I know there are probably a million posts with questions about hardware, and I have done some searching here and on the unRaid Subreddit, but I haven't really found specific answers (or at least I don't think I am). I have been out of the PC building game for about 15 years, so all of this new stuff is greek to me at this point, so I could use a little guidance if you guys would be so kind. Please feel free to tell me to keep searching if this sort of thing has been beaten to death, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.
I'm currently running a Netgear NV+ NAS that is hooked up to a Late 2009 Model iMac for the Plex server. The iMac is struggling to keep up with the transcoding these days and the NAS is running out of space, so my goal here is to build a budget unRaid system that can handle the following:
at least 8 drives
VD-T pass through so I can run Windows 10 VM pretty functionally. I probably won't be playing games directly on it, but may use it to stream to Twitch using the Xbox One, and may use it to remote stream from the Xbox One.
Plex Server
As quiet as possible
As cheap as possible
Those are the basic requirements. I'm familiar with Hard Drives, so I don't need any advice on those, so they don't need to be considered with the budget as I have a bunch in the current NAS. And I can figure out RAM. I'm more concerned with the Motherboard/CPU/Video Card aspects of it and maybe a case...
I've got my eye on the Fractal Design Define R5 Gaming Case Case, which has 8 bays, and seems decent, but it seems a little big. Not sure if I can compromise on case size due to my hard drive number requirement though (and heat concerns).
And then when it comes to the Motherboard/CPU setup, I know I need VD-T passthrough to use with the Windows 10 VM, and probably on-board video to handle the unRaid GUI, but I'm not sure if this ASUS Z170-Deluxe is complete overkill for what I want to do.... which isn't gaming. And then in terms of CPU, I have zero clue as to what I can get away with and what would be overkill. But at the same time I don't want it to stop running smoothly in a year.
Video cards are another source of confusion... I know there are some great video cards out there for gaming that run $300+, but I don't think I need that... but I'm not sure what I do need... Like I said, this is mainly going to be used for a NAS, but will occasionally be running a Windows 10 VM for messing around with, but probably never playing actual PC games. Or maybe, since I don't plan on playing games on it, I'll be ok with just the onboard video? I'm just not sure how that works with VM's and all that...
So again, I apologize if I'm beating a dead horse with this post, and if I am, please feel free to either point me in the right direction to research some more, or tell me to figure it out on my own, just figured it couldn't hurt to ask since it seems like most people are extremely helpful throughout the other threads that I've read.
Thanks guy.