Thank you @Pixel5, then I am going to do as described above. Yes, my intention is to one by one replace all the lower TB drives by 8TB version drives. But as buying all of the 8TBs at once is a little too pricey, even with the chip shortages and so on. Thanks again!

Well I am thinking of building a new system for unRAID with the i3 and a socket 1200 mainboard. I have now a AMD A4-3300 build with 11 disks, mostly under 4TB. Then split up the current build into a new build (ie with an i3-10100) with the bigger drives and the 3300 for a data-only server for the backups via FreeNAS or so and some of the leftover drives (lets say 5). Is that a good idea? Here the two builds I would end up with: Server 1 (with a free OS): https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ngDQ4d Server 2 (with unRAID OS): https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gz88Vc (this one will have a Supermicro HBA that I already own in my server atm.) So I have to buy some parts, but then I will have two servers.

Well, power isn't that cheap here, but I can afford to get a slightly higher power bill. What is slighty, I don't exactly know at the moment. But back on-topic, anyhow. What is a new build, without a power hungry system going to cost, and what kind of build would you recommend me for a second server? Because I think it will be on 24/7. I like the idea of getting a power efficient i3 or so with a cheap mobo, but which i3 and which mobos? Yes, I can build PC's but never ever really looked at the power summary. I hope you'll can tip me some great i3 server builds. Thanks in advance!

Thank you for the information. Can I do something like you did, but with only 1 unRAID licence. Otherwise, I wanted to use a free server OS, because paying twice isn't in my budget. And what setup is not too beefy and a little old, so that I don't have to buy a state-of-the-art machine, but can save some money on that too. Thanks in advance!

Hello all, I am looking for a second file server next to my unRAID tower. I have already got the disks from my unRAID tower (total of 11 disks incl. parity) because one array with 11 disks or more is tricky on 1 build. So that's why I am looking for a cheap second server. My location is the Netherlands, and in that region (NL/EU) I want to buy a refurbished workstation or something that can serve as a FreeNAS (or something similar) file server. I was already looking on Google for refurbished workstation, and I give me enough hits. But the only thing I have to consider is, where do I put about 5 3,5" harddrives of 2 and 3 TB. That is my question, as often I cannot see how many drives are put in a (for example) Dell Precision T3500 (€99,-) or a HP Z400 (€285,-). So I am looking for an older model workstation, that I can use for my 5 - 6 hdd's and that can run FreeNAS or similar. I hope you guys can help me with this matter. --TI

Okay, so if I would buy one living in the Netherlands. What should be recommended on that market? OEM or DIY. Lets say a 1,500 USD/EUR budget...

Good afternoon all, I just was watching LTT on YouTube and this question came up in my head. With all the chip shortages and Covid-19 and so on, the prices came up very fast. I.e. the GPU's that are sometimes 2 to 3 times MSRP and often bought by BTC miners. Isn't it cheaper and maybe even more available at the stores to buy a OEM PC, ready to use from the store? Or does building your own PC is still, with the problems mentioned above, a better choice for people that want to buy a new computer? I hope we can discuss this thought of the mind, over here. Also, I do not know if this is the right category for my thought. If it is not, can any mod or admin move it to the right category for me? Thanks and greetings! Tech.

Hello everyone, I have a, maybe for you guys, simple question. Is an good AMD Zen 2 CPU at tasks, ie gaming, movie encoding, zipping, computing, text processing and so on always better preforming than a Intel counterpart? So will AMD always preform its tasks better then Intel? Or does Intel still preform better at one of the main tasks a cpu is designed for...? I hope that you can give me a clear answer. Probably with some charts if possible... Thanks, --Tech