I've been running Unraid now for a few years. Started off with an old Del powered T110i with Intel® Xeon® CPU E3-1230 V2 @ 3.30GHz & 32 GB Ram.

I haven't really been able to fault it for what it cost me (apart from the HDD's) I paid around £80 but I now have now space for any additional drives, therefore though it a good time to upgrade to something newer, faster, more power efficient with space for a minimum of 10 drives. I currently have 5 HDD's + Parity + SSD Cache. But dont want to go overkill and spend too much but on the other hand, not go too cheap. I Want it to last a good few years.

 

My use case: Mainly running Plex so would like it to be able to transcode 4K streams without fuss (max 4-5 streams at anyone time)

I dont run VM's

currently running 13 dockers (all the 'arrs, 1 of them being Shinobi Pro - CCTV docker)

 

After spending quite a bit of time looking for something suitable, the more I look the more undecided I become.

 

One thing I have decided on is the case: Fractal Design Define 7XL, I have plenty of room for it 

 

Other things I can decide on:

 

CPU - 13th Gen Intel (but which one???? too many to choose from)

PSU - but which one???? too many to choose from) + cooler recommendation

Ram - DDR 4 or 5 ? is there much difference?

M.2 nvme - any advice on these would be nice!

Motherboard - again any recommendation would be good

NIC - currently have 1gig up/down service. is 2.5gb enough or would you recommend a 10gb card.

Other things: would a new style motherboard run 10+ HDD's or would I need something else added on?

 

Any advice is good advice. Many thanks 

 

 

If you're not in the hurry, you might want to wait a few weeks just to see how the coming 14th gen Intel launch affects 12/13 gen prices.

 

But in general, a CPU with the buit-in UHD 770 iGPU would be the most powerful option for multiple stream 4K transcoding.

But the lesser UHD 730 in the cheaper i3 processors should also be able to transcode 4-5 streams without a problem.

The choice of the UHD 770 would necessitate in the selection of a higher grade processor since those are only found in the i5-12500/i5-13500 and up.

 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/

 

A stock Intel CPU cooler is actually not that bad for the NAS use case, when it's paired with a generally lightly loaded processor or you can go with the cheaper aftermarket that's been reviewed to have a good value, e.g. DeepCool AK400

 

PSU - if you're after efficiency at very low loads (idle) then the Corsair RMx (2021) series considered to be the most desirable which reduces its availablity and drives up the price.

Otherwise, a 500-600W unit, at least Tier B, mid-range or better: https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/

 

RAM - DDR4

NVMe - Samsung (not QVO) or WD Black

 

Motherboard - ATX form factor with 8 SATA ports which are connected directly to the chipset without any SATA add-on controllers built into the mobo.

Easy to find out just by looking at the motherboard's storage specs.

It seems that all lower priced, commonly available mobos with 8 SATA ports are made by ASRock.

There is a variancy of chipsets - the Z690 and newer Z790.

The 13th gen CPUs are compatible with both.

But be aware that the Z690 based motherboards usually come with an older BIOS that would need to be updated in order for it to accept the 13th gen CPU.

If that is the case then it would be required to acquire a 12th gen processor just for the purpose of performing the update.

There were also reports on the latest ASRock motherboards not allowing the CPU to enter into the highest power saving modes but it's hard to say if it happens across the range.

 

NIC - depends on your current home setup and future plans.

 

To expand beyond motherboard's SATA ports you have an option of adding an HBA (would not recommend due to extra power consumption, produced heat/cooling requirements and its interference with the CPU's idle states) or a SATA expansion card which is IMO a better option.

They're generally cheap but It takes some research to select a better quality one, or you might choose to go with a guaranteed quality from a well known manufacturer but at the higher cost (SilverStone ECS06).

 

 

Edited October 12, 20232 yr by Lolight