would need a 7 series motherboard.

[Unlocker9000]

They are the wrong sockets for the G1620 though...I don't want to buy a new processor too if I'm honest, so I would need a 7 series motherboard.

lol sorry, I didn't see that. A H77 board would be fine, but if you need more that 2 sata3 ports, you need one with a Marvell or Asmedia sata chip.

Something like the Gigabyte H77M-D3H, the Asus P8H77-M LE or the Asrock Z77 Extreme 3.

[Fuzzy112]

Okay I've decided I can also switch the CPU if necessary, I'm looking for a board with 4+ SATA ports and if possible dual lans. Any ideas?

[Unlocker9000]

Okay I've decided I can also switch the CPU if necessary, I'm looking for a board with 4+ SATA ports and if possible dual lans. Any ideas?

There aren't really many boards (especially lga1155 boards) that have dual lan and those who do are ether workstation boards or just high end boards. Most motherboards now days have more that 4 sata ports, so that shouldn't be a problem. If you want reliability, I'll recommend Asus and Gigabyte.