Intel Haswell as the core (hah!) of a low power build with grunt if needed

[robjstuart]

Hi guys,

 

This is my first post, so sorry if I'm breaking protocol by posting this, I'm wondering if anyone else has considered the intel haswell cpus / motherboards as the basis of a quiet / low power unRAID server build.

 

I'm replacing an old 3TB NAS box and I'm looking to build a 4 disk unRAID server that has capacity for additional drives to be added over time.

 

It has to be low power so that it doesn't generate much heat and therefore doesn't need to generate much fan noise to keep it cool for 99% of the time. I want to have the potential for CPU power as at some point I may install and play with Plex for transcoding MKVs to iPads.

 

My plan so far is to use the following:

 

Case: NZXT H2

PSU: Seasonic Platinum Fanless 520W (can supply 43A)

MB: ASUS H87M-E (tested on uk.hardware.info as being a decent low power board)

CPU: Intel Haswell i5-4570T (35W TDP - if an i3 desktop model is released this would be better)

CPU Cooler: Nofan CR-95C

RAM: 4Gb low voltage

 

Initially populated with 4x 4Tb green drives (1x parity, 1x cache and 2x data drives), as I get more drives I'll eventually need to buy a SATA expansion card - is it worth doing this at the start so that I can split the drives between motherboard / expansion card SATA ports ?

 

The goal is to have as little noise as possible due to where the box will live, hence the fanless PSU and fanless CPU cooler.

 

One issue with the haswell line has been that as it is so good at power management when idling that certain power supplies are unable to provide such low voltage stably so PSU manufacturers are now advertising some of their devices as being "haswell ready" (see this link: http://www.seasonic.com/new/twevent20130510.htm).

 

Anyone have thoughts on Haswell as the core of a low power unRAID server build?

 

[b0ssman]

an i5 for unraid is overkill.

 

the haswell celerons/pentiums are comming out in q4 2013.

 

for a fanless board with low power there is

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/C847MS-E33.html

that board runs idle at 13W with a pico psu here.

[garycase]

I agree an i5 is "overkill" for UnRAID's CPU needs ... but the system you spec'd is an excellent system, and you're clearly aware that a Haswell i3 would be an even better choice ["... an i3 desktop model ... would be better ..."]

 

Just a question of whether or not you want to wait for the Haswell i3's, or build a system with a LOT of CPU "headroom" 

[Chris Pollard]

How much grunt you need will depend on how much transcoding you are doing really.  Multiple 1080p streams might need that CPU...

[robjstuart]

Thanks for responses

 

Worst case peak load of 3 simultaneous transcoded 1080p streams, 99.9% of the time of course the system will be bored out of it's cavernous mind ... perhaps I should name it Marvin?

 

As far as I could tell from a brief browse of the Intel website there are no desktop i3's on the roadmap but as one of the replies said the celerons/pentiums are being released in q4 this year (1st September I think) so I think I'll hold on until those are out and see what I think.

 

Cheers!