I have 3 PCs in my house and I want to consolidate them to one unRAID box.

My machines and their uses are:

PC1: HTPC/Plex server/Gaming. The only thing connected to my TV.

PC2: Gaming rig

PC3: Basically a DVR for my ip cams.

 

My planned use for the unRAID machine will be:

-2 VMs running win10 that can support gaming @1080(med-high settings) at the same time.

-1 VM running win10 to support my TV for general streaming from the web and plex home theater.

-Transcoding for plex. At most 2 HD streams.

-Recording Cam feeds when they detect motion.

 

How many cores are recommended for what I'm trying to accomplish with this? I would say my CPU budget is somewhere around $600. It might also be worth mentioning that this machine will be running 24/7.

Here is what I've been considering for my CPU:

-Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2630 v3 (20M Cache, 2.4 base/3.2 boost) 8 core, 16 thread, 85w

-Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-1650 v3 (15M Cache, 3.5 base/3.8 boost) 6 core, 12 thread, 140W

-Intel® Core™ i7-5930K Processor (15M Cache, up to 3.5 base/3.7 boost) 6 core/ 12 thread, 140W

 

 

 

If you're willing to take a shot with a used CPU, there's crazy deals on ebay right now for some old E5-2670 CPUs. Apparently the market got flooded when a server farm upgraded and now they are practically giving them away ($70- $100)...

 

Only trick is finding a good board that supports 2011v1... I just posted re: one I found that looks pretty decent... Hopefully some fellow unraiders will have some input on it...

I would say for what you want to use your UnRaid server for you should get at least a 6 core or greater CPU, this way you can dedicate 2-4 cores for your gaming VM's, 2-4 cores for your Plex streaming, 2 cores for your windows 10 VM for tv streaming, and the rest for UnRaid. There is probably a docker that can handle your video cam recording.

I'd go with the E5-1650v3 processor and a good server-class board (Cxxx chipset).

 

Note that many of the E5 "deals" on e-bay are engineering sample versions of the E5 ("ES" in the designator) and may not support vt-d, which is critical for the pass-through you'll want to do with your VMs.    Not sure I'd take the chance on those ... but if you do, be sure to get the stepping/s-spec number of the chip you're looking at, and check to see if it has the vt-d feature [CPU World is a good source to check this out:  http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SR/SR0H8.html ]

 

 

 

Note that many of the E5 "deals" on e-bay are engineering sample versions of the E5 ("ES" in the designator) and may not support vt-d, which is critical for the pass-through you'll want to do with your VMs.    Not sure I'd take the chance on those ... but if you do, be sure to get the stepping/s-spec number of the chip you're looking at, and check to see if it has the vt-d feature [CPU World is a good source to check this out:  http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SR/SR0H8.html ]

 

The SR0H8 doesn't support vt-d (at least according to the CPU world resource) but the SR0KX  does. Oddly enough the SR0H8 cpu is selling for more the then the SR0KX...

I already purchased the SR0KX. I will verify if if has vt-d once I receive it.

Also if I don't mind waiting another month or two would the  upcoming Intel Core i7-6900K 8/16 be worth the wait? I'm not even sure I could afford it. I've seen price speculation all over the place but if its around the $6-700 mark I could swing the extra cost for something more powerful.

http://wccftech.com/intel-broadwell-e-hedt-computex-2016/

Is E5-2670 SR0KX a good choice if it support VT-d? And is it easy to find a mother board that support  DDR3 memory?

I'm trying to stick with something that supports DDR4. I've already got a 32gb kit.

 

Is E5-2670 SR0KX a good choice if it support VT-d? And is it easy to find a mother board that support  DDR3 memory?

 

It's certainly a very good CPU if it has vt-d support.  There are plenty of server class boards available that support DDR3 ... just do a search for Socket 2011 server boards with DDR3 support on Newegg to see a list of them.