Advice for a new Unraid built

[steve1977]

I've been a passionate Unraid sure for many years. My current built is stable and I am very satisfied with it (i9-10980XE, 2 GPUs, several VMs and dockers). I am planning to build a second Unraid server, which will be more "light". Not to replace, but to add.

 

I am thinking to have a mini-ITX Mobo, which would allow me to use an open-frame case. I am quite inclined to go with Thermaltake Core P1 (https://www.thermaltake.com/core-p1-tg-mini-itx.html), which looks stunning to me.

 

Let me describe a bit what I am trying to do: I still like to use the second built for gaming within a Windows VM (i.e.., need GPU passthrough). I am undecided whether this will be my only VM or whether I will run a second VM with low requirements (no GPU passthrough). Plex will be an important docker and I will stream 4K movies from it. Maybe some other dockers, but nothing crazy.

 

It's the first time I am looking into a new built in a long time, so there are various questions that I'd like to pick the collective brain of this forum.

 

1) CPU - I am inclined to go with Intel rather than AMD as it still feels much better supported by Unraid. Also, the price difference has come down, so not that much reason for AMD anyways. Intel 11500, 11700 or 11900 look like the right candidates? Probably more one of the latter 2 as I'd benefit from the additional cores? Not sure whether K or KF? Is there any use of the integrated GPU for any of it?

 

2) GPU - I haven't looked into GPUs for a long while, so very keen to hear advice. Will need to be Nvidia as I will be using Gamestream/Moonlight.

 

3) Mobo, Ram & PSU - Similar to GPU

 

4) Water cooling - Pictures for the case look interesting and there seem to be plenty of opportunities. So, also like to get some thoughts

 

5) Unraid license - I will have 1 or 2 NVME drives plus a HD bay (connected via USB-C). What Unraid license will this require?

 

 

Would love to get thoughts! Particularly given the use cases for Plex Docker and Gaming-VM. Thanks in advance!

[JonathanM]

7 hours ago, steve1977 said:

a HD bay (connected via USB-C)

Unless you are ok with no parity protection, USB is not recommended for Unraid hard drive connections.

[steve1977]

1 hour ago, JonathanM said:

Unless you are ok with no parity protection, USB is not recommended for Unraid hard drive connections.

Fully aware. I'm good without parity, so that will be fine. Any thoughts on my built-related questions?

[JonathanM]

4 hours ago, steve1977 said:

Fully aware. I'm good without parity, so that will be fine. Any thoughts on my built-related questions?

Opinions only, no good thoughts.

1. Intel, possibly research 10th gen vs 11th gen. Something about a removed feature? IDK, just something I read. Once you have enough cores, frequency determines responsiveness to a large degree, higher GHZ rules. plex transcoding is a minor consideration, my opinion is that it's better to upgrade the client side than chase transcoding.

2. Wait until the world gets less upside down unless you like spending more for the GPU than you did for your first car.

3. Personal preference is workstation grade or server grade, I don't like using consumer grade for 24/7/365 for years on end.

4. Water cooling is fine if you will be present whenever the machine is on. Otherwise the risks are too high.

5. 3 drives easily covered by basic license

 

VM considerations are largely determined by amount of resources passed through. Server grade boards tend to have better ability to subdivide resources cleanly.

[hoppers99]

1 hour ago, JonathanM said:

Water cooling is fine if you will be present whenever the machine is on. Otherwise the risks are too high.

 

I'd add a +1 for that. I considered water cooling because it looks nice, takes up less space than a big cooler, and theoretically is reported quite efficient. Upon further research I found a number of comparison/tests by Linus Tech Tips on youtube that regularly showed a good air cooler more effective at cooling than water coolers (and some smaller water coolers better than larger). While your milage may vary, it helped me stick with my air-cooled Noctua solution.

 

The other reason I was pushing towards air-cooled is pretty simple. If one of more of my fans fail, I still have a big heatsink to help dissipate heat. In a water cooled environment, if my water cooling fails, well it fails good! There is no failure mode in water cooling I could think of that wasn't likely to result in some fairly catastrophic failure leaving my CPU with zero cooling support.

 

I've never run water cooling personally but after asking and reading around, I never would unless a) I had to due to space constraints for a suitable air-cooler, and b) it was only going to be on while I was there so I could power down instantly in case of issues. My server is designed to run 24/7 however, so and air-cool is running excellently for me even under higher loads (and also quieter than the fans on a radiator would be which was another driver).

[steve1977]

Thanks for your thoughts, these are very helpful.

 

Does a usb attached storage hub (with 8 disk) only qualify as one device for the unraid license?

 

I’m thinking of the folllwing mobos. Are they consumer, workstation or enterprise grade?

 

* Asus Strix B560-I

 

* Asus Strix Z590-I

 

Interesting that both of you have concerns on water cooling. I indeed thought if it primarily for the looks. What is the risk you’re describing? The cpu to die or a fire that sets my house on fire?

 

The gpu situation now is indeed a nightmare. No idea what to do, but i may indeed end up with an insanely overpriced 3070. Not sure prices will come down anytime soon…

 

Any thoughts on iGPU? Any use in unraid context? My real gpu will be passed through to a VM, so anything for the iGPU to do?