Jump to content

Based on my hardware should I buy new?

Go to solution Solved by Bersella AI,
On 5/22/2024 at 11:00 PM, Henru said:


Thanks. It’s old but top of the line for an AM3 system so I wasn’t sure. I was curious if because it’s a 6 core if it would outperform some of the 2-4 core CPUs I’m seeing on a lot of entry level Synology NAS for example. 

It did outperform the Celeron J4125 or Ryzen R1600 processor seen in entry- to mid-tier Synology boxes. When comparing scores from PassMark database, the Phenom 1100T had an advantage of 15~30% in performance over J4125 or R1600. However, the 1100T just consumes too much power, roughly 10 times higher than the latter, making it no longer feasible for use in home NAS where lower power, less heat and noises are preferred.
Also, as aforementioned, the R9 280 GPU would do nothing but eat up your electricity.

 

It's therefore recommended to switch to another platform back from 2015 (i.e. 6th gen Core), which provides way better efficiency and an integrated GPU for transcoding. However, there are some workarounds that can still leverage this ancient platform:

  • Replace the GPU with a more recent one, starting from GTX 1050 or Quadro P400.
  • Undervolt the processor. An offset of -100 mV would result in a drop of tens of watts in power consumption. More aggressive offsets can be tolerated in select processors.
  • Replace the processor with another with much lower TDP configuration, for example, Athlon 610e (rated 45W).

Hello, 

 

I have an old pc, my first PC, that I’m debating turning into a home server / NAS but wanted some advice. 

 

Here is the gist of the hardware.
 

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black 3.3 GHz 6-Core Processor

Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 ATX AM3 Motherboard

Corsair Vengeance 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1600 CL9 Memory

Sapphire Dual-X Radeon R9 280 3 GB Video Card

 

Would this work well enough? My biggest concern is two fold. One is power consumption of the hardware. Is there a good way to determine that without setting it up as a NAS first?
 

Two is that is it getting to the point of being so dated that a cheap 2 bay NAS would possibly run circles around it or preform better?

 

My main use would be to back up family photos and video and less importantly I’d like to start some media playback over our network. Possibly also would like to use it as a way for my family to access my grandmas VHS tapes I have converted to digital using something like TrueScale. 
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Henru said:

Hello, 

 

I have an old pc, my first PC, that I’m debating turning into a home server / NAS but wanted some advice. 

 

Here is the gist of the hardware.
 

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black 3.3 GHz 6-Core Processor

Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 ATX AM3 Motherboard

Corsair Vengeance 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1600 CL9 Memory

Sapphire Dual-X Radeon R9 280 3 GB Video Card

 

Would this work well enough? My biggest concern is two fold. One is power consumption of the hardware. Is there a good way to determine that without setting it up as a NAS first?
 

Two is that is it getting to the point of being so dated that a cheap 2 bay NAS would possibly run circles around it or preform better?

 

My main use would be to back up family photos and video and less importantly I’d like to start some media playback over our network. Possibly also would like to use it as a way for my family to access my grandmas VHS tapes I have converted to digital using something like TrueScale. 
 

 

Having to use a dGPU with a NAS at all is going to drive up the power consumption, unless the board's iGPU can actually BOOT in Windows 10. Only now a days is it potentially worth having an RTX GPU on a NAS so a local AI chatbot can help find files, but obviously that's something an R9 280 can't do.

 

I'd look at another platform if you're worried about power consumption. Probably end up paying for itself in the long run at a lower wattage if its running 24/7.

Ryzen 7950x3D Direct Die NH-D15, CCD1 disabled

RTX 4090 @133%/+230/+500

Builder/Enthusiast/Overclocker since 2012  //  Professional IT since 2017

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

That's a really old CPU...  

basically anything you buy could run circles around it.  

 

You'd be 100x better off with either an off the shelf NAS, or a newer used box running it.  

(They're also not low-power draw parts, so you'll be paying for the electricity too) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Henru said:

I have an old pc, my first PC, that I’m debating turning into a home server / NAS but wanted some advice. 

For serving files and storing stuff, you don't need much in the way of power to run a NAS so what you have already is plenty. My NAS runs a 3rd gen intel and 16GB ram and I have no issues.

 

The only thing you might want to look at is getting a GPU that can work with PLEX / Jellyfin to transcode stored media to be played back on the various Phones, Smart TVs and PCs on your network. I don't think the R280 can do video transcoding and the if your old Phenom has an iGPU, chances are it will be pretty sketchy at best.

 

I use an old GTX1650 for that task and it works a treat and takes all the heavy lifting away from my puny CPU.

Bedroom PC - Lian-Li O11 XL Evo - Intel Core i5 13600k @ 5.4P / 4.4EGhz -  MSI Pro-A Wifi Z790 Mobo DDR5 - 32GB Ram - Gigabyte RTX 4090 - 1TB Samsung 990Pro NVMe - Corsair HX1200i PSU - Dual Custom Loop Cooling - GPU cooled with EK Quantum Surface S240 + EK Quantum Surface P360M X-Flow Rads - CPU cooled with EK Quantum Surface X360M Rad

 

Living Room PC - Hyte Y60 - Intel Core i9 9900k @ 5Ghz -  MSI Meg Ace Z390 Mobo - 16GB Ram - Palit RTX 3080ti - 256GB Samsung NVMe - Corsair AX850 PSU - CPU + GPU cooled with Hyte Y60 Corner Distro Plate - EK Coolstream S120 + EK Quantum Surface S360 + EK Quantum Surface X240M

 

Extension PC - Lian Li o11 Dynamic - Intel Core i7 8086k @ 5.1Ghz -  Gbyte Z390 I Aorus Pro Wifi Mobo - 16GB Ram - EVGA RTX 2080ti - 256GB Samsung NVMe - EVGA B5 850W PSU - CPU + GPU cooled with dual EKWB 360 Rads + G1 side EKWB distro plate.

 

Office - Thermaltake Tower 100 - Intel Core i7 8700K @ 5.1Ghz - Gbyte Z390 I Aorus Pro Wifi Mobo - 16GB Ram - EVGA GTX 1080ti - 256GB Samsung NVMe - EVGA B5 850W PSU - CPU + GPU cooled with dual EK Quantum Surface P120M Rads + Barrow 3-in-1 Block, Res & Pump.

 

Annex - Corsair 250D - Intel Core i7 3770k - Asus P8Z77 I Delux Mobo - 16GB Ram - EVGA GTX 980ti - 256GB Corsair SSD - BeQuiet P11 750 PSU - CPU cooled with EK Coolstream S240 + S120 Rads + EK Pump / Res Combo

 

Office - Corsair 280X - Intel Core i7 4790k - Asrock H97M ITX Mobo  - 16GB Ram - EVGA GTX 980 - Corsair SFXL600 PSU - CPU + GPU cooled with triple EK Coolstream S240s + EK Pump / Res Combo

 

NAS PC - Fractal Node 804 - Intel Core i7 3770k - Asus P8Z77-M Mobo - 16GB Ram - MSI GTX 1660 Ventus - Corsair AX850 PSU - Unraid 15TB Storage Server

 

Living Room AV Setup 5.1.4 - Yamaha RX-A2060 - 2 x B&W CM9s2 - 2 x Monitor Audio FX Silvers - 4 x B&W CCM665s - B&W CMCs2 - SVS SB13 Ultra - LG OLED65C1

 

Extension AV Setup - Sonos ARC + Sub (Gen 3) - LG OLED65C6V + Yamaha RX-A1070 - 5 x Monitor Audio C265s (2 Zones)

 

Bedroom AV Setup - Yamaha WXC-50 - 2 x B&W CM1s - Rel Quake - LG OLED42C2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, ChrisLoudon said:

For serving files and storing stuff, you don't need much in the way of power to run a NAS so what you have already is plenty. My NAS runs a 3rd gen intel and 16GB ram and I have no issues.

 

The only thing you might want to look at is getting a GPU that can work with PLEX / Jellyfin to transcode stored media to be played back on the various Phones, Smart TVs and PCs on your network. I don't think the R280 can do video transcoding and the if your old Phenom has an iGPU, chances are it will be pretty sketchy at best.

 

I use an old GTX1650 for that task and it works a treat and takes all the heavy lifting away from my puny CPU.

catch being your 3rd gen is much better than his phenom.  (also newer)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, tkitch said:

catch being your 3rd gen is much better than his phenom.  (also newer)

Yeh, I suppose so but the 3rd gen intel was a drop-in upgrade from a crappy 2nd gen 2400. Its amazing what Linux / Unraid will run on and still feel snappy with.

Bedroom PC - Lian-Li O11 XL Evo - Intel Core i5 13600k @ 5.4P / 4.4EGhz -  MSI Pro-A Wifi Z790 Mobo DDR5 - 32GB Ram - Gigabyte RTX 4090 - 1TB Samsung 990Pro NVMe - Corsair HX1200i PSU - Dual Custom Loop Cooling - GPU cooled with EK Quantum Surface S240 + EK Quantum Surface P360M X-Flow Rads - CPU cooled with EK Quantum Surface X360M Rad

 

Living Room PC - Hyte Y60 - Intel Core i9 9900k @ 5Ghz -  MSI Meg Ace Z390 Mobo - 16GB Ram - Palit RTX 3080ti - 256GB Samsung NVMe - Corsair AX850 PSU - CPU + GPU cooled with Hyte Y60 Corner Distro Plate - EK Coolstream S120 + EK Quantum Surface S360 + EK Quantum Surface X240M

 

Extension PC - Lian Li o11 Dynamic - Intel Core i7 8086k @ 5.1Ghz -  Gbyte Z390 I Aorus Pro Wifi Mobo - 16GB Ram - EVGA RTX 2080ti - 256GB Samsung NVMe - EVGA B5 850W PSU - CPU + GPU cooled with dual EKWB 360 Rads + G1 side EKWB distro plate.

 

Office - Thermaltake Tower 100 - Intel Core i7 8700K @ 5.1Ghz - Gbyte Z390 I Aorus Pro Wifi Mobo - 16GB Ram - EVGA GTX 1080ti - 256GB Samsung NVMe - EVGA B5 850W PSU - CPU + GPU cooled with dual EK Quantum Surface P120M Rads + Barrow 3-in-1 Block, Res & Pump.

 

Annex - Corsair 250D - Intel Core i7 3770k - Asus P8Z77 I Delux Mobo - 16GB Ram - EVGA GTX 980ti - 256GB Corsair SSD - BeQuiet P11 750 PSU - CPU cooled with EK Coolstream S240 + S120 Rads + EK Pump / Res Combo

 

Office - Corsair 280X - Intel Core i7 4790k - Asrock H97M ITX Mobo  - 16GB Ram - EVGA GTX 980 - Corsair SFXL600 PSU - CPU + GPU cooled with triple EK Coolstream S240s + EK Pump / Res Combo

 

NAS PC - Fractal Node 804 - Intel Core i7 3770k - Asus P8Z77-M Mobo - 16GB Ram - MSI GTX 1660 Ventus - Corsair AX850 PSU - Unraid 15TB Storage Server

 

Living Room AV Setup 5.1.4 - Yamaha RX-A2060 - 2 x B&W CM9s2 - 2 x Monitor Audio FX Silvers - 4 x B&W CCM665s - B&W CMCs2 - SVS SB13 Ultra - LG OLED65C1

 

Extension AV Setup - Sonos ARC + Sub (Gen 3) - LG OLED65C6V + Yamaha RX-A1070 - 5 x Monitor Audio C265s (2 Zones)

 

Bedroom AV Setup - Yamaha WXC-50 - 2 x B&W CM1s - Rel Quake - LG OLED42C2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, Agall said:

paying for itself in the long run at a lower wattage

This massively depends on where you live 
 

5950X/3080Ti primary rig  |  1920X/1070Ti Unraid for dockers  |  200TB TrueNAS w/ 1:1 backup

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, OddOod said:

This massively depends on where you live 
 

Yes, of course.

Ryzen 7950x3D Direct Die NH-D15, CCD1 disabled

RTX 4090 @133%/+230/+500

Builder/Enthusiast/Overclocker since 2012  //  Professional IT since 2017

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, tkitch said:

That's a really old CPU...  

basically anything you buy could run circles around it.  

 

You'd be 100x better off with either an off the shelf NAS, or a newer used box running it.  

(They're also not low-power draw parts, so you'll be paying for the electricity too) 


Thanks. It’s old but top of the line for an AM3 system so I wasn’t sure. I was curious if because it’s a 6 core if it would outperform some of the 2-4 core CPUs I’m seeing on a lot of entry level Synology NAS for example. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

I would look for a new dell optiplex with an igpu, I don't remember off hand the generation you want but you can find them pretty cheap. LTT has a video on it, it will be able to outperform just about any pre built nas and you will have much greater flexibility down the road but it will pull more power

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

That PC will work, but it's going to drink power like there's no tomorrow.

 

For your NAS, if you only want a couple of high capacity drives in a mirror, get a reasonably modern office PC.

 

For a first homelab machine, a single socket LGA2011-3 or LGA2066 workstation is a good option. They're much more modern than your old PC, and you can load them up with relatively cheap REG ECC server memory.

I sold my soul for ProSupport.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

On 5/23/2024 at 5:57 PM, Needfuldoer said:

That PC will work, but it's going to drink power like there's no tomorrow.

 

For your NAS, if you only want a couple of high capacity drives in a mirror, get a reasonably modern office PC.

 

For a first homelab machine, a single socket LGA2011-3 or LGA2066 workstation is a good option. They're much more modern than your old PC, and you can load them up with relatively cheap REG ECC server memory.

also socket 2011 is dirt cheap its...

i got a thinkstation S30 from my work for "free" (they were upgrading their systems and removed the SSD and hard drive from the workstation and putted outside).

i bought a 12 core cpu for ~25$, 128 gb DDR3 REG ECC memory

got few hard drives of 4 tb for dirt cheap and a SSD (for the boot)... 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

On 5/22/2024 at 11:00 PM, Henru said:


Thanks. It’s old but top of the line for an AM3 system so I wasn’t sure. I was curious if because it’s a 6 core if it would outperform some of the 2-4 core CPUs I’m seeing on a lot of entry level Synology NAS for example. 

It did outperform the Celeron J4125 or Ryzen R1600 processor seen in entry- to mid-tier Synology boxes. When comparing scores from PassMark database, the Phenom 1100T had an advantage of 15~30% in performance over J4125 or R1600. However, the 1100T just consumes too much power, roughly 10 times higher than the latter, making it no longer feasible for use in home NAS where lower power, less heat and noises are preferred.
Also, as aforementioned, the R9 280 GPU would do nothing but eat up your electricity.

 

It's therefore recommended to switch to another platform back from 2015 (i.e. 6th gen Core), which provides way better efficiency and an integrated GPU for transcoding. However, there are some workarounds that can still leverage this ancient platform:

  • Replace the GPU with a more recent one, starting from GTX 1050 or Quadro P400.
  • Undervolt the processor. An offset of -100 mV would result in a drop of tens of watts in power consumption. More aggressive offsets can be tolerated in select processors.
  • Replace the processor with another with much lower TDP configuration, for example, Athlon 610e (rated 45W).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×