Hey all,
I am about to (finally, after thinking for too many years about this :P ) upgrade my Windows Home Server 2011 to something else and I have decided that to be UnRAID.
My current server is a 2nd generation Intel Core i3 and then nothing else but a separate video card (only because the mobo does not have video out, so for setup and troubleshooting purposes) and a SATA controller card. Otherwise the only thing in the chassis are lots of HDD's for storage and an SSD for the OS.
My thought at first was just to change the OS to UnRAID, but I have really fallen in love with the idea of having a gaming VM running on the UnRAID server, as I am already planning on purchase a Geforce 3080 for my gaming rig in the near future.
The main purpose for this gaming VM would be to have gaming to other devices (HTPC's, android phones, iPad tablets, Raspberry Pi's etc.), while still having a separate gaming rig.
However, I now have a couple of ways forward.
1. Upgrade the mobo and CPU on the server to something more modern and with more cores, plus moving my current Geforce 1080 Ti to the server, when I purchase the 3080 to my gaming rig.
2. Upgrade the mobo and CPU on the gaming rig to something more modern (not necessarily pushing number of cores), purchasing a Geforce 3080 and then moving my gaming rig's current hardware (Intel Core i5 6th gen and Geforce 1080 Ti) to the server.
While thinking about the above to options, I started thinking about if I really even need my separate gaming rig at all. I will still not be able to be hooked up directly to the GPU in the server, as the server is placed in our basement, so it has to be over the LAN. What I am afraid of are of course if there are issues sometimes and of course too much latency for certain games, when running them in the VM over the LAN.
Because otherwise a third option would of course be:
3. Upgrade the mobo and CPU on the server to something more modern and with more cores plus purchasing a Geforce 3080 for the server. This would then be used for gaming instead of my gaming rig as well.
And of course, when thinking about replacing my gaming rig, I of course started thinking about doing option 3 above, but also moving my current Geforce 1080 Ti to the server as well, to be able to have two separate gaming VM's on the server.
I would appreciate your thoughts on these different alternatives, should I keep separate gaming rig or move everything to the server, as well as suggestions for hardware for the different options above.
Thanks.