Help me part out my first Unraid build. Jonsbo N5, i5-13500. Suggestions on the rest?

Hi all.

Excited to move onto my next project. First time entertaining an Unraid build. Coming from a Mac M4 Mini + Synology NAS combo running into a whole host of SMB issues.... but let's be honest I just want to tinker and delve into the next world in this homelab life.

I've decided a few pieces including the case (Jonsbo N5) and the CPU (i5-13500). Literally clueless what else to go with. Priorities are budget-friendliness (hoping to net <$1000 CAD minus the cost of the drives). Main use for the device is as a NAS, Nextcloud, Immich, *arr stack, Plex media server, eventually learning how to use Home Assistant and potentially light VM tinkering.

I have 34TB in drives that I will migrate over from my existing Synology NAS. This is a 14tb Ironwolf Pro as well as a 20tb HGST Ultrastar.

Looking for recommendations on:

• CPU cooler

• Motherboard

• RAM

• Cache Drives (I still don't fully understand the utility of these drives but... am open to learning)

• PSU

• Chassis fans

Thanks in advance :) rather excited to go ahead with this... blessing from the wife and all.

Edited August 4, 2025Aug 4 by wiffle