Which CPU socket for new build? 1366 vs. 1356 vs. 2011

[HighNoon]

Hi all,

 

After lurking here for years I'm finally getting around to building my first unRAID server. The primary purposes of this server will be the following:

 

1. PLEX server - hoping to handle 5 transcodes at once but realistically 2-3 would be acceptable

2. NZBGet/Sonarr/Radarr

3. Windows 10 VM for BlueIris security camera software. 2 cameras to start, will add more in the future but probably no more than 8 total

4. General data storage/backup

5. Unifi controller (maybe)

6. Likely other VMs I will use to learn new OSs and tinker but not anything resource intensive

 

So far I have a Fractal Design Define R5, a Seasonic Platinum 860 PSU, 8x 8TB WD Reds and an old Samsung 840 PRO 256GB for cache but I still need CPU / Mobo / RAM / HBA(?). I'm pretty set on a dual Xeon setup because I've never done a dual-CPU build before and I think it would be cool but as far as which CPUs I have no idea.

 

I've been shopping for CPU/Mobo for a while now looking for a good deal but I'm not totally sure what I need. Power usage within reason is not a huge concern for me as my power bill is usually pretty cheap. However since the server will be in my office I do want it to be as silent as possible so if lower power is necessary for lower heat and therefore noise I would possibly compromise. As far as sockets... 1366 certainly seems to be the best bang for the buck but I don't know if I'm missing any features by not having a newer chipset that a socket 1356 or 2011 board would have. Cheapest dual socket ATX 1356 or 2011 boards I can find are $300+ which seems crazy. I'd like to spend more like $150 on mobo max. CPUs I'd like to keep to $100 each. RAM I'm thinking 8GB sticks so 48GB for 1366/1356 or 64GB for 2011 but I haven't checked RAM prices yet. I just want the best value. I'm also 100% fine with used parts.

 

I greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks!

 

xposted on STH forums:

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/which-cpu-socket-for-new-build-1366-vs-1356-vs-2011.14525/

Edited April 27, 2017 by HighNoon

[ashman70]

You are dreaming if you think you can get a dual xeon board for $150, cheapest is around $399 that I have seen. If you are sticking with the R5 case then you are also limiting your motherboard choice to ATX as I don't think the R5 will take anything bigger. You have to be careful with dual cpu boards, they come in all sizes not just ATX, there is E-ATX and others that won't fit in your R5 case. You can always start out with one CPU, I'd recommend at least an 8 core to start with the amount of transcodes and vm's you want. Also probably 32GB would be a good starting point for RAM or 64. I think it would make sense to go with newer tech so a 2011 board, there are quite a few people around here who are running single and dual 2011 xeon systems using Asrock boards, they may be able to offer advice.

[HighNoon]

Just as an example here's a dual 1366 board for $110 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/201640496206

 

The dual socket 1366 boards seem reasonable but the 1356 and definitely the 2011 ones are $300+ easily.

 

You are correct I am limiting myself to ATX. That board I linked is ATX and there are other similar ones but dual 2011 ATX boards are pretty hard to come by. I think there are only 3 or 4 different ones in existence.

 

As far as mobo brand I've always heard Supermicro is the best but I'm open to suggestions.

 

 

[ashman70]

Sorry I should of clarified what I meant, you are dreaming if you think you can get a dual socket 2011 xeon board for $150

 

Sure you can find all sorts of deals on socket 1366 systems, I have one myself, a 4U 36bay Supermicro server but its big, heavy and loud and sucks power like no tomorrow.

 

There are some folks around here who have had issues with Supermicro boards so do a search. I have always liked Intel boards myself, but have used Gigabyte and Asus as well, whenever leaning towards server related stuff though, I've stuck with Intel.

Edited April 27, 2017 by ashman70

[HighNoon]

Ah ok thanks for the clarification. I agree that getitng a dual 2011 board for $150 would be basically impossible.

 

I did look into Intel boards but IIRC they don't have any dual socket ATX boards, only EEB. If you know of any please let me know.

 

I'm just not sure I can bring myself to spend $300 for a dual-2011 board instead of $100 on a dual-1366 board if the main advantage is less power consumption system-wide. I'll think about it some more. Any particular dual-2011 ATX board you recommend?

[ashman70]

I am pretty sure Asrock makes some dual socket 2011 boards that are ATX, might be wrong though. I can't recommend any though, never owned any, just the dual socket 1366 I own now.

[TBSCamCity]

So having both a Dual X5670 system and a Dual E5-2670 system in my rack I can say I would honestly go with the Dual 2011 platform. It has so many more CPU options (between the V1 and V2 chips), greater expansion capability, much bigger feature set (Support for NVMe, etc.) and also uses so much less power. My 2011 system uses only 110W on idle with 12 8TB drives, Dual E5-2670, 2 Intel 750 SSD's, LSI HBA, and all the fans in the Supermicro case. My 1366 system uses over 290W on idle with a very similar setup. I just wouldn't bother with the 1366 platform at this point. It does give you some cheap CPU horsepower if that's what you're after but you make a lot of sacrifices. Spend the extra for the 2011 platform.

[uldise]

8 hours ago, TBSCamCity said:

Spend the extra for the 2011 platform.

Yes, if you can..

i have Dual X5680 system with 12hdd (see other details in my sig), it idles at about 185w.

it's all about price you spend on your hardware vs how much more you will spend for electricity.. i just got 2x16GB RAM for my server for about 80EUR each (i'm in Europe), just took another x5670 for my offsite backup server for about 70EUR.

and according to electricity - i know, i can save about 100W on more modern system, it's about 0.48 EUR/per day (with price about 0.20 EUR/kWh here), or 172EUR/year. then count how many years you can live with you current server and try to find hardware to compare - it all depends on your location, for me hardware are more expensive than US for example...