Physical Build: Hardware Setup#

Next:

RT Build: Firmware, OS and RT Kernel

1. Overview#

The FEI server is an Advantech MIC-770 V3 with an Intel Core i5-13500E (TCC-capable CPU and BIOS). Advantech offers this system pre-built to the full spec below. We bought the base unit and installed the rest ourselves because of the price and lead time of the pre-built option.

None of the hardware is modified. “Build” here means installing standard components into the base unit. A pre-built unit to the same spec can skip this page and start at RT Build: Firmware, OS and RT Kernel.

Photos of the initial build: 20260303_InitialComputerBuild.

2. Bill of Materials#

See the Purchase Order for what came pre-installed with the base system.

Component

Part

Purpose

Base system

Advantech MIC-770 V3

Chassis, motherboard, CPU, PSU

CPU

Intel Core i5-13500E (13th Gen), 14 cores

Pre-installed. TCC support for real-time work

Memory

2 x 32 GB Crucial DDR5-4800 SODIMM (CT2K32G48C50S5), 64 GB total

System memory

PCIe expansion

Advantech i-Module, 2-slot PCIe

Holds the RAID controller and fiber network card

RAID controller

Broadcom MegaRAID 9520-2M2

Hardware RAID 1 for the boot volume

Boot drives

2 x Samsung 990 PRO 1 TB NVMe (MZ-V9P1T0B/AM)

Mounted on the RAID controller as a RAID 1 pair

Data drive

Samsung 870 EVO 2 TB 2.5” SSD (MZ-77E2T0B/AM)

/data for frames and plots

Fiber network card

NVIDIA Mellanox ConnectX-6 Lx (MCX631102AN-ADAT)

Dedicated fiber link to the Archon controller

Consumables: DDR thermal pads (one “Bottom”, one thicker “Top”), CPU thermal paste, and a spare pink thermal pad for the heat-fin block if needed.

Note

Reused NVMe drives: the 990 PROs in the initial build came from the old FEI computer and still carried RAID metadata, so they showed up as an existing array. Wipe reused drives (for example from a live USB) before building the new array. New drives do not need this.

3. Assembly#

Work on an ESD-safe bench with the unit unplugged.

Open the Unit#

  1. Remove the bottom panel.

  2. Remove the i-Module PCIe expansion module.

  3. Remove the 2.5” drive holder.

  4. Disconnect the short M.2 adapter for the TSN-enabled LAN (it is wired to the computer cover).

Data Drive#

  1. Mount the 2 TB SSD in the 2.5” drive holder with the long pre-provided screws. Leave the holder out for now.

Memory (Bottom Slot)#

  1. Remove the RAM/SSD thermal cover.

  2. Install the first SODIMM with a “Bottom” DDR thermal pad.

  3. Refit the RAM/SSD thermal cover.

Memory (Top Slot) and CPU Thermal Paste#

The second SODIMM sits under the large outer heat-fin cover.

  1. Loosen the 4 captive screws along the outer edges of the motherboard.

  2. Remove the 4 spring-loaded (non-captive) screws around the RAM/SSD thermal cover.

  3. Flip the unit over and lift off the heat-fin cover.

  4. Install the second SODIMM with a “Top” DDR thermal pad (thicker than the bottom one).

  5. If you have a spare, replace the pink thermal pad on the small metal block on the heat fin.

  6. Clean the old thermal paste off the CPU and apply new paste (we used an X plus a small pea-sized dot).

  7. Refit the heat-fin cover, flip the unit back, and reinstall all 8 screws.

Reassemble the Base Unit#

  1. Reinstall the TSN LAN M.2 adapter with its original two small screws.

  2. Connect the data and power cables between the motherboard and the 2 TB SSD, then reinstall the 2.5” drive holder.

PCIe Cards#

  1. Mount both 990 PRO NVMe drives on the MegaRAID card’s M.2 slots. The array itself is created in firmware later (Hardware RAID 1 (Boot Volume)).

  2. Install the cards in the i-Module:

    • RAID controller: the slot closest to the motherboard, which leaves room for a cable later.

    • ConnectX-6: the other slot. Label the fiber port archon; the network config depends on it (6. Network Configuration (netplan)).

  3. Refit the i-Module carefully and screw it down. It takes some force to seat; that is fine as long as the PCIe connector is well aligned.

  4. Refit the outer cover.

Cabling#

Connect power, the onboard management Ethernet and the Archon fiber.

4. First Power-On#

Before moving on to RT Build: Firmware, OS and RT Kernel, power on, press Del to enter BIOS, and confirm:

  • 64 GB of memory is detected.

  • The MegaRAID controller is listed and shows both NVMe drives.

  • The 2 TB SSD is detected.

Note

During the initial build the OS installer chose the 2 TB SSD over the NVMe drives. If the installer offers the wrong disk, disconnect the 2.5” SSD’s cables for the install and reconnect them afterwards.

After the OS is installed (RT Build: Firmware, OS and RT Kernel), confirm from Linux:

free -h                          # ~64 GB total
lscpu | grep -E '^Core|^Socket'  # 14 cores, 1 socket
lspci | grep -i -E 'raid|mellanox'
lsblk                            # one ~1 TB RAID volume + 2 TB SSD

5. Hardware Inventory#

Values later steps depend on:

Item

Value

Base system

Advantech MIC-770 V3

CPU

Intel Core i5-13500E, 14 cores, 1 socket

Memory

64 GB (2 x 32 GB DDR5-4800 SODIMM)

Boot volume

2 x Samsung 990 PRO 1 TB, RAID 1 on Broadcom MegaRAID 9520-2M2

Data drive

Samsung 870 EVO 2 TB, mounted at /data

Management NIC

Onboard Ethernet carrying 192.168.29.0/24

Archon fiber NIC

ConnectX-6 Lx in the i-Module, enp202s0f0np0, port labelled archon