Server or Recycle - transcoding/vm's

[mechanicalfluff]

Currently using unraid on a cheapo i3 and a heavily discounted motherboard from good ol' MicroCenter. 
i3 and a gigabyte Z170X-UD3. I couldn't pass it up, the board turned out costing $4 after open box and bundle deal. 

 

After my trek, I found that the i3 is plenty good for regular video playback, but it can't transcode for anything and it kinda stinks as a vm host. (skylake non-k i3.)

 

My predicament:
Should i pony up and get a used r710 or similar on ebay?(please correct me with better suggestions if that's the case)

Or just recycle my (aging) gaming rig as a replacement and rebuild a new gaming rig?
Never dealt with real server hardware, but i'm really interested in learning as much as i can about it.

 

I'm a little concerned about power consumption as it'll be running 24/7. I run my gaming rig 24/7, but i'm not familiar enough with server hardware to comprehend the actual consumption over just an overclocked gaming rig. I don't live in California, so power isn't SUPER expensive but a burden I don't want to double if that's the case.

 

Current gaming rig specs:
4930k
x79 deluxe
32g pny 1866
gtx 1080

 

I've got a bunch of refurb 2tb drives that i've scrounged up at microcenter, they're all Sata 3.5" drives.

 

TLDR; 
Recycle 6core gaming rig into unraid nas for transcoding or buy a used server on ebay? 
Use: Transcoding & vm's.
If server; suggestions? 
If recycle; reason?

Thanks folks  

[Electronics Wizardy]

how about getting a 6700k for your current server, or doing that and using z170 board as your desktop as it would be faster at games.

 

power wise a idle r710 is about 130 w with low power chips(dual quads) and would be slower than a i7 cpu wise. there kinda loud.