Thanks, I'm still confused by what "depending on what devices are connected" means. I understand having USB or hard drives connected will change the options in the Boot order, but what device did you connect to get the Virtualization option? A PS2 keyboard?

_________________
Alex Kuretz
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Alex, he installed a quad core processor, a Q9550S, that processor has virtualization and a few other features, that the BIOS shows when installed. We havn't see it yet because none of use have installed a Quad Core yet in the EX490/EX495.. I have a Q9550 I could test with, but mine is not the "S" version, which is just sorted by Intel to use less power (suposed to be rated at 65W), they just "bin" the processors, the ones that will run at very low voltages, are labelled "S" versions, since running them at a lower voltage results in reduced wattage consumed. They are the same parts as the Q9550, just some of them perform better than others.

Mitch

My bad - connecting / installing the Q9550S added the virtualisation and other advanced CPU options. The Celeron does not support the virtualisation (VT?) extensions and as a result the BIOS does not show that option (or speedstep, etc..) when it is installed.

Adding a drive (be it USB or HDD) added another option to the boot order window, having more than one drive opened up the option of specifying the boot order of the drives (USB/HDD).

Cheers,

-I.

Thanks Mitch, Issaqua, that makes sense now. Interesting that options appear/disappear rather than simply grayed out.

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Alex Kuretz
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Hi Mitch,

Spot on regarding the BIOS - the CPU options only changed when I installed the Q9550S.

I looked into the thermal differences between the Q9550 versus the Q9550S - see http://www.intel.com/design/processor/d ... 318726.htm - pages 79 and 80 on the referenced PDF. The Q9xxxS series peaks at 65W TDP and is allowed a max temp of 76.3C, whilst the Q9xxxx can chew up to 95W, but the max allowed temp is only 71.4C. Given that the hardware appears to be designed for a 65W TDP (E5200 in the EX495), I thought it prudent to go with the S series.

The two things I was wary of with the Q9550 is the load on the power supply (200W) - particularly the CPU under full load (95W) and with all disks. Secondly, under full CPU load, I'd expect the temp to get above 71.4C (I've seen my Q9550S hit 75C and it is 65W TDP, not 95W TDP) and the performance to be degraded to preserve the CPU - see section 5.2.1 and 5.2.2 in the PDF.

Cheers,

-I.

i am going to try to put in a left over xeon that i have from an HP server.
it is the xeon 3075. specs match everything except the Manufacturing Technology.
the xeon is a 65 nm whilst the E7xxx and E8xxx lines are all 45 nm.
it will probably be hot, but worth the try since i have it and a new E7xxx or E8xxx will cost me around $100 - $200....

It will probably work, it is a 65W TDP design CPU, it will be almost the same as the E5200 that comes in the EX495 ( except it has virtualization technology built in). The speed is almost the same 2.66Ghz vz. 2.5Ghz. It can't hurt to try it, at the most it just won't boot up...

Intel Spec sheet: http://processorfinder.intel.com/Detail ... Spec=SLAA3

Mitch

Hi Daniel,

I'm running a 65W TDP CPU in the 490 and it is staying within temp ranges - I'd recommend a good thermal paste (Arctic Silver 5 made a big difference for me)

Cheers,

-I.

The heatsink is the same exact part on the EX490, and the EX495, there is no difference.

I have opened them both, so I am speaking from an actual inspection.

Mitch

issaqua
to upgrade to Q9550s
is the VGA/KB cable really necessary?
or I can just pot the cpu in and not bother with messing with bios?
thanks

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

Hi Keigotw,

Depending on your requirements, it should just be a drop in replacement like all the others. I used the cable to turn on the VT (Virtualisation extensions) and (I think) speedstep. I've also used it to adjust the fan speeds (I like them kicking in earlier) and boot order stuff.

I found the cable very useful for what I'm doing and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as I like having the feedback.

Cheers,

-I.

thanks

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

i bought an E8400 and put it in my EX490.
my temps have never exceeded 51C.

the greatest thing is that AirVideo works again. The celeron could not handle AirVideo.

I purchased an ex490 just before Christmas, and I have upgrade the CPU to an e5400. I am very happy with the performance, especailly when compared to my old WHS Tranquil-PC SQA-5H. I can get network transfer speeds of up to 70MB per second. I have also added an ESATA Edgestore DAS501t 5 bay DAS unit. I have a modified Windows Home Server Disk Management wireframe which dispalys the EX490 and the DAS501t unit.

All works very well.

I was thinking about the 4GB memory upgrade, but I cannot see much of a reason at the moment, as I have over 1GB of RAM free.

I am also running Squid proxy cache, to improve web browsing speed and to remove some adverts.

Thanks to all for the information on this forum on how to do the upgrade.

Well, finally got my Christmas E5200 installed. I got a great deal on it ($40), so kind of a no brainer. System is MUCH more responsive now, especially when something else is going on, like twonky or media collection. These systems do benefit from a dual core.

I'm not entirely happy with my install, I think I used too much arctic silver 5. Def got more on there than I would have liked. I really should have wiped it all off and started over. As it was, I seated the heatsink, pulled it back off, and used a razor blade to clean off the AS from the heat sink. Then put the heat sink back.

Eh, maybe I'm just worrying about it too much. My full load temps were around 63-65 deg C. That's acceptable, and is with no thermal compound break in. "Idling" around 43 right now. I was really expecting that idle temp to be lower, like in the upper 30's. Still, maybe it will settle down, or maybe I will break it all down and redo the AS better. I kind of hate to do that, because I feel the less the boards are handled by my meat fists, the better.

Am I being too worried about these temps?

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4.5 TB HP EX490 upgraded with e5200 Core 2 duo = EX495. 2010 15" i5 MacBook Pro, 2011 13" i5 MacBook Pro, home built Win 7 Prof box.