Server build - P965 or P35? Which should I go with?

[bearxor]

Hey guys! My downloading machine died on me recently (a 3.2 P4 that I didn't get nearly as much use out of as I should have) and I've decided to combine my sab/sickbeard machine with my NAS. I'm using a DLink DNS-321 there.

So here's the skinny. I plan on this machine having a 320GB boot drive, 3x1TB hard drives for media (not raided, each holding their own data) and two 320gb drives for personal files (important stuff) in a raid 1.*

While looking for thing, I found a great deal on an intel 775 board, the dg965wh. While looking for a good deal on a processor, I found a q6600 that was bundled with a P35 Neo 3.

After hooking everything up to make sure it worked, I was faced with a bit of a problem... Which board to use?!

I THINK I've settled on using the older Intel board but I'm just kind of looking for some other opinions before I build this thing. Here is my criteria that I am judging these boards by:

Stability - Needs to be reliable since it'll be running 24/7, SATA ports expandability - for adding drives later, connectivity - I'm interested in possibly getting a couple of gbe network cards and binding them together, no overclocking or gaming, needs to run cool since it will be in the garage 365 days of the year.*

With that, here are my pro's and cons for each board

Intel DG965WH
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813121052

Pros:
Intel board, generally known for stability
6 SATA ports, can all be used in RAID
Supported RAID modes of 0/1/5/10
3 PCIe 1x slots
Onboard video
FireWire 400
Intel gbe network controller

Cons:
Limited BIOS options
Older north and south bridge
Doesn't support newer processors

MSI P35 Neo 3
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/P35-Neo3.html

Pros:
Newer chipset with better performance
Supports newer processors
6 SATA ports
Better BIOS options, including overclocking options should I choose to indulge

Cons:
Only 2 SATA ports can be used in RAID, only RAID 0/1 supported
Requires discreet video card
1 PCIe 1x slot, located right next to video card

What do some of you guys think? Take a look at the specs and let me know if I'm crazy for picking an old 965 board for this over a newer P35. I literally skipped the entire LGA775 generation so I know very little about these chipsets. I know it's just a lowly file server and I'll be fine either way I go, I just wonder what som of you might do in a similar situation.*

Thanks!

 

[dac7nco]

I'd never heard of sickbeard until I looked it up after reading your post; does it work like a .torrent crawler, but with usenet? I used the MSI Neo 3 for a few months, and had nothing but problems with it. The Intel board looks nice (I don't usually say that). I like boards that have a glut of x1 slots. The only reason to use the MSI board, IMO, is if you want to get a 45nm quad, which you don't need.

Re: the Intel: Intel NIC, Intel NIC, Intel NIC. You just saved $30 and a slot. No you are not crazy; for a file server/downloader overclocking isn't something you'll want to do anyway. Do yourself a favor and peek around in the Intel boards BIOS, however, for curiosity's sake, as they arrange things rather strangely; I find these things interesting, for some reason.

Daimon

Edit: I've read up on "sickbeard"; disregard my question about it, as I'll just start using it.

 

[pitz]

If you haven't bought the hardware already, you might want to consider that the new Sandy Bridge motherboards and CPU's consume a significantly lower amount of electricity at idle.

A good rule of thumb is $1/watt/year, if you're paying 10 cents a kilowatt hour. So if you figure a 3-year service life, and the Sandy Bridge platform with embedded video saving you 40W -- you could very well save $120 in operating costs in the first 3 years alone.

I haven't looked on eBay recently, but when I did a month or two ago, the LGA775 gear was priced in the stratosphere, and there was the issue of a decent amount of DDR2 RAM costing a small fortune.

 

[dawp]

If you haven't bought the hardware already, you might want to consider that the new Sandy Bridge motherboards and CPU's consume a significantly lower amount of electricity at idle.

A good rule of thumb is $1/watt/year, if you're paying 10 cents a kilowatt hour. So if you figure a 3-year service life, and the Sandy Bridge platform with embedded video saving you 40W -- you could very well save $120 in operating costs in the first 3 years alone.

I haven't looked on eBay recently, but when I did a month or two ago, the LGA775 gear was priced in the stratosphere, and there was the issue of a decent amount of DDR2 RAM costing a small fortune.

if he's anything like me, he has several boards/cpu/memory sets that he has retired from daily use just lying around for something like this.

 

[pitz]

if he's anything like me, he has several boards/cpu/memory sets that he has retired from daily use just lying around for something like this.

Yeah maybe so, but what used gear goes for on eBay these days is insane, and often worth cleaning out the junk drawer. Q6600, darn, that's 4.5 years old already..

Truth be told though, practically any board that has the I/O the poster wants will likely be perfectly fine.

I bought one of these recently, and I'd probably recommend the same for the OP since he has so many drives...

http://www.supermicro.com/products/accessories/mobilerack/CSE-M35T-1.cfm

Pretty nice unit; keeps the drives very well cooled.