Harvest out my old PC to build new server

[Wura]

Hey guys,

 

I’m thinking about turning my ole PC into a home server using Unraid and could really use your advice. (switched to Mac for business reasons) I’m aiming for something cost-efficient by repurposing my old parts. Here’s what I’ve got:

 

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X

• GPU: Radeon RX 5700 (thinking of selling this)

• RAM: 32GB DDR4

• Motherboard: Asus Pro X570-Pro

• Storage: 4-6 Toshiba HDDs (will buy)

• Cooling: 2 Noctua fans

 

What I’m Planning

• Media Server: Using Plex or Jellyfin for streaming 1080p and some 4K content & docker containers and mostly BACKUPS.

• General Server Tasks: Running VMs and Docker containers.

 

My Thoughts

Pro: I already have the hardware, so I don’t need to buy new stuff, which is great for keeping costs down.

 

Cons: I know my motherboard and CPU might not be as cost-efficient as a mini-ITX board or an Intel CPU when it comes to power usage and size.

 

My Questions:

1. Transcoding: Can the Ryzen 9 3900X handle my media server needs without the GPU? I’m considering selling the Radeon RX 5700 to save some cash.

2. Power Efficiency: How can I keep power usage low since it’ll be running 24/7? is it really worth it

 

Looking for:

• Advice on Setup: Would my current parts work well, or should I upgrade anything?

• Tips on Future-Proofing: Any suggestions for making this setup last?

 

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s done something similar. Any tips or advice would be super helpful!

 

Thanks a lot!
Luke

[ConnerVT]

1 hour ago, Wura said:

My Questions:

1. Transcoding: Can the Ryzen 9 3900X handle my media server needs without the GPU? I’m considering selling the Radeon RX 5700 to save some cash.

 

Always a hard question to answer, as it depends on the details.  "Can my car take me to the airport?" vs "Can my car take 20 people and their luggage to the airport?"  Same car, same destination, completely different task.

 

For a media server, it all depends on how many streams you are transcoding at one time, and the formats you are transcoding from > to.  I used a 1500X (4c/8t) in my original Plex server with no GPU transcoding, and it worked fine on my home LAN.  Your 3900X has much more horsepower.

 

AMD GPUs aren't the best choice for media transcoding.  They weren't supported by media server apps until just recently, and still are a work in progress.  If you can sell it, you would be much better served getting a Quadro T400 (or even its predecessor, P400).  It consumes much less power (TDP 30W vs 180W) and is well supported in all apps that perform transcoding.

 

You hardware is very solid for the rest of your desired tasks.  Unraid for NAS and Docker can run on most any x64 setup (if not pushed to extremes).  It is when running VM that the hardware needs go up.  Let's use a Win11 VM as an example:  Visualize this as there are now two computers in your server's case - one running Unraid, one running Win11.  You allocate CPU cores, DRAM, and storage to the VM.  In simplest terms, Unraid no longer sees what is given to the VM, the VM no longer sees what is Unraid.  With your 3900X being 12c/24t) you have plenty of threads to allocate to the VM (nobody wants to work on a 1c/2t 4GB Windows machine).

 

As for power usage, your hardware would be about average for a typical server (especially if you ditch the AMD GPU).  Most of the time the box sits idle, so not consuming much power at all.  You will find that the spinning drives in the server account for the majority of your power usage.

[Wura]

Thank you very much for your detailed answer!

 

In my case, I am the only one streaming at home, usually in the evenings. I wonder if I might be overthinking it—is it possible to run the server using just the CPU, without any GPU? Since I’m the only one streaming, there might not be much transcoding needed.

 

Most of the time, the machine would handle backups because I work from home, and in the evenings, it would be used for some streaming. My main concern is the power consumption but that could be because in europe some people (like me) just want it to be as efficient as possible.

 

I really appreciate your time and help!

 

[ConnerVT]

A 3900X is more than powerful enough to CPU transcode almost any format to another, for a single stream on a local LAN.