Quickly got tired of all of the proprietary features of the Dell motherboard / chassis. Decided to take the plunge into a real build.
Parts -
| Type | Part | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Case | Rosewill RSV-L4500 (Local) | $60 |
| Motherboard | Supermicro X9SCM-F | $40 |
| CPU (v1 BIOS Updater) | Intel Pentium G640 | $5 |
| CPU | Intel Xeon E3-1220V2 | $15 |
| RAM | 16GB 4X4GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800E ECC Server Memory | $42 |
| Power Supply | ||
| Corsair RM550X 80+ Gold | $40 | |
| CPU Cooler | Arctic Freezer 12 | $24 |
| Fans | Noctua 3x120mm, 2x80mm (Included w/ Case) | $0 |
| Cache SSD | ADATA SU800 1TB (Local) | $70 |
| HDDs | Hitachi 3TB SAS | 4 x $21 |
| SAS HBA | LSI SAS9211-8i | $22 |
| Full Height Bracket | Full Height Bracket | $1 |
| Cable | SATA Cable | $6 |
| Cable | SATA Power Splitter | $12 |
| Cable | SAS → SAS Breakout | $13 |
| UNRAID Drive | SanDisk 32GB Cruzer Fit | $7 |
| Total | ~$287 + tax | |
| Total w/ Drives | ~$441 + tax |
Links/Resources -
X9SCM-F Spec Sheet Including links to BIOS & BMC/IPMI Firmware
Rufus - for creating DOS Bootable drive for upgrading BIOS & BMC/IPMI
The Build -
- Following with Rule 0, I built everything outside the case
- Installed 1 stick of RAM in DIMM2A
- Installed Pentium G640 in the socket
- Installed the Arctic Freezer 12
- Plugged in the power supply (24 pin main power and 12 pin CPU power) and VGA
- Booted by jumping pins 1&2 on the front panel header
- Verified BIOS was on an older version (I think 1.3)
- Plugged in the BIOS update USB DOS stick and rebooted
- Booted to the USB drive and installed v2.3 BIOS update with command
AMI_1.BAT x9scm8.612 - After BIOS update was complete, unplugged the AC power and cleared CMOS by jumping the pins on the CMOS pad
- Attempted to do the BMC/IPMI update using USB DOS stick, however when running the command
dUpdate.exe -f SMT_X9_352.bin -r n, I was getting an error sayingERROR: OPEN BINARY FILE FAILED. Not sure if this was due to the BMC version on the board being only version 1.x and I was trying to go to 3.x - Plugged in ethernet and accessed the IMPI console using default ADMIN/ADMIN credentials. Navigated to Maintenance > Firmware Update. Followed the instructions and selected the latest BMC/IPMI firmware. MAKE SURE YOU DE-SELECT PRESERVE CONFIGURATION OPTION or you might brick your board (this will clear all IPMI settings)
- After the update was complete, shut down the system, plugged in the additional 3 sticks of RAM, and rebooted the system and got into BIOS to verify that everything was up to date and all hardware was identified properly. Now onto the fun part
- Installed everything into the L4500 chassis
- (Attempted) cable management
- Booted into UNRAID and everything was picked up perfectly
Pictures -
more coming…
Issues -
- BMC/IPMI update failed via USB stick. Worked perfectly via IPMI console, though.
- PSU fan making a ticking noise. Will have to get a replacement from Amazon.
Conclusion -
This is a great case to build in. So much easier than working in the Mini-Tower Dell case, and much more room for expansion.
Thanks to everyone on Discord (JDM, Mthrboard, Seanho, and more) for all of the help along the way!
Very happy with how the build came out, now just need to do a little cable management and make it pretty.
