Upgrading existing build - Intel or AMD???

[MasterC]

I've been running my UnRAID server now for about 3 years. It's been running on the following hardware:

 

Intel Core i5-2500K CPU

8GB DDR 3 ram

Asus P8P67 Pro m/b

Onboard 8-port SATA

18TB of array storage (no SSDs) and cache

 

I use the server mainly as storage and a Plex server. I need to be able to run up to 3 streams reliably, and possibly be streaming at least one stream of 4K/UHD video. I'd also like to add in some additional SATA slots through an add-in card but don't want to spend much more than $100 for this card.

 

I also run various other Docker containers (Sonaar, SABznbd, Radaar, Open-VPN). I will also be wanting to run at least 1 Windows VM at some point in the near future.

Another thing I will want is to add an SSD or 2 for the cache drives.

 

I am open to suggestions, and willing to take a good look at either AMD or Intel CPUs. My total budget would be about $700 for the CPU, MB, SSD(s), RAM, and SATA card (I will reuse case and PSU as they are more than capable). Is it even worth it to have 2 SSDs for the cache pool other than redundancy?

 

I appreciate all of the suggestions!

 

[tdallen]

1 hour ago, MasterC said:

I need to be able to run up to 3 streams reliably, and possibly be streaming at least one stream of 4K/UHD video.

Hi, how much transcoding do you need?

[MasterC]

2 hours ago, tdallen said:

Hi, how much transcoding do you need?

 

As far as how many streams to be transcoded? Well, the end points would be an Apple TV 4, a Roku 3, and a Chromecast.

 

Stream quality would be at 1080p.

 

[HellDiverUK]

An i3-6100 will do 3 transcodes fine, if you use Quicksync hardware transcoding.

 

I've had 6 running off my i5-6500T and was only using 40% CPU, and it's a relatively slow 25W chip.

[BRiT]

Have you tried consulting one of the many Astrologists recently advertised here?

[tdallen]

And if you spend the money, you may need to consult one of the other spammers who help handle wife problems...

 

Well, the 2500K is a 4 core, non-hyperthreaded chip that runs 6,469 Passmarks.  How is it doing now for you?  It meets the requirements for 3 1080p streams, but it might get bogged down if you were doing a lot of transcoding and downloading or VPN'ing at the same time.  The Win10 VM is a wild card - do you plan to just do light work, or serious gaming?

 

It's a tough time to be making a hardware decision.  Everything you think you know about CPU performance is about to change as Meltdown gets patched... 

 

 

[isvein]

Im kinda in the same boat.

my i7-970 cant manage most of the times to transcode 1 HD stream in real time, it transcode at a speed of 0.7, 1.0 beeing real time

My other server is an pentium G4400 and it live encode at a 1.5 rate, same files.

If you look at the passmark, the i7 should run circles around the G4400, but not in plex

 

Im looking at ether Ryzen5 or i5-8400, only beef I got with the i5 is that motherboards for them are like double for an mATX card than a ryzen board

[HellDiverUK]

Problem with the latest Intel boards is there's none of the low-end board available, you're stuck with the expensive Z370.

 

My server, for example uses an i5-6500T on a cheap H170 board.  I could have gone cheaper with H110, but I'd have sacrificed 2 SATA ports and the M.2 slot.  H170 is basically Z170 with overclocking disabled, at 2/3 the price.

[isvein]

2 hours ago, HellDiverUK said:

Problem with the latest Intel boards is there's none of the low-end board available, you're stuck with the expensive Z370.

 

My server, for example uses an i5-6500T on a cheap H170 board.  I could have gone cheaper with H110, but I'd have sacrificed 2 SATA ports and the M.2 slot.  H170 is basically Z170 with overclocking disabled, at 2/3 the price.

True, I can save some if I go for the i5-7400 and a asus prime h270m-pluss board

 

Edited January 7, 2018 by isvein

[MasterC]

Well, I appreciate all the advice.

 

I think I've narrowed it down to an Intel Core i5-8600K. Seems like the sweet spot in the lineup as far as performance goes. Pulls about 2x as many Passmarks as my existing i5-2500K.

 

I forgot to mention I am also planning on porting over my Roon Core server to my server so the extra horsepower will be needed.

 

Probably going to throw it on an Asus Prime Z370-A and replace my cache drive with a M.2 SSD as well. Since RAM is stupidly expensive right now I'm going to have to start with 16GB and hopefully throw some more in down the road.

 

Anyone have experience with this particular Asus board? I'm assuming it should work fine?

 

 

 

[XtyX]

I'm thinking of going with the Asus Prime Z370-A as well.  I'm interested to hear how its worked out for you?