Lolight

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Everything posted by Lolight

  1. You should think twice about re-using the old PSU, if it's indeed over 7 years old. PSUs do degrade with age, especially those on the lower end. The cheaper i3-12100 might be more than adequate for your use case. Since you desire power efficiency.. Your could get rid of the HBA by getting an ATX motherboard with 8 SATA ports, but you're restricted by your Node 804 form factor. There are no readily available mATX motherboards with so many onboard SATA ports (at least not from the big 4). https://pcpartpicker.com/list/
  2. Intel refers to TDP as average power dissipation at base frequency which is 1.50 GHz for the i9-11900T. The processor is capable of boosting up to almost 5 GHz and therefore dissipating much higher levels of power than the stated TDP number. I don't think the word "boosted" is the right one to use in the context of idle states. I'm not aware of any big changes being implemented to the idle state tech within the last decade leading me to think that there's not much of a difference within the recent Intel CPUs, as long as they're allowed to fall back into the highest C-state. I suspect the reason we see for the systems containing HBAs not being capable to enter higher than C2 state is due to the HBAs firmwares that've not been optimized for efficiency therefore holding up the rest of the system from highest idle states. Power efficiency is not the biggest priority in the enterprise world. Recently Gamers Nexus (youtuber) in one of his latest CPU power consumption under workload videos has mentioned of his intention to also run an Intel/AMD CPU idle power comparison tests. That test (if completed) could provide some empirical evidence to discuss.
  3. Welcome! Will you direct-play or transcode in Plex? If transcoding is required then you'd need to buy modern parts. Do you have very expensive electricity? If yes, then it might actually be more cost effective in the long run to buy brand new, more power efficient hardware (PC components and large capacity HDDs). In addition if you get an ATX motherboard with 8 SATA ports it will allow you to only use the motherboard's SATA ports - no need for power wasting SAS cards. It would also increase your system's overall reliability from the perspective of possible failure points. If you're set on re-using your existing hardware then I'd say the i7-5960X is probably your best (least worst) option.
  4. I apologize if my responses looked confrontational - it wasn't my intent. 😐 My goal was to point out the existence of low-quality models within the overall high quality brand. Such as the Eaton 5E which is marginal in quality even when compared with other similarly priced units by other brands and should be avoided.
  5. I voiced my opinion on a certain line of a product as a warning since Eaton is universally known as a high quality brand. I'm not sure on the nature of your disagreement since you clearly own an expensive, higher end unit that has nothing to do with my warning.
  6. Sure, but I'm not talking about the cheapest units, like the previously-mentioned Eaton that has shamelessly taken advantage of its reputation for quality in the enterprise segment to push out hot garbage on the unsuspecting low end customer. There's a good selection of quality UPSs which are still significantly cheaper (and efficient) than the pure sine-wave units.
  7. There's no reason to overspend if the simpler/cheaper solutions work just fine.
  8. The newer set is probably worth the slight premium. The 6100T is a slower, underclocked version of the 6100 - it won't save you electricity.
  9. Why would a pure sine wave worth it? It won't make any difference as long as you have a decent quality PSU. Eaton's medium and high end units are very good but their lowest lines shown to be garbage.
  10. The December update as a year of content on the subject in a single video:
  11. Sorry, I've mistakenly quoted your post instead of replying to @EMW
  12. Yes, a parity drive can be added later: https://docs.unraid.net/unraid-os/manual/storage-management/ No, it's a limitation of that specific motherboard. 2 SATA ports gets disabled when you populate the M.2 slot with a M.2 SSD (nVME or SATA). But it won't apply to your case if you have a 2.5" SSD. Sorry for misleading. My assumption was that you have a M.2 SSD.
  13. Welcome! File serving doesn't require much of computing power and could be easily run on the outdated hardware. The GPU should be OK for some transcoding if required but you have to check on details of what it's capable of. The 4th generation Intel iGPU is basically useless for that task. Your Intel parts bin looks like a good starting platform for Unraid. It's actually a real good opportunity to get going with what you already have (assuming everything is still in good order), learn your ways around and then upgrade with a much better understanding of your needs for new hardware. Not sure if you'll be able to run a VM on your old hardware (I don't run VMs and have little knowledge on the topic). Also be aware of your motherboard limitation: the SATA 4 and 5 connectors (2 out of 6) will become disabled when you plug-in your SSD. Will you be using a parity drive? Then make sure it's a CMR one (not SMR). And for the PSU, it's probably better to go with your Corsair for now and then upgrade to a newer one when the time comes to change the rest of your hardware.
  14. Also, a good practice to follow after purchasing a USB stick is to check for and then wipe the drive clear of all partitions: Windows Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management
  15. Or a 9-pin adapter, plugged into the motherboard's USB header. https://www.amazon.com/SinLoon-Female-Motherboard-Header-Adapter-Dual/dp/B0878S6BD5/ref=m_crc_dp_lf_d_t1_d_sccl_2_1/130-5525013-4443804?pd_rd_w=XGyCQ&content-id=amzn1.sym.76a0b561-a7b4-41dc-9467-a85a2fa27c1c&pf_rd_p=76a0b561-a7b4-41dc-9467-a85a2fa27c1c&pf_rd_r=4VSWPNZQRHEY1MPJ0TGT&pd_rd_wg=yxsE8&pd_rd_r=d46fe94b-df1f-4e5d-bda9-7abe6a0c0526&pd_rd_i=B0878S6BD5&psc=1
  16. Yes, as in efficiency - energy used for the same amount of calculations. Also combined with the ability to drop back into the lowest possible energy consuming state while at idle. TDP doesn't represent and has no relevance to efficiency.
  17. This is a mainland China oriented discount code - only works with Chinese Alipay accounts.
  18. Are you upgrading your Unraid machine (PLEX server) that currently doesn't transcode? What's your client setup?
  19. I think it would be better for your use case and probably cheaper overall to buy brand new parts. The i9 10900 is a good CPU If you really need those cores to use with VMs but it doesn't sound if you plan on doing that. The MPG Z490 GAMING EDGE motherboard is not an optimal board for a NAS. Even though it comes with 6 SATA ports and a pair of M.2 slots, you'll only be able to add a single nVME SSD. If you populate the second M.2 slot with a SSD (either SATA or PCIe) it will disable 2 out of available 6 SATA ports. There are readily available new, relatively cheap ATX motherboards that don't have that limitation, also come with 8 onboard SATA ports. One of those could be paired with a cheap i3-12100 CPU that should offer more than enough of processing power for your needs. Try to keep it simple - don't use any of the add-on cards unless absolutely necessary, especially when you can easily reduce the number of required SATA ports by replacing those currently used 2TB HDDs with a single drive of the much higher capacity. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/
  20. Precisely. AMD is generally more efficient specifically in gaming as in FPS per Watt and production benchmarks but it has zero relevance to an average user of a home NAS where efficiency at idle is the most important factor.
  21. Yep, the usual way it's done in other forums. @SpencerJ Is there a particular reason(s) not to do the same over here?
  22. I have deleted my response since at the time of writing I wasn't aware of @bluewater comment in another thread saying that a DIY system is not an option.
  23. You'll have to take the card out and install it in a windows machine as per @PhilBarker instructions: Then run the windows executable RomUpdWin.exe found in the downloaded firmware update folder. https://docs.phil-barker.com/posts/upgrading-ASM1166-firmware-for-unraid/