NorseSock

I'd definitely leave some headroom. Like garycase said, I'd opt for the i5-4690 (or the S edition for a lower TDP) since it's only an extra couple bucks. As for the motherboard, I used the Z97H version of that one (the H97M was out of stock) for my build. Be aware, you will have to use unRAID6, which is currently in beta. Network connectivity will not work in unRAID5. I don't know if you'll run into the same problem, but I had to turn secure boot on and then back off to get it to boot.

I have a 1TB 7200RPM drive right now and I want to get two more WD RED drives 3TB. I will use the 1TB for the parity drive. - That won't work. The parity drive must be at least as large as the largest data drive. So my question is will this do the job[...] Thanks for your help in advance. I will also be running XBMC on a SQL server so as to have everything in sync and possibly the Plex server. - Horsepower-wise, that will do the job. I've never really used XMBC, so I can't comment on that. If you plan on using plex, you'll only be able to support a single 1080p transcoded stream. If you're streaming to a PC (using Plex Home Theater), that won't be an issue. If you're streaming to a Chromecast or other device, you won't be able to do simultaneous streams. YMMV, but Plex suggests a PassMark score of 2000/stream. Your processor's score is 2017. I would like to make it quiet so what recommendations for a good and quiet power supply? I'm sure someone else will chime in with a better, cheaper option, but I used the SeaSonic SS-460FL2 in the build I just completed. They make a 400w version, which would probably be better for you. It's modular, passively cooled, and 80Plus PLATINUM Certified.

I figure I'll update this so anyone that stumbles upon this thread in the future knows the outcome/problems I had. The final build ended up being: Motherboard ASRock Z97M Pro4 CPU Intel Core i3-4130T RAM Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3-1600 Case Fractal Design Define R4 Power Supply Seasonic SS-460FL2 460W Drives 3x WD Red 4TB UPS CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD USB Drive SanDisk Cruzer Fit 16GB I ran into some problems booting from USB. After changing nearly every setting in the UEFI, I found that simply having secure boot disabled wasn't enough. I had to enable and then re-disable secure boot to get it to boot. Secure boot was disabled by default, but was still stuck in setup mode from what I can gather. Smooth sailing once that was resolved. As mr-hexen said, the ethernet chip did not work in unRAID 5. I planned on running 6 anyway, so no big deal. So far, it's been smooth sailing as far as setup and configuration goes. I'm still getting up to speed on Docker (which looks incredibly cool).

Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into alternative motherboards. The only hardware I have laying around won't support a 1080p transcoding on the fly. I have the potential of needing PMS to handle two 1080p transcodes. The i3-4130T should be able to handle that, plus it has a very low TDP. That's a good idea. I'll probably see how loud the fan is stock and go from there. Definitely something I'll look into. I initially thought about only doing 8GB of ram, but I might get into the whole virtualization thing (and then it'd be nice). I think I'll drop down to a single 8GB stick and we'll see how it works out. I'm not sure how much I'll be adding per day. I was going to use the 250GB disk drive as a bit of a test to get an idea of how much it would be utilized. That's where I want to be eventually. I used to have feeds to do this with torrents and I loved it. Thanks for your help!

I'd appreciate some feedback on my current plan. Thanks! I'm looking at the following components: Motherboard ASRock Z97M Pro4$99.99 CPU Intel Core i3-4130T$134.99-$10.00 RAM G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB$157.99-$10.00 Case Fractal Design Define R4$79.99 Power Supply Seasonic SS-460FL2 460W$129.99 Drives 3x WD Red 4TB$174.99 UPS CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD$133.99 USB Drive SanDisk Cruzer Fit 16GB $19.99 Total $1,162 What is your budget? I was shooting for around $1000 with drives. I'm flexible though. How many drives do you want your server to be able to support and how much capacity do you need? I don't see myself needing more than 10TB in the near future. I don't think I'll ever need more than 6 drives. Is expandability important to you? If so, what's your long term goal? Yes to some extent, but I don't have any specific plan. Are you interested in running any unRAID Add Ons (see here)? If so, which ones? Be specific. Yes - Plex Media Server, Transmission, and possibly SABnzbd, SickBeard, and CouchPotoato if I ever get around to learning about Usenet. Do you want to run green/low power drives or faster 7200 rpm drives? I'd prefer reliability, then low power, and finally speed. I think the WD Reds are a pretty good mix of the three. Do you have any spare parts laying around that you would like to apply towards your build? This includes drives. I have a 2TB drive I'll be adding as a data drive and a 250GB cache drive.