I've been using unRAID very happily for over 2 years now. I have a very simple setup: Basic 5.0.5, three 3TB HDDs (2 Seagates, 1 Toshiba[parity]) and 4GB Cruzer flash. I've had PLEX installed on my server for about 6 months and love the functionality and simplicity of it, but it does bog down the system a little. This is probably because I'm only running this on an eight year old Pentium-D and 2 GB of memory. The lack of speed and the fact that I'm down to under 1 TB of free space means that it's time to upgrade the whole system.

 

I would like to know everyone's opinion on new components. Basically I want a fast, reliable system, and I have a good size budget to play with, but I don't want to spend top-of-the-line money if it's just going to be overkill.

 

Processors: I've always been an Intel guy, but mostly because I've never dealt with AMD. What kind of GHz and how many cores should I be looking for?

 

Motherboards: There are sooooo many options out there, any brands/models I should stay away from?

 

How much RAM do I really need?

 

I'm going to add two HDDs when I build the system and want the option to add more later. Should I invest in a liquid cooling system or will I be ok with fans?

 

Anything else you think I'm missing, please let me know. All input and feedback is greatly appreciated.

I envy you, because I'm still chugging along on my cheap system.  Would love to upgrade now but don't yet have the need.

 

I think water-cooled is waaaay overkill.  Even if you have a processor with 8 Plex streams transcoding you can get away with air-cooled CPU.  I think you'll find much easier ways to spend your money that will result in immediate increases in performance or reliability.

 

Probably too many brands and models to make specific avoidance warnings, but do look at the onboard NIC chips when looking at motherboards.  Find out what chip(s) are used and look up compatibility with unraid or Linux.  Takes a little bit of research beforehand but its a lot easier than trying to troubleshoot network issues after you've installed the mobo.

 

I recommend 8 GB of RAM minimum, just on general principle.  If you end up with lots of plugins the more  RAM the  better.

 

Give some thought to whether you want to make use of virtualization capabilities.  Typically requires more expensive components but can give you huge flexibility in customizing server utility.

 

 

No to liquid cooling. I'd get a MB with enough sata ports for you going forward (so if 5 hdds + cache is enough, get one with 6 sata ports now, don't need a card later). I'd also try to get a MB with an intel network card, they tend to have more stable throughput overall.

 

Since you run plex, i'm pretty sure it supports multi threads (might need to verify this) so feel free to get a dual/quad/octa core processor.

 

I think you'll get more value for your $$$ with intel (and lower heat and power) but it may not be the "cheapest" option that will work for you.

 

What is your budget? I'd also look around this forum, lots of examples of people using $300 cpus and others using a $300 combo cpu/mb/ram, so there are options. Also, what kind of case do you want to use, a giant full tower to hold 18 hdds, or you want something super small/quiet/6 hdds?

Since you run plex, i'm pretty sure it supports multi threads (might need to verify this) so feel free to get a dual/quad/octa core processor.

 

I think you'll get more value for your $$$ with intel (and lower heat and power) but it may not be the "cheapest" option that will work for you.

 

What is your budget? I'd also look around this forum, lots of examples of people using $300 cpus and others using a $300 combo cpu/mb/ram, so there are options. Also, what kind of case do you want to use, a giant full tower to hold 18 hdds, or you want something super small/quiet/6 hdds?

 

My budget is basically to stay under $1500. Looking at a tower, MB, CPU, RAM, 2 HDDs and cooling.

 

I'll probably go with a full tower to allow for future expansion. Intel is what I know and like, I was asking to see if maybe there was an advantage to using another chip, like AMD. Would 8GB be enough RAM, or should I go 12 or 16?

 

Yes, Plex does multi-stream, which is part of my problem now. If my son is trying to watch something and I'm watching something else or moving files around, the whole system slows to a crawl.

There are plemty of discussion threads on CPU capability for transcoding video streams.  A viable rule of thumb seems to be to allow ~1500 to ~2000 on the PassMark score per video stream being transcoded.

 

Passmark list here: http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

 

Since you're building new I'd plan on needing more capability down the road than you are currently using.  So while a CPU with a PassMark score of 3,500 might be sufficient now, getting something with a score of twice that will give you lots of headroom without having to spend much more now.

 

You can spec out equally capable systems with AMD or Intel processors.  Currently Intel has the advantage when it comes to IPC and electrical efficiency, so in the long run paying $10 - $20 more for an Intel proc will likely save at least that much in power savings over the life of the system.

 

Whem it comes to RAM, you'll probably want to be filling the slots in pairs, as there is typically a small performance hit by not using the dual-channel architechture.  Probably not something you're likely notice in video playback.

 

You can build a decent system for well under your budget:  http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bpT4wP

 

Do a search on these forums for the Define R4 and you'll find a lot of happy builders.  Tweak the components up or down the scale as suits your needs.

So here's the components I've settled on, let me know if I should tweak anything up or down. I haven't purchased yet, and not necessarily buying from TD.

 

Tower: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=417848&sku=S35-2067

 

Power Supply: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4668506&sku=C13-2510

 

Motherboard: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8519774&sku=OSU-101769664

 

RAM: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9534841&sku=QDA-102766146Q

 

CPU: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8037042&sku=I69-4570

 

Passmark score of 7066 for this CPU

 

There are plemty of discussion threads on CPU capability for transcoding video streams.  A viable rule of thumb seems to be to allow ~1500 to ~2000 on the PassMark score per video stream being transcoded.

 

Passmark list here: http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

 

Since you're building new I'd plan on needing more capability down the road than you are currently using.  So while a CPU with a PassMark score of 3,500 might be sufficient now, getting something with a score of twice that will give you lots of headroom without having to spend much more now.

So here's the components I've settled on, let me know if I should tweak anything up or down. I haven't purchased yet, and not necessarily buying from TD.

 

Tower: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=417848&sku=S35-2067

 

Power Supply: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4668506&sku=C13-2510

 

Motherboard: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8519774&sku=OSU-101769664

 

RAM: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9534841&sku=QDA-102766146Q

 

CPU: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8037042&sku=I69-4570

 

Passmark score of 7066 for this CPU

 

There are plemty of discussion threads on CPU capability for transcoding video streams.  A viable rule of thumb seems to be to allow ~1500 to ~2000 on the PassMark score per video stream being transcoded.

 

Passmark list here: http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

 

Since you're building new I'd plan on needing more capability down the road than you are currently using.  So while a CPU with a PassMark score of 3,500 might be sufficient now, getting something with a score of twice that will give you lots of headroom without having to spend much more now.

 

I'm sure others will comment as well, but taking a quick look:

 

- That's a beefy PSU, what is the need for 750w?

- With 4x4GB for ram you are locking your self in.. I would think you would be better off with 2x8

- Any specific reason you went with that MB?  Given the other components I think you could chop quite a bit off of the total cost by going with a cheaper board.

 

 

 

 

 

- That's a beefy PSU, what is the need for 750w?

- With 4x4GB for ram you are locking your self in.. I would think you would be better off with 2x8

- Any specific reason you went with that MB?  Given the other components I think you could chop quite a bit off of the total cost by going with a cheaper board.

 

I wasn't sure how much power I needed, figured it was better to be over. I do want a modular power supply and this one was highly rated.

 

Good call on the 2x8.

 

I started off looking at MB's with 10 SATA ports, but I guess getting something with 6 for much cheaper and adding a PCI card later if necessary would make more sense.

There's a very good technical reason to use 2 x 8GB modules instead of 4 x 4GB ... and it has nothing to do with "locking yourself in" to the capacity.

 

With unbuffered modules, the loading on the memory bus gets very high when you install 4 modules -- this causes a significant degradation of the bus signals (both addressing and data) and can cause sporadic memory "glitches" that are difficult to resolve (basically you'll get unexplained system crashes).    I NEVER install more than one module per channel in unbuffered systems -- and if you use 2 8GB modules that's exactly what you're doing as well.

 

Just leave the other 2 slots empty and you'll have a notably more reliable system.

 

As for the power supply, the HX series Corsair is an excellent unit.  750w is overkill for what you're planning at the moment; but if you eventually fully populate that case it won't hurt to have the extra "headroom" in terms of available power.    The downside of using a power supply that much larger than what you need is that it will be operating well below its 80+ certification level.    The 80+ certification starts at 20% load ... with a 750w unit that's 150w ... and you're not likely to draw much above 60-80 watts in normal operation with that system.  But it'll still be reasonably efficient;  and even if you're "wasting" 5 or 10 watts, the cost of that isn't enough to worry about.

 

 

There's a very good technical reason to use 2 x 8GB modules instead of 4 x 4GB ... and it has nothing to do with "locking yourself in" to the capacity.

 

With unbuffered modules, the loading on the memory bus gets very high when you install 4 modules -- this causes a significant degradation of the bus signals (both addressing and data) and can cause sporadic memory "glitches" that are difficult to resolve (basically you'll get unexplained system crashes).    I NEVER install more than one module per channel in unbuffered systems -- and if you use 2 8GB modules that's exactly what you're doing as well.

 

Just leave the other 2 slots empty and you'll have a notably more reliable system.

 

I've traded out the RAM for this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8938969&sku=KIO-102362451

 

- Any specific reason you went with that MB?  Given the other components I think you could chop quite a bit off of the total cost by going with a cheaper board.

 

I've downgraded the MB to this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8139496&sku=A455-1206

It does everything I need at less than half the cost.

 

Thanks to both of you for the advice.

 

Both of those changes are good choices.    This will be a very nice system.

 

One other thing you may want to consider ... cases are very personal choices, so take this with a grain of salt; but of all the cases I've used over the years, the Fractal cases that are available these days are by far the quietest cases I've ever used.    You may want to look at the R4 and R5 units before finalizing on your case (they're also available with windows, if you're into that -- but the links below are without them)

 

R4:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4903770&CatId=1509

R5:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9579166&CatId=3427

Both of those changes are good choices.    This will be a very nice system.

 

One other thing you may want to consider ... cases are very personal choices, so take this with a grain of salt; but of all the cases I've used over the years, the Fractal cases that are available these days are by far the quietest cases I've ever used.    You may want to look at the R4 and R5 units before finalizing on your case (they're also available with windows, if you're into that -- but the links below are without them)

 

R4:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4903770&CatId=1509

R5:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9579166&CatId=3427

 

Thanks again! I really like the look and functionality of the Define series.

Yes, they're very nice looking; have excellent "workability" inside the case ... and are VERY quiet (they're very nicely lined with sound insulation).

 

On the issue of PSU sizing, the most recent 80+ analyses have included 10% load.  If the HX 750 compares to the other PSUs tested, it will run about 6% less efficient at 10% load than it willl at 20% load.  So if you're averaging 70 W for 24/7 usage, then the HX 750 will be at about 82 % efficency, compared to 88 % with a 150 W load (20%).

 

The HX 750 peaks at about 90% efficiency at 50% load.

 

So running those 70 watts at 82% efficiency requires 85 watts, and running it at 90% efficiency requires 77 watts.  garycase nailed it with his estimate.  8 watts 24/7 is 70 kilowatt-hours in a year, which at the average residential rate of 12.5 cents per kwh will cost you around $8.75 per year.  This is the price of the flexibility of having ample PSU capacity when you need it.

 

EDIT: Source here http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/80PlusPowerSuppliesDetail.aspx?id=25&type=2

you want to start with just a few hdds, but how much space do you really need?

 

Everyone starts here thinking "I can use 24hdds, thats great, i'm going to do that!" and very few people ever do. Its great to buy a bunch of 4TB hdds, now, and just keep adding them as they get cheaper and you want to add space, etc, but will you really do that?

 

Your need for space might not grow as fast as hdd sizes increase. You may find that it is much more useful to replace your 3 or 4 4TB hdds with 8TB hdds in 3 years, than to add a handful more. Plus, more hdds equals more heat, more power requirements, more sata connections, more noise, etc.

 

Right now I have a 2TB parity, 3 2TB storage drives, and a 1TB storage (for 7TB total). I've been running just over/under 1Tb free overall, and its starting to go consistently under. However cheap 2TB hdds are, I am not going to add a bunch more. I'd much rather get some 4TB drives, and swap all the drives out instead.

 

Depends on storage needs. Assuming this is a media server, and you are all about quality, and you only plan to store 50GB blu ray isos (as opposed to 16GB 1080p mkvs/etc), then maybe you really need the option to have 10/12/24 drives. But if not, consider if you'd be ok with a smaller case that fits 6/7 hdds total, a MB with 6 sata slots, and a fast CPU for plex. Plenty of examples of this in the forum as well, just look for all the super small builds. 6 (5 data) 4TB hdds is still 20GB of space, and that is can go up 50% by using 6TB drives today.

you want to start with just a few hdds, but how much space do you really need?

 

Everyone starts here thinking "I can use 24hdds, thats great, i'm going to do that!" and very few people ever do. Its great to buy a bunch of 4TB hdds, now, and just keep adding them as they get cheaper and you want to add space, etc, but will you really do that?

 

Your need for space might not grow as fast as hdd sizes increase. You may find that it is much more useful to replace your 3 or 4 4TB hdds with 8TB hdds in 3 years, than to add a handful more. Plus, more hdds equals more heat, more power requirements, more sata connections, more noise, etc.

 

Right now I have a 2TB parity, 3 2TB storage drives, and a 1TB storage (for 7TB total). I've been running just over/under 1Tb free overall, and its starting to go consistently under. However cheap 2TB hdds are, I am not going to add a bunch more. I'd much rather get some 4TB drives, and swap all the drives out instead.

 

Depends on storage needs. Assuming this is a media server, and you are all about quality, and you only plan to store 50GB blu ray isos (as opposed to 16GB 1080p mkvs/etc), then maybe you really need the option to have 10/12/24 drives. But if not, consider if you'd be ok with a smaller case that fits 6/7 hdds total, a MB with 6 sata slots, and a fast CPU for plex. Plenty of examples of this in the forum as well, just look for all the super small builds. 6 (5 data) 4TB hdds is still 20GB of space, and that is can go up 50% by using 6TB drives today.

 

Well said and is exactly how I plan to grow my Q25.