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New Home/Media Server

madcar86
By madcar86
in New Builds and Planning
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Go to solution Solved by Demons Wrath,

 
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($279.99 @ Micro Center) 
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($150.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1265.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-31 17:46 EDT-0400
 
I'm not sure why you want such a CPU to be used with a system, but I'll go with it. I changed the case because it costs less, is just as quiet and has nothing the R5 doesn't. Perhaps get another 140mm fan for front intake. The PSU I choose, which I know is even more overkill that what you chose, is cheaper. I changed the mobo for something with more Sata3 ports, why the hell not? I changed the HDD's because they're faster and cheaper. Stick them in RAID 5 and away you go. CPU cooler, and a nice one, why not? Cheaper RAM and SSD, again, why not?
 
Now a less rhetorical question; why not add a halfway decent GPU and enable a little gaming? This spec is around $300 less than your original one, and the PSU I have down will handle SLI 970's or even a pair of R9 290's no problem at all.
Posted

I am building a home server for my parents. I will be using Win 7, possible Win 10 when it comes out. I plan on running Plex on it, between 4-5 streams max. I also want to use this as a file storage for them, with access locally and remotes, basically their own cloud. I have put together two plans. I want to know which is better and not overkill for what I need. The main differences is plan 1 is an upgraded version of plan 2. I am not sure if it is overkill though.

 

Storage is the same on both plans, x1 SDD for OS, x4 4TB HDD for storage, x1 3TB 7200RPM HDD for backup. 

 

Also am not sure if the PSU is too much wattage, PCPicker only shows 216watts but I thought if I went with 550W I could get more HDD in future.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Plan 1 - Overkill?

 
Motherboard: Asus Z87-Pro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($106.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Seagate  3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($114.67 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1549.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-31 17:16 EDT-0400
 
Plan 2 - Underkill?
 
Motherboard: Asus Z87-Pro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($106.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1418.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-31 17:18 EDT-0400

 

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You wanna backup 16 tb of room on 1 3 tb drive?

Plan 2: Drop the Z87 chipset. Since you can't overclock on that cpu, you dont need a chipset that is designed for overclocking.

Plan 1: PSU brand??? Never ever heard of. I wouldn't trust it tbh.

That time I saved Linus' WiFi pass from appearing on YouTube: 

A sudden Linus re-appears : http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/390793-important-dailymotion-account-still-active/

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You wanna backup 16 tb of room on 1 3 tb drive?

Plan 2: Drop the Z87 chipset. Since you can't overclock on that cpu, you dont need a chipset that is designed for overclocking.

Plan 1: PSU brand??? Never ever heard of. I wouldn't trust it tbh.

 

FSP is a well known PSU OEM.

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  • Solution

 
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($279.99 @ Micro Center) 
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($150.98 @ Newegg) 
Storage: OCZ ARC 100 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1265.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-31 17:46 EDT-0400
 
I'm not sure why you want such a CPU to be used with a system, but I'll go with it. I changed the case because it costs less, is just as quiet and has nothing the R5 doesn't. Perhaps get another 140mm fan for front intake. The PSU I choose, which I know is even more overkill that what you chose, is cheaper. I changed the mobo for something with more Sata3 ports, why the hell not? I changed the HDD's because they're faster and cheaper. Stick them in RAID 5 and away you go. CPU cooler, and a nice one, why not? Cheaper RAM and SSD, again, why not?
 
Now a less rhetorical question; why not add a halfway decent GPU and enable a little gaming? This spec is around $300 less than your original one, and the PSU I have down will handle SLI 970's or even a pair of R9 290's no problem at all.
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Wow! Thanks $300 savings is awesome. 

 

I went with that CPU because Plex recommends 2,000 Passmarks per 1080p stream. So I need a CPU with around 10,000 Passmarks. I agree with the R4. I like that the MOBO has dual Ethernet. 

 

For the PSU i had a 80+Gold/Platinum, is the savings for your PSU worth getting a Bronze?

 

As for the GPU, I am not sure if I need it. This will be in their "server room" with no direct monitor. And I dont see anyone playing any games on it, besides an emulator.

 

Do you have any recommendation for Raid software? I am debating between Windows Storage Space, FlexRaid, or SnapRaid. 

 

Also is there any software that is like ownCloud for setting up a home cloud?

 

Is there anything else that I am forgetting?

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For the PSU i had a 80+Gold/Platinum, is the savings for your PSU worth getting a Bronze?

 

If you can say for certain that the system will definitely never have a discrete GPU, then the PSU I specc'd is something of a huge overkill in extremis. The thing is, the spec I did is all but ready as a gaming setup. Say in a few years you want to sell it, or you get a lower cost, lower power replacement for the server, what do you do with this system? The ideal and logical thing to do with it is to make it a gaming system, a system with enough juice to power SLI or Xfire a pair of whatever's. If that day comes, you'll be glad for a bit of a punchy PSU.

 

As for Gold vs Bronze rated PSU's, the power you save on one vs the other costs far less even over years than the cost to upgrade from one to t'other. The difference between the PSU I spec'd and it's Golden brother the G2 is $46. It would be a long time before you see the savings on your power bill by choosing the gold over the bronze.

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-snip-

 

I went with that CPU because Plex recommends 2,000 Passmarks per 1080p stream. So I need a CPU with around 10,000 Passmarks. I agree with the R4. I like that the MOBO has dual Ethernet. 

 

 

For this, I've read on it a bit more and I'm currently running and E5506 in an IBM server (2008).. now I have a single CPU currently, and PassMark score is 3K.. I have currently local 2 streams (1 1080p and one 720p). So I'm okay there, but as more family wants to hop on I think they are going to be looking to do more 1080p streams. Now this would also rely on my upload stream from my ISP... sorry for asking, but do you know the recommend there from PLEX? I haven't been able to source that info.

 

I'm wondering if I'm better off selling my current server, and build something like this with a better PassMark score like that. Very informative build post!

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For this, I've read on it a bit more and I'm currently running and E5506 in an IBM server (2008).. now I have a single CPU currently, and PassMark score is 3K.. I have currently local 2 streams (1 1080p and one 720p). So I'm okay there, but as more family wants to hop on I think they are going to be looking to do more 1080p streams. Now this would also rely on my upload stream from my ISP... sorry for asking, but do you know the recommend there from PLEX? I haven't been able to source that info.

 

I'm wondering if I'm better off selling my current server, and build something like this with a better PassMark score like that. Very informative build post!

For your remote stream you have to worrying about the transcoding and your upload speed from your ISP. Also whoever is streaming remotely needs a decent download speed or they will need to lower the quality of the stream. I cant remember which forum i read for remote specs, but it was on the Plex forum. The Passmarks are for how many 1080p streams you want to do at the same time, it is recommended to have 2000 Passmarks per stream.  

 

I use www.cpubenchmark.net to look up passmarks. Your E5506 is at just over 3000, so it makes sense that you can stream 1 1080p and 1 720p at the same time. Any more streams and you may be pushing the CPU. 

 

A side note, not all streams require transcoding. If you have a client that can do direct play then it will take less CPU power. From what I can tell most mobile devices require transcoding. I may be wrong though. I plan on building all my local client so they dont require transcoding. 

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