Although I’ve listed a lot of plugins it will still primarily be used for SAB/Sick, SQL for XBMC database and Plex Server for devices in the bedrooms. Crash Plan and using web/ftp server is just something that is ‘nice to have’.

 

Plugins I'll be running:

• SABnzbd
  
• Sick Beard
  
• Couch Potato
  
• MySQL
  
• Transmission
  
• Plex Media Server
  
• SimpleFeatures Plugins
  
• Crash Plan
  
• Crash Plan GUI
  
• Cache Directory
  

 

Current System:

• CPU: Athlon II X2 250e (45w tpd)
  
• Motherboard: 880GMA-E53
  
• Memory: 4GB DDR3 (2x2GB)
  
• PSU: CX430 430W
  
• Drive Cage: NORCO SS-500 (x2)
  
• Drives: 5 Hitachi 2TB, 3 WD Green 2TB, 1 WD Green 1TB
  
• SATA controller: 2 port PCI controller (not sure of brand)
  
• Case: Rosewill Destroyer

 

So do I need to upgrade the mobo/cpu? Maybe bump the RAM up to 8GB? If upgrading is suggested what CPU range should I be looking at for something like this? The server is generally always on during hours I’m awake so lower power would be cool (currently has the 45w Athlon) but I’m willing to trade energy savings for performance since this is our primary entertainment source.

 

Any suggestions welcome! Thanks!

Not sure what you're asking here -- do you need (a) better performance than you have now;  (b) more capacity?;  © faster parity check speeds?;  or (d) some other factor(s) ??

 

Looking at your specifications ...

 

==>  your board supports a lot more RAM (up to 8GB modules), so you could easily increase the memory -- which may help with all the plugins you have;

 

==> you're using a PCI disk controller, which is a significant bottleneck in disk performance.  The board only has one PCIe slot with more than 1 lane, but has 8 SATA ports onboard, so you could either add a PCIe x1 2-port card; or an 8-port card in the PCIe x16 slot to eliminate that bottleneck.    An 8-port card would give you expandability up to a total of 16 drives.  Either of these would significantly improve your parity check speeds 

Not sure what you're asking here -- do you need (a) better performance than you have now;  (b) more capacity?;  © faster parity check speeds?;  or (d) some other factor(s) ??

My question is regarding cpu/ram capabilities. Will my current setup (Athlon II X2 250e, 4GB RAM) have any issues preforming all the tasks in the original post, if so what would be the suggested upgrade. I'm really not to familiar with cpu/memory requirements of all these plugins and the associated taks they enable. I have no concerns regarding disk preformance/capacity.

 

 

==>  your board supports a lot more RAM (up to 8GB modules), so you could easily increase the memory -- which may help with all the plugins you have;

So 8GB is a recommended amount for a server using these plugins? Its not overkill? When I originally built this the general consensus was 4GB was overkill and I've been out of the loop for awhile, just trying to get cought up on everything.

 

==> you're using a PCI disk controller, which is a significant bottleneck in disk performance.  The board only has one PCIe slot with more than 1 lane, but has 8 SATA ports onboard, so you could either add a PCIe x1 2-port card; or an 8-port card in the PCIe x16 slot to eliminate that bottleneck.    An 8-port card would give you expandability up to a total of 16 drives.  Either of these would significantly improve your parity check speeds 

 

Sorry I do have a PCIe 2-port card, PCI was a typo.

 

I don't use plug-ins, so I'm not a good authority on the RAM and CPU requirements;  but there are plenty of posts in this forum that make it pretty clear that plugins work better if you have plenty of spare RAM ... so yes, I'd bump up the RAM to 8GB (or even 16GB since RAM's so cheap these days).

 

One caveat:  There are a few motherboards that have issues with the newest RC12a and > 4GB of RAM.  Yours is not one of those -- but not all boards have been tested, so there's always some possibility of this issue.  IF it turns out to be an issue, the newest version of UnRAID has a "4GB" boot option that resolves it -- but it does so by limiting the memory utilization to 4GB ... so any upgrade would be "wasted" in this case.  I do NOT think it's something you need to worry about -- but you should be aware of the (unlikely) possibility.

 

I don't think any of the plug-ins you've listed will tax your CPU -- I'd simply install them (one-at-a-time) and confirm that you're happy with the performance  [upgrade your RAM first, so you know any issues aren't simply due to inadequate memory].    If you find that one (or more) is too "sluggish" on your system; THEN it's time to consider upgrading.    One of the beauties of UnRAID is that "upgrading" is trivial -- you make NO change to the flash drive;  you just upgrade the motherboard/CPU/RAM;  connect your drives;  then boot      [More complex with v4.7 since you have to assign the drives; but with v5 this isn't even required !]

 

Awesome, just what I was hoping to hear! Looks like I'll be picking up some more RAM and a SATA controller. Thanks!

I use an Athlon II X4 620 OC'd to 3 GHz, so same freq but 2 more cores than the 250e.  I have trouble with high bitrate MKV's and transcoding with plex.  It's particularly bad when SAB is unpacking files.  If your media is in a format that can be direct streamed to your devices then you will be much better off.

 

None of the other addons will cause any issues.

Good info on the plugins -- as I noted, I don't use plugins, so couldn't address that.    Sounds like you may indeed need to upgrade motherboard/CPU/memory IF your use includes any significant transcoding activity.

 

But as I suggested above, I'd bump up the RAM and the additional controller first -- you can use both the controller and the RAM (since it's DDR3) in the new system if you do end up with an upgraded motherboard and CPU.

 

I use an Athlon II X4 620 OC'd to 3 GHz, so same freq but 2 more cores than the 250e.  I have trouble with high bitrate MKV's and transcoding with plex.  It's particularly bad when SAB is unpacking files.  If your media is in a format that can be direct streamed to your devices then you will be much better off.

 

None of the other addons will cause any issues.

 

Did you ever try running nzbget instead instead of sabnzb, it runs more efficient. Does sabnzb unpack directly to the array, or to the cache drive?

I use an Athlon II X4 620 OC'd to 3 GHz, so same freq but 2 more cores than the 250e.  I have trouble with high bitrate MKV's and transcoding with plex.  It's particularly bad when SAB is unpacking files.  If your media is in a format that can be direct streamed to your devices then you will be much better off.

 

None of the other addons will cause any issues.

 

Did you ever try running nzbget instead instead of sabnzb, it runs more efficient. Does sabnzb unpack directly to the array, or to the cache drive?

 

I don't want to hijack OP's post with my issues here.  I have not tried nzbget.  As to your 2nd question, SAB unpacks from cache to cache.  I'm not sure if SAB is nice'd and would run at a lower priority than Plex.  I may just be having network issues during high disk usage as I'm not confident in my Realtek 8111C nic either.  I'll probably create a new thread once I can narrow and better define my issues.