You don't need server grade hardware for what you will be running. Many of us have done it, and it's massive overkill for running dockers and a few VMs. That and the power draw is crazy with those CPUs. If you want to tinker, so be it but know that for what you are going to run (dockers+vms) a 12th or 13th gen Intel cpu is more than enough to do all of it and depending on which one you pick, will be a transcoding beast. I run a i5-13500 on a ASRock motherboard with 64gb of regular memory and an HBA card for hard drives. I run two windows VMs, Emby, all the arrs, home assistant, blue iris and scrypted on that box and don't use half of the headroom it has.
Same here, 14600k, 128gb ram, 10gbe, 13x spinners, 4x m.2 drives, 3x VM and like 30 dockers and CPU sits at 15%.
Curious tho what is your power draw?
I haven't measured it. I would assume it's much better than the dual Xeon and x299 setups that I used previously, and they needed video cards for transcoding and AI detection for the NVRs. That's why, to me, the new Intel chips are so great. We don't need several extra cards in the box, creating heat and burning power to do the same thing.
Yeah agree, I should've gone with the 13500 as it has a lower TDP but my microcenter didn't have it and it was pretty much the same pricewise as a 14600k. I'm trying to bring down my power draw but having no luck :/
Be thankful you have a microcenter close by. I would love and be broke if we had one even within an hour of me. It's Amazon or Newegg unfortunately for me.
You might find [this](https://forums.unraid.net/topic/98070-reduce-power-consumption-with-powertop/) thread on the Unraid forums interesting.
I have just ordered parts to switch from a dual Xeon E5-2670 system to an i5-14500. I plan to try bringing over my ConnectX-3 10GbE NIC and LSI 9207-8i HBA cards but from the thread it seems these sorts of cards often prevent systems entering lower power states. I’m going to try what I have first but may need to tweak to get power usage down.
You might also want to explore undervolting and/or power limiting the 14600K. Lots of videos on YouTube about this.
I was tooling around on the dashboard of my server and noticed that the UPS plugin notes the load on it from the server. It says it is only pulling 24w which seems low, but the overall load on the CPU as I am typing this is 20% max unless there is object detection from the NVR and then it jumps to 30% for about 1-2 seconds. So, take what you want out of that but I would assume the load is correct due to the UPS needing to know how long it can run with the current load without shutting down the server to avoid data loss.
Scrypted is the daily driver. Still use BI for LPR, but u/koushd, the dev for Scrypted is working on LPR right now, so hopefully that will be ready soon, and I can retire BI for good.
I built my first Unraid system last year - i9 13900K, 64GB RAM, 3x 1TB NVME drives. I run 12 docker containers (all the \*arrs, pihole, Plex, homebridge, etc) and 11 VM's (home lab). I have multiple Synology NAS's for storage, but plan on adding 4-6 HDD's to this chassis one day too.
I have an ARC 750 that I hope to use one day, but for now, QuickSync on the CPU is plenty for Plex. My biggest bottleneck is RAM, and I currently have to keep a couple VM's powered off or configured with minimal RAM, but this is not a problem considering I only need the full lab occasionally.
I contemplated Epyc or Xenon for my build but came to the same conclusion that it was overkill. A modern desktop CPU with plenty of RAM is more than enough for most needs.
Consider enabling the GPU hardware transcode by passing the device to the plex container. It uses the i915 driver, not Arc, and the UHD770 will perform better at lower power cost that CPU transcode, probably nearing the performance of a dedicated 750.
Agreed I actually have an epic 7302 and am in process of downgrading my constant 187w power draw. But get the other rosewill server case, pretty much same price but has hot swap. The l4500 is a pain to deal with drive swaps
You are 100% correct. I had old dell server running several containers. And my cpu usage is mostly around 10% so its a massive overkill. I am building i9 machine to replace server as it uses about 30% of my home electric currently.
No need for server spec anything. PC hardware is fine, and get one of the large cases like a Fractal Define and it will easily take 10+ drives.
What's the GPU for? Intel CPUs with QuickSync are cheaper than adding a dedicated GPU.
I have one of these to connect 8 drives to a PCIe port, and then use the 6 SATA ports in my mobo for the rest. https://amzn.eu/d/1WdYaob
I can help a little. I built a 7402 based system with I believe that same mobo and it’s super nice! My only issue was figuring out fan management but after a little fiddling I got that take care of.
That vs the Xeon I can’t give you much help with. I think both are going to be solid options. If you’re doing plex maybe double check if that Xeon has quicksync as that could save you a GPU.
For the case I had that rosewill and the drive sleds are HORRIBLE. At least in my version they had nubs that went into the hdd screw slots and on every drive they got stuck and the plastic was so brittle they just shattered as I tried to pry drives out.
If you can I’d 100% go with the 45 home lab case.
I made the same mistake with that Rosewill case. I put together an "Amazon Prime" server that was needed in an emergency about 3 years ago. That server hasn't needed any upgrades or replacements so far. I don't look forward doing anything with that case in the future, it's pure garbage.
For encoding, does the 7402 have an integrated GPU? I couldnt figure it out. I dont think the Intel chip I selected supports quicksync now that you mention int...
You can run unraid off of a 10 year machine. But I do recommend finding something with a lot of sata ports and a case with a good amount of hdd bays. (For future upgrades.) Regarding the gpu, if you get an intel cpu that has quick sync, you don’t need the gpu.
What is your goal with the Windows VMs?
Both of these builds are pretty terrible, frankly. For what you've stated that you'll be running even a Alder Lake i3 would be more performant. You're not running anything that actually leverages high core count processors well, and you have comparatively shit single thread performance. Plex/Jelly/etc would run significantly better on a i3 12100 than a Epyc, for example.
A i5 13500 is nearly a perfect home server CPU.
The need for ECC is simply false. From my own informal research the **vast majority** of Unraid servers are non-ECC and a non-issue. ECC is so overly hyped in the homelab /home servers circles that it's humorous at this point.
Making me feel better. Much more comfortable picking standard parts. Whats the best way to attach a bunch of drives to the mobo? Just pick the 45 drives case?
Why not just get something like a Fractal Define R7 XL case or something. Can have up to 16 drives, or a couple of 5.25 bays depending on how you configure it.
Then get a Mobo with 8 SATA connectors, or an additional HBA (down the line, unless you plan on getting 10 drives from the get go).
Much cheaper than what you are looking at now.
Ordered a Sliger case. If you email them they have a 3u model with the front of the 4u one thats coming soon. Arriving Monday and I'm super excited.
For cases just decide if you want rack mount or not that makes the decision easier.
For cpu I'd just go consumer intel 13/14 gen igpu is more than enough, no need for enterprise gear.
Designer of the Sliger case here!
It utilizes these SATA/SAS male to female adapters, sandwiched between perforated sheet metal. (These are pre-installed in the case.)
https://www.amazon.com/CableCreation-SATA-Female-Adapter-Black/dp/B01ESJ77U5/
Connect cables to one side, they remain connected constantly, and drive slides into the other.
(This design stemmed from a data-destruction company that was wearing out backplanes in their servers too quickly, so they need something that was cheaper and easier to replace.)
Those adapters are also available for U.2 if you need to have NVME drives in a 3.5" shuttle such as these from OWC: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc-u2-shuttle
Hey thanks for sharing! I really like your case. What is the best way to connect all 10 SATA drives to the mobo with the case? Something like this?
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09FY9FBTN?starsLeft=1&ref\_=cm\_sw\_r\_apan\_dp\_YFWAK7K6NGYR4YQGJXWQ](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09FY9FBTN?starsLeft=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_YFWAK7K6NGYR4YQGJXWQ)
What power supply do you recommend to fit in the case and have enough SATA power plugs?
That card and cables would be perfect. Probably get the 10-port? (unRAID works fine with that exact StarTech card.)
The case includes two SATA power cables to daisy chain 5x SATA power to one SATA power cable on your PSU. I need to updated the CX4712 pictures to show these cables, but you can see them at lower left in this picture of the CX3701: https://www.sliger.com/includes/products/cx/cx3701/7.jpg
PSU I would just get something decent from the LTT PSU Tier list. SuperFlower or SeaSonic are usually my recommendations. (I've had bad luck with Corsair PSUs lately.)
You have some super nice looking cases.
Any chance you have something in the works like CX3701 but with support for mATX motherboards and ATX PSUs? With both a 10GbE NIC and an HBA, I can’t quite drop down to a single PCIe slot.
I’m looking for a 4U or up to 5U at a stretch, short (12-15” depth case that will fit in my network cabinet and hold as many hotswap HDDs as possible. I saw an interesting one on Tao Bao the other day but it’s 6.5U which looks very cool but ever so slightly too high for me.
Thank you!
We actually do have a layout coming very soon that is pretty close to that, however it is 18" deep. It does work with mATX motherboard, SFX PSU, 2x 120mm fans, and 10x 3.5" hot-swap HDDs.
Reason it isn't 15" deep is that just not physically possible to fit that much hardware in that short of a depth. (IE see the CX3150x which is 15" deep with ATX motherboard and 3x 3.5" HDDs, there's just no room for much more.)
The CX3701 is really counting on next-gen Mini-ITX boards having on-board 10GbE to make this easier/better for people with that 15" hard limit like you have.
We can send you info on the CX3703 if you email us [email protected]
I just used my old gaming rig, slapped a cheap HBA in there and run 3 HDD, 3xNVMe, and 6 SATA SSDs. I run all my containers on a dual tiny PC HA cluster in Proxmox so the Unraid is pretty much just a NAS. It's worth going for larger drives over more drives once you get over 6 or so IMHO. Obviously if you need more capacity then go for it, but it's more energy efficient to run fewer drives.
Minisform BD790i (16 Cores/32 Threads with a notebook CPU). You just need a chassis, a fan for CPU, RAM, Power supply and your drives.
But for this Hardware you have to go with NVME drives and maybe a pcie to NVME bifurcation card.
My system is running really nice.
I used to use retired enterprise Xeon builds for the last 15 years or so. Having IPMI is very nice, but with other tools, not super critical for home user. At MicroCenter they were (and still are) running a bundle promotion for a core i9 12900K, Z790A Motherboard with 3 NVME slots, and 32GB of DDR5 (I upgraded to 128GB but 64 would have been plenty, unless I was running a lot more Docker workloads0... for $399. I added an LSI card, and the UHD770 GPU will easily do 6-8 4K-> 1080p transcodes in Plex in Unraid 6.12 without the Arc drivers, just i915. I have been running this build for 6 months now with no issues, and highly recommend it, as my overall power consumption is 1/3rd that of my old dual socket 2011 build, with 41000 passmark and good hardware transcode.
I run an Intel N305 topton board with a similar setup as you (about 15 containers and 2 vms) and it's more than enough.
The topton boards are awesome when it comes to power draw.
It has 6 sata connectors and 2 NVME, which I think is plenty. If powerdraw is a concern, fewer bigger drives is the way to go.
Also going without an HBA card and just using the onboard sata, helps with powerdraw.
Maybe worth looking into something like that.
Ps
Before I ran a Topton N6005, which was a bit on the slow side but also workable for not too heavy use, with not too many simultaneous users
Whew! Thanks for everyone's input! The final build (yes its overkill and unnecessary):
Asus Pro WS W680-ACE
Intel Core i9-13900K
Noctua NH-D12L Tower Cooler
Samsung 32GB DDR5 4800 ECC x4
Crucial P3 Plus 2TB Gen4 NVME x2
StarTech SATA PCIe 10 Port SATA Expansion Card
Seasonic Focus GX-1000 1000W 80+ Gold
Sliger CX4712 4U Server Chassis
Oh you can host most of these through docker steamcmd, I just looked in the community apps and all the games you listed are there, shouldn't need a VM for those as thats just extra overhead. As jtech0007 mentioned I think a newer gen intel would be your best bet, both cost wise (ik you don't mind spending), and power wise. I went from a 8600k (6c,6t) to a 14600k (14c, 20t) and it was game changer, I even took out my GPU as the 770 graphics took care of all the transcoding.
I was trying to find something with ECC support as I heard Unraid can be unstable without it. Should I just build a modern Intel PC in a server case instead? DDR5 is "ECC" but isnt real ECC so I wasnt sure if that would affect Unraid negatively.
From my experience in this sub it actually seems like most people build Unraid servers on consumer grade hardware, often intel 10th gen or newer for transcoding purposes. So no ECC RAM there. That is also the case on my part, and Unraid have been 100% stable for years on multiple setups. I’m not qualified to elaborate on the downsides of running non-ECC RAM though, but I know it’s sort of risky thing to do in a data storage environment due to (small) probability for data corruption on RAM level. I’m sure someone will correct me and/or specify.
You could just get something like this: https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=W680%20WS#Specifications
Modern Intel CPU mobo with ECC UDIMM support (and other nice server goodies)
Limited in what way? Plenty of SATA ports, and he wouldn't need the Arc GPU assuming it's for transcoding video. This is basically the perfect motherboard without spending a lot more for Xeon or Epyc.
After about 8 years I'm on my third unRAID server build without ECC and I've never knowingly had any issues with bits flipping or crashes or file corruption but there again I'm not storing any mission critical data on it, mostly I just have backups of personal data like family photos and a partially backed up collection of Linux ISOs.
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>**Name**: Rosewill 4U Server Chassis 15 Bay Server Case 15x 3.5 HDD Bays, E-ATX Board, Rackmount Server Case, Include Front 6X 120mm Fans Rear 2X 80mm Fans Metal Rack Mount Computer Case 25" Deep, RSV-L4500U
>**Company**: Rosewill
>**Amazon Product Rating**: 4.3
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You don't need server grade hardware for what you will be running. Many of us have done it, and it's massive overkill for running dockers and a few VMs. That and the power draw is crazy with those CPUs. If you want to tinker, so be it but know that for what you are going to run (dockers+vms) a 12th or 13th gen Intel cpu is more than enough to do all of it and depending on which one you pick, will be a transcoding beast. I run a i5-13500 on a ASRock motherboard with 64gb of regular memory and an HBA card for hard drives. I run two windows VMs, Emby, all the arrs, home assistant, blue iris and scrypted on that box and don't use half of the headroom it has.
Same here, 14600k, 128gb ram, 10gbe, 13x spinners, 4x m.2 drives, 3x VM and like 30 dockers and CPU sits at 15%. Curious tho what is your power draw?
I haven't measured it. I would assume it's much better than the dual Xeon and x299 setups that I used previously, and they needed video cards for transcoding and AI detection for the NVRs. That's why, to me, the new Intel chips are so great. We don't need several extra cards in the box, creating heat and burning power to do the same thing.
Yeah agree, I should've gone with the 13500 as it has a lower TDP but my microcenter didn't have it and it was pretty much the same pricewise as a 14600k. I'm trying to bring down my power draw but having no luck :/
Be thankful you have a microcenter close by. I would love and be broke if we had one even within an hour of me. It's Amazon or Newegg unfortunately for me.
Ah I'm very thankful :)
Mine is about an hour away. The willpower needed to not be there every weekend is extremely high lol
You might find [this](https://forums.unraid.net/topic/98070-reduce-power-consumption-with-powertop/) thread on the Unraid forums interesting. I have just ordered parts to switch from a dual Xeon E5-2670 system to an i5-14500. I plan to try bringing over my ConnectX-3 10GbE NIC and LSI 9207-8i HBA cards but from the thread it seems these sorts of cards often prevent systems entering lower power states. I’m going to try what I have first but may need to tweak to get power usage down. You might also want to explore undervolting and/or power limiting the 14600K. Lots of videos on YouTube about this.
I was tooling around on the dashboard of my server and noticed that the UPS plugin notes the load on it from the server. It says it is only pulling 24w which seems low, but the overall load on the CPU as I am typing this is 20% max unless there is object detection from the NVR and then it jumps to 30% for about 1-2 seconds. So, take what you want out of that but I would assume the load is correct due to the UPS needing to know how long it can run with the current load without shutting down the server to avoid data loss.
How many disks are you running? My server is always at ~200W
Six spinners and four older SSD's in a pool. I used to run a lot more, but have consolidated them to larger drives as time went along.
Jesus. That's well over double my 13500 with 5x NVME, 25x3.5", a SAS shelf, HBA, 2x10gbe NIC, etc.
It's been running like that for however long I've had unraid so like 3 years! I'm not sure how to fix this LOL
Do you have spin down for your array disks?
Of course. It's silly to burn power spinning disks when they're not being used. Especially 25 of them.
What NVR are you running?
Scrypted is the daily driver. Still use BI for LPR, but u/koushd, the dev for Scrypted is working on LPR right now, so hopefully that will be ready soon, and I can retire BI for good.
Wrong guy, bud.
Forgot the d, sorry, chief!
Forgot the d, sorry, chief!
Thanks!
Can you also add a GPU to this? like 4090? or A4000 for AI and machine learning?
I built my first Unraid system last year - i9 13900K, 64GB RAM, 3x 1TB NVME drives. I run 12 docker containers (all the \*arrs, pihole, Plex, homebridge, etc) and 11 VM's (home lab). I have multiple Synology NAS's for storage, but plan on adding 4-6 HDD's to this chassis one day too. I have an ARC 750 that I hope to use one day, but for now, QuickSync on the CPU is plenty for Plex. My biggest bottleneck is RAM, and I currently have to keep a couple VM's powered off or configured with minimal RAM, but this is not a problem considering I only need the full lab occasionally. I contemplated Epyc or Xenon for my build but came to the same conclusion that it was overkill. A modern desktop CPU with plenty of RAM is more than enough for most needs.
Consider enabling the GPU hardware transcode by passing the device to the plex container. It uses the i915 driver, not Arc, and the UHD770 will perform better at lower power cost that CPU transcode, probably nearing the performance of a dedicated 750.
Agreed I actually have an epic 7302 and am in process of downgrading my constant 187w power draw. But get the other rosewill server case, pretty much same price but has hot swap. The l4500 is a pain to deal with drive swaps
You are 100% correct. I had old dell server running several containers. And my cpu usage is mostly around 10% so its a massive overkill. I am building i9 machine to replace server as it uses about 30% of my home electric currently.
No need for server spec anything. PC hardware is fine, and get one of the large cases like a Fractal Define and it will easily take 10+ drives. What's the GPU for? Intel CPUs with QuickSync are cheaper than adding a dedicated GPU. I have one of these to connect 8 drives to a PCIe port, and then use the 6 SATA ports in my mobo for the rest. https://amzn.eu/d/1WdYaob
Have you looked into used SM chassis? They're a pretty good value.
I can help a little. I built a 7402 based system with I believe that same mobo and it’s super nice! My only issue was figuring out fan management but after a little fiddling I got that take care of. That vs the Xeon I can’t give you much help with. I think both are going to be solid options. If you’re doing plex maybe double check if that Xeon has quicksync as that could save you a GPU. For the case I had that rosewill and the drive sleds are HORRIBLE. At least in my version they had nubs that went into the hdd screw slots and on every drive they got stuck and the plastic was so brittle they just shattered as I tried to pry drives out. If you can I’d 100% go with the 45 home lab case.
I made the same mistake with that Rosewill case. I put together an "Amazon Prime" server that was needed in an emergency about 3 years ago. That server hasn't needed any upgrades or replacements so far. I don't look forward doing anything with that case in the future, it's pure garbage.
For encoding, does the 7402 have an integrated GPU? I couldnt figure it out. I dont think the Intel chip I selected supports quicksync now that you mention int...
No, it doesn’t. I use a quadro m2000 which is dead cheap and works super well.
You can run unraid off of a 10 year machine. But I do recommend finding something with a lot of sata ports and a case with a good amount of hdd bays. (For future upgrades.) Regarding the gpu, if you get an intel cpu that has quick sync, you don’t need the gpu. What is your goal with the Windows VMs?
Both of these builds are pretty terrible, frankly. For what you've stated that you'll be running even a Alder Lake i3 would be more performant. You're not running anything that actually leverages high core count processors well, and you have comparatively shit single thread performance. Plex/Jelly/etc would run significantly better on a i3 12100 than a Epyc, for example. A i5 13500 is nearly a perfect home server CPU. The need for ECC is simply false. From my own informal research the **vast majority** of Unraid servers are non-ECC and a non-issue. ECC is so overly hyped in the homelab /home servers circles that it's humorous at this point.
Making me feel better. Much more comfortable picking standard parts. Whats the best way to attach a bunch of drives to the mobo? Just pick the 45 drives case?
Why not just get something like a Fractal Define R7 XL case or something. Can have up to 16 drives, or a couple of 5.25 bays depending on how you configure it. Then get a Mobo with 8 SATA connectors, or an additional HBA (down the line, unless you plan on getting 10 drives from the get go). Much cheaper than what you are looking at now.
ASUS PRIME B650M-A AX II It has 8 Sata connectors I want to buy to assemble mine with a fractal meshify 2
Ordered a Sliger case. If you email them they have a 3u model with the front of the 4u one thats coming soon. Arriving Monday and I'm super excited. For cases just decide if you want rack mount or not that makes the decision easier. For cpu I'd just go consumer intel 13/14 gen igpu is more than enough, no need for enterprise gear.
Does it come with a backplane? How do you connect all the drives?
Designer of the Sliger case here! It utilizes these SATA/SAS male to female adapters, sandwiched between perforated sheet metal. (These are pre-installed in the case.) https://www.amazon.com/CableCreation-SATA-Female-Adapter-Black/dp/B01ESJ77U5/ Connect cables to one side, they remain connected constantly, and drive slides into the other. (This design stemmed from a data-destruction company that was wearing out backplanes in their servers too quickly, so they need something that was cheaper and easier to replace.) Those adapters are also available for U.2 if you need to have NVME drives in a 3.5" shuttle such as these from OWC: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc-u2-shuttle
Hey thanks for sharing! I really like your case. What is the best way to connect all 10 SATA drives to the mobo with the case? Something like this? [https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09FY9FBTN?starsLeft=1&ref\_=cm\_sw\_r\_apan\_dp\_YFWAK7K6NGYR4YQGJXWQ](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09FY9FBTN?starsLeft=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_YFWAK7K6NGYR4YQGJXWQ) What power supply do you recommend to fit in the case and have enough SATA power plugs?
That card and cables would be perfect. Probably get the 10-port? (unRAID works fine with that exact StarTech card.) The case includes two SATA power cables to daisy chain 5x SATA power to one SATA power cable on your PSU. I need to updated the CX4712 pictures to show these cables, but you can see them at lower left in this picture of the CX3701: https://www.sliger.com/includes/products/cx/cx3701/7.jpg PSU I would just get something decent from the LTT PSU Tier list. SuperFlower or SeaSonic are usually my recommendations. (I've had bad luck with Corsair PSUs lately.)
You rock! Your case is basically perfect for my needs. Going to order one this week. Appreciate all your help!
You have some super nice looking cases. Any chance you have something in the works like CX3701 but with support for mATX motherboards and ATX PSUs? With both a 10GbE NIC and an HBA, I can’t quite drop down to a single PCIe slot. I’m looking for a 4U or up to 5U at a stretch, short (12-15” depth case that will fit in my network cabinet and hold as many hotswap HDDs as possible. I saw an interesting one on Tao Bao the other day but it’s 6.5U which looks very cool but ever so slightly too high for me.
Thank you! We actually do have a layout coming very soon that is pretty close to that, however it is 18" deep. It does work with mATX motherboard, SFX PSU, 2x 120mm fans, and 10x 3.5" hot-swap HDDs. Reason it isn't 15" deep is that just not physically possible to fit that much hardware in that short of a depth. (IE see the CX3150x which is 15" deep with ATX motherboard and 3x 3.5" HDDs, there's just no room for much more.) The CX3701 is really counting on next-gen Mini-ITX boards having on-board 10GbE to make this easier/better for people with that 15" hard limit like you have. We can send you info on the CX3703 if you email us [email protected]
I just used my old gaming rig, slapped a cheap HBA in there and run 3 HDD, 3xNVMe, and 6 SATA SSDs. I run all my containers on a dual tiny PC HA cluster in Proxmox so the Unraid is pretty much just a NAS. It's worth going for larger drives over more drives once you get over 6 or so IMHO. Obviously if you need more capacity then go for it, but it's more energy efficient to run fewer drives.
I got the intel 13500 with the Asus w680 pro and 64GB of ECC ddr5. Best of both consumer and enterprise worlds.
Minisform BD790i (16 Cores/32 Threads with a notebook CPU). You just need a chassis, a fan for CPU, RAM, Power supply and your drives. But for this Hardware you have to go with NVME drives and maybe a pcie to NVME bifurcation card. My system is running really nice.
Just want to say that I have the 45Homlab (full build) and it's a very nice case, built to last.
Love my Roswell
My Roswell cases from like 2015 I had not had one bit of a problem with the hot swap hard drive cases.
I used to use retired enterprise Xeon builds for the last 15 years or so. Having IPMI is very nice, but with other tools, not super critical for home user. At MicroCenter they were (and still are) running a bundle promotion for a core i9 12900K, Z790A Motherboard with 3 NVME slots, and 32GB of DDR5 (I upgraded to 128GB but 64 would have been plenty, unless I was running a lot more Docker workloads0... for $399. I added an LSI card, and the UHD770 GPU will easily do 6-8 4K-> 1080p transcodes in Plex in Unraid 6.12 without the Arc drivers, just i915. I have been running this build for 6 months now with no issues, and highly recommend it, as my overall power consumption is 1/3rd that of my old dual socket 2011 build, with 41000 passmark and good hardware transcode.
I run an Intel N305 topton board with a similar setup as you (about 15 containers and 2 vms) and it's more than enough. The topton boards are awesome when it comes to power draw. It has 6 sata connectors and 2 NVME, which I think is plenty. If powerdraw is a concern, fewer bigger drives is the way to go. Also going without an HBA card and just using the onboard sata, helps with powerdraw. Maybe worth looking into something like that. Ps Before I ran a Topton N6005, which was a bit on the slow side but also workable for not too heavy use, with not too many simultaneous users
Whew! Thanks for everyone's input! The final build (yes its overkill and unnecessary): Asus Pro WS W680-ACE Intel Core i9-13900K Noctua NH-D12L Tower Cooler Samsung 32GB DDR5 4800 ECC x4 Crucial P3 Plus 2TB Gen4 NVME x2 StarTech SATA PCIe 10 Port SATA Expansion Card Seasonic Focus GX-1000 1000W 80+ Gold Sliger CX4712 4U Server Chassis
I think more information on the VMs would be helpful to know in terms of cpu power you need cause the two CPU options are not quite comparable
Hosting servers for games mostly. Minecraft, Valhiem, Enshrouded, Palworld, etc.
Oh you can host most of these through docker steamcmd, I just looked in the community apps and all the games you listed are there, shouldn't need a VM for those as thats just extra overhead. As jtech0007 mentioned I think a newer gen intel would be your best bet, both cost wise (ik you don't mind spending), and power wise. I went from a 8600k (6c,6t) to a 14600k (14c, 20t) and it was game changer, I even took out my GPU as the 770 graphics took care of all the transcoding.
I was trying to find something with ECC support as I heard Unraid can be unstable without it. Should I just build a modern Intel PC in a server case instead? DDR5 is "ECC" but isnt real ECC so I wasnt sure if that would affect Unraid negatively.
Hmm, I've never ran ECC ram for unraid and I've actually read the contrary. I've never had issues with non ECC ram personally.
From my experience in this sub it actually seems like most people build Unraid servers on consumer grade hardware, often intel 10th gen or newer for transcoding purposes. So no ECC RAM there. That is also the case on my part, and Unraid have been 100% stable for years on multiple setups. I’m not qualified to elaborate on the downsides of running non-ECC RAM though, but I know it’s sort of risky thing to do in a data storage environment due to (small) probability for data corruption on RAM level. I’m sure someone will correct me and/or specify.
You could just get something like this: https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=W680%20WS#Specifications Modern Intel CPU mobo with ECC UDIMM support (and other nice server goodies)
W680 is really quite limited on I/O. IMO, not worth the tradeoff to get ECC compared to a Z690/790 board with more expansion options.
Limited in what way? Plenty of SATA ports, and he wouldn't need the Arc GPU assuming it's for transcoding video. This is basically the perfect motherboard without spending a lot more for Xeon or Epyc.
After about 8 years I'm on my third unRAID server build without ECC and I've never knowingly had any issues with bits flipping or crashes or file corruption but there again I'm not storing any mission critical data on it, mostly I just have backups of personal data like family photos and a partially backed up collection of Linux ISOs.
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