Needing an Upgrade. Any recommendations?

[voldak]

I've had my server going for about 3 years now and I haven't had any issues (knock on wood). Lately, i've gotten into Plex and i've needed to transcode some content to play on some tablets. Simply put, my old processor can't handle the transcoding and this leads to stuttering of the video, etc (even on low quality settings).

 

Here is my current setup.

 

Motherboard: Biostar A760G M2+  -  http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en-us/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=394#spec

 

RAM: Kingston 2GB 800Mhz  -  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012Y0QT8/ref=oh_details_o04_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

CPU: AMD Sepron 140  -  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002I25RWO/ref=oh_details_o04_s01_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

PSU: Corsair TX650W  -  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

 

I'm currently using 7 drives in my array.  I have these 7 drives in 2 Icy Dock bays. I'm also using a cheap PCI-Express 1-slot SATA expansion card.

 

2 WD20EARS DRIVES  -  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136514

 

1 Samsung EcoGreen F2  -  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152175

 

1 Hitachi 5K3000  -  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145475

 

3 Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001  -  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834

 

 

I'm wondering what you guys would recommend. I'm trying to keep everything down to a reasonable price and only upgrade items if they are really needed. I only use the server for general file storage and for Plex. It is worked fine up until this time (only having issues with Plex transcoding)

[unevent]

Suggest a CPU upgrade and maybe upgrade to 4GB ram.  Your board will support dual, tri and quad core AMD so you have some choices.

[Frank1940]

Many of the Sempron CPU's have two cores and the second one can be unlocked.  Try googling "amd sempron 140 dual core unlock" for more information.

 

I also understand that occasionally the second core is not stable but, in many cases, everything works great.  In any case, it may give you a feel as to whether you need a two, three, or four core AMD CPU.  Remember, the more cores, the higher the power consumption...

[voldak]

I'm not overly worried about power consumption. I had googled unlocking the second core on this Sempron in the past, but it wasn't overly successful.

 

I just pulled the trigger on doubling memory. I also ordered the AMD Phenom II X4 945 CPU. It looks like the performance improvements will be great! I'll update back when this is all installed. I'm hoping this will fix my woes. Thanks for all of the help.