Worth upgrading my home server from Haswell to Kaby Lake?

[Gerr]

I have a home server that I use as a NAS, DVR, and Plex server.  It currently has an Intel E3-1271v3 CPU on a Asus C226 WS motherboard and 32GB of ECC RAM.  This CPU is basically a Haswell i7 with a few Xeon added features.

 

My question is that since I have recently switched to transcoding my new Plex files to H.265, would it be a good idea to upgrade my server's CPU/mobo/RAM to a set that better supports H.265?

 

My current gaming PC has an i7-7700K on an Asus TUF Z170 mobo with 32GB RAM.  I plan on upgrading this to a Ryzen 3000 CPU/mobo/RAM this Black Friday.  I was originally going to sell the old CPU/mobo/RAM from my gaming pc, but now considering installing it into my server and selling my old server CPU/mobo/RAM instead.

 

Benefits of the swap...

Kaby Lake CPU's have built in H.265 encoders, so my Plex server would be able to transcode more streams at the same time and/or use less CPU cycles to do a lower number of transcodes.

The unlocked CPU would allow me to underclock and/or undervolt the 7700K to make it an extermily efficient CPU and thus reduce overall electricity use on a 24/7 server, ie lower electric bill.

Newer hardware will run everything quicker and I can upgrade the RAM to 64GB for even more preformance.

Allows for use of M.2 SSD's, especially NVMe drives, which are more efficient and faster.

I have to run a dGPU because my current CPU does not have one built in.  I wouldn't need a dGPU if I upgraded, reducing the electric use even more and giving me access to Quick-Sync functions.

Newer equipment is not only more efficient, but also produces less heat.  I live in Phoenix, AZ, so less heat is good, especially during the summer!

 

Concerns on the swap...

My current server is running Windows 2016 Server Essentials on server/workstation hardware.  Will it still run on standard consumer hardware?

Will losing ECC RAM make a difference for my use?

Though newer, will the consumer hardware last as long as the server/workstation hardware currently installed?

While I can easily sell my current gaming hardware for a decent amount of money, would I be able to sell the CPU/mobo/RAM from the server and still get a decent price for them?

I would have to buy another Windows 2016 Server Essential license and maybe another Blue-Iris(DVR) license.

 

Do I need to upgrade my server, no, it preforms fine as-is.  However, when I do upgrade my gaming PC, it gives me a unique oppertunity to preform a low cost upgrade on it, so I have to decide if it's a good upgrade or not at that time.  Thus looking for thoughts/comments/suggestions.

 

Thanks!

[Dedayog]

If you want a new gaming PC, buy one.  Sell the parts or use them in the NAS.  A low cost Ryzen 5 1600 will transcode it's ass off, for less btw. 

 

How much more performance do you need from a NAS?  Going 64GB?  NVMe?  You do realize you can run Plex and a file server on a Pi and a HDD, right?

 

You're overthinking a purchase that's 4 months away.  

 

 

[Turtle Rig]

11 minutes ago, Gerr said:

I have a home server that I use as a NAS, DVR, and Plex server.  It currently has an Intel E3-1271v3 CPU on a Asus C226 WS motherboard and 32GB of ECC RAM.  This CPU is basically a Haswell i7 with a few Xeon added features.

 

My question is that since I have recently switched to transcoding my new Plex files to H.265, would it be a good idea to upgrade my server's CPU/mobo/RAM to a set that better supports H.265?

 

My current gaming PC has an i7-7700K on an Asus TUF Z170 mobo with 32GB RAM.  I plan on upgrading this to a Ryzen 3000 CPU/mobo/RAM this Black Friday.  I was originally going to sell the old CPU/mobo/RAM from my gaming pc, but now considering installing it into my server and selling my old server CPU/mobo/RAM instead.

 

Benefits of the swap...

Kaby Lake CPU's have built in H.265 encoders, so my Plex server would be able to transcode more streams at the same time and/or use less CPU cycles to do a lower number of transcodes.

The unlocked CPU would allow me to underclock and/or undervolt the 7700K to make it an extermily efficient CPU and thus reduce overall electricity use on a 24/7 server, ie lower electric bill.

Newer hardware will run everything quicker and I can upgrade the RAM to 64GB for even more preformance.

Allows for use of M.2 SSD's, especially NVMe drives, which are more efficient and faster.

I have to run a dGPU because my current CPU does not have one built in.  I wouldn't need a dGPU if I upgraded, reducing the electric use even more and giving me access to Quick-Sync functions.

Newer equipment is not only more efficient, but also produces less heat.  I live in Phoenix, AZ, so less heat is good, especially during the summer!

 

Concerns on the swap...

My current server is running Windows 2016 Server Essentials on server/workstation hardware.  Will it still run on standard consumer hardware?

Will losing ECC RAM make a difference for my use?

Though newer, will the consumer hardware last as long as the server/workstation hardware currently installed?

While I can easily sell my current gaming hardware for a decent amount of money, would I be able to sell the CPU/mobo/RAM from the server and still get a decent price for them?

I would have to buy another Windows 2016 Server Essential license and maybe another Blue-Iris(DVR) license.

 

Do I need to upgrade my server, no, it preforms fine as-is.  However, when I do upgrade my gaming PC, it gives me a unique oppertunity to preform a low cost upgrade on it, so I have to decide if it's a good upgrade or not at that time.  Thus looking for thoughts/comments/suggestions.

 

Thanks!

TLTR but I still read it all.  No ECC is fine.  No your server is fine no need to, unless you want to play BF or AAA game or something.