Am I an idiot?

[XavierMace]

Here's the situation. Building an ITX box for the parents. I spent a lot of time trying to find a combo of parts that met the requirements for the project. Swapped a lot of parts in and out of the shopping cart while doing this.

Motherboard is the Asrock E3C224D2I with the P2.10 bios (according to the sticker on the board). I THOUGHT I had ordered the Pentium G3450 but I in fact appeared to have ordered the G3250. Here's the problem, it won't POST. BMC works but shows no events in the log. So I see two possibilities. Memory or CPU. I've tried half a dozen different known good sticks of 1.5v DDR of various speeds, both ECC and not so it seems unlikely it's memory.

More importantly, the G3250 isn't on the CPU support list. My question is why not and any chance it's not the CPU that's the problem? The G3240 and G3450 are both on the support list. What makes the G3250 different enough not to work/be on the list? Looking at Ark they seem to be damn near identical save for the clock speed. Given the whole system cost $320, it really sucks to eat $70 on the processor.

 

[LTC8K6]

Got a CPU you can use temporarily?
BIOS update?

3250 doesn't support 1600 ram, only thing I see.

 

[Seba]

What made you choose a motherboard with a Xeon chipset (C224) instead of one with H97 for instance for your Haswell Refresh CPU?

Also that motherboard is overly expensive (~$200) to be paired with a cheap Haswell Pentium ($50-$60). Wasted money in my opinion.

DDR3 1600 is not the problem here.

 

[zir_blazer]

Worst of all, on C222 and C224 you can't use the Haswell IGP. You have to rely on the ASPEED integrated video.

What did you intended to achieve with those parts?

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

Got a CPU you can use temporarily?
BIOS update?

3250 doesn't support 1600 ram, only thing I see.

That's what I thought. Backed up by this link.

http://ark.intel.com/compare/80792,83538

EDIT:
Also, was it the right type of ECC ram for that motherboard ?
Unbuffered-ECC (rather than registered ECC, which does NOT seem to be supported by that motherboard) ?
Non-ECC ram does NOT seem to be supported by the motherboard (or if it is, they have NOT mentioned it).

 

[postmortemIA]

Worst of all, on C222 and C224 you can't use the Haswell IGP. You have to rely on the ASPEED integrated video.

What did you intended to achieve with those parts?

My guess is he needs some capabilities of server board that are not present on regular workstation ones, like OS independent remote control

 

[Madpacket]

Yes.

 

[Sable]

Am I an idiot?

Yup

 

[daveybrat]

I guess the real question we are all asking is WHY you bought a $199 server motherboard with a cheap cpu for your parents pc??

Will this be their main everyday computer or a file server??

 

[XavierMace]

My guess is he needs some capabilities of server board that are not present on regular workstation ones, like OS independent remote control

Sophos UTM Firewall/Router. Sorry, should have covered that up front. Only need the GPU long enough to install the OS. I see reports of Sophos having issues installing on systems that only have HDMI/Display Port which cut the board choice down substancially.

Intel NIC performance way exceeds that of Realtek and Atheros and there's a rather large lack of ITX boards with dual Intel NIC's. Some of the Z97's have two NIC's but on all the ones I found only one of the NIC's was an Intel NIC the other was an Atheros on most of them which won't work. That cut the board choices down even further. Remote management was just an added plus for when I'm inevitably providing tech support.

Also wanted the potential to expand it into a small ESXI box in the future when my parents get caught up with technology. LOL.

That's what I thought. Backed up by this link.

http://ark.intel.com/compare/80792,83538

EDIT:
Also, was it the right type of ECC ram for that motherboard ?
Unbuffered-ECC (rather than registered ECC, which does NOT seem to be supported by that motherboard) ?
Non-ECC ram does NOT seem to be supported by the motherboard (or if it is, they have NOT mentioned it).

I thought it was, but now you're making me want to check. Regarding the non-ECC, I found several forum posts various places with it running with non-ECC memory. In addition, they have CPU's without ECC support on their supported CPU list. But, I should be able to dig up some suitable ECC memory around here to be safe.

And negative on having a spare CPU on hand. That's why I'm hoping to rule out the memory before finding one of the CPU's on the supported list.

 

[dark zero]

To the Op:
To being sincere you are not an idiot, however you must find a way to fix the mess...
If you were going to AMD, definately you are an idiot.

 

[rchunter]

If it's new parts try sending it all back. That's what I would do. I think most places would accept returns. Just tell them you were on drugs when you ordered it. Beg if you have to.

 

[LTC8K6]

ECC is only supported with xeon and i3 chips on that board, according to some internet posts...

 

[postmortemIA]

If it's new parts try sending it all back. That's what I would do. I think most places would accept returns. Just tell them you were on drugs when you ordered it. Beg if you have to.

Yeah, mobo probably can go back, but not the CPU.

To know-it-alls, do you know cheaper board that has support for things that OP mentioned?

 

[zir_blazer]

ECC is only supported with xeon and i3 chips on that board, according to some internet posts...

Based on what I know, if you use ECC on a Motherboard/Processor without ECC support, ECC itself will be ignored, but the module should still work as a standard one.

 

[soccerballtux]

probably

 

[postmortemIA]

probably board will boot with unsupported CPU of same generation.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Not an idiot, but I think -- for someone who's "been aroun' for awhile" -- you made a mistake with your parts list.

If the parents needed a computer and you chose that processor, you might have found a mobo with the right chipset for it. Anything else aside, like choice of a NIC could have an easy fix for a couple dollars.

Always pick the most simple solution with the biggest promise for reliability.

 

[sxr7171]

I'm not going to answer the question but I picked up an Intel NUC and I really like it. Inexpensive and small. Performs great.

 

[XavierMace]

Well, turns out it was in fact the RAM. Got a 4Gb Kingston stick off their QVL (hurray Amazon same day), it booted right up. Memtest passes with flying colors, installing UTM right now. So either the people running it with non-ECC memory got lucky so... Well, I don't know any other option.

I'm not going to answer the question but I picked up an Intel NUC and I really like it. Inexpensive and small. Performs great.

I really wanted to go that route, but that ran into the same NIC problem as most the ITX boards.

Not an idiot, but I think -- for someone who's "been aroun' for awhile" -- you made a mistake with your parts list.

You'll note I stated I thought I had ordered the 3450 which is on their list so the mistake wasn't really with the parts list, just my ordering skills.

This was the simplest, most reliable solution. I just ordered the wrong part by mistake.

 

[john3850]

The Pentium G3250 has two different S-Spec numbers SR1K7 and a SR1RM which may be why some people were lucky with there memory.

 

[Nec_V20]

Here's the situation. Building an ITX box for the parents. I spent a lot of time trying to find a combo of parts that met the requirements for the project. Swapped a lot of parts in and out of the shopping cart while doing this.

Motherboard is the Asrock E3C224D2I with the P2.10 bios (according to the sticker on the board). I THOUGHT I had ordered the Pentium G3450 but I in fact appeared to have ordered the G3250. Here's the problem, it won't POST. BMC works but shows no events in the log. So I see two possibilities. Memory or CPU. I've tried half a dozen different known good sticks of 1.5v DDR of various speeds, both ECC and not so it seems unlikely it's memory.

More importantly, the G3250 isn't on the CPU support list. My question is why not and any chance it's not the CPU that's the problem? The G3240 and G3450 are both on the support list. What makes the G3250 different enough not to work/be on the list? Looking at Ark they seem to be damn near identical save for the clock speed. Given the whole system cost $320, it really sucks to eat $70 on the processor.

I've recently put together a Mini ITX system for someone.

I listened to what the person wanted and then decided how best to go about picking the parts.

I had some RAM to recycle so I decided to give him that for free because he has done me some favours in the past:

PSU: Super Flower Leadex 650W £88.75
Case: Corsair 250D £74.99
Mobo: GigaByte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI £71.97
CPU:AMD A10-7870K Black Edition £106.32
Cooler: Noctua NH-L12 £41.00
SSD :Crucial MX200 250GB £76.98
RAM (Normally £78) Free

I wanted something which was cost effective, expandable and quiet. This was the reason for my choice of the 250D as the case because I can fit a 200mm fan in the front.

Having built it, installed it and set it up, I didn't want to let him have it. I said to him, "You realise this is much too good for you" (and I was only half joking when I said it).

For the foreseeable future (four or five years) what I put together for him will more than satisfy his needs.

I am not someone who would look to AMD as my first choice of CPU (or in this case APU); however for his requirements (yes he wanted WiFi and was ecstatic when I told him it had Bluetooth as well) and for the price Intel just has nothing to offer.

All my builds start with the PSU and I told him that unless I could budget for a good PSU it would be a deal-breaker.

Yes he did whinge about the colour of the Noctua fans (which you can see through the top window) and I told him that I couldn't care less - it was a case of mind over matter, I didn't mind and he didn't matter.

I was considering putting in a Corsair AIO water-cooler, but I did not want any dead pockets where heat could build up. With the overpressure from the 200mm fan in the front and the Noctua circulating the air around inside the case I think that was the better solution.

Even putting your ear to the box you just cannot tell whether the system is running or not.

I chose the components to harmonise and I am not wedded to Intel. Intel for this build did not offer an alternative, where I could justify the price for the performance.

The total cost was £460.01, including shipping (I had a spare 200mm fan). Of course I wouldn't charge him for building it because he is a friend.

There has been some feedback. A "good friend who knows about computers" told him that he, "could have got it a lot cheaper from PCWorld".

That is until he invited him over to actually see the system and use it and then the guy's mouth was shut.

The reason why I am telling you this is that if you are just banging something together with no rhyme or reason then you are not going to be happy and the odds are that your parents will not be happy either.

From what I can see, you are starting off with foul compromises and trying to bash to fit.

 

[sm625]

And why not buy a G3258 anyway? It is in the same price range but has a much higher resale value.

 

[XavierMace]

From what I can see, you are starting off with foul compromises and trying to bash to fit.

How so?

And why not buy a G3258 anyway? It is in the same price range but has a much higher resale value.

$12 more which on this processor which is a 20% increase just to get an unlocked version of the same processor which gains me absolutely nothing for this build.

And I'm not the slightest bit concerned about the resale value of a $300 computer. By the time they get rid of this the computer will be far too old to be worth anything.

 

[sxr7171]

You're right I've seen NUC with dual HDMI but not dual NIC. I know many are asking Intel for it. It would be the perfect platform to build firewall appliances. Someone managed to put a NIC in the Mini PCIE slot but it was not an Intel NIC. However there are dual Intel NIC Mini PCIE cards out there but they ever seem to be in stock.