DIY NAS vs UGreen DXP4800 Plus

[adudenamedalex]

I recently got the idea in my head to think about getting a NAS to use as a plex server/general storage. The two options I'm considering are buying a prebuilt UGreen NAS or DIYing one myself.

 

The DXP4800 Plus:

UGreen is currently running a Kickstarter campaign with early bird prices; the DXP4800 Plus comes in at $454 (usd) and is the main reason I started considering getting a NAS in the first place. The general consensus from reviewers is that the hardware is super good at this price point but the software is still half baked. I plan to put TRUENAS on either device so the UGreen software is not a big concern; what I'm mainly interested in is comparing the hardware UGreen is offering vs what I can build myself with old PC parts.

 

The specs are:

• X86 12th Generation Intel Pentium Gold 5 Cores 6 Threads (potentially this one)
• 8gb DDR5 (2 slots, 64gb max)
• 128gb ssd (this one i believe)
• 2 m.2 slots (2280 i think?)
• 4 3.5" sata hot swap drive bays
• 2 ethernet ports (2.5gb/10gb)
• 5 usb ports: 2x10gb/s, 1x5gb/s, 2 x usb2.0
• SD card reader
• HDMI 4K

Also the build quality of the UGreen NAS is quite nice; airflow is well thought out: single fan blowing over all the the HDDs/mainboard and all metal chassis passively cooling the m.2s. I also like the size of it since I plan to put this in my closet where I don't have a lot of space.

 

DIY NAS Build:

The parts list for my DIY: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/RyDmh3

I've only got the CPU and some crappy 8gb DDR4 2400 that I'll probably replace since ddr4 3200 16gb is quite cheap.

 

The price is pretty similar here are some of my main concerns though:

• Stuck on DDR4 vs DDR5
• 2 free m.2 slots for storage vs only 1 free on the DIY
• airflow not as nice on the Jonsbo (no fan blowing over the mainboard)
• Only 2.5 gb lan (not sure if i'll even use 10gb tho)
• Power consumption?
• Noise (Jonsbo uses a 120x15mm fan which I've heard is quite loud and it runs on max speed bc it's only a 3pin?)

 

If anyone has any thoughts I'd appreciate it since the Ugreen kickstart is only up till May

[voyager_]

What are you wanting to get out of it long term and what are you planning to use it for? Pre-built is nice for the convenience factor but can be pretty limited but if all you want is storage and maybe something like plex where limited transcoding may be needed then it's a great option. If you plan to run vm's and want to really expand it then DIY is the better route. It ultimately comes down your use case.

 

In this case DDR4 vs DDR5 won't make a difference 

[Electronics Wizardy]

If you want to run trueNAS, I'd be pretty tempted to go DIY to make it simpler to install and remove possible issuse. I haven't ran truenas much on my dxp4800 plus so its probably fine though.

 

2 hours ago, adudenamedalex said:

nd all metal chassis passively cooling the m.2s

m.2 cooling is very bad on the ugreen nas units, the drives easily get into the 70s and 80s under load. Basically no airflow for the m.2s.

 

2 hours ago, adudenamedalex said:

Stuck on DDR4 vs DDR5

with that CPU, ddr4 is your only option. But ddr5 vs ddr4 won't really matter performance wise.

 

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

DIY is more repairable.

DIY is not limited to only 2.5Gbit if you pick the right case, but that would typically mean a much larger footprint.

Power consumption probably is slightly more as there will likely be more IO on the motherboard.

My home server/NAS I even managed to squeeze a 14700K in there as most of the CPU activity is short bursts, so even the low profile Thermalright AXP90-X53 Full is able to keep up most of the time.

DIY you can use a better SATA controller.