Processor help please

[Rockyranger]

I'm build a new unraid server, I haven't bought anything yet although I have done a couple of weeks research. The server will be primarily for plex 4k but I want it to be overly capable and future proof for other things I may use it for in the long run.

 

1) I will not be starting out with a graphics card, can anyone please suggest a good AMD processor up to £350 that has onboard graphics the equivalent to Intel's igpu/quick sync or would it be better just to go for Intel? It would be nice to be able to transcode 4k but not fundamental as I can add a GPU later.

 

2) Can anyone please suggest a mother board with ECC support, onboard graphics, PCI 4.0 supports and lanes that come from the CPU as I've been reading a lot about not being able to use m.2/sata ports all at the same time. I hope this make sense.

 

3) I've read that there may be issues with using onboard sata ports as the raid controller may conflict with unraid? Should I buy an HBA card flashed to IT mode as people have suggested, is there any way around this?

 

Hopefully someone out there can help me out on these point so I can start buying the parts!

 

Many thanks.

 

 

[whipdancer]

1) There is no AMD CPU that has a supported equivalent of quick sync. Quick sync only matters if you must transcode the video. My plex client natively plays the vast majority of my plex library, so very little transcoding is necessary. 

In general, a GPU is only required for Unraid if your specific activity needs a GPU.

[Rockyranger]

Thank you for your reply. Just to be clear, I could use an AMD CPU without built in graphics and use unraid and plex (natively) just fine?

 

If the motherboard has video out, would I be able to setup unraid without a GPU?

[Vr2Io]

Unraid / Plex would work with / without GPU, but you usually need a GPU for displaying in first setup. For Plex with supported GPU then you can use GPU acceleration for decoding to offload CPU.

 

If you need ECC then you must avoid AMD APU because they are not support. ( Someone said Pro-APU support ECC )

 

18 hours ago, Rockyranger said:

If the motherboard has video out, would I be able to setup unraid without a GPU?

It will function with AMD APU only.

[whipdancer]

You can setup Unraid without a display, but I didn't originally do it that way. I bought the cheapest video card I could find at the time (10?ish years ago, it was $30 or something) and I've had it in my server since then. It's currently on a 1x riser, because I literally only use it for emergencies (and haven't need it for that in at least 5 or 6 years).