unRAID and Plex

[JP]

My current unRAID server is 5 years old.  It has served me well with almost no issues until this past week or so.  I have an open topic in support around it, but things don't look good.  It appears to be a hardware issue that is difficult to understand exactly where the problem might reside, but my current guess is an issue with the motherboard. 

 

Anyway, all the data still appears to be OK for the moment and it has me thinking I might be forced to upgrade the server to simply get it back and operational again.  I currently use Plex and because of the dated components it chokes on transcoding pretty easily and if I do have to upgrade I would like to have something that can handle transcoding multiple streams (3 or 4).

 

I've been looking through the forums here, but the recommendations around CPU / motherboard combos appear to be pretty wide in scope.  Is there possibly a consensus on what a good CPU / motherboard combo for Plex with unRAID is right now?  I recognize there are plenty of options, but I'm curious whether there is a good price point for a particular combo that many might have confidence in.  I think my requirements are probably within reason:

 

- at least 8 SATA ports onboard

- onboard video (VGA, DVI, or HDMI)

- able to transcode Plex, 3 or 4 streams, very well

- any motherboard form factor is fine (ATX, Micro-ATX, ITX, etc.)

     

[StevenD]

Mine runs Plex very well.  I have had as many as six 1080p transcodes going on at the same time.

 

That being said, there are newer generation motherboards and procs that might work a little better.

[JP]

Mine runs Plex very well.  I have had as many as six 1080p transcodes going on at the same time.

 

That being said, there are newer generation motherboards and procs that might work a little better.

 

Thanks.  That is a pretty serious setup you have and probably quite a bit more than I need.  Again, I was curious if others might feel there is a particular price point CPU / mobo combo where Plex still runs very well.  A hunch was that an i5 processor might be a good choice, but again, I'm just not sure. 

 

Also, I think that SuperMicro motherboard had 6 onboard SATA ports...correct?  I was hoping for 8 if possible, but I might be asking too much.  Thanks again.

[archedraft]

I used an i3 with 8 GB of RAM and was able to get 3 - 720p transcodes at the time (I have since upgraded the whole system). That said, if I were building a new computer I would at a minimum get an i5 and 16 GB of Ram. I would also look into a motherboard and CPU that supports VT-d just in case you want to use virtual machine in the future. Always best to get the extra features so you don't end up buying something over in the future, just my 2 cents.

 

EDIT: Added 720p to above post.

[JP]

I used an i3 with 8 GB of RAM and was able to get 3 transcodes at the time (I have since upgraded the whole system). That said, if I were building a new computer I would at a minimum get an i5 and 16 GB of Ram. I would also look into a motherboard and CPU that supports VT-d just in case you want to use virtual machine in the future. Always best to get the extra features so you don't end up buying something over in the future, just my 2 cents.

 

Thanks.  My early research had me thinking the i5 might be a good price point.  The VT-d is very good to know and something I really know nothing about right now.  This is the type of thing that would help me narrow my options. 

[StevenD]

Also, I think that SuperMicro motherboard had 6 onboard SATA ports...correct?  I was hoping for 8 if possible, but I might be asking too much.  Thanks again.

 

I believe a couple of folks on here are running X10 series boards and some of them have 8+.  The X10SL7-F has 14.

[JP]

I believe a couple of folks on here are running X10 series boards and some of them have 8+.  The X10SL7-F has 14.

 

Thanks.  It sounds like asking for 8 onboard SATA ports isn't all that common.  I should probably lessen my expectation to 6.  I only have 5 SATA drives at the moment anyway.  My cache is ATA and if I'm doing this I should probably upgrade it to a Solid-Sate SATA, which would fill all 6.

[HellDiverUK]

You should check out some of Asus and AsRock's workstation boards.  They have 10 SATA ports and will run all the E3 Xeons and i3, i5, and i7.  They support ECC RAM too if you use an i3 or Xeon.

[JP]

You should check out some of Asus and AsRock's workstation boards.  They have 10 SATA ports and will run all the E3 Xeons and i3, i5, and i7.  They support ECC RAM too if you use an i3 or Xeon.

 

Yes, but aren't those around $500 for the motherboard alone?  I'm sure it is probably worth every penny, but I'm looking for whether there is a consensus on what does well with Plex at a more reasonable price / popular price point.

 

For example, back in 2010 when I built the unRAID server I have now there were a number of people who were using a Biostar Motherboard coupled with a Sempron processor.  It seemed to work very well for unRAID at a very reasonable price.  I'm looking for essentially a similar popular option, but with current technology and the ability to run unRAID as well as PLEX transcoding very well.

 

 

[jimbobulator]

There's a rule of thumb that you need about 2000 passmarks or so of performance to transcode a 1080p stream in real time.  Obviously there's a lot of details and assumptions in there, like what is the source and destination bitrate?  In my experience that's a bit conservative and seems to work out okay.

 

Check out candidate processors on cpubenchmark.net for average passmark scores.  I have a i5-4590 (scores around 7000 I think) and it can transcode at least 2 streams without problems but I haven't really tried stressing it too much.  My previous server scored 1500 and did fine with a single transcode.  i5 is probably a reasonable choice.

 

Regarding number of SATA ports, I have a Gigabyte board with 10 or 12 ports (don't remember) that cost me 125 or so.

[Chugiak]

Have a look in the Hardware forum for a discussion on cheap unRAID upgrade options:

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=40539.0

 

I think a Haswell processor like i5 and an H97 board put you in the best bang for buck category.  To have 8 onboard SATA ports you need to move up to a pricier motherboard like a Z87 or Z97. 

 

[HellDiverUK]

You should check out some of Asus and AsRock's workstation boards.  They have 10 SATA ports and will run all the E3 Xeons and i3, i5, and i7.  They support ECC RAM too if you use an i3 or Xeon.

 

Yes, but aren't those around $500 for the motherboard alone?  I'm sure it is probably worth every penny, but I'm looking for whether there is a consensus on what does well with Plex at a more reasonable price / popular price point.

 

 

I don't think so, where are you getting the $500 from?  The workstation boards aren't any more than a gaming board.  I paid £150 for my AsRock C216 WS.  That's the same I paid for my Asus Maximus Gene VII gaming board.

[JP]

I don't think so, where are you getting the $500 from?  The workstation boards aren't any more than a gaming board.  I paid £150 for my AsRock C216 WS.  That's the same I paid for my Asus Maximus Gene VII gaming board.

 

I feel run over by technology.   It has probably been over 5 years since I built my last machine and I just haven't kept up with how hardware has changed.  I did a few searches on Google for "Workstation Motherboards" and the consensus seemed to be a price in the $500 range.  Now I see that simply isn't true. 

 

The Xeon looks attractive since I guess those are mostly used for servers...right?  I notice their passmark scores are pretty high especially considering the affordable price of some.  Some appear less than the i5, which is pretty nice.

[Chugiak]

I was where you are now about 8 months ago when I decided to replace my aging Core 2 Duo desktop system.  I've been a long-time fan of AMD but given the current state of affairs I settled on the Haswell processors for performance and value.  Since this was for my desktop/gaming system I knew I would have a discrete graphics card, so the Xeon E3-1231v3 was a viable alternative to an i5 or i7 processor.

 

Unless you want to pop a video card into your new server, you'll want to get either a processor with integrated graphics or a motherboard with such.  The Xeon E3 1200 v3 processors  that end with a 5 or 6 have integrated graphics, whereas the 0 or 1 models do not.

 

Some motherboards (workstation or server grade) have built-in graphics chips so you can go with a CPU that fits your needs and have the mobo take care of the graphics.  You just want to be sure you've got some video processor in the hardware mix, or your system will not boot. 

[JP]

Yea, this is how disconnected I am.  I wasn't aware CPU's were doing onboard graphics nowadays.  I did know about the motherboards though.  My HTPC has a motherboard with onboard graphics. 

 

I planned on using a motherboard with some kind of onboard graphics since a server doesn't really use any of it.  Based on passmark your Xeon looks like a beast.  What motherboard did you pair with it?

[Chugiak]

I've got an Asrock H97M Pro4 with 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 memory.  I wanted a quiet system, so I had no intentions of overclocking.  The Xeon E3 and the Core i7 are on par perfomance wise, and since I didn't need integrated graphics I ended up with the Xeon E3-1231v3.  Again, this is my desktop system so I don't need a slew of SATA ports.

 

One option:

ASUS Z87-PRO motherboard (8 SATA ports, currently with $35 rebate at Newegg)

Xeon E3-1246v3 (provides the graphics)

2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 memory

 

Second option:

ASRock E3C224 ATX motherboard (8 SATA ports, onboard graphics, has IPMI)

Xeon E3-1241v3 processor

2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 ECC Unbuffered memory

 

The second option will cost a little more but is all server components.  The ECC memory provides some fauly tolerance compared to standard RAM, although I have no clue how frequently memory errors occur to say whether or not it's worth the extra cost.  The lowest I would go on a Xeon is a 1230 or 1231.  The 1220 & 1225 don't have hyperthreading, whereas the higher numbered processors do.

 

 

 

 

[danioj]

Also, I think that SuperMicro motherboard had 6 onboard SATA ports...correct?  I was hoping for 8 if possible, but I might be asking too much.  Thanks again.

 

I believe a couple of folks on here are running X10 series boards and some of them have 8+.  The X10SL7-F has 14.

 

My Main Server runs that board and it is EXCELLENT! Everything I want and nothing I don't.

 

Full setup is in my Sig.

[HellDiverUK]

If you don't need cutting edge, the board I have is good value.  I got it for just over £100 new, the CPU I got used off eBay for £80.  It's a LOT of machine for the money.  It's totally stable in UnRAID, too.

 

It's a bit shy in USB ports, but to be fair I only use one for UnRAID (the UPS) and the internal USB port is dead handy for the UnRAID USB stick.

[JP]

Well, this sort of seals it I think.  Micro Center just sent me an e-mail with the Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz LGA 1150 Boxed Processor on sale for $279.99 (in the store, http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.aspx?sku=302273).  The passmark score is 11000+.  Seems like an awfully good CPU to run multiple streams of Plex.