Hi. Due to unexpected income issues I had to sell my completely overkill (for my use) Intel i5 13500 based Unraid NAS (actually just the motherboard, CPU and RAM. I kept the Hard drives, PSU and the case) back in late 2023. Now these problems are behind me I'd like to build a new one and I'm hesitant between Intel and AMD Ryzen. I'm French and buying a Ryzen 5 5500G, an AM4 mobo and 16 GB of RAM (I'd choose an APU to avoid buying a graphics card) from Germany would cost me around €230-250 (including shipping) for the parts missing for now (buying from France would increase the cost even with free shipping). A similar Intel rig would set me back at least €400!

I only ever owned one AMD based desktop, it was my first own desktop my mom bought me when I graduated from high school almost 20 years ago. Since then I always built Intel based desktops. As a result I currently have a 6 year old i7 8700K based desktop hackintosh running the latest versions of macOS (Sonoma), Windows 11 (not by choice though) and Ubuntu (23.10), and 2 old PCs I was gifted over the years: a 14 year old prebuilt Lenovo m58e desktop I was given after an internship (with a Core2Duo I replaced with the highest end LGA775 Core2Quad) but I maxed out the RAM at 4GB DDR2. The other PC is a very slow AMD (A6) based laptop left by my best friend who doesn't want to hear about it anymore.

I have 3 scenarii:
1. I build a Ryzen NAS and keep the Intel i7 desktop as is.
2. I build the very same Ryzen rig to replace my current Intel i7 desktop and use the latter as an Unraid NAS.
3. I don't build a new PC and use the 14 years old Core2Quad desktop as a NAS.

What should I do? Knowing the Unraid rig would mostly be used for backing up my Synology NAS, and replacing it as a Plex server. I'm not interested in VMs at the moment.

Personally I'd tend more towards scenario 1.

Thanks for reading.

My 5700G server has been a solid performer since built a year or so ago.  The 1500X it replaced is also problem free, once the BIOS was set correctly.  The Ryzen 2600 in the desktop I am typing this has also been a great system.

 

That said, you would likely be better off using Intel for your Unraid server, if it is running Plex.  Intel's QuickSync is well supported for Plex transcoding, where the AMD iGPU is not.

Thanks for your reply.

 

Crap, I completely forgot about quicksync, the reason I chose the Intel route for my previous build. I might switch to scenario 2 then. Maybe choosing a faster Ryzen CPU for my new desktop PC then ? Not caring about not buying a graphics card in that case as I’d reuse the one in my current desktop. Any advice ? I never really thought about Ryzen but I’d really like to try. I have no clue what they offer though.

These days, the first look is there really isn't much difference between a system running Intel vs one running AMD.  For much of the first decade of 2000, AMD had an inferior processor to Intel, no matter what you used to measure it.  With a change in management and the introduction of the ZEN architecture (Ryzen/EPYC), Intel is no longer smacking AMD around and taking their lunch money.

 

Current Intel and AMD processors match up pretty well in performance now.  AMD has always been the better value (price per performance) but these days not so much, at least on the most recent offerings.  But I've always been one to "Buy the best model of the the previous model line, not the most current..." as I find this is almost always the best value.  So your thoughts on the 5600-5800 Ryzen fits that (though it is the end of the line for the AM4 Socket, so no further CPU upgrade path for the motherboard). 

 

I'm still waiting to see if Intel gets their mojo back.  Their manufacturing has not been able to deliver much technology improvement for several years, so much so they have even turned to TSMC to handle some of it.  This would of been unheard of 10 years ago.  Perhaps they will get this resolved.  Maybe P-Cores and E-Cores will become the next popular thing in x64 CPUs.  If I had a crystal ball, I'd be buying stocks, and not posting on forums.  😄

I know all of this but thank you for the refresher. Though I thought AMD was smacking Intel NOW at least in price to performance terms. Funny thing is right after I replied to your previous message I went to rearrange my CPU boxes in my dressing (yeah I'm a messy guy lol) and realized my i3 7100 box wasn't empty as others are but the cpu is inside, just the cooler is missing. So I might buy a socket 1151 mobo on ebay and forget about amd. I just want to try it some day.

No worries.  AMD is usually the value buy.  But since their performance is now at par with Intel, the new latest and greatest CPUs do not List Price as low as they once did.    AMD does discount their previous models much more than Intel does.  This is partly why you had found a good price on the 5500G.

Yeah my very first own PC was an AMD Athlon 64 which I replaced with their first dual core cpu later. I bought it because it was cheap and I didn't know anything about computers back then. And the friend who gave me his amd computer is usually very cheap with tech in general. I'm still considering building a ryzen system despite having a spare Intel cpu because the 1151 motherboards I find on ebay are quite expensive. Especially for the second hand market. I found one for €50 but it seems quite beaten up.

Only huge value option pointing at AMD specifically is if you need lots of pcie lanes... Epyc can't be beat. Intel has the edge for low power and transcoding. I've found AMD server boards better equipped as well. So many variables. Sort what you need from the system or just use what's lying around. Can always change again some other day.

My main Unraid server is AMD (x570d4u/5600x)... Backup is older Intel from random parts I had sitting around.

OK thanks I didn't know that. Though I have no need nor the budget for an epyc cpu. I just bought a used Gigabyte motherboard to host the i3 7100 I randomly found in my closet. I just hope it'll be fast enough to transcode my movies in Plex. I just need to wait for my paycheck to get some ram.

Edited April 24, 20242 yr by moisemust