1st UnRaid NAS - Struggling with parts list, need advice


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Summary:

 

I am currently in the process of building my 1st UnRaid NAS for my home network; I have very little experience with setting up my own NAS; however I am technically inclined so I can learn.

I am also aware that home NAS specs are highly dependent on what you want to accomplish with the build, so I will outline what my NAS’s main purpose will be along with any other secondary purposes.

 

I have exhaustively combined through the subreddits, the raid OS sites, and other forums. I am just asking for more opinions and guidance for those who wish to share. I am trying to future-proof but at the same time not extensively overbuild for my purposes.  I want the ability for further upgrades as well.

 

NAS Uses:

  • Primary purpose: Media Server, Dockers, Plex Server (Up to 4 1080i/4k streams), Media Finder/Downloader/Metadata/Organize (Sonarr, Radarr, Linarr, uTorrent, Sabnzbd, Plexply etc..)
  • Secondary purpose: Virtual Machines, Gaming (mainly retro consoles/roms, but would like the ability to run steam), Remote Access, Cloud Hosting, Backup for critical files

 

NAS Uses (Detailed):

 

  • Media Library – The NAS will store all of my media (Movies, TV shows, Music, EBooks, Photos, Roms, etc.)

  • Media Collector – I will be using media fetchers/download add-ons (Sonarr/Radarr/Lidarr/Jackett) on a daily basis;

  • Torrents & Usenet - I will be using torrents (Deluge or uTorrent) and Newgroups (SABnzbd)

  • DVR – Thinking about adding a PVR hardware component to record; however might be redundant with Kodi, local media and media collector add-ons. Looking at HomerunHD

  • Plex Server – Ability to run a Plex server to access media remotely; 4-6 transcode streams simultaneously

  • Kodi – My primary media software front end at the moment.  Will synch with Plex library

  • Live/Local TV EPG – I will utilize add-ons like PsuedoTV to build a custom EPG made up of live channels, custom made channels (from local media library), and more via Kodi

  • Games – I would love to be able to have my full ROM collection stored here and allow multiple users to play on multiple devices. Even steam games via Nvidia Shield TV

  • VPN – I might just setup a VPN on a 2nd router that would be hardwired to the Raid box; is there a better practice? Otherwise I would install OpenVPN or something similar via container.

  • Backup – I know a raided server is not backup server; however I would like to have some type of backup of important files only. Can I use 1 drive for backup only and outside the protected array? Thinking of utilizing a container like Crashplan as well.

  • Virtual Machines - I would like the ability to create VM sessions to mess around with

 

Add-ons

 

Below are some of the add-ons I plan on installing; Can you recommend any more?

 

  • Radarr
  • Sonarr
  • Jackett
  • Lidarr (when available)
  • Torrent client (Deluge or UTorrent)
  • A backup add-on (Crashplan?)
  • DuckDNS (or similar)
  • SABnzbd
  • Plex
  • Plexpy
  • Trakt.tv (I want to make sure my Plex library and my kodi libraries are synced)
  • Community Applications Suite 
  • Several Dynamix Plugins
  • Fix Common Problems, Nerd Tools, Tips and Tweaks, Unassigned Devices, unBALANCE, User Scripts

 

Front End Hardware

 

My front-end hardware will be a mix of the following devices:

 

  • Amazon Fire TV
  • Amazon Fire Stick
  • NVidia Shield TV
  • HTPC

 

Home Environment

 

  • 100Mbps/10Mbps Broadband
  • 1TB Monthly Data Cap (Bad ISP; if I could change I would)
  • Cat5e/6 to all devices (some via MOCA 2); excluding the Fire sticks
  • Users (at the moment): 2 people; however at times can be 4 people utilizing server

 

NAS Parts list (Work in Progress)

 

 

  • OS: Unraid Plus 6.3.5
  • CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1800X 3.6GHz 8-Core Processor
  • CPU Cooler:  Noctuna NH-D15 SE-AM4
  • Motherboard: ASRock - Fatal1ty X370 Professional Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard
  • Cache Drive: Samsung - 960 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
  • Parity Drive: Western Digital - Red 8TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
  • 1st Data Drive:Western Digital - Red 8TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
  • 2nd Data Drive:Western Digital - Red 8TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
  • Case: LIAN-LI PC-D600WB ATX Full Tower
  • 5 drive Enclosure (Hot Swap Bay): iStarUSA BPN-DE350SS

 

Parts not sure about

 

  • Power Supply:
  • RAM:
  • PVR Card:
  • Anything else I might be forgetting:?

 

Future Plans:  

 

  • Add additional 8TB Red as needed
  • Open to suggestions to help improve performance

 

Budget:

 

  • I would really like to keep it under $2,500; the lower the better

 

Questions:

Any sage advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated

 

  1. Am I heading in the right direction for what I want to utilize my NAS for?

  2. Should I stick with the Node 804 or get a case with hot-swap so I don't have to mess with cables?  I hear this is one of the biggest culprits of HDD failure.  Can the Node 804 accept a hot-swap cage?

  3. What Dockers [Containers]/Add-ons would you suggest based on my needs?

  4. Can I use my real-debrid service somehow in Unraid?

  5. I am at a loss on what CPU I need? Do I go for power conservation or power or a balance of both?  I have been told go dual CPU or go just multithread I7 or the new AMD Ryzen.

  6. ECC RAM or not?

  7. Is there an updated guide for best practices for installation, security etc...?

 

 

Edited by Unraidexplorer
Updated Parts list
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I do similar stuff on my NAS, specs in my signature.  The i5 is good enough for 2 or 3 transcodes, so bumping up to an i7 is more than adequate for what you're looking.

 

A few comments about the parts you've chosen: 

 

Check the Node 804's drive cages will accept the 8TB drives you've chosen.  The screw holes on the 8TB Red are different to 'traditional' drives.  The 8TB drives don't work on the Node 304 without janky mods.

Choose a different cache SSD - the TLC Samsung will wear out quite quickly.  I use a MLC Samsung (the OEM NVMe drive that's sort of a 850 PRO) and had no problems, but I have used both an 850 EVO and a 750 EVO and both lost 10% of their life in a matter of months.  

 

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Hello and welcome.  You've done a lot of great research, and it sounds like you are close to piecing it altogether.  That said, let's focus on the CPU for the moment.  Here are several points I noticed:

  • 4-6 transcode streams simultaneously.  At roughly 2,000 Passmarks per 1080p stream, you're looking at a pretty good size CPU.  Don't forget that unRAID needs some CPU for itself.
  • Up to 4 1080i/4k streams - Do you want to transcode 4k source, or will you just be supplying a 4k stream to a 4k-ready player?  If you want to encode/transcode 4k then you will want to look at the latest Kaby Lake processors for their support for HEVC 10 bit video.
  • VMs and Gaming - storing game ROMs and serving them to devices isn't a big deal, but I wasn't sure if you want to actually game in a VM (i.e. IOMMU/VT-d) - if so then you'll need to size appropriately.

Which CPU to pick depends on what you're thinking about the questions above.  A Kaby Lake i7 or E3 Xeon is probably a great choice unless you want to be serious about VMs and Gaming on your server.

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I would definitely suggest the hot swap cages, like the SuperMicro CSE-M35T-1B (available on eBay or new). The cabling issues you mention are real, and the people who forgo them often get into nasty situations and wind up struggling to avoid losing data on their very first disk add or replacement. I do not believe that the Node 804 can be adapted, Look at something like the Antec 900 or Rebel REX 8 that can accommodate 3 of those cages (15 drives). You don't have to add them all at once if you build does not require that many slots initially.

 

The heavy driver for faster and high core CPUs are the VMs and transcodes.

 

Are you looking for a more-or-less full time Windows VM? Will you be playing games requiring high performance CPU and graphics? Running a normal Windows workstation (so called "daily driver")? Or not running a Windows VM at all?

 

Will you be interested in transcoding video. If your "players" are pretty powerful, often they can handle the full video image and handle any transcoding themselves. But if the players are lower power, esp phones or tablets, a lot of the processing falls on the server. HEVC (8 bit and now 10 bit) is especially processing intensive to transcode, and some CPUs have special hardware support that turns the transcode into childs play, allowing more transcodes and not bogging down the processor. The Kaby Lakes are the best at doing these transcodes.

 

My general recommendation is a 4-core Xeon with 32G of ECC memory, 6-8 SATA MB ports, and adding on an LSI SAS9201-8i HBA (Sata controller). And adding a 250G or 500G SSD. But AMD recently released Ryzen processors with more cores and a cheaper price that looks pretty compelling, if they can resolve some technical issues that are giving the early adopters some problems. Most of the early adopters seem to have workarounds that, although they increase power consumption, lead to a stable build. There is a long tread on Ryzen you should read if you are interested in moving in that direction. Otherwise a 4 Core Kaby would be my suggestion.

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Thanks for all the detailed and quick replies,

 

5 hours ago, tdallen said:

Hello and welcome.  You've done a lot of great research, and it sounds like you are close to piecing it altogether.  That said, let's focus on the CPU for the moment.  Here are several points I noticed:

  • 4-6 transcode streams simultaneously.  At roughly 2,000 Passmarks per 1080p stream, you're looking at a pretty good size CPU.  Don't forget that unRAID needs some CPU for itself.
  • Up to 4 1080i/4k streams - Do you want to transcode 4k source, or will you just be supplying a 4k stream to a 4k-ready player?  If you want to encode/transcode 4k then you will want to look at the latest Kaby Lake processors for their support for HEVC 10 bit video.
  • VMs and Gaming - storing game ROMs and serving them to devices isn't a big deal, but I wasn't sure if you want to actually game in a VM (i.e. IOMMU/VT-d) - if so then you'll need to size appropriately.

Which CPU to pick depends on what you're thinking about the questions above.  A Kaby Lake i7 or E3 Xeon is probably a great choice unless you want to be serious about VMs and Gaming on your server.

 

  • I don't plan on having tons of 4k sources at the moment; so it will be a mix of sources; most of my players will be 4k ready; however I will have the scenario of streaming a 4k source to a tablet; so I guess I need a Kaby Lake processor if I stick with Intel.
  • I would play the roms via other platforms such as Retropie via my pi, Kodi emulator addon etc.

 

 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, bjp999 said:

I would definitely suggest the hot swap cages, like the SuperMicro CSE-M35T-1B (available on eBay or new). The cabling issues you mention are real, and the people who forgo them often get into nasty situations and wind up struggling to avoid losing data on their very first disk add or replacement. I do not believe that the Node 804 can be adapted, Look at something like the Antec 900 or Rebel REX 8 that can accommodate 3 of those cages (15 drives). You don't have to add them all at once if you build does not require that many slots initially.

 

The heavy driver for faster and high core CPUs are the VMs and transcodes.

 

Are you looking for a more-or-less full time Windows VM? Will you be playing games requiring high performance CPU and graphics? Running a normal Windows workstation (so called "daily driver")? Or not running a Windows VM at all?

 

Will you be interested in transcoding video. If your "players" are pretty powerful, often they can handle the full video image and handle any transcoding themselves. But if the players are lower power, esp phones or tablets, a lot of the processing falls on the server. HEVC (8 bit and now 10 bit) is especially processing intensive to transcode, and some CPUs have special hardware support that turns the transcode into childs play, allowing more transcodes and not bogging down the processor. The Kaby Lakes are the best at doing these transcodes.

 

My general recommendation is a 4-core Xeon with 32G of ECC memory, 6-8 SATA MB ports, and adding on an LSI SAS9201-8i HBA (Sata controller). And adding a 250G or 500G SSD. But AMD recently released Ryzen processors with more cores and a cheaper price that looks pretty compelling, if they can resolve some technical issues that are giving the early adopters some problems. Most of the early adopters seem to have workarounds that, although they increase power consumption, lead to a stable build. There is a long tread on Ryzen you should read if you are interested in moving in that direction. Otherwise a 4 Core Kaby would be my suggestion.

  • I wouldn't be using the VMs full time; I just want the ability to run a VM from time to time such as Linux, Windows, etc.
  • Most of my players would be Amazon TVs, Shield TV, HTPC, but I want the ability to access media on any device 
  • Could you clarify what you mean add a SSD, in addition to my SSD cache?  Like to central run all dockers, VMs etc..?
  • I am trying to keep my HDD's down to a minimal; I'm going the large capacity vs quantity route; do you think a SATA controller is still needed? Assuming I get a 6-8 SATA MB?
  • If I go the Xeon route, do you suggested a I7 model?  Same for Ryzen route?
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6 hours ago, HellDiverUK said:

I do similar stuff on my NAS, specs in my signature.  The i5 is good enough for 2 or 3 transcodes, so bumping up to an i7 is more than adequate for what you're looking.

 

A few comments about the parts you've chosen: 

 

Check the Node 804's drive cages will accept the 8TB drives you've chosen.  The screw holes on the 8TB Red are different to 'traditional' drives.  The 8TB drives don't work on the Node 304 without janky mods.

Choose a different cache SSD - the TLC Samsung will wear out quite quickly.  I use a MLC Samsung (the OEM NVMe drive that's sort of a 850 PRO) and had no problems, but I have used both an 850 EVO and a 750 EVO and both lost 10% of their life in a matter of months.  

 

 

Do you think a 500GB SSD is plenty with everything I want to do, I plan on storing the VMs, Metadata, Dockers on the SSD.  Or do you think a 1TB is needed?   I will clear the cache everyday to the main protected array.

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48 minutes ago, Unraidexplorer said:
  • I wouldn't be using the VMs full time; I just want the ability to run a VM from time to time such as Linux, Windows, etc.
  • Most of my players would be Amazon TVs, Shield TV, HTPC, but I want the ability to access media on any device 
  • Could you clarify what you mean add a SSD, in addition to my SSD cache?  Like to central run all dockers, VMs etc..?
  • I am trying to keep my HDD's down to a minimal; I'm going the large capacity vs quantity route; do you think a SATA controller is still needed? Assuming I get a 6-8 SATA MB?
  • If I go the Xeon route, do you suggested a I7 model?  Same for Ryzen route?

 

Some of your answers seems to say, I just want a car that will drive me to and from the grocery store, but I want the ability to take it into the outback for some offroading. Or I want to be able to drive in a race once in a while. :) Your regular use case seems pretty basic, but some of your "i want to's" might push you to higher power.

 

For the Kaby Lake processors, you will find i3, i5, i7, and Xeon varieties, and maybe others like Celerons and Pentiums. Xeon's are made for servers. You are more likely to find things like lots of SATA ports and ECC memory on Xeon boards, but i5s and i7s are popular as well. I prefer the Xeon route personally, but nothing wrong with an i7.

 

Your need for a sata controller is based on the number of drives you expect. One universal is that you will need more than you plan. But certainly an add-on SATA controller is not needed day one if you drive needs are satisfied on the motherboard. Looking back, seems you are planning for 3 drives + 1 SSD. That is 4 ports. If you have 6, that would be enough (I always want at least one extra).

 

The SSD i was mentioning was for cache.

 

I can't really recommend a Ryzen build. No personal experience. I'd again refer you to the king of Ryzen threads.

 

Good luck with your build!!

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13 hours ago, bjp999 said:

 

Some of your answers seems to say, I just want a car that will drive me to and from the grocery store, but I want the ability to take it into the outback for some offroading. Or I want to be able to drive in a race once in a while. :) Your regular use case seems pretty basic, but some of your "i want to's" might push you to higher power.

 

For the Kaby Lake processors, you will find i3, i5, i7, and Xeon varieties, and maybe others like Celerons and Pentiums. Xeon's are made for servers. You are more likely to find things like lots of SATA ports and ECC memory on Xeon boards, but i5s and i7s are popular as well. I prefer the Xeon route personally, but nothing wrong with an i7.

 

Your need for a sata controller is based on the number of drives you expect. One universal is that you will need more than you plan. But certainly an add-on SATA controller is not needed day one if you drive needs are satisfied on the motherboard. Looking back, seems you are planning for 3 drives + 1 SSD. That is 4 ports. If you have 6, that would be enough (I always want at least one extra).

 

The SSD i was mentioning was for cache.

 

I can't really recommend a Ryzen build. No personal experience. I'd again refer you to the king of Ryzen threads.

 

Good luck with your build!!

 

Yea, I guess I am wanting just the right amount and all of it at the same time... having the ability to run a VM or multiple dockers at the same time is something I want which will push me into higher end components.  I plan on using my SSD cache drive to run all dockers and VMs, the Samsung 850 Pro 500GB

 

I am not opposed to going the Xeon route if that will allow me to do everything I want plus some down the road.  I just don't know a lot about server grade components and if I want to spend over a grand on a processor.  

 

  • If I go the Xeon route what Xeon CPU would easily meet my spec requirements but not cost an arm and a leg?

 

  • If I go the i7 route, do you recommend a specific model?

 

  • Based on what I am looking what guideline could I use when looking at CPU, a 12000 Passmark or better? is 4 cores enough?

 

  • I get a bit confused (in regards to what would be best for a NAS setup and what I want to do) on how one CPU will affect the performance over another.  For example between the Intel Core i7-7700K @ 4.20GHz (4 core with Passmark: 12167) vs the Intel Core i7-6850K @ 3.60GHz (6 core with Passmark: 14374)
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The Xeon E3 is the same class chip as a Core i7 - 4 cores, hyperthreaded (most of them, anyway), etc.  While the Xeon E3-128x chips are pretty expensive, the costs of a Xeon E3-127x setup will be more on a par with a Core i7 setup - a few dollars more for the chip, a few dollars more for unbuffered ECC RAM, and a few dollars more for a server class motherboard.  But all-in-all, fairly comparable to a Core i7 setup - take a look at the Xeon E3-1275v6.  The advantages of an E3 "server class" setup come as much from the motherboard as from the chip - features like dual LAN, IPMI, etc.

 

The Xeon E5 is a full step up.  More cores, more PCIe lanes, more memory bandwidth, registered ECC RAM, etc.  It will cost a good bit more unless you buy used.  The Xeon E5 requires Socket 2011 while the E3 requires Socket 1150/1151 (which is what the Core iX chips use).  Socket 2011 chips also use more power than Socket 1150/1151 chips.

 

The Core i7-6850k and similar "extreme edition" chips are also Socket 2011 and can be thought of (over simplification) as consumer level E5's.

 

Based on what you want to do (primarily based on Plex streams), I'd target a minimum of 10,000 Passmarks.  A Core i7-7700K would be great for a high end NAS and everything you want to do unless you get serious about VMs - it would have plenty of capacity for unRAID, a bunch of Dockers, and a handful of Plex streams.  Dockers are a very lightweight form of virtualization and generally play well together.  On the other hand, performance sensitive VMs like to have dedicated cores - and if you start pinning cores, 4 just don't go very far.  A 6+ core chip would definitely future proof your purchase - but hardware at that level isn't just a NAS anymore.

 

 

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9 hours ago, tdallen said:

The Xeon E3 is the same class chip as a Core i7 - 4 cores, hyperthreaded (most of them, anyway), etc.  While the Xeon E3-128x chips are pretty expensive, the costs of a Xeon E3-127x setup will be more on a par with a Core i7 setup - a few dollars more for the chip, a few dollars more for unbuffered ECC RAM, and a few dollars more for a server class motherboard.  But all-in-all, fairly comparable to a Core i7 setup - take a look at the Xeon E3-1275v6.  The advantages of an E3 "server class" setup come as much from the motherboard as from the chip - features like dual LAN, IPMI, etc.

 

The Xeon E5 is a full step up.  More cores, more PCIe lanes, more memory bandwidth, registered ECC RAM, etc.  It will cost a good bit more unless you buy used.  The Xeon E5 requires Socket 2011 while the E3 requires Socket 1150/1151 (which is what the Core iX chips use).  Socket 2011 chips also use more power than Socket 1150/1151 chips.

 

The Core i7-6850k and similar "extreme edition" chips are also Socket 2011 and can be thought of (over simplification) as consumer level E5's.

 

Based on what you want to do (primarily based on Plex streams), I'd target a minimum of 10,000 Passmarks.  A Core i7-7700K would be great for a high end NAS and everything you want to do unless you get serious about VMs - it would have plenty of capacity for unRAID, a bunch of Dockers, and a handful of Plex streams.  Dockers are a very lightweight form of virtualization and generally play well together.  On the other hand, performance sensitive VMs like to have dedicated cores - and if you start pinning cores, 4 just don't go very far.  A 6+ core chip would definitely future proof your purchase - but hardware at that level isn't just a NAS anymore.

 

 

 

I've been researching all day and have learned quite a bit about a few areas I was fuzzy in and have a few questions after reading above.  I've come to the conclusion for what I want to do with my NAS I want to keep my CPU cost to under $650.  I feel that price point should allow me to do everything I want and more for a long time, I don't want to be upgrading the systems core in 4 or 5 years.  I don't mind buying used if the general consensus is positive among the forums.  Again I am open to any recommendations.

 

My main goal is to purchase a processor that is power efficient, future proof, best bang for $.

  • If I go Xeon, should I go E3 v6 (newest), E5 v3 (better model), or E5 v4 (lower model)?
  • Which Xeon model (based on above response & with $650 price point ceiling in mind)?

 

  • Are there benefits to going i7 Core?  If so, could you recommend one (I see you had a positive response to the i7-7700K above)?  

 

An example of when I get a bit confused on specs.  Below how is the Xeon worth that much more? The ability to run dual processors?

 

Intel Core i7-6850K @ 3.60GHz vs. Intel Xeon E5-1650 v4 @ 3.60GHz

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2800&cmp[]=2838

 

 

Edited by Unraidexplorer
Added example of processors (bottom)
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For the most part, the Xeon E3 and Core i7 are exactly the same chip.  The E3 supports ECC RAM, while the Core i7 clocks slightly higher on both the base and turbo frequencies, but other than that there are very few differences.  Your choice between them comes down primarily to support for ECC RAM.

 

I like some of the newer E5-16xx chips - high clock speeds, and 6+ cores.  I don't see the point of a 4 core E5.  Conversely, as you add more cores on the E5's you start trading off clock speed and sometimes it's nice to have strong single thread performance.  Very few E5's are what I'd call power efficient, though.

 

You really should look beyond just the cost of the CPU.  Socket 2011 boards tend to cost more than Socket 1151 boards.  Unbuffered ECC RAM (used by E3's) costs a bit more than regular RAM, and Registered ECC RAM (used by E5's) costs more again.

 

If I were building a new media server today, I'd build it with the Kaby Lake Xeon E3-1275v6.  Power efficient, supports ECC RAM (always a good idea for an always on server), tons of horsepower for Plex transcoding and native support for 4K HEVC.  It will support at least some level of virtualization if I want to run a VM or two.  That said, I'm not into serious virtualization on my unRAID server and don't plan to be.  Mine runs headless in a closet and I'm never planning to do any hardware pass through, etc.  If that were important to me then I'd be looking at an E5.

Edited by tdallen
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17 hours ago, tdallen said:

For the most part, the Xeon E3 and Core i7 are exactly the same chip.  The E3 supports ECC RAM, while the Core i7 clocks slightly higher on both the base and turbo frequencies, but other than that there are very few differences.  Your choice between them comes down primarily to support for ECC RAM.

 

I like some of the newer E5-16xx chips - high clock speeds, and 6+ cores.  I don't see the point of a 4 core E5.  Conversely, as you add more cores on the E5's you start trading off clock speed and sometimes it's nice to have strong single thread performance.  Very few E5's are what I'd call power efficient, though.

 

You really should look beyond just the cost of the CPU.  Socket 2011 boards tend to cost more than Socket 1151 boards.  Unbuffered ECC RAM (used by E3's) costs a bit more than regular RAM, and Registered ECC RAM (used by E5's) costs more again.

 

If I were building a new media server today, I'd build it with the Kaby Lake Xeon E3-1275v6.  Power efficient, supports ECC RAM (always a good idea for an always on server), tons of horsepower for Plex transcoding and native support for 4K HEVC.  It will support at least some level of virtualization if I want to run a VM or two.  That said, I'm not into serious virtualization on my unRAID server and don't plan to be.  Mine runs headless in a closet and I'm never planning to do any hardware pass through, etc.  If that were important to me then I'd be looking at an E5.

 

So I've narrowed my CPU choices down to the below:

  • Intel Xeon E3-1275 v6 @ 3.80GHz Core: 4 - (Passmark: 11445) - I worry this will not be enough in 3 or 4 years, but $300 range & ECC support & high GHz
  • Intel Xeon E5-1650 v4 @ 3.60GHz Core: 6 -  (Passmark: 14288) - In top price point, but would future proof, but $600+ range
  • AMD Ryzen 7 1800X @ 3.60GHz Core: 8 - (Passmark: 15412) - Nice price, good reviews ECC support; however Ryzen and Unraid don't seem to play well together at the moment. Worth waiting?
  1. Is the E5 worth 50% more? With the intention of wanting to be able to run Unraid, transcode at least 3 to 4 1080 streams and stream audio (plus all in original post)
  2. The Ryzen is perfect, why must there be issues!  Any insight on the time period before things are smooth?  And I mean a rough estimate, would it be 2 months or 1 year
  3. Still thinking the E3-1275 v6 is the prime choice for my needs against the other 2?  I will be buying within the next 3 to 5 months

 

Edited by Unraidexplorer
Corrected comments
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20 hours ago, Unraidexplorer said:

Is the E5 worth 50% more?

Only you can decide...

 

On 7/22/2017 at 7:45 PM, Unraidexplorer said:

I don't want to be upgrading the systems core in 4 or 5 years

4-5 years is a long time in computing...

 

At some point you just need to decide, I think you may be at that point.  Either that, or add some additional criteria to help you decide.  For instance, I'm looking for rock solid stability so that leaves out playing with VMs on Ryzen for me (for now).  It seems like you may be looking for the capacity to do the things in your original post, plus the excess capacity to do a lot more?

 

The Xeon E3-1275v6 is more future proof if you start getting into 4K video.  The E5-1650v4 is more future proof if you start getting into VMs or other forms of having the system do several things at the same time.  But a lot can change over time - for that matter, the choices may be different in 3-5 months!

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So now that the Ryzen issues are starting to be fixed in the new RC I think I am just going to go the AMD route.

 

I have updated my parts list and I was hoping I could get your opinion on its capabilities?  

 

What will I have the ability to do in regards to Plex trancodes, VMs, Dockers, Gaming with the below setup?

 

Any suggestions for RAM amount? PSU? Video Card?

Edited by Unraidexplorer
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On 8/3/2017 at 1:28 PM, luisv said:

I have similar requirements and I'm basically at the same crossroads as you, so I'm curious if you finalized your build decisions.  I'm trying to decide between the 1700x and a E3-1275 v6 build.   

 

I haven't pulled the plug yet, but I am leaning towards the 1700X now since most of the issues have been addressed (minus the KVM issue) which can be worked around and is being addressed on AMD side from a few forums over at AMD...the issue is when?

 

The E3-1275 v6 still looks great but unless ECC RAM is a must and VM must be flawless at this moment then the 1700X to me will be better in everyway (based on my needs).  8 Core will always be better than 4 when it comes to a media server and running multi applications.

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My recent research was that VM performance was particularly poor on Ryzen, and it was unknown if/when it would be remedied. But I know the situation is rather fluid. My advice is that anyone with an immediate need for VM string consider Intel for now.

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2 hours ago, bjp999 said:

My recent research was that VM performance was particularly poor on Ryzen, and it was unknown if/when it would be remedied. But I know the situation is rather fluid. My advice is that anyone with an immediate need for VM string consider Intel for now.

 

Poor performance for Windows VM gaming, or normal Windows day to day use?  

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Here is the thread I was reading that caused me to make that statement. I do not have a Ryzen so can't substantiate.

 

https://community.amd.com/thread/215931

 

GPU passthrough is not important for just gaming.  I have visualized my "daily driver" to push a 4K display and works like a champ. 

 

But in searching this out, I found several threads where Ryzen was working well for virtualization. Hard to know what is the accurate info.

 

Do your research is best advice.

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