zazamari Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I am getting the urge to build myself an unraid server which will be used as my plex server so it will need some power to the system. I would like it to be something I don't mind having on all the time however I would like it to be power efficient where possible and quiet so that I can save money on electricity shutting down my gaming computer daily which is currently acting as my plex server. Please keep in mind that the server will be used to stream HD and possibly UHD media over a gigabit network but will not likely be transcoding that much information I am going to start out with 3x HGST 4TB 7200RPM drives and I liked this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352020 mentioned elsewhere but I don't know where else to start as I'm used to building power hungry gaming systems and not power sipping NASes like this. Your thoughts are welcome. I live near a microcenter and frys if that helps at all when looking, I prefer to pick up locally when I can. Quote Link to comment
Traxxus Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Most of the newer intel stuff is about as power efficient as you can get. The system in my sig is a beast, but only idles at 46 watts w/ cache drive (WD 1TB) spun up. Quote Link to comment
garycase Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Agree with Traxxus ==> any Haswell-based system will be VERY power efficient. Recently built a new desktop with a Core i7-4790, 16GB, 500GB SSD plus a 4TB WD Red ... and it idles at 30w INCLUDING a 23" touchscreen monitor. The system Traxxus noted also has a larger power supply (thus less efficient at very low current draws), plus 5 6TB disks and a RAID controller and still only draws 46w. ... and FWIW a Core i7-4790 has PLENTY of power for anything you might want to toss at it => you can do all the streaming you want, with or without any transcoding requirements ... and the Fractal case is about as good as it gets with regards to "quiet" Quote Link to comment
zazamari Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Do you guys think an i5 would also be sufficient with 8-16GB of ram? My highest quality videos are the planet earth series, they play at an average of 12-16MB/s in h.264. I would like to avoid the cost of an i7 if its possible but if there is a significant performance increase between the two in transcoding speed then I will get it, again I do not think I will be transcoding very often but of course it will depend on the devices my plex server is transmitting to. What do you guys think about water cooling in the R4? Has anyone had experience with it and can make a recommendation on type/model to get? Alternatively, a quiet cpu cooler that will keep it relatively chill when its doing its thing would be welcome as well I'm not afraid of a complicated build as I've had much experience building systems. Lastly, are there any motherboards I should stay away from? I was going to look around at ASUS boards for something with lots of ports alternatively if I can't find something I like then I will probably go after this thing http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182821 I appreciate all your feedback and will start to put together a shopping list. Quote Link to comment
tritron Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 What about using decommissioned server hardware. L5630 it uses 40 watts of power and on ebay goes for 30$ there are tons of dl180se g6 for 160$ trays run for 11$ brand new on amazon. You can get dl180se g6 for around 300$ with l5630 power supplies, ram and spend the rest of hard drives. 14 x 8tb Quote Link to comment
zazamari Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 If I had a closet or enclosed area to put it in I would but this will be in my office which needs to remain very quiet. If one of those servers went under load they may become very noisy when transcoding if it occurs. I thank you for the suggestion however as that gives me a good idea for the next gaming server I'll be putting in my work's datacenter. Quote Link to comment
garycase Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 An i5 would be fine ... the superb i5-4690 has 75% of the "horsepower" of an i7-4790 for $100 less. [i always use the i7's "just in case" ... the nominal extra cost is just "horsepower insurance" ] As for water-cooling => not needed. The stock Intel fans are plenty quiet ... and with that case, you aren't likely to hear a thing Quote Link to comment
tritron Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Well Dl 180 g6 sounds like jumbo jet taking of at boot up time and then is silent. There where deals on servers on slickdeals http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkServer-TS440-70AQ000YUX-E3-1245/dp/B00L07HQTU/?tag=slicinc-20&ascsubtag=9650b02731fc4cfab5fbbc82e1508a88 Some dell server Quote Link to comment
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