Lenovo ThinkServer TS140 rebuild

[gulo]

Hello

 

I have been running Unraid for many years now on the same machine and I started thinking about upgrading.

 

My current machine is running Pentium D820, Intel motherboard and 5 data drives + Cache. 90% of the time it's being used as a NFS data source for Movies/TV Shows/Music for my many Kodi devices across the house, typically just one stream at a time. I installed Plex but the CPU just can't handle transcoding and it was constantly buffering. I also upgraded to version 6 couple weeks ago and was bummed that my CPU doesn't support any virtualization.

 

I have been  seeing some decent deals on Lenovo ThinkServer TS140 - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FE2G79C/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3PALFXR2VVI3J&coliid=I1WWOX1ZNV4FJY

 

- Intel Xeon E3-1225 v3 Quad Core Processor (8M Cache, 3.2 GHz) 84W

 

I had few questions about the possible build:

 

1) Biggest question - should I be able to remove the motherboard and CPU and move them to my own case? I am using a Norco 3x5 drive bay and I plan on buying another one and I couldn't fit any of this into the Lenovo case. I am also using 750W PSU but Lenovo only comes with 280W. My understanding is that the power connector on the motherboard is not standard but you can still use standard PSU if you buy an adapter. So as long as I get the adapter should I be OK to use Lenovo MB/CPU with my case/PSU/hard drives?

 

2) In addition to what I am currently doing I would like to be able to use Plex to stream movies but mainly I want to be able to install Windows (XP or 7) as VM to run Blue Iris software 24/7 for my cameras. Is this something I should be able to do with this setup without any issues?

 

3) I assume this is a good Unraid CPU and it will completely blow my D820 away. However it does not come with Hyper threading, would this be anything I would notice with my planned usage or should I be fine?

 

4) If I can get this computer for low $300s is this still a better deal than buying MOBO/CPU/RAM on their own? It looks like Xeon CPU alone would be $200+

 

Many thanks