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Server for under $1500 (not including HDD)

ItsBlck

Hello! I was wondering which CPU, mobo, ram and gpu not including hard drives/ssds I should use to create a server for transcoding videos faster than my personal PC (I would like to get 4K). I need help on which cpu to get and which xeon family as well. The max budget for these would have to be $2000 but I don't mind using used parts or older CPUs from intel or AMD. thank you for your help!

Used to be everywhere in LTT forums, had a break which lasted apparently 1 year LOL. 

Gonna get up againnnn.

Wake me up if I sleep again like Oppy. 

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You could consider a dedicated NAS capable of transcoding 4K from a vendor like QNAP, Synology, ASUSTOR (ASUS' NAS storage division). 

Synology has a list of 4K transcoding-capable models here. ASUSTOR has a chart here for which models support XMBC / Kodi 4K. Wasn't able to find a chart for QNAP, however this QNAP article may help suss it out.

Just make sure if you go the NAS route, use hard drives engineered to be compatible with NAS enclosures (current Seagate branding: IronWolf).

Seagate Technology | Official Forums Team

IronWolf Drives for NAS Applications - SkyHawk Drives for Surveillance Applications - BarraCuda Drives for PC & Gaming

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Thanks for the reply, I was thinking though about building this myself for a video perhaps and so I have good personalisation and upgradability later on. Is there any parts you would recommend to use for a NAS or just a transcoding server?

Used to be everywhere in LTT forums, had a break which lasted apparently 1 year LOL. 

Gonna get up againnnn.

Wake me up if I sleep again like Oppy. 

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I picked up a "cheap" Dell PowerEdge R720 from eBay for $1150 AUD (about $881 USD) which had dual E5-2690 CPUs and 64GB RAM which can hold max 16 x 2.5" disks, should be able to find the drive cages for 3.5" disks as well if you prefer the larger disks. However I found the 2.5" work just the same. More efficient when using SSDs, you'd get more real estate out of it.

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Just now, ChristopherH said:

I picked up a "cheap" Dell PowerEdge R720 from eBay for $1150 AUD (about $881 USD) which had dual E5-2690 CPUs and 64GB RAM which can hold max 16 x 2.5" disks, should be able to find the drive cages for 3.5" disks as well if you prefer the larger disks. However I found the 2.5" work just the same. More efficient when using SSDs, you'd get more real estate out of it.

That sounds like a really good buy, can I ask was the ram ddr3?

Used to be everywhere in LTT forums, had a break which lasted apparently 1 year LOL. 

Gonna get up againnnn.

Wake me up if I sleep again like Oppy. 

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7 minutes ago, SimpleTechVids said:

Thanks for the reply, I was thinking though about building this myself for a video perhaps and so I have good personalisation and upgradability later on. Is there any parts you would recommend to use for a NAS or just a transcoding server?

ww.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/video-wall/mura_ipx_series/4k-capture-ip-encoder-decoder-cards/

and probably the e5 xeon processor with ram and matching mobo

ask me about your system builds, AIO's, CPU's, PSU's, and GPU's.

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1 minute ago, SimpleTechVids said:

That sounds like a really good buy, can I ask was the ram ddr3?

Yes I believe so, mine came with 8 x 8GB sticks. I have about 50 sticks of 8GB DDR4 2133MHz RAM that I tried putting into it a and it started beeping it's t!ts off so I daresay it is. DDR2 is so 2000's...

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36 minutes ago, ChristopherH said:

Yes I believe so, mine came with 8 x 8GB sticks. I have about 50 sticks of 8GB DDR4 2133MHz RAM that I tried putting into it a and it started beeping it's t!ts off so I daresay it is. DDR2 is so 2000's...

Yeah, if you got ddr4 you would be stinking rich right now (32gb costs $600! And 64 would be more than that server you played for). 

Used to be everywhere in LTT forums, had a break which lasted apparently 1 year LOL. 

Gonna get up againnnn.

Wake me up if I sleep again like Oppy. 

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3 hours ago, ChristopherH said:

Yes I believe so, mine came with 8 x 8GB sticks. I have about 50 sticks of 8GB DDR4 2133MHz RAM that I tried putting into it a and it started beeping it's t!ts off so I daresay it is. DDR2 is so 2000's...

R720 doesn't use ddr2.... It uses ddr3. 

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5 minutes ago, Abdul201588 said:

R720 doesn't use ddr2.... It uses ddr3. 

Exactly as I said (below for your reference).

3 hours ago, ChristopherH said:

DDR2 is so 2000's...

Anyways, time to move back on-topic...

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9 hours ago, ChristopherH said:

Exactly as I said (below for your reference).

Anyways, time to move back on-topic...

Yeah, so does anyone have a good build (Mobo, cup, gpu,ram) for a under $1500 server for transcoding 4k or under $2000 at max?

Used to be everywhere in LTT forums, had a break which lasted apparently 1 year LOL. 

Gonna get up againnnn.

Wake me up if I sleep again like Oppy. 

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Honestly. anything Kaby Lake or Coffee Lake can do 4K transcoding off the IGP. That is, if you're referring to transcoding in the sense of rendering it server side and just streaming it to a client device. If you mean transcoding in the sense of converting like with handbrake, that's a different story.

 

If the former, how many streams are you looking for? 1? 2? 69?

 

If just one or two, you're probably fine with even an i3 or i5.

PC Specs - AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D MSI B550M Mortar - 32GB Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR4-3600 @ CL16 - ASRock RX7800XT 660p 1TBGB & Crucial P5 1TB Fractal Define Mini C CM V750v2 - Windows 11 Pro

 

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2 hours ago, NelizMastr said:

Honestly. anything Kaby Lake or Coffee Lake can do 4K transcoding off the IGP. That is, if you're referring to transcoding in the sense of rendering it server side and just streaming it to a client device. If you mean transcoding in the sense of converting like with handbrake, that's a different story.

 

If the former, how many streams are you looking for? 1? 2? 69?

 

If just one or two, you're probably fine with even an i3 or i5.

1

Well, I mean by transcoding videos into an uploadable file format (h.264) in 4K and uploading it to YouTube.

Used to be everywhere in LTT forums, had a break which lasted apparently 1 year LOL. 

Gonna get up againnnn.

Wake me up if I sleep again like Oppy. 

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Is a dell poweredge r530 good enough for this task ($1794 on sale for $1315)?

Used to be everywhere in LTT forums, had a break which lasted apparently 1 year LOL. 

Gonna get up againnnn.

Wake me up if I sleep again like Oppy. 

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30 minutes ago, SimpleTechVids said:

Is a dell poweredge r530 good enough for this task ($1794 on sale for $1315)?

Depends on the configuration. Contrary to desktop PCs, servers don't come with all bells and whistles installed. Typically they start with single CPU, 16GB RAM, one disk, one PSU. For 4K transcoding in software mode, you'll need a beefy config with especially more CPU horsepower.

 

Which software do you plan on using for the transcode, since it may or may not utilize a GPU at all?

PC Specs - AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D MSI B550M Mortar - 32GB Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR4-3600 @ CL16 - ASRock RX7800XT 660p 1TBGB & Crucial P5 1TB Fractal Define Mini C CM V750v2 - Windows 11 Pro

 

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Ok so I was looking around and this may not work but is a xeon E5 2648L good for this situation(4k) with 24gb ram. Also I am planning to use adobe media encoder and premiere pro on a editing rig.

Used to be everywhere in LTT forums, had a break which lasted apparently 1 year LOL. 

Gonna get up againnnn.

Wake me up if I sleep again like Oppy. 

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Also, what OS should I have?

Used to be everywhere in LTT forums, had a break which lasted apparently 1 year LOL. 

Gonna get up againnnn.

Wake me up if I sleep again like Oppy. 

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I was looking on eBay UK and found this e5 2648L for £40 

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/INTEL-XEON-E5-2648L-1-80GHZ-20M-8-CORE-CPU-LGA-2011-SR0LX-CM8062100854905/172456466058?itemId=172456466058

Is this a good cup for transcoding, it has pretty good specs on intel.

also, is it compatible with this Mobo (it is lga 2011):

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-X79-Mainboard-Motherboard-LGA-2011-mATX-DDR3-or-ECC-REG-USB-3-0-WiFi/391935428469?itemId=391935428469

 

Used to be everywhere in LTT forums, had a break which lasted apparently 1 year LOL. 

Gonna get up againnnn.

Wake me up if I sleep again like Oppy. 

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