Looking to reduce server power usage - Would remaking the server help?

[Thelas]

Hello. First post, so I hope this goes well.

 

I'm currently running Unraid off a Enterprise Dell t5600, specs below:

Spoiler

there's also a nvidia gpu in there--I think a 1060?

 

While this thing does work fine, problem is measurements have it regularly pulling somewhere around 100 w (at worst, 120 w), even when tuning the cpu in bios and using powertop. Since I really just use the server for Jellyfin video and music streaming (which I usually use direct streaming anyway), the power usage feels disproportionate to me.

 

I'm wondering if culprits for the power usage comes down to the cpu and power supply. If this is the case, I'm open to the idea of moving the server build to some old components that were used in our pcs, but have since upgraded from. The parts I have lying around are:

• Intel i5-6500 + b150 Aura motherboard
• Ryzen 2600 (no motherboard)
• Aerocool XPredator case

If the build requires it, I can also source the ecc ram and gpu from the current server

 

As I mentioned previously, I only really use my server for media (so having the cpu be able to handle x265 transcoding would be nice), as well as having Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr, and qbittorrent running. Aside from that, I'm looking for the best route to reduce the power consumption of my server--if the build remaking does go ahead, I plan on trying to source stuff 2nd hand whenever possible (e.g. the PSU).

 

Thanks everyone.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Thelas

[aburgesser]

E5 systems are known to be moderately power hungry at idle. Newer hardware will typically be more power efficient. Honestly the jump from Sandy Bridge to Skylake will only save 10-30 W idle looking at references I see. Dropping the dGPU is an easy win though.

 

The 6500 is a die shrink and you will loose 2 cores migrating to it. It also offers (an old version of) Quick Sync for transcoding. Dropping the dGPU and using a iGPU for live encoding would further reduce power needs. Keep in mind that Nvidia hardware encoding was typically better quality than Intel's for a given year. You may notice a drop in quality.

 

In addition to loosing 8 threads, you will also need to drop ECC moving to the 6500. You may notice less horsepower if you do migrate. Honestly, if you are married to Skylake, I would give a look at finding a 6300. That gen was weird since the i3 cannibalized the low end Xeon market.

Edited September 27, 2023 by aburgesser