Build Advice Please

[Gronnie]

Hi, new to Unraid and looking for build advice for a 24/7 on system.

 

I've already purchased Hard Drives: 6x8TB WD Red Pro NAS drives 

 

I will be setting them up with dual parity and will likely purchase 2-4 more at some point in the near future

 

Parts I am repurposing: Seasonic Platinum rated PSU, Serveraid card flashed to IT Mode

 

I have access to buy any WD or Sandisk SSDs at great prices so will go with those as boot drives, cache drives, whatever is recommended for use with Unraid.

 

Primary use case: Media and streaming server using Emby, HD Homerun for antenna TV

 

Other uses: downloading Linux iso on Usenet, and will probably find other uses like Pi hole or similar, VPN server, VMs, etc

If GPU Passthrough works well on Unraid I would love to have Windows and Linux desktops and just use this as main system

 

Gig up/down fiber will be getting installed this summer so I will also be allowing some family members to stream, so it would be nice if it can handle multiple transcodes efficiently.

 

Budget for remaining parts (CPU, Motherboard, RAM, SSDs, case, GPU or GPUs, CPU cooler, anything I'm missing?) -- Would like to keep it under $1500, but willing to spend up to $2k

 

I have access to a Microcenter about an hour away, as well as all the usual online options.

[CodyEngel]

Hey, congrats on getting started Unraid, I'm waiting for my own components to come later this week after watching many hours of tutorials and build guides online. These are the parts I ordered which I think falls into your budget (assuming the hard drives were not included).

 

Fractal Design Node 804, mostly because it has 8 drive bays and is fairly compact.

ASRock X570M PRO4 AM4 AMD X570, it has 8 SATA ports along with 2 m.2 slots.

AMD RYZEN 7 3700X, provides 16 threads, should be plenty for most uses.

CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 64GB, this should provide plenty of head room for now while making it easy to increase the total system to 128GB in the future.

Crucial MX500 M.2 2280 1TB, I'm going to use two of these as cache drives along with keeping apps on them.

WD Blue SN550, since the motherboard only supports a single SATA M.2 (and because PCIe is faster) going with these SSDs will work.

PNY Quadro P2000, I'll be using this for hardware transcoding with Plex (not sure if Emby has something similar) and will be overkill for now but wanted to just set it and forget it.

 

If you don't have a UPS already, then this one would likely work for you, you can also setup your Unraid server to automatically shutdown with it.

Edited May 3, 2020 by CodyEngel
I overlooked the motherboard compatibility for the M.2 as it supports two in PCIe but only one with SATA.

[Gronnie]

Yes, willing to spend up to $2000 more after hard drives already purchased.

 

Thanks for the reply, I'll check those parts out!

[Gronnie]

Ohhh thanks for pointing out UPS I forgot about that.

Are you booting from the same SSDs you are planning to use for cache or how does that work?

[ramblinreck47]

2 hours ago, CodyEngel said:

Crucial MX500 M.2 2280 1TB, I'm going to use two of these as cache drives along with keeping apps on them.

With 2 of these, I'm not sure you'll be able to use both of them. Your motherboard's manual only lists M.2 SATA for one of the M.2 ports. You could do two NVME drives but it looks like only one SATA drive.

[JonathanM]

16 hours ago, Gronnie said:

Are you booting from the same SSDs you are planning to use for cache or how does that work?

Unraid runs in RAM, and boots from your licensed USB stick.

The sticks I use and highly recommend for durability and compatibility are these, in USB 2.0

https://www.kingston.com/us/usb-flash-drives/datatraveler-se9-usb-flash-drive

bonus, they are cheap.

 

The ultra tiny USB3 sticks have a less than stellar reputation for either durability, compatibility, or both.

[CodyEngel]

15 hours ago, ramblinreck47 said:

With 2 of these, I'm not sure you'll be able to use both of them. Your motherboard's manual only lists M.2 SATA for one of the M.2 ports. You could do two NVME drives but it looks like only one SATA drive.

Oh man that's a major oof on my part, I totally misread that when I was putting this together. I decided to run a new configuration through PCPartPicker (which I'm going to just do from now on 😅) and dropping in 2 WD Blue SN550's is compatible since they are running off of PCIe instead of SATA. I guess I'll be sending the crucial's back as soon as I get them.

[Gronnie]

So here's what I plan on going with, open for feedback:

Storage:

Storage array: 6x 8TB WD Red Pro NAS drives (already purchased) : https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-red-pro-sata-hdd#WD8003FFBX

Cache: 2x1TB WB_BLACK SN750 NVMe SSD : https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-black-sn750-nvme-ssd#WDS100T3XHC

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to disclose my price on the drives, but it's substantially less than retail.

Other storage: ?

 

CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X : https://www.microcenter.com/product/608318/amd-ryzen-7-3700x-matisse-36ghz-8-core-am4-boxed-processor-with-wraith-prism-cooler

Motherboard: ASRock X570 Pro4 : https://www.microcenter.com/product/608729/asrock-x570-pro4-amd-am4-atx-motherboard

$20 bundle discount from Microcenter = $279.99 + $169.99 - $20 = $429.98

 

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V 64GB DDR4 3200 CL16 : https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-64gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232943?Item=N82E16820232943&nm_mc=AFC-RAN-COM&cm_mmc=AFC-RAN-COM&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker&AFFID=2558510&AFFNAME=PCPartPicker&ACRID=1&ASID=https%3a%2f%2fpcpartpicker.com%2fproduct%2fkGjNnQ%2fgskill-ripjaws-v-64-gb-2-x-32-gb-ddr4-3200-memory-f4-3200c16d-64gvk&ranMID=44583&ranEAID=2558510&ranSiteID=8BacdVP0GFs-i9ioJbP6nMyygOM0.y7d6Q

$279.99

 

Case: Antec P101 Silent : https://www.newegg.com/black-antec-performance-series-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811129242?Item=N82E16811129242&nm_mc=AFC-RAN-COM&cm_mmc=AFC-RAN-COM&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker&AFFID=2558510&AFFNAME=PCPartPicker&ACRID=1&ASID=https%3a%2f%2fpcpartpicker.com%2fproduct%2f3x3H99%2fantec-p101-silent-atx-mid-tower-case-p101silent&ranMID=44583&ranEAID=2558510&ranSiteID=8BacdVP0GFs-aVqWdPpSlLPVpEN0xiEasQ

$110.98 -- has 8 3.5" drive bays and 2 more 2.5" SSD bays, and is supposedly very quiet

 

GPU: ?

 

PSU: ?

 

Open to any input on selected parts, and looking for answers in regards to other storage, GPU, and PSU please.

 

Other storage: does Unraid allow me to store VMs on SSDs separate from my HDD storage array? If so would it make sense to grab a 2.5" SATA SSD or two? I can get WD and Sandisk ones for quite cheap.

 

GPU:

This is mainly for Emby hw acceleration. I already own a GTX 970, a GTX 1060 6GB, and two RX570. Any of these could be repurposed to this machine. Will they serve the purpose well or should I buy a different / new GPU?

 

If I want to use a GPU for Emby HW acceleration and also want to pass a GPU to say a Windows VM for gaming, I assume multiple GPUs are needed in the machine?

 

PSU: Any recommendations on how much power supply to buy to run all this?

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Gronnie

[Gronnie]

Looks like it's near impossible to find a decent yet affordable X570 board right now, so back to the drawing board. Might just try to hold off for a bit, not sure yet.

[SirReal63]

I assume there is a reason you are wanting a X570 board?  I do not see any of the hardware you have listed requiring a X570.  The WD M.2 appear to be PCIe Gen 3.  While I think it is a smoking board, I also believe you could use a X470 or a B450 with good power management and not suffer at all.  My concern with the X570 is the fan required for the chipset and heat management in an already hot environment.

 

With that one question, the rest of the hardware is great.

[S80_UK]

If you can wait, you could consider that the first B550 based boards should start to trickle through from the middle of next month.  Looking at the AMD chipset compatibilty roadmap, I might consider waiting until then for further future-proofing. 

https://www.amd.com/en/chipsets/b550

Note the dropping of support for next gen Zen 3 CPUs in the older chipsets.

https://www.techspot.com/news/85144-amd-next-gen-zen-3-compatible-amd-b550.html

Also, first details are out of a few of the boards based on the B550. The B550 also does not require that chipset fan, which would be a big turn-off for me.

https://www.techpowerup.com/266760/assortment-of-five-amd-b550-premium-motherboards-pictured 

The Asrock B550 Taichi looks interesting since of those boards which were announced if offers a 8 SATA ports versus the 6 that the others have.  I am sitting on the fence at the moment, not for my server, but for a possible update to my main PC.

  

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by S80_UK

[Gronnie]

B550 interests me. I'm primarily looking for 8 SATA connectors and 2 M.2 that will do NVMe drives.

 

They come out mid June right?

 

Still not sure on how many watts PSU to buy either and if I need to buy a new GPU.

Edited May 11, 2020 by Gronnie

[S80_UK]

That's my understanding - various news channels talk about the 16th June.  Of course, the risk is always there if one becomes an early adopter, but I sense not too much risk in this case.  In many respects the B550 seems like an updated B450/X470 rather than anything radical.  I am currently just waiting to see what the prices are like; also for the manufacturers to publish their info, of course.    

Edited May 11, 2020 by S80_UK

[Gronnie]

Newegg had the Gigabyte Aorus motherboard in stock so I just ordered that, a 750W Gold Rosewill PSU, a 3900X, and the case and RAM from my list above.

 

I'm about to make an order on the WD store for 2x 1TB SN750 NVMe drives and 2 more Red Pro 8TB NAS drives.

 

Can anyone direct me to which USB Flash will be best? I've read unRAID can be a bit finicky about them: https://shop.westerndigital.com/c/usb-flash-drives

[JonathanM]

23 hours ago, Gronnie said:

Can anyone direct me to which USB Flash will be best?

https://www.kingston.com/us/usb-flash-drives/datatraveler-se9-usb-flash-drive

 

Is what I use. USB2.0, rugged, cheap.

 

Mount it internally with a IDC to USB adapter from one of the motherboard headers.