one more home server question - sell i5 7600 rig and buy older Ryzen?

[Kalm_Traveler]

I'm just about ready to get serious about this home server nonsense. For a few months now I've had the i5 7600 rig in the basement idling its life away as a file server + torrenting foreign tv shows so I don't need to leave one of the normal desktops on 24/7, but I'm finally ready to take the plunge into PFSense etc.

 

This got me thinking, off the bat I want to run ESXi, a VM for PFSense for routing, firewall, and DHCP, then a second VM of Windows Server 2016 or 2019 for NFS, torrent client, Ubiquity controller (going to replace my Asus wifi/router with 3 WAPs and a 16 port PoE switch), and maybe come summer to also run home security camera management.

 

Farther on that thought, while I have no idea if the current i5 would be enough to do that - I noticed that a Ryzen 7 1700 is only about $150 new now for 8c/16t and I would imagine that would be a much better platform to run this little home server from. 

 

I can sell the i5 7600 for almost that much, so would you guys say that would be a good idea overall? Anything else I'm overlooking?

[itsmyjobtoknow]

When it comes to a ESXi Machine or server, the more cores/threads & RAM means that you will can run more VMs. 4c4t on your i5 7600 is probably capable of running 2 VMs at most, but it will struggle. 

 

Now there is two routes you can take down.

You can take the route that you mentioned and that I recommended my friend to do, is get a Ryzen 8c16t CPU and get all the new stuff.

 

Or you can take the route I took, which is buying retired server equipment such as a dual socket 1366 motherboard, 2x 6c12t processor (total of 12c24t) and 48GB of RAM for 250USD.

[Kalm_Traveler]

12 minutes ago, itsmyjobtoknow said:

When it comes to a ESXi Machine or server, the more cores/threads & RAM means that you will can run more VMs. 4c4t on your i5 7600 is probably capable of running 2 VMs at most, but it will struggle. 

 

Now there is two routes you can take down.

You can take the route that you mentioned and that I recommended my friend to do, is get a Ryzen 8c16t CPU and get all the new stuff.

 

Or you can take the route I took, which is buying retired server equipment such as a dual socket 1366 motherboard, 2x 6c12t processor (total of 12c24t) and 48GB of RAM for 250USD.

Like those Dell Power Edge R 7xx servers i see people using in r/homelab? 

 

Wouldn't that be overkill for what I'm wanting to do with it? 

[itsmyjobtoknow]

1 minute ago, Kalm_Traveler1 said:

Like those Dell Power Edge R 7xx servers i see people using in r/homelab? 

 

Wouldn't that be overkill for what I'm wanting to do with it? 

Yes, but if you're getting serious about homelab, having a machine capable of running more VMs isn't a bad thing. 

Buying a first generation Ryzen 8c16t with DDR4 is overkill for your needs as well. 

 

Just for some reference, this is my ESXi Server: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/itsmyjobtoknow/saved/QmpNQ7

What I have running is on it is surveillance, Server 2016 with Active Directory and a file server, and a client. 

Really overkill, but the system was cheaper then what my friend paid for a Ryzen 2700, B450, and 32GB of RAM. 

 

 

[Kalm_Traveler]

9 hours ago, itsmyjobtoknow said:

Yes, but if you're getting serious about homelab, having a machine capable of running more VMs isn't a bad thing. 

Buying a first generation Ryzen 8c16t with DDR4 is overkill for your needs as well. 

 

Just for some reference, this is my ESXi Server: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/itsmyjobtoknow/saved/QmpNQ7

What I have running is on it is surveillance, Server 2016 with Active Directory and a file server, and a client. 

Really overkill, but the system was cheaper then what my friend paid for a Ryzen 2700, B450, and 32GB of RAM. 

 

 

gotcha, ok that makes sense. It may end up being a similar overall cost for me since the only 2 parts I would be buying are the Ryzen 7 1700 and matching motherboard (plus I'll be selling the existing core i5 and motherboard to make up some/most of the Ryzen cost). Everything else from the existing machine will be carried over for now (32gb DDR4, 256gb nvme boot ssd, 2x 4tb SATA HDD, 450w or 750w PSU).

 

Forgot to mention I also have a GT710 graphics card laying around and last week picked up a 2-port Gigabit Intel NIC to dedicate to the PFSense VM.

 

If I'm understanding everything it sounds like given the parts I already have, what I would sell etc the Ryzen setup is probably going to be the cheapest for me - do you agree?

[itsmyjobtoknow]

5 hours ago, Kalm_Traveler1 said:

gotcha, ok that makes sense. It may end up being a similar overall cost for me since the only 2 parts I would be buying are the Ryzen 7 1700 and matching motherboard (plus I'll be selling the existing core i5 and motherboard to make up some/most of the Ryzen cost). Everything else from the existing machine will be carried over for now (32gb DDR4, 256gb nvme boot ssd, 2x 4tb SATA HDD, 450w or 750w PSU).

 

Forgot to mention I also have a GT710 graphics card laying around and last week picked up a 2-port Gigabit Intel NIC to dedicate to the PFSense VM.

 

If I'm understanding everything it sounds like given the parts I already have, what I would sell etc the Ryzen setup is probably going to be the cheapest for me - do you agree?

 

In that case, sounds like a plan.

And remember, AMD claimed that AM4 will be supported for awhile, so you might end up having a potential to get a 12c or 16c consumer grade ryzen chip in there, if rumors are to be believed in. 

[Kalm_Traveler]

8 hours ago, itsmyjobtoknow said:

 

In that case, sounds like a plan.

And remember, AMD claimed that AM4 will be supported for awhile, so you might end up having a potential to get a 12c or 16c consumer grade ryzen chip in there, if rumors are to be believed in. 

Thanks again and very good point. On that note, do you think it would be worth selling the 4 x 8gb 2666 DDR4 kit that I have now for some faster RAM? My searching suggests that they do best with 3200+ , but I'm not sure if I'll notice in this type of application.

[itsmyjobtoknow]

Just now, Kalm_Traveler1 said:

Thanks again and very good point. On that note, do you think it would be worth selling the 4 x 8gb 2666 DDR4 kit that I have now for some faster RAM? My searching suggests that they do best with 3200+ , but I'm not sure if I'll notice in this type of application.

For VM use exclusively, it wouldn't matter much IMO. More RAM is better then faster RAM.

You're not necessarily computing anything heavy enough for faster memory to benefit you.

I'll say, keep the 2666MHz stuff. If you really want to get faster memory, do it when you upgrade the CPU down the line (if and when you do) . 

[Kalm_Traveler]

10 hours ago, itsmyjobtoknow said:

For VM use exclusively, it wouldn't matter much IMO. More RAM is better then faster RAM.

You're not necessarily computing anything heavy enough for faster memory to benefit you.

I'll say, keep the 2666MHz stuff. If you really want to get faster memory, do it when you upgrade the CPU down the line (if and when you do) . 

You know what, I just remembered that I still have a Celeron G3930, 4gb stick of RAM and spare MB for it in an empty case. 

I could just buy a cheap SSD for all that - put the 450w PSU in there with the 2-port Intel NIC and have a dedicated hardware PFSense box, while leaving the existing i5 desktop/file server alone. 

 

Looking at PFSense hardware requirements it seems like the Celeron should be sufficient for a home network don't you think?

[itsmyjobtoknow]

12 hours ago, Kalm_Traveler1 said:

You know what, I just remembered that I still have a Celeron G3930, 4gb stick of RAM and spare MB for it in an empty case. 

I could just buy a cheap SSD for all that - put the 450w PSU in there with the 2-port Intel NIC and have a dedicated hardware PFSense box, while leaving the existing i5 desktop/file server alone. 

 

Looking at PFSense hardware requirements it seems like the Celeron should be sufficient for a home network don't you think?

I've seen people run their pfSense box off a core 2 duo. You *should* be fine. Worse case scenario, just buy a cheap used LGA1151 Xeon or i3/i5 and put it in there. Maybe take one of your 8GB stick and putting it in the box if you feel the need. 

What I will say is that if you want to have a VPN on the router level, you will need a CPU with a high single core IPC for AES-NI.

I personally run my pfSense box off a i7 4790 & 16GB of RAM just because I have the stuff laying around....

Never liked the idea of having one box do everything in my house. If that one box failed, my entire house would be down.