May 8, 20197 yr I'm still fairly new to servers in general, and this will be my first server build, so I want to build up as much knowledge as possible before I start spending money. As of right now, I intend to use the server mainly for storage and as a Plex Media Server that can handle about 2-3 1080p transcodes. So far, I have only purchased the case, which has x3 hotswap 3.5" HDD bays and x5 internal 3.5" HDD bays. There are also 2 unsused 5.25" bays which leave the potential for expansion. As of right now, the plan is to have a 120GB SSD for cache, a 3TB HDD for Parity and 2-3 HDDs for storage. Budget: Not including any of the HDDs, I'd like to keep it under $500 AUD (about $350USD) CPU: I am currently deciding between the Ryzen 2400G and the Ryzen 2600. The former is $220 AUD ($154 USD), the latter is $245 AUD ($172 USD). I am still trying to gauge what kind of advantages the more expensive 6-core, 12-thread CPU entails, and whether or not it's worth the slight increase in price for me. Again, I'm initially building for storage and a media server capable of transcoding, but I may yet expand my horizons; I can definitely see myself using VMs at some point. Motherboard: I'm going to choose a B450 Motherboard to avoid potential compatibility issues with 2XXX-series Ryzen CPUs. I'm choosing between the MSI B450M-PRO-M2-V2 ($105 AUD, $73 USD), the ASUS Prime B450M-A ($125 AUD, $87 USD) and the Asus TUF B450-PLUS ($119 AUD, $83 USD). The first is the cheapest, most affordable option, the latter two both have 6 SATA ports whereas the MSI only had 4, and the B450M-A has ECC compatibility, which is something I'm still not sure if I want. I hear a lot of people expand their SATA ports with PCI-E Controller Cards like this. Would this work for HDDs in the Unraid storage array? Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws V 8GB (2x4GB) 2400MHz DDR4 - Nothing too fancy. Cheap DDR4 server solution. PSU: Corsair - VS 450 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply - I'm still unsure as to how big of a difference going gold would make to long-term cost. If it's significant, I could always bump up to this Taking all that into account, am I doing anything wrong? Could I be doing better? The builds in the FAQ seem to be pretty outdated so it's still a bit hard to gauge exactly what I should be doing. I'm also interested in knowing whether or not I should bother investing in HDD cooling. The 3 HDDs in the enclosure already have a small fan blowing into them; should I do the same for the ones in the internal bays? Some people have suggested used components to me in the past, but here in Australia, the market for them is drier than the Sahara, particularly the motherboards. I figure it's better to go new. Edited May 8, 20197 yr by Stubbs
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