CPU for web Server under 50W + gaming capabilities

[DaHunni]

Hi I am planning on upgrading my Unraid and Workstation/Gaming PC and it could be possible to combine both of them depending on the power consumption.

 

I am currently running an old core 2 Duo @ 50W with only cache drive spinning (could be swapped out for a SSD) for a small web server, Teamspeak server and basic SMB tasks and also some MySQL and Nextcloud.

 

My Gaming PC is consisting of an AMD Fx8350 and a GTX 1060 and since the AMD is consuming way to much power I am looking forward to combining the two.

 

The closest thing I've found would be a i5-8400 since it has got 6 cores @ 2.80 GHz at only 65w.

 

My questions are:
1:

Can I achieve a similar or even better power consumption with this processor?

2:

Is there a Processor with a similar power consumption with maybe 8 threads that is around 250$?

3:

Can this mashine even game with the given components with similar or better results than the FX-8350?

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-8400-vs-AMD-FX-8350/3939vs1489

Userbenchmark gives the intel 61% more potential so I am pretty confident that this can work out but I am a bit worried about the power consumption since the AMD consumes (whole system with kill a watt)  close to 80% of its  maximum power at idle under-clocked to 3 GHz.

 

 

Also:

Any advice on cases with at least 5 3" slots that are not bloody expensive and 19" rack compatible in the best case?

 

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by DaHunni

[Tybio]

Check out the Xeon E series, they are basically current generation core processors that have lower TDP.

 

Also, don't confuse the rating with the actual power usage.  That's heat dissipation required, the processor can use far more (generally burst when boosts kick in) or far less if not much is happening.  For instance, I have a 80w TDP rated processor but I normally sit around 70w for the full system (with idle disks, 2 VMs running and about 10 dockers) and have only spiked up to ~110w during a parity check...if I were to fire up par repair during a parity check (which may have happened! I don't watch that close) then I would have the disks munching power and the processor kicking into boost levels...so usage would /spike/ but as soon as those finished it would bottom out at next to nothing.

 

Power use is more a function of use than processor.  Sure, you can move the "average" around a little, but a slower processor with a lower TDP will end up using more power if it is boosting all the time then a higher processor that is operating in its nominal state.

 

Basically, what I'm saying is don't think of it as a strait line, it is about finding the tipping point for your use.  There is no hard and fast rule...other than your choice of disk and any add-on cards will likely have a much larger impact on usage than a CPU...you can move a few w up or down with a CPU...but put in an enterprise disk with no spin down and that few wats you saved means next to nothing :).

 

Just my thoughts mind you, I'm not an expert, I just play one on forums.

[DaHunni]

7 minutes ago, Tybio said:

Check out the Xeon E series, they are basically current generation core processors that have lower TDP.

 

Also, don't confuse the rating with the actual power usage.  That's heat dissipation required, the processor can use far more (generally burst when boosts kick in) or far less if not much is happening.  For instance, I have a 80w TDP rated processor but I normally sit around 70w for the full system (with idle disks, 2 VMs running and about 10 dockers) and have only spiked up to ~110w during a parity check...if I were to fire up par repair during a parity check (which may have happened! I don't watch that close) then I would have the disks munching power and the processor kicking into boost levels...so usage would /spike/ but as soon as those finished it would bottom out at next to nothing.

 

Power use is more a function of use than processor.  Sure, you can move the "average" around a little, but a slower processor with a lower TDP will end up using more power if it is boosting all the time then a higher processor that is operating in its nominal state.

 

Basically, what I'm saying is don't think of it as a strait line, it is about finding the tipping point for your use.  There is no hard and fast rule...other than your choice of disk and any add-on cards will likely have a much larger impact on usage than a CPU...you can move a few w up or down with a CPU...but put in an enterprise disk with no spin down and that few wats you saved means next to nothing :).

 

Just my thoughts mind you, I'm not an expert, I just play one on forums.

That sounds good for me since my core 2 duo has the same TDP and the i5 is much more powerful it should at least consume the same amount of power if not less since I am also planning on upgrading the crappy drives I had laying around to WD Reds. Also I am on the pc for at least 5 hours a day with the amd machine running so that will be quite some power that will be saved.

[Tybio]

Just remember, the Video card for a gaming box is going to suck more power than the rest of the box combined (if it is a high end card!).  It will also drop down to very marginal usage when you are just on the desktop or doing simple things vs playing a game.

 

I forgot to mention that above

[DaHunni]

2 minutes ago, Tybio said:

Just remember, the Video card for a gaming box is going to suck more power than the rest of the box combined (if it is a high end card!).  It will also drop down to very marginal usage when you are just on the desktop or doing simple things vs playing a game.

 

I forgot to mention that above

So will the power consumption of the GPU drop close to 0 if the VM using it is stopped?

[Tybio]

I believe it will draw minimum power, when the system is on I don't think a PCI-E card ever drops to "0" as it has to be on the bus to be used.  I'm not sure how low it goes in that case, and likely depends on the card (so no generic answer).

[DaHunni]

9 minutes ago, Tybio said:

I believe it will draw minimum power, when the system is on I don't think a PCI-E card ever drops to "0" as it has to be on the bus to be used.  I'm not sure how low it goes in that case, and likely depends on the card (so no generic answer).

Its a 1060 so its already low power so this should  be no problem Thanks for your help