Server build for plex stack and Gaming VM

[thewhovian89]

Budget (including currency): $3,000USD

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Windows VM to run Star Citizen, KSP2, and plex home theater stack

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

 

Currently running my plex stack (plex, *arr programs, usenet, transmission, etc) on my old gaming PC (i74790k, gtx 980Ti, 16GB DDR3 ram). Works, but is pretty limited when it comes to performance especially when I smack it with a library import. It also does not allow me to play games. Currently using unraid as OS, would like to keep that.

 

I would like to create a server capable of running the plex stack with a significant improvement in performance, while also running a Windows gaming VM with a dedicated GPU and as many components passed thru as possible for the best performance. Talking an SSD passthru for storage, GPU passthru, CPU and RAM passthru if possible. I am planning on using parsec to be able to access the VM from my home network primarily.

 

EDIT: Also looking for a reasonable amount of upgrade-ability. My unraid array currently has 7 drives, I plan on adding 2 ssd's as cache drives. Drive for windows vm, maybe 2, puts me at 11, then maybe one hot spare is 12, hence the case with 12 spots. Would really like to stick to a rackmount case with hot swap-able HDD bays, so unless there is a glaring flaw in my choice of case I think it is a pretty good option.

 

The following are the foundational parts I have put together as a baseline.

 

https://newegg.io/8057c79

[tkitch]

My suggestion would be simple:

Keep your current box as a NAS, it's plenty powerful.

 

Just put windows on the new box, bare metal, and avoid any VM headaches with gaming.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Software wise, Id personally just run windows here. It can run all the docker containers and vms as unraid, and can have a simmilar storage setup as unraid, but with better performance as it can read/write to multiple drives at the same time.

 

That build in newegg has some weird parts. The 6950x is a old chip, and won't work on a dual socket board.

 

Id go with a 13900/13700 here. you also get a igpu that should make passthrough easier if you wnt to do that. And its much faster too.

 

Id get a case with hotswap if it was me, just makes it way easier.

[thewhovian89]

38 minutes ago, tkitch said:

My suggestion would be simple:

Keep your current box as a NAS, it's plenty powerful.

 

Just put windows on the new box, bare metal, and avoid any VM headaches with gaming.

I run into pretty significant CPU bottlenecks when I am doing a usenet download... the unarchive stage of the download pegs my CPU at 100%, which to me means a more powerful CPU=faster downloads, effectively, for that particular use case. Plex imports with metadata updates and into/credits detection takes a minute, and similarly is limited by the CPU.

 

A big part of the reason I want to go with the virtualized approach is so that I can learn about virtualization. Back in the day, when LTT did the 2 PC's one case video it apparently had outstanding performance comparable to bare metal. Maybe someday I would migrate it off unraid into its own box, at that point likely in a rack.

 

Maybe I am stuck on the idea having thought about it for so long, however I do think there are upgrades to be had in both the server and gaming departments. If I converted my box back into a gaming PC it would likely not be able to run Star Citizen, for example.

[thewhovian89]

41 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Software wise, Id personally just run windows here. It can run all the docker containers and vms as unraid, and can have a simmilar storage setup as unraid, but with better performance as it can read/write to multiple drives at the same time.

 

That build in newegg has some weird parts. The 6950x is a old chip, and won't work on a dual socket board.

 

Id go with a 13900/13700 here. you also get a igpu that should make passthrough easier if you wnt to do that. And its much faster too.

 

Id get a case with hotswap if it was me, just makes it way easier.

The reason I am trying out unraid is because of its intuitive U/I frontend, I have heard good things about its reliability and its flexability, and it is marketed as an excellent platform for virtualization. I also much prefer linux to windows for server application in my experience. Windows leaves a sour taste in my mouth with the updates, the weird way that the registry seems to kill itself randomly, and it seems to have a lot more overhead on the system.

 

Good tips on the hardware tho, an iGPU would save me having to dedicate the 980Ti to the O/S and let me save it for some other project. Does the P and E core thing have a major impact on performance would you say, or is it just a beefy CPU

[tkitch]

9 hours ago, thewhovian89 said:

I run into pretty significant CPU bottlenecks when I am doing a usenet download... the unarchive stage of the download pegs my CPU at 100%, which to me means a more powerful CPU=faster downloads, effectively, for that particular use case. Plex imports with metadata updates and into/credits detection takes a minute, and similarly is limited by the CPU.

 

A big part of the reason I want to go with the virtualized approach is so that I can learn about virtualization. Back in the day, when LTT did the 2 PC's one case video it apparently had outstanding performance comparable to bare metal. Maybe someday I would migrate it off unraid into its own box, at that point likely in a rack.

 

Maybe I am stuck on the idea having thought about it for so long, however I do think there are upgrades to be had in both the server and gaming departments. If I converted my box back into a gaming PC it would likely not be able to run Star Citizen, for example.

Unzipping will peg basically any CPU you throw the task at, that's the way it's designed.  (IT's also why it's one of GN's CPU Benchmarks.)  Don't expect that "bottleneck" to go away regardless of your CPU.

 

You can happily learn about virtualization, but DO NOT do it for a gaming build today.  A number of "anti-cheat" softwares detect virtualization as a cheat and will block / ban you for it.  It's not a good plan today for gaming.

 

Also, your build is absolutely patently absurd.  The 6950 wasn't a good CPU when it was new, and it hasn't gotten better in the interviening 7 years.  Buy a 12900 or 13900 if you want a "high end" CPU.  Or wait for the new XEON CPUs that were recently announced.    

 

A 10900K is faster across the board than a 6950, and the 10900 has been beaten by half the 12th gen, and even more of the 13th gen lineup.