Supermicro server boards: x9scl-f vs x9scl -f

[DavinTan]

Does anyone know what the differences between these two are?
The gigabit ports seem different, but what does it mean(Things it can/cannot do)?

Its a SGD$40 difference between them, is it worth it?

Thanks gentlemen!

 

[dalewakelin]

One has 3 pci slots and one has 4. The one with 4 is probably the higher end one and will have support for more things. I.e it could work as a nas, a drone etc whilst the other one may only be able to do nas. That is not the actual case but you get the idea

 

[Goldskis45]

Motherboard manual for both bords is found here (105 pages might I add)
http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/motherboard/C202_C204/MNL-1270.pdf

I will show the main differences I notice
P. 1-5
For X9SCM(-F): Two SATA-III ports (I-SATA#0~1) and four SATA-II ports (3 Gb/s, I-SATA#2~5) are located on the board. For X9SCL(+)(-F): Six SATA-II ports (I-SATA #0~5) are included on the motherboard.

PCI-E Slot5 (PCI-E 2.0 x4 on x8 slot) is available on the X9SCM(-F) only.

As he said^ generally the one with more pci slots is the higher tier board. But as with supermicro boards all of the aforementioned features will be available on any board in this line.
Just a side note; MAKE SURE NOT TO SKIMP ON THE QUALITY OF POWER SUPPLY FOR SUPERMICRO BOARDS.
There is no worse feeling then when you realize that your crappy test power supply just fried a thousand dollar motherboard... I have experienced this once and learned my lesson.

 

[DavinTan]

Anyone knows the differences between "2x 82574L Gb LAN" vs " 1x 82579LM + 1x 82574L Gb LAN"? All are Intel LANs.

 

[Goldskis45]

Here are the spec sheets of the two Controllers

http://www.intel.com/content/dam/doc/datasheet/82574l-gbe-controller-datasheet.pdf
494 Pages

http://www.intel.com/content/dam/doc/datasheet/82579-gbe-phy-datasheet-vol-2-1.pdf
312 Pages

In all honesty the difference between the controllers will be so miniscule that it will not make a difference to you. Sorry I don't want to wade through 806 pages right now, but I really have a hard time thinking that it will make a difference for you.
Personally I like buying equipment with duplicate hardware. Just a preference.

 

[DavinTan]

Here are the spec sheets of the two Controllers

http://www.intel.com/content/dam/doc/datasheet/82574l-gbe-controller-datasheet.pdf
494 Pages

http://www.intel.com/content/dam/doc/datasheet/82579-gbe-phy-datasheet-vol-2-1.pdf
312 Pages

In all honesty the difference between the controllers will be so miniscule that it will not make a difference to you. Sorry I don't want to wade through 806 pages right now, but I really have a hard time thinking that it will make a difference for you.
Personally I like buying equipment with duplicate hardware. Just a preference.

Thanks mate, so the one with identical LANs is prefered?

 

[Goldskis45]

Thanks mate, so the one with identical LANs is prefered?

Depends on what it is for?
You never really explained what you were going to do with it.
That would help a lot.

 

[DavinTan]

I am planning to use it for a server, and hope to use link aggregation with the dual LANs

 

[Goldskis45]

I am planning to use it for a server, and hope to use link aggregation with the dual LANs

In that case personally I would go for the identical lans.
It can be done with the other, but I always have better results and an easier time if they are the same.

 

[DavinTan]

Thank you sir, and have a great weekend!