In a cool(ish) office my CPU is running at 43C when idle. I do have 3x 1.5TB & 1x30GB SSD installed in the ex490. This is compariable to the temps of the Celeron that was shipped with the unit.

Has anyone tried installing a Xeon chip? e.g. the E3110. Tom's hardware recently did a review of DIY vs MSS and tried several chips in the MSS, including mentioning the Xeon but did not provide any details. The Xeon is a true server chip.

you are getting a little bit carried away, someone has tried and is running a Q9550S (low power version, 65W), that CPU costs $350, and is probably about the limit of what you can do with the EX490/E495, if you need more, you should build a DIY WHS server.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/detail ... Spec=SLAPM

Also note in this old Toms Hardware post, that it pretty much is the equivilant of the E8400, a many people have subed it for an E8400, so it will most likely work just fine, but isn't any better (or worse) than an E8400. I suppose it depends on what price you can find it for..

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/24858 ... 3110-e8400

$180 @ Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819117165

Mitch

Yes, definitely won't be spending $350 on a Q9550S but I was just curious to see if anyone was actually using the Xeon vs C2D. Supposedly, the Xeon's are also optimized for networking which may help with transferring data to/from the server. Seems like this would be the way to go over the E8400 since they are about the same price.

If you read the comparisions, most believe Intel just repacked the E8400 Core 2 Duo and called it the "Xeon 3110", because in a business, it's much easier to get a "Xeon" based server approved, as opposed to a "Core 2 Duo". No one has found any differences between the 2 chips, other than the voltage specs are worse for the 3110, because in a server enironment, overclocking is not done, for maximum stability. There really seems to be no difference between the 2 chips...

Mitch

After researching various processors, and having a desire to not break the bank right after Christmas, I went with an E5300 upgrade in my EX490. Whoa, what a difference it makes. Life as the server knows it got a whole lot faster. What a difference .4 GHz extra, a second core and a larger L2 cache will do!

Installation was quite simple. I followed Alex's step-by-step guide, being careful with the backplane so I didn't knock off any capacitors. It's been awhile since I worked with thermal compound so I checked a couple online resources as a refresher.

The E5300s been running a couple hours now. For kicks I had it rebuild the Twonky database. I think it was done in a matter of minutes, compared to the seeming eternity on the Celeron.

I guess the only weird thing is why there's a pretty big (10+ degree) temperature disparity between cores 1 and 2. I guess it's not a big deal. They're running cool so I should just keep my mouth shut and not complain.

Matt

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Matt Sawyer
Owner, Dojo North Software, LLC

HP EX490, 4GB, E5300, 15TB - Server 2012 - Sharing and Streaming
HP EX487, 4GB, E5300, 13TB - Server 2012 Essentials - Backups

Has anyone tried to install a Quad Core on one of this machines? I was just wondering if the motherboard is going to take it. I have an EX495 which is think has the same motherboard s the 490 just different processors. Any ideas?

_________________
Freedom is not only to do what you love, but to love what you do.

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HP MSS EX490 with Intel E6300
4 GB RAM
7 TB Drive Storage

MediaSmartServer.net Wiki, it's loaded with helpful information about WHS and the HP MediaSmart Server.

people are saying E3110 is same chip as E8400
so should work

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8TB Qnap TS-459 Pro
11TB EX 495 (E8400, 3.0GHZ, 4GB Mushkin) with Server 2012 Essential
4TB EX 485

go few pages back, someone used Quad Q9550S note "S" in the end for low power

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8TB Qnap TS-459 Pro
11TB EX 495 (E8400, 3.0GHZ, 4GB Mushkin) with Server 2012 Essential
4TB EX 485

I just bought an EX490 and love it. I just upgraded the processor to an E6420 and working fine.
Just curious though, can the xeon 5130 SLABP work in this server?
Or only Socket LGA 775 CPUs will work?

Only socket 775 processors will work, and also I would not exceed 65W TDP chips either.

Mitch

I just upgraded to E8400 and 4GB RAM

_________________
8TB Qnap TS-459 Pro
11TB EX 495 (E8400, 3.0GHZ, 4GB Mushkin) with Server 2012 Essential
4TB EX 485

Hello,

This is my first post, I am normally just reading these, but I need some help!! and you guys seem to have alittle more knowledge than I,

Anyway this is probably a little bit of a dumb one, but do i need to replace the fan if i replace the processor, I have the EX490 and i use for time machine backup and to store 165 gb of music and lots of photos and videos, my CPU and time it takes to log on to is terrible. Will a new cpu help? and whats the best value for money?

Jim

Welcome to the forums.

No need to replace any fans in the server if you replace the processor. In fact, when you open it, you'll find that the processor's heat sit does not have a fan on it. Just take off heat sink, clean it up, apply AS5 to new CPU, put original heat sink back on and away you go.

Good luck and let us know if you have other questions.

_________________
HP MSS EX490 with Intel E6300
4 GB RAM
7 TB Drive Storage

MediaSmartServer.net Wiki, it's loaded with helpful information about WHS and the HP MediaSmart Server.