Parts list, would this be a good unRAID server?


AT0MAC

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I want to give unRAID a try again (made an unsuccessful build a few years back because I was careless), but this time I want to make it right!

 

 

My parts list look like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

8478612[/color]01016491

 

På Fjernlager[/color]CPU Intel Xeon SP E3-1225v3 / LGA1150 / Box (BX80646E31225V3)1.730,491.730,4918478544[/color]01001677

 

På Fjernlager[/color]Simm DDR3 PC1600 16GB CL9 Corsair VenP k (CMY16GX3M2A1600C9A)1.257,491.257,4918478695[/color]01073549

 

På Fjernlager[/color]INTEL SSD 530 240GB SATA6 2.5 r/w 540/490 (SSDSC2BW240A401)1.252,491.252,4918478706[/color]01009370

 

På Fjernlager[/color]Seasonic Platinum-660 - 660W - Fully-modular (P-660)1.147,491.147,4918478686[/color]0575781

 

På lager[/color]WD HD3.5" SATA3 3TB WD30EFRX / 24x7 / NAS (Di) (WD30EFRX)899,001.798,0018478641[/color]0848158

 

På Fjernlager[/color]Lian Li PC-Q25B Mini-ITX Cube - schwarz (PC-Q25B)860,49860,4918478592[/color]01092736

 

På Fjernlager[/color]ASUS H87I-PLUS Socket1150 2xDDR3 miniITX (90MB0F30-M0EAY5)766,49766,4918478708[/color]0727139

 

På lager[/color]Noctua NH-L12 CPU Cooler (NH-L12)402,49402,4918478710[/color]01001735

 

På Fjernlager[/color]Noctua NF-A14 PWM Lüfter - 140mm (NF-A14 PWM)196,49196,4918478678[/color]0672619

 

Fjernlager (5-7 dage)[/color]Flashdrive LaCie PetiteKey 8GB, USB 2.0 (9000346)147,49147,4918478713[/color]0779086

 

På lager[/color]Microconnect SATA III - Seriel ATA kabel 600 - 7- pin seriel ATA - 7- pin seriel ATA 0,30m49,00294,00

Total ex. moms

7.882,71

Moms

1.970,68

Fragt

0,00

Total inkl. moms

DKK 9.853,39

Let me explain...

 

 

Why that CPU?

I want something with a lot of bang for the buck in case I need transcoding. Also I need it to be not too power hungry. I also need it to have build in graphics so I don't need to fill the case with a separate graphics card.

 

 

RAM?

I have always had great experiences with Corsair RAM, unlike Kingston which for me have been very much hit and miss.

16GB because there is nothing wrong in having too much RAM and this set because they are the newest in their lineup.

 

 

Cache SSD?

I want to get the benefits a SSD cache gives. But I also want it to be reliable. As I already have two Intel drives in my main rig I know their reliability and 5 years warrenty is just icing on the cake.

 

 

PSU?

Yes, it is an expensive choice. But I already use one of their PSUs in my main rig and is simply impressed about their quality. Never use a bad PSU, it can ruin the whole rig!

 

 

HDDs?

From last time I still have 2x Hitachi 2TB 3K5000 drives and one 3TB 3K5000 just laying and waiting. So the NASReady WD RED seems like a really good expansion, and with a total of 10TB there will be plenty of space for my stuff (because 3TB goes to parity and then there is 10 left).

 

 

Chassis?

PC-Q25 is not the cheapest, but its one of the prettiest NAS friendly cases around and Im pretty sure my wife would approve.

 

 

Motherboard?

Because it seems to be a very good match for the CPU, not too many RAM sockets, enough SATA ports (x6 pcs) and tiny size.

 

 

CPU cooler?

I already use Noctua and they are stunning! Also because I can use it with only the lower fan attached, this makes this one of the biggest coolers that will fit in the case. The second 120mm fan then goes to replace the crappy Lian Li fan in the top of the case (yes I already have experience with lian li fans, they are pretty noisy).

 

Fan?

Needs to go all in and replace the front fan also, makes the noise level a lot lower and keeps the components uniform (all fans Noctua).

 

 

Flash drive?

I am a sucker for good design, and I like the idea about the boot drive being a key like in a car - without the key, nothing runs...

 

 

SATA cables?

I know, could be spared. But as everything else is black/yellow then why not keep the theme and get matching short SATA cables...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Price?

$1.800 USD

 

 

 

 

Does it sound like a great setup or is there something that is wildly off?

 

 

Link to comment

Several issues here.  Comments below ...

 

#1 -- excellent case

 

#2 -- good motherboard

 

#3 --  NOT a good choice of CPU.  The motherboard you selected does not support Xeons.  You either have to change motherboards, or switch to a Core i3/5/7 CPU.

 

#4 -- No need for an after-market CPU cooler ... the stock Intel coolers are fine.

 

#5 -- NOT a good choice of power supply.  Use an SFX power supply ... the Silverstone 300w unit is a good choice for this build.    If you want to use an ATX unit, you should get the Lian-Li extender to provide enough space for the unit you've listed.

 

#6 -- WD Reds are an excellent choice, although I'd use the 4TB versions

 

Link to comment

Several issues here.  Comments below ...

 

#1 -- excellent case

 

#2 -- good motherboard

 

#3 --  NOT a good choice of CPU.  The motherboard you selected does not support Xeons.  You either have to change motherboards, or switch to a Core i3/5/7 CPU.

 

#4 -- No need for an after-market CPU cooler ... the stock Intel coolers are fine.

 

#5 -- NOT a good choice of power supply.  Use an SFX power supply ... the Silverstone 300w unit is a good choice for this build.    If you want to use an ATX unit, you should get the Lian-Li extender to provide enough space for the unit you've listed.

 

#6 -- WD Reds are an excellent choice, although I'd use the 4TB versions

 

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

 

I just refined the list with a +6000 point passmark score i5 that has a nice TDP/cooling/performance ratio.

I want to keep that CPU cooler as the server can not be put far away, so I need it to be cool and quiet.

Thats also why I just added a foam kit to keep the most annoying hard drive buzz out.

I actually already have a Silverstone 300W SFX PSU I am using in a mockup hackintosh machine that is right now living inside a shoebox (yes, literally), its a very nice small PSU.

The 4TB WD reds have a bad price point in my country at the moment, here the 3TB version is definitely the one to go for.

 

 

The refined list looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

1062648

 

På FjernlagerINTEL SSD 530 series 240GB 2,5" Resel (SSDSC2BW240A4K5)1.430,491.430,4918481194[/color]01001677

 

På Fjernlager[/color]Simm DDR3 PC1600 16GB CL9 Corsair VenP k (CMY16GX3M2A1600C9A)1.257,491.257,4918481232[/color]01042821

 

På Fjernlager[/color]CPU 1150 INTEL Core i5-4440S 2,8GHz 6MB 65W Box SR14L (BX80646I54440S)1.253,491.253,4918481197[/color]0575781

 

På lager[/color]WD HD3.5" SATA3 3TB WD30EFRX / 24x7 / NAS (Di) (WD30EFRX)899,001.798,0018481199[/color]0848158

 

På Fjernlager[/color]Lian Li PC-Q25B Mini-ITX Cube - schwarz (PC-Q25B)860,49860,4918481203[/color]01030317

 

På Fjernlager[/color]ASUS H87I-PLUS Socket1150 2xDDR3 miniITX (90MB0F30-M0EAY5)757,49757,4918481196[/color]01027407

 

På Fjernlager[/color]Silverstone ST30SF 300W SFX 80_Bronze (SST-ST30SF)444,49444,4918481205[/color]0727139

 

På lager[/color]Noctua NH-L12 CPU Cooler (NH-L12)402,49402,4918481200[/color]0577794

 

På Fjernlager[/color]King Mod Premium Dämmset - Lian Li PC-Q25 (ZUDM-088)237,49237,4918481206[/color]01001735

 

På Fjernlager[/color]Noctua NF-A14 PWM Lüfter - 140mm (NF-A14 PWM)201,49201,4918481208[/color]0672619

 

Fjernlager (5-7 dage)[/color]Flashdrive LaCie PetiteKey 8GB, USB 2.0 (9000346)118,49118,4918481211[/color]0779086

 

På lager[/color]Microconnect SATA III - Seriel ATA kabel 600 - 7- pin seriel ATA - 7- pin seriel ATA 0,30m49,00294,00

Total ex. moms

7.244,70

Moms

1.811,18

Fragt

0,00

Total inkl. moms

DKK 9.055,88

 

= $1.670 USD

 

 

 

 

Considering it has 240GB cache SSD and 10TB storage included, I think this is a pretty good value...

 

 

 

 

Anything to reconsider?

Link to comment

Save yourself a few bucks and get the i3-4130T. It'll have no problem doing transcoding and will use less power while doing it. http://www.computersalg.dk/produkt/1045131/intel-core-i3-4130t-29-ghz-2-cores-

 

While the TDP is indeed lower on the 4130T, it's also got about 20% lower performance than the 4440S. [Passmark's are 6105 vs 4868].  Note that the TDP is only a restriction on the maximum power the chip can use => BOTH CPU's will be very low power in normal usage (probably about the same).

 

 

Link to comment

Yes, it's a rating on max power usage and during transcoding the CPU will use max power. But that CPU is more than capable of multiple simultaneous transcodes. Even the old Sandy Bridge i3s could handle that.

 

The CPU will only use max power during transcoding for the first 15 seconds or so until it fills the buffer, assuming you are talking about on-the-fly transcoding (not Plex Sync transcoding).  After that it will drop back to relatively low CPU utilization as it transcodes as needed.

 

Yes, the 4130T is capable of multiple simultaneous transcodes but there's no harm in having more headroom.  But if money is tight, then yes, the i3 would be a better choice.

 

That said, the i3-4130T won't use any less power than the i5-4440S.  While the i3 has a lower TDP and will use less power at full load, it will also take longer to perform the same amount of work than the i5.  The i3 will stay at full load longer than the i5, which will have already dropped back to idle.

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention, if you're going to step down to an i3, you're better off sticking with the non-T version, the i3-4130.  More power and less expensive than the T-model.  You pay a small premium for the low TDP CPU's, not because they use less power but because they are engineered for specific environments.

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FWIW I've measured the idle power consumption using low-power CPU's vs. not-throttled CPU's and have found NO measureable difference.

 

My last few builds have all used Core i7-4771's ... they idle at very low power (about the same as a low-end Core i3) -- but have PLENTY of extra "horsepower" when needed  :)

 

Obviously if budget is a constraint, you need to choose what level of "extra headroom" you're willing to pay for.

 

Link to comment

Exactly.  All CPU's in the same family (SB, IB, Haswell, etc) should idle at the same power consumption, since they all throttle down to the lowest SpeedStep state (1.6GHz for IB, 800MHz for Haswell).  And we all know our servers spend 95% of their time at idle.

 

I've said many times that I originally used a T-model i3 as I was worried about heat in such a small case, but those fears were unfounded.  Next build I will use a normal TDP i5 or i7 and enjoy the extra horsepower.

Link to comment

And we all know our servers spend 95% of their time at idle.

 

Probably more like 99%  :)

... Streaming a movie is a VERY low CPU demand - still just 1% or so of CPU utilization

 

Unless it's being actively transcoding a lot of what you watch with something like Plex, or your server does a lot of automatic downloading.  But if it's a vanilla media server like yours, I agree it's idle 99% of the time or better. 

Link to comment

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