Dedicated Unraid Server/HTPC

[mikela]

Hi folks,

 

I have recently become interested in building a dedicated unraid server/HTPC for my home theater...it would not need to operate 24/7.  My goal is to have a dual parity unraid server with SSD cache for all home theater media and be able to max out settings on madVR using Kodi (MPC-HC or MPC-BE).

 

Currently I have a Rosewill 4412 that would allow me 12 HDDs.

 

Here is what I have planned so far:

 

Intel - Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor

Noctua - NH-U9S 46.4 CFM CPU Cooler

ASRock - X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard

Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Samsung - 960 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive

Seagate - NAS HDD 8TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive x 7

Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB STRIX GAMING Video Card

SeaSonic - PRIME Titanium 850W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

Here is the parts picker link

 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

Mike

Edited June 11, 2017 by mikela
was: dsplayer is: MPC-HC or MPC-BE

[tdallen]

Hi - looks good to me.  I think I'd use 2x16GB memory modules, though.

 

 

[mikela]

2 hours ago, tdallen said:

Hi - looks good to me.  I think I'd use 2x16GB memory modules, though.

 

 

Thanks for the response.  Are you recommending 2x16GB due to faster response time?  Just trying to understand.

[JonathanM]

55 minutes ago, mikela said:

Thanks for the response.  Are you recommending 2x16GB due to faster response time?  Just trying to understand.

Bus loading. 4 dimms typically take more resources to run than 2, causing instability to show up sooner.

 

Registered dimms bypass that issue, but are typically more expensive.

[HellDiverUK]

3 hours ago, jonathanm said:

Bus loading. 4 dimms typically take more resources to run than 2, causing instability to show up sooner.

 

Registered dimms bypass that issue, but are typically more expensive.

 

Nonsense.  This is X99, designed to be quad channel.  You can't run quad channel with two DIMMs. 

[HellDiverUK]

DDR4-2400 4 DIMM kit is all you need, anything more than 2400 is a waste of money and time on X99.  I think most LGA2011v3 chips only really support DDR4-2133, anything more is overclocking and not-so-stable depending on the CPU.

[tdallen]

The OP isn't going to run registered DIMMs.  I know the x99 is quad channel but I'm not sure if you get the same level of stability with regular DDR4 that you'd get with buffered RDIMMs.  No first hand experience though.  

[HellDiverUK]

10 hours ago, tdallen said:

 No first hand experience though.  

 

Clearly not, because everything you've said in this thread up to now is FUD.  

[tdallen]

Well I stand corrected about the memory configuration, then.

 

To the OP - you've selected a *very* high end gaming video card.  I assume you're going after hardware assisted transcoding via madVR using Kodi (dsplayer) in a Windows VM?  But you've also selected a very robust CPU, more along the lines of what I'd expect if you were going after server side Plex transcoding plus VMs.  I love overkill, but it might help to know if you are doing anything with this box other than basic NAS plus a VM for Kodi?

[mikela]

4 hours ago, tdallen said:

Well I stand corrected about the memory configuration, then.

 

To the OP - you've selected a *very* high end gaming video card.  I assume you're going after hardware assisted transcoding via madVR using Kodi (dsplayer) in a Windows VM?  But you've also selected a very robust CPU, more along the lines of what I'd expect if you were going after server side Plex transcoding plus VMs.  I love overkill, but it might help to know if you are doing anything with this box other than basic NAS plus a VM for Kodi?

 

I will probably use MPC-HC or MPC-BE with Kodi as the interface on a Windows 10 VM with advanced (maxed out) madVR settings.  I just want to leave the possibilties open for the future as far as having enough cores is concerned.  Here is the RAM I chose.  Thanks to everyone for the advice.

Edited June 4, 2017 by mikela

[mikela]

I was able to get my unraid system up and running this past weekend.  Totally impressive software!!!

 

Question:  My main goal is to have a media center which will run madVR with maximum settings.  Originally I was intending to run Windows 10 virtually in order to run MPC-HC or MPC-BE with madVR.  Is there a docker app that would allow the use of madVR thereby eliminating the need for Windows 10?

[JonathanM]

8 hours ago, mikela said:

 Is there a docker app that would allow the use of madVR

Unfortunately docker on linux only runs linux programs, and dockers don't directly drive the monitor output, so no, a docker HTPC output to a monitor and speakers isn't currently feasible.

 

VM is your only play right now for microsoft on unraid.

[mikela]

I just wanted to report back that within 3 days, I was able to boot up unraid for the first time, install Windows 10 VM and pass through the GPU thanks to contributions from folks on this forum.  I would like to give a special shout out to @gridrunner for his excellent videos.  It seems I had the exact same pitfalls he pointed out and using his advice was able to overcome them.  This included dumping the vbios off the 1080ti and stripping off the header with a hex editor.  Everything works perfectly and I went ahead and purchased the Pro license.  I plan on having a friend over this weekend who is versed in Kodi and MPC-BE to do that install.

Edited August 17, 2017 by mikela

[mikela]

In my current configuration, I have 9 sata ports for the HDDs.  One of the sata ports is dedicated to the M.2 SSD.  In order to be able to use all 12 HDD slots, I went ahead and ordered this LSI 9211-8i pre-flashed in IT mode.  They come with P19 firmware but he has a few with P20.  I went ahead and ordered the P20 version.  Is this OK and will this be plug and play?