Server Upgrade

kouklo · May 5, 2022

Budget (including currency): $1000ish CAD less would be better.

Country: Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: %90 media server, %10 retro gaming and VR. That %10 will go up when I start to mess around more with Steam remote play, I think its called Steam Link right? When Android on Win 11 gets a little better id like to replace my Nvidia Shield so I can use IPTV on it. That last one isn't necessary but cool if I can do it.

Other details: Existing parts

ASUS Maximus VIII Hero

intel i5 6600k

G.Skill 8X2 DDR4 2800

EVGA RTX 3060

Dell h310 (with modded BIOS for SATA drives)

Samsung 1TB M.2

8 16TB WD Gold drives

Corsair ax860i

Fractal Design Define 7

As you can tell its a older system. At the time I figured if I was going to do it I may as well go a little overboard. The last few months I have been having a lot of issues with it, mostly to do with the onboard sata, that's why I bought the Dell h310. I have tried every driver I can get my hands on and it keeps crashing. Im also using Radarr, Sonarr, Prowlarr and Plex for my media (all legal, I own the hard copies). I also use Stablebit Drivepool for the drives. I have found that when everything is doing its thing that the CPU just cant keep up. Someone will be watching Plex, its downloading 1 or 2 things, playing some VR and the CPU is maxed out. Its headless, I use Chrome Remote Desktop to access it.

So I guess what i'm looking for is a new CPU, MB and most likely RAM (including CPU cooling). Im looking at AMD but I just don't know much about them. I would like to make it as future proof as possible. AM4 is out right now right? Should I wait for AM5? Is it worth it for what i'm doing?

Any help would be nice. Thanks!

Its headless, I use Chrome Remote Desktop to access it.

Edited May 5, 2022 by kouklo
forgot to add something

kouklo · May 6, 2022

Anyone have any knowledge about AMD CPUs/MBs?

dennis111 · May 8, 2022

So AM4 is out since 2017, AM5 is more or less just around the corner. Choosing a CPU, MB Combo you need to check if they are compatible (MB manufacturer website). Most older MBs are not compatible with newer CPUs and vice versa. There are cases where you need to update the MBs BIOS to work with a newer CPU.