Build for Plex + Gaming VM

Hi guys,

 

Not sure if this is consider right place as it have everthing from CPU+Mobo to SATA controller question.

 

I'm considering Unraid for new NAS build and just found out that it can also be use for gaming (AAA games on 3440*1440 75hz monitor) too.

 

Not so sure on which docker / plug in i'm gonna use but should be mainly on media storage application.

On windows, other than daily usage + gaming, there will be times when I will have to use photo editing and CAD+CAE analysis (Stress/Thermal/Flow).

 

My current daily use PC having following spec

CPU : i5-8600k

MB : Z390 Taichi
Ram : 4x8GB DDR4 3200MHz
VGA : 1080ti
Storage : 512GB M.2 NVME SSD + 3TB HDD + 4TB HDD

My current NAS is Seagate NAS Pro 4-Bay with 4x4TB HDD,
I'm having trouble with slow transfer speed even with link of 2xGB Ethernet and  on my current NAS + Slow processing performance.

 

Currently, i have to turn on both as i will use my gaming PC to do Plex job by pointing it to NAS.

 

Plex possibly will only run maximum of 3 1080p streaming but i'm considering having headroom for 4k transcoding for future usage too.

 

What i'm thinking at the moment is

-  keep the windows as BAREMETAL and pass through it the VM (i believed it possible, right?)

- combining all storage and replace the 3TB drive with another 4TB to have 20TB Protected comparing with previously 12TB protected + 7TB unprotected

- With 6 SATA used, got 2 spare port for future expansion or cache drive.

 

I have my old PC lying around unused at the moment.

CPU : i7-4790k

MB : Z97 Maximus VII Formula
Ram : 4x8GB DDR3 2400MHz
VGA : None
Storage : 512GB SATA SSD

 

Q1 : With just 6 cores/threads, will it be sufficient for plex transcoding + gaming ?
Q2 : MB has 8 SATA onboard, but 2 of them control by ASMedia ASM1061. Will it be usable? on can be use as cache drive?
Q3 : Based on current setup, would it be better to run NAS on old machine and keep my daily use PC as it is.

Q4 : If combining machine have higher benefit, i'm thinking of changing CPU to 9900k (+250$ after selling 8600k) or to 3900x+X570 Taichi (+450$ after selling CPU+MB)