[FreeNAS] Looking for feedback on this build idea.

[dbyte]

Hi all,

 

I'm starting to entertain the idea of building my first FreeNAS and would love to get some feedback on the parts:

 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/wpH6jc

 

What would you change/remove/add?

 

It will be used mainly as a Plex box/file storage (at least for now).

 

Cheers!

[paddy-stone]

Overkill IMO, unless you have many people being served content at a time or you have 4k rips that need to be transcoded maybe.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Id probably just get a synology nas. I will use much less power and be plug and play.

[dbyte]

28 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

Overkill IMO, unless you have many people being served content at a time or you have 4k rips that need to be transcoded maybe.

Only 3 people and no 4k transcoding at all. I was hoping to repurpose the parts in the future -- but lowering costs would be nice.

 

Which CPU/mobo would you go for in this case?

 

Thanks for the help!

[dbyte]

31 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id probably just get a synology nas. I will use much less power and be plug and play.

To be honest, I was quite tempted on the DS216+II. But right now I'm more interested in building something.

 

Do you use a Synology NAS yourself?

 

Thanks!

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, dbyte said:

Only 3 people and no 4k transcoding at all. I was hoping to repurpose the parts in the future -- but lowering costs would be nice.

 

Which CPU/mobo would you go for in this case?

 

Thanks for the help!

Definitely the new Pentium (g4560 I believe) which has hyper threading rendering the i3 almost useless.

[paddy-stone]

17 minutes ago, dbyte said:

Only 3 people and no 4k transcoding at all. I was hoping to repurpose the parts in the future -- but lowering costs would be nice.

 

Which CPU/mobo would you go for in this case?

 

Thanks for the help!

Yes as above the g4560 is good enough unless you're going to be transcoding a lot, just servong media without having to transcode is very easy for the CPU to handle it.

 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/wtdNTH

 

You can borrow my NAS build parts list above if you like, the mobo can be swapped out for anything else you fancy, I just like that ones features. The PSU is very good and fully modular and is my preference especially as it has 7 year warranty too and is a tier 1 PSU. And the 3TB reds make more sense as they're only roughly a tenner more than the 2TB reds. Hope that helps mate

 

[edit] and the AIO cooler isn't needed either, was just playing around with ideas for a customer. Trying to get the build as silent as possible. But might be better off going with a noctua L9 or similar instead if you don't want the stock heatsink fan on the g4560.

 

[paddy-stone]

Oh, and if you don't need 16GB ram, just go with one 8GB stick in case you do want to upgrade in the future... it won't make much difference using single channel than double in a NAS build IMO.

[dbyte]

30 minutes ago, Abyss Gaming said:

Definitely the new Pentium (g4560 I believe) which has hyper threading rendering the i3 almost useless.

Thanks! I'll definitely grab it instead of the i3.

 

21 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

 

Yes as above the g4560 is good enough unless you're going to be transcoding a lot, just servong media without having to transcode is very easy for the CPU to handle it.

 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/wtdNTH

 

You can borrow my NAS build parts list above if you like, the mobo can be swapped out for anything else you fancy, I just like that ones features. The PSU is very good and fully modular and is my preference especially as it has 7 year warranty too and is a tier 1 PSU. And the 3TB reds make more sense as they're only roughly a tenner more than the 2TB reds. Hope that helps mate

 

[edit] and the AIO cooler isn't needed either, was just playing around with ideas for a customer. Trying to get the build as silent as possible. But might be better off going with a noctua L9 or similar instead if you don't want the stock heatsink fan on the g4560.

 

 

That was very helpful mate, thank you!

 

I've updated my list for now: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qXzmKZ

 

I may go with the 3TB reds as well, but since I won't be building this right away, I'll re-visit them when I'm ready to start buying.

 

Cheers!

[paddy-stone]

12 hours ago, dbyte said:

Thanks! I'll definitely grab it instead of the i3.

 

That was very helpful mate, thank you!

 

I've updated my list for now: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qXzmKZ

 

I may go with the 3TB reds as well, but since I won't be building this right away, I'll re-visit them when I'm ready to start buying.

 

Cheers!

No worries, glad to help

 

This build gives you a few upgrade paths in the future if you need them, which is why I love this build. I might change my mind about the CPU to use when AMD finally brings out their APUs, but for now this is the best of both worlds in performance and low power.