Hello all,

 

Moving to a new house and all the spring cleaning has got me thinking about upgrading my rig. It's been a while since I looked into upgrading hardware so any suggestions are welcome

 

Current Setup

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 4850e

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-MA74GM-S2

Memory: 4GB

Storage: 12TB in array (mix of 750gb-3TB drives)

Case: Antec 1200

 

Planned Usage: Looking to upgrade to Unraid V6 and start virtualization, get 8gb of RAM, move all unRAID plugins to the virtual machine. Would likely be using a Windows VM, don't necessarily need passthrough but that would be an added bonus. Machine would most likely be used for media storage and Transcoding (Plex, also using hdhRFling to transcode Cable streams to other devices). My current Mobo has 6 SATA ports and I'd like to keep that number or more if possible.

 

Budget: $200-$300 (is this wishful thinking? or would I be better served by simply upgrading to a beefier processor? It's hard to come by DDR2 memory these days)

 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks again

 

 

If you are looking at virtualization I would definitely look up upgrading the cpu. That is pretty low end, which is fine for just UnRAID 5.0,  but once you get into multiple (virtual) computers you are going to want more power.

 

Also, memory is going to be a limiting factor, and as you mention DDR is hard to find.

 

Personally, I would look into investing in a Haswell based solution as you will get a lot more bang for your buck, better power consumption, and it's a solid platform to start from.

 

If you want to see how your CPU compares to more current ones check out http://cpubenchmark.com

 

you can select the searchable list and find yours (looks like scores 1319). For $150-$200 you can get CPUs that are 5-6x the performance. Add motherboard and memory and you could likely hit $300-$400 (or lower with deals).

 

I with activists on the top post for me.

 

Think I've settled on some things, my end goal is to run a Windows VM which would double as a gaming/office desktop and most likely running Plex/Sickbeard/Sab/CouchPotato/Transmission/Owncloud

 

Mobo ASRock Z97 Extreme4 LGA 1150  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157503

Processor  Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge Quad-Core 3.2GHz  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115234&cm_re=Intel_i5_3470-_-19-115-234-_-Product

 

Any thoughts? Is this overkill for what I'm trying to accomplish? Haven't tried my hand at virtualization yet but hoping this set up would allow me to run a virtual Windows 7/8 Machine with KVM.  Thanks again!

 

Think I've settled on some things, my end goal is to run a Windows VM which would double as a gaming/office desktop and most likely running Plex/Sickbeard/Sab/CouchPotato/Transmission/Owncloud

 

Mobo ASRock Z97 Extreme4 LGA 1150  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157503

Processor  Intel Core i5-3470 Ivy Bridge Quad-Core 3.2GHz  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115234&cm_re=Intel_i5_3470-_-19-115-234-_-Product

 

Any thoughts? Is this overkill for what I'm trying to accomplish? Haven't tried my hand at virtualization yet but hoping this set up would allow me to run a virtual Windows 7/8 Machine with KVM.  Thanks again!

 

No, I don't think that's overkill. This is inline with what you potentially buy for a standard Win7/8 desktop. If anything I would go to a Xeon. For $50 more you get a lot more power - and every virtualization option is included.

 

If you look on CPUBenchmark (relative scores are presented):

 

i5-3470 ($189):      6568

E3-1230v3 ($249):  9448

 

You can see the Xeon E3 gives you almost 50% increase in speed for the extra $50-60. You can pair this up with ECC memory for better protection, but it increases cost quite a bit as well.

 

More power is always better for CPU though. Buy the best you can afford. Use cpubenchmark.com to check each CPU you are looking at to see it's relative speed and if it's good value.

 

I am currently using the Asrock Z97 extreme 4 that you've picked and it's been working great with V6 beta 6.

I went with an i7 over the Xeon as I chose to go with non ECC memory.

I am wondering why you're choosing an Ivy Bridge chip over a Haswell one though?

I am currently using the Asrock Z97 extreme 4 that you've picked and it's been working great with V6 beta 6.

I went with an i7 over the Xeon as I chose to go with non ECC memory.

I am wondering why you're choosing an Ivy Bridge chip over a Haswell one though?

 

Good point, didn't realize I picked the Ivy Bridge version, could you recommend a good i5 Haswell chip that supports virtualization or should I spring extra for the i7.

 

What advantages would Xeon offer over a i-series chip assuming I'm not planning on using ECC memory?

 

Thanks!

Not only did you pick an Ivy Bridge CPU, but you selected a Socket 1150 (Haswell) motherboard ... so the two are incompatible.

 

r.e. "... I'm not planning on using ECC memory ..."  ==>  That's good, since the motherboard you selected doesn't support it 

 

Since you're not using a server motherboard, the more advanced management features the Xeon's can provide aren't a factor.    As long as you select an i5 or i7 that support both vt-x and vt-d, there's no reason to go with the Xeon on that board.    Whether to use an i5 or i7 is entirely up to you ... it's simply a matter of the total "horsepower" you want in your CPU.

 

 

I think you'd be fine with most, just don't choose a "K" processor as those don't support Vt-d.

I wanted hyper threading, and a quad core, so I went with an i7, which would give me 8 vCpu's to assign when working with virtualization.

I went with an i7-4790s however it is likely overkill, but is working quite well currently.

... don't choose a "K" processor as those don't support Vt-d ...

 

Not universally true.  The 4790K is currently the faster Socket 1150 i7, and it DOES support both vt-x and vt-d.    This would be an excellent choice if you plan to maximize your CPU "horsepower" and virtualization potential without moving to high-end Xeon setups.