Upgrading my server, opinions?

[gshlomi]

Hi.

My current setup is:

C2D E8400

SuperMicro C2SBA+

SuperMicro AOC-SAS2LP-MV8

8GB DDR2

2TB Parity, 3*2TB+4*1TB+3*500GB Data, 128GB SSD Cache.

Running unRaid 5.0.5 with Dynamix, SAB, SickBeard, Maraschino, Transmission, CrashPlan, BTSync, mySQL

 

My plan is to upgrade the server to 6b10a, so I can VM my main desktop (currently i7-920 on a GA-EX58-UD5 with 24GB and an R9-290X).

I'm also looking into Plex transcoding to about 6 different clients.

 

Considering upgrading to an AMD FX-8350 with Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3.

I've got a space 4x4GB DDR3 for this build, later will be upgraded to 4x8GB if needed.

 

The CPU has a passmark of 9020, which as I understand matters for Plex transcoding.

The MB has 2*PCIEx16 (so I can connect the SAS controller and the R9 290X) and 2*PCIEx4 (so I can even add another 2 video cards with HDMI output for 2 XBMC VMs).

 

Will be happy to hear your opinions / experience with this combination or any of the parts...

 

P.S. - the CPU is 990NIS (around 250$) and the MB is 700NIS (around 175$) here in Israel. Suggesting alternate solutions will be great so I can compare the prices and availability.

Thanks

[garycase]

Both of those are nice systems, but I can understand the desire to consolidate to a single box.

 

The key change I'd suggest for your new system is to go with Intel.  You'll get FAR better per core performance with 1/3rd less power consumption.    An equivalent motherboard will cost about the same;  a top-of-the-line Core i7-4790 will cost ~ $120 more ... but you'll get a PassMark of 10173 using only 4 cores compared to 9020 with 8 cores on the AMD; and a max power consumption of 84w vs. 125w for the AMD.    Or you could go with the 4790k, which brings the PassMark up to 11299 while still only drawing a max of 88w.

 

They're simply FAR more efficient, and more than twice as powerful per core.

 

An even better choice, but one that will add another $100 or so, is to use a server class motherboard with a Xeon E3-1271v3 ... this gives you a PassMark of 10390 with a max power of 80w, and will have ECC support for the RAM => definitely a good idea for a server that you'll want to install 32GB or so in.

 

The motherboard would be the primary added cost to go this route.  Depending on the slots you feel you need, I'd suggest one of the following:

 

Personally, I'd use this SuperMicro board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182830

 

But if you want 4 PCIe x16 slots, this AsRock board is a nice choice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157410

 

 

 

[tdallen]

Just some observations:

 

• You have a large number of smaller hard drives.  You might want to set aside some $$ for consolidation onto larger ones, or at least upgrading parity to something larger in preparation for larger replacement disks as the smaller ones fail.
  
• Second the motion for Intel in general, and Xeon/ECC RAM for your intended purpose.
  
• It is generally recommended to populate RAM with 2 sticks if possible to lessen the electrical load on the memory subsystem.  For that reason and to give you room for future expandability, I'd start with 2x8GB and expand later if needed.
  

 

Good luck with your build.

[gshlomi]

Just looked into prices (trying to stay at around 450$ in NIS).

The Intel proccessor that is priced the same as the FX-8350 is the i5-4590, with the 4690 around 25$ more and the 4690k 50$ more.

Still haven't even checked the MBs at the same price point as the Gigabyte, but is it worth switching over to Intel for the same price tag ?

I also need the processor + MB to support virtualization, so I can VM my desktop using XEN/KVM...

 

P.S. - SuperMicro MBs aren't available in Israel to the public. Mainly used for servers, hardly any desktops...

Thanks again.

[garycase]

I'd certainly add a few $$ to your budget to go with an Intel CPU ... but even if that's not possible, note that an i5-4590 has a PassMark of 7240 => although this is 20% less than the AMD you're looking at, it's also achieved with only 4 cores, compared to the 8 cores of the AMD ... so the per/core performance is more than 60% higher with the Intel.

 

If you stay with a desktop motherboard, there are good choices around the same price as the one you've looked at for the FX-8350.    If you can't stretch the budget to include a Core i7, then I'd just build it with the i5.  Virtualization support isn't an issue with either choice.

 

 

[gshlomi]

 

 

I'd certainly add a few $$ to your budget to go with an Intel CPU ... but even if that's not possible, note that an i5-4590 has a PassMark of 7240 => although this is 20% less than the AMD you're looking at, it's also achieved with only 4 cores, compared to the 8 cores of the AMD ... so the per/core performance is more than 60% higher with the Intel.

 

If you stay with a desktop motherboard, there are good choices around the same price as the one you've looked at for the FX-8350.    If you can't stretch the budget to include a Core i7, then I'd just build it with the i5.  Virtualization support isn't an issue with either choice.

 

I'm checking the Intel options, still haven't come to a conclusion.

As for the passmark results - it's true the 4590 has only 4 cores, but it has hyperthreading (which the fx does not).

So if you look at per/thread (which the fx has only one thread per core totaling in 8 threads, just like the i5), the 4590 is slower...

[theone]

Plonter.co.il has Supermicro MBs - not specifically the model suggested but many other X10 series MBs.

http://www.plonter.co.il/Products_Results.tmpl?command=search&cart=14145652305340364&db=%5Ecatalog.txt&show=0〈=heb&group1field=key_words&srcstrng=key_words&max=150&waGroup1data=MBD-X10&sortby=price_totaltype%3Dnum%26price_totalsort%3D1&submit1=%E7%E9%F4%E5%F9

 

[garycase]

As for the passmark results - it's true the 4590 has only 4 cores, but it has hyperthreading (which the fx does not).

So if you look at per/thread (which the fx has only one thread per core totaling in 8 threads, just like the i5), the 4590 is slower...

 

Hyperthreading is entirely optional ... trivial to turn off.  It's true that if you run 8 independent threads, the "per thread" CPU power would be better for the AMD ... BUT any single-threaded app will have far better performance on the more powerful Intel cores.

 

Obviously the best route is to use a Core i7, which will blow away the AMD's performance ... but that DOES require an increase in your budget.