Looking for some recommendations on a new build (primarily media server).  Currently have an HP MicroServer gen 8 with a low power Xeon 1265L v2 and 16 GB of ECC ram.

 

I am still in need of a small form case (due to space constraints), so will likely be going with the Fractal Node 304, which limits me to Mini-ITX. 

 

• Transcoding (Plex): I am typically direct playing a good amount of my media (locally) and transcoding 2-3 streams max remotely (1080p files being transcoded to 720p for bandwidth reasons - some x265 and some x264) and am looking at Xeon again.  Best options for price/performance.  Obviously a Xeon with QuickSync would benefit the transcoding, so within that constraint.

 

• Power: Not overly concerned with power usage, but I do leave the server running 24/7, and would hopefully not see double or more increase in power consumption/cost, so a 2x Xeon CPU build would not be my ideal option.

 

I already have a handful of 10GB (shucked) drives and a few 500GB SSDs for cache, but would like to keep the total cost for CPU/MB under $550 if possible.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

 

Edited May 20, 20197 yr by 3560freak

To follow up on this, I am now looking at the ASUS P10S-I paired with a Xeon E3-1275 v6.  Any thoughts on these components for my use case?

Edited May 18, 20197 yr by 3560freak

The longer I wait to purchase the more options that begin to pop-up.  Any thoughts on an i3-8100 vs Xeon E-2146G?  Obvously the 8100 would save me money that could be applied elsewhere, but is it really adequate for my use case?

Edited May 21, 20197 yr by 3560freak

So I have read before the general rule of thumb is ~2000 passmark points per 1080p stream. This all depends on the below (quote)

 

- The video file on disk uses the h.264 video codec

- Has around 8 mbps

- No subtitles are “burned in” during the transcode

 

If you are streaming Bluray rips you need at least double. Xeon E-2146G has 15000 Passmark so pretty good for the amount of streams you require with some leg room. i3-8100 not so much the Xeon's generally outperform most i series CPU's. The Xeon has slightly higher TDP so will have generally more power consumption but tbh that i3 has a pretty high TDP.

 

ASUS P10S-I. I like the look of this board and it has all of the features I would look for in a NAS board, I wonder why I never see this board when I was looking for a new build a short while back. Price of the mini-sas to SATA cables are a little expensive £50 or so but overall this board looks good. iKVM + 2 Intel NIC's, can't go wrong really! Pair this with your Xeon and your good to go. Can you use the same ECC RAM in this new build? You didn't specify the spec but I would assume so.

 

p.s. Pics of build or it didn't happen

 

 

 

Edited May 21, 20197 yr by witalit

So it seems that the E-2146G has not had a widespread release and, according to a leak, Intel is going to release a refresh (as the Xeon 22xx) of the series later this year.  Since I am not planning on waiting for Intel to announce these new chips, any thoughts on the i3-9100 vs i3-8100 or i3-8300?

On 5/21/2019 at 10:08 AM, witalit said:

So I have read before the general rule of thumb is ~2000 passmark points per 1080p stream. This all depends on the below (quote)

 

- The video file on disk uses the h.264 video codec

- Has around 8 mbps

- No subtitles are “burned in” during the transcode

 

If you are streaming Bluray rips you need at least double. Xeon E-2146G has 15000 Passmark so pretty good for the amount of streams you require with some leg room. i3-8100 not so much the Xeon's generally outperform most i series CPU's. The Xeon has slightly higher TDP so will have generally more power consumption but tbh that i3 has a pretty high TDP.

 

ASUS P10S-I. I like the look of this board and it has all of the features I would look for in a NAS board, I wonder why I never see this board when I was looking for a new build a short while back. Price of the mini-sas to SATA cables are a little expensive £50 or so but overall this board looks good. iKVM + 2 Intel NIC's, can't go wrong really! Pair this with your Xeon and your good to go. Can you use the same ECC RAM in this new build? You didn't specify the spec but I would assume so.

 

p.s. Pics of build or it didn't happen

 

 

 

Yes, the TDP is high but the powerconsumption is below that. Take a look at that: http://minimalisticpc.com/blog/hardware/test-intel-core-i3-8100-i5-8400/

 

Furthermore you can use the iGPU of the i3 to easily transcode up to 3-4 1080p streams. I would save my money on all servergrade hardware. It is nice to have but a system with an i3 8100, 16GB DDR4 RAM and a good H370 Mobo should suffice.

 

Just my 2 cents!

So I have decided to go the i3-8100 route for now, but I wish to buy a Xeon compatible board and ECC ram so that I can just drop in the Xeon 2146G at a later time.

 

My final question before purchasing is about the RAM.  What do you think about this setup?

 

• i3-8100
• ASUS P11C-I (so I have the option to upgrade to Xeon later)
• 16GB ECC (8gb x 2 - would this RAM work well with the CPU/MB? )  https://www.newegg.com/crucial-8gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/1B4-00M3-00040?Item=1B4-00M3-00040
• This RAM is rated at 2666Mhz, although the i3-8100 only supports 2400Mhz.  I wanted to get this so that when I go to the Xeon later I don't have to buy new RAM.

 

Full disclosure: I posted this on another hardware forum but haven't received any feedback.

Edited June 6, 20197 yr by 3560freak

Did you build your system yet? If so, how is it working out? I have similar goals. Probably no more than 2 streams remotely, 1 direct play and a few dockers. No VM's. I have an FX-8350 in my current but no graphics card installed. Be nice to have something a little more efficient and offload the transcoding to from the CPU. 

 

I'd be interested in how this build went. I'm looking to build an i3 8100 server for a friend of mine using a Gigabyte B360M-H with 8GB ram. It will be running Sonaar, Radaar, Nzbget and streaming Emby to a couple of Chromecasts in the house and maybe a remote stream when not at home.

13 hours ago, CaptainMalarkey said:

I'd be interested in how this build went. I'm looking to build an i3 8100 server for a friend of mine using a Gigabyte B360M-H with 8GB ram. It will be running Sonaar, Radaar, Nzbget and streaming Emby to a couple of Chromecasts in the house and maybe a remote stream when not at home.

That is my goal with either Plex or switch to Emby.