I'm looking to build an unraid server for a couple of activities:

• Plex Server
  • 1-2 streams at a time. Only 1 transcoding at a time.
• Gaming VM x2
• File Server

 

I was thinking about grabbing a couple xeons off of ebay and building the machine.

Such as:

• x2 E5 4655 V3
• 64 GB of ram
• x2  RX480s

 

or

• x2 E5 2687w V1
• 64 GB of ram
• x2  RX480s

 

Would there be a better build to accomplish this goal?

Edited March 19, 20179 yr by mytran
clicked submit before finishing post..

Hi mytran,

 

I'm new to this too but let me give you my build:

i7 7700k

2xGTX1080

32GB DDR4 3200mhz

 

This powers:

OpenVPN

File server

2 Windows installs

 

As you can probably tell, this is a machine purely for gaming. I'm not sure how you feel about consumer grade processors but the hyperthreading of the i7 really makes for a seamless experience. As for graphics, the 1080's push 4k Doom almost flawlessly. On both VM's. At the same time. Lastly, ram was chosen to be fast for both of us, but we don't need that much. 

Now your build is definitely more suited to streaming while gaming, but I'm not sure the xeon is worth it. Perhaps you could save some dollars there and go consumer. 64g ram for your plan seems very solid. As for the 480's?  They aren't as strong as a pair of 1060's or 1070's. I would probably invest in something else unless you're eyeballing the HTC vive package that includes a 480.

 

You have a solid build. This is just my $0.02