I am building a system with a Supermicro server motherboard and a Xeon E3-1245 V6 CPU and 32Gb ECC RAM. The system will be running FreeNAS, which sits on top of FreeBSD Unix.
The Xeon CPU is rated at 73W TDP, according to Intel.
The stock cooler that came with the Xeon is very small, and the contact area between the cooler and the CPU was surprisingly tiny. I will be using this cooler until the system build and burn-in is complete, unless CPU temps go nuts. The initial build is in an older Lian Li case that is space restricted - a full size cooler won't fit in that case - so the final CPU cooler won't be installed until the components are moved to a different case.
Once in use, the system will be used as a NAS, as well as running PLEX, and most likely virtualization at times. For example, to run Pi-Hole, it will need to run a virtualized Ubuntu, which would be running at all times. Tasks like this may bring the CPU heat level up.
The system will be end up in a full sized case, so there will be room for any CPU cooler. The rest of the case will be organized with (hopefully) good air floor from front to back, as well as a large grill at the top that can either blow cool air in, or hot air out, depending on how the two top fans are mounted. There will be at least two 120mm fans blowing in from the front, across six 8Tb NAS drives.
My preference is to run an AIO CPU cooler, such as Corsair H80i V2. However, it looks like the Corsair depends on it's control software, which runs only under Windows. If that is the case, I am not sure it will work. If the pump runs as long as it is plugged in, and the fans can be PWM controlled by the motherboard, then maybe it will work. There is talk of a version of Corsair Link for Linux, but FreeBSD is Unix, so that may not apply.
The other option is the Corsair H60, which I think does not depend on the Corsair software. However, it does not cool as well, and I am a bit concerned if the Xeon gets worked hard - it is a 4 core 8 thread CPU that will overclock to just over 4Ghz on all cores. The extra cooling of the H80i may be needed.
Maybe what I really want is a dumb AIO solution. A unit where the pump just runs when plugged in, the fans are PWM controlled by the motherboard, and no software control whatsoever is needed. If such a unit came with lighting or fancy stuff, but all that stuff could just be ignored, that would be OK. Does such an AIO device exist?
A third option is the Noctua air coolers - or something similar. I have no doubt either of their top of the line coolers will be more than sufficient. Personally, I have used one of those, and have no issues with it's ability to work. That I don't like is having a large weight hanging off the motherboard in a system that has to be moved at times. It always looks like one good bump of the case, and you will be picking pieces of the motherboard off the floor! I am sure this is not really an issue - if it were, such coolers would not sell so well.
Any suggestions or ideas or experiences would be very appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
The Xeon CPU is rated at 73W TDP, according to Intel.
The stock cooler that came with the Xeon is very small, and the contact area between the cooler and the CPU was surprisingly tiny. I will be using this cooler until the system build and burn-in is complete, unless CPU temps go nuts. The initial build is in an older Lian Li case that is space restricted - a full size cooler won't fit in that case - so the final CPU cooler won't be installed until the components are moved to a different case.
Once in use, the system will be used as a NAS, as well as running PLEX, and most likely virtualization at times. For example, to run Pi-Hole, it will need to run a virtualized Ubuntu, which would be running at all times. Tasks like this may bring the CPU heat level up.
The system will be end up in a full sized case, so there will be room for any CPU cooler. The rest of the case will be organized with (hopefully) good air floor from front to back, as well as a large grill at the top that can either blow cool air in, or hot air out, depending on how the two top fans are mounted. There will be at least two 120mm fans blowing in from the front, across six 8Tb NAS drives.
My preference is to run an AIO CPU cooler, such as Corsair H80i V2. However, it looks like the Corsair depends on it's control software, which runs only under Windows. If that is the case, I am not sure it will work. If the pump runs as long as it is plugged in, and the fans can be PWM controlled by the motherboard, then maybe it will work. There is talk of a version of Corsair Link for Linux, but FreeBSD is Unix, so that may not apply.
The other option is the Corsair H60, which I think does not depend on the Corsair software. However, it does not cool as well, and I am a bit concerned if the Xeon gets worked hard - it is a 4 core 8 thread CPU that will overclock to just over 4Ghz on all cores. The extra cooling of the H80i may be needed.
Maybe what I really want is a dumb AIO solution. A unit where the pump just runs when plugged in, the fans are PWM controlled by the motherboard, and no software control whatsoever is needed. If such a unit came with lighting or fancy stuff, but all that stuff could just be ignored, that would be OK. Does such an AIO device exist?
A third option is the Noctua air coolers - or something similar. I have no doubt either of their top of the line coolers will be more than sufficient. Personally, I have used one of those, and have no issues with it's ability to work. That I don't like is having a large weight hanging off the motherboard in a system that has to be moved at times. It always looks like one good bump of the case, and you will be picking pieces of the motherboard off the floor! I am sure this is not really an issue - if it were, such coolers would not sell so well.
Any suggestions or ideas or experiences would be very appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
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