I am working on my first unraid build and could use some advice.

 

I have 2 MB/processors to chse from.

 

Msi z97-g55 sli with a i7 4790k and a msi z390 gaming carbon pro with a i9 9900k.

 

The server will primarily be for storage but I would like to get a plex server going as well.

 

Ether MB/processor choice will get the same additional hardware.

8x 8tb 4kn drives

1x 9207-8i controller

2x samsung ssd for cache pool

16gb ram

3060 graphics card

 

 

I would like it to be a power light as possible and I don't plant to be using the plex server for much at least at the beginning. 

 

My question is how much does unraid and or plex benefit or get hurt by the older mb/processor combo.

 

Any other advic3 would be great

 

Thanks

No much reason use 4th Intel as you have 9th for that.

Edited May 11, 20233 yr by Vr2Io

If the i7 can handle the server workload I would use the i9 9900k for something else, it is still a viable gaming processor, the i7 4700 not so much.

Go for the i9 - transcoding under Plex is much more powerfull 👍 (if you need it).

Also HW-Transcoding is much more efficient on the iGPU of the i9.

Edited May 12, 20233 yr by Zonediver

I thought the i9 would be better for plex, I did plan on putting a 3060 or 2080ti in for trancoding. 

 

Is the i9 better for that then the dedicated gpu?

I'd go with the i9-9900k, it's gonna make your build much more future proof. If you're running Plex, you'll definitely want the extra horsepower for hardware transcoding using Intel's QSV, which is cheaper and less power hungry (=cooler) than a dedicated GPU for this use case. You'll also appreciate the faster CPU for the nightly jobs Plex is going to run over your library, scanning for intros, creating thumbnails and whatnot, none of which would benefit from GPU or QSV.