[rockbox948]

I'm in the process of trying to rebuild my Unraid server. It is currently built with random old parts and is pulling a glutenous 110+W

I want to go mini-itx to reduce power consumption as much as possible. I also don't want to break the bank. I already have the power supply and drives, I just need the processor, mobo, case, and ram. What are your thoughts on the following:

Intel Pentium G3420 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor
GIGABYTE GA-Z97N-WIFI Mini ITX Intel Motherboard or Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case

As far as what the server will be doing, it will:

1. Deliver movies (BluRay rips included) and music to client streamers and PCs on the network
   
2. Act as a back up for PCs on the network
   
3. Store and deliver emulator games for PCs on the network
   

No plans for any torrents. The idea giving the server access to the Internet is unnerving for me.

[teeedubb]

I think my phone has enough grunt to do what you want, so I'd say a 3.2ghz pentium will be fine. I do a lot more with a old athlon (model 265?), I wouldn't be surprised of the Pentium is more powerful, and that thing hasn't skipped a beat.

One thing though, how many clients do you plan on serving to?

[rockbox948]

I think my phone has enough grunt to do what you want, so I'd say a 3.2ghz pentium will be fine. I do a lot more with a old athlon (model 265?), I wouldn't be surprised of the Pentium is more powerful, and that thing hasn't skipped a beat.

One thing though, how many clients do you plan on serving to?

Hmmm, I may consider going with a less expensive processor. There will be 5 clients total but no more than 3 actively sending or receiving content simultaneously.

[Orbi]

A low power core i3 will do the job just fine. Unraid is very sprarse on ressources.

[noggin]

I'm running a 14TB unRAID array based on a Sempron 140 with no problems. Your Haswell Pentium will outperform that massively - and probably draw less current and run more quietly.

[smitbret]

Just about any CPU made in the last 5 years or so will work fine.

A lot of people build with single core Semprons and 1GB of memory they had lying around in the garage. unRAID doesn't use much in the way of resources. Anything Haswell will be more than enough.

[Harro]

I agree that your CPU will be enough to run what your needs are, but found that as you get more familiar with unraid, you have a tendency to increase what the server needs are. I started as you thinking I would stream to all my HTPC through the hardwired lan but now I am streaming to additional 7 clients with the Plex media sever plugin on my Unraid box which will take a lot more horsepower. That is why I went from Celeron 530 to an i5. Probably not very energy efficient when streaming but otherwise sits idle most of the time. The 530 was having a pretty hard time transcoding multiple streams but the i5 has cleared that up. Just thought I would throw that out there for you.

[smitbret]

I agree that your CPU will be enough to run what your needs are, but found that as you get more familiar with unraid, you have a tendency to increase what the server needs are. I started as you thinking I would stream to all my HTPC through the hardwired lan but now I am streaming to additional 7 clients with the Plex media sever plugin on my Unraid box which will take a lot more horsepower. That is why I went from Celeron 530 to an i5. Probably not very energy efficient when streaming but otherwise sits idle most of the time. The 530 was having a pretty hard time transcoding multiple streams but the i5 has cleared that up. Just thought I would throw that out there for you.

Good point.

The server functions of unRAID are very CPU unintensive. Transcoding with Plex is CPU hungry. If you won't be doing that, then just about anything works.

[noggin]

Yep. I have no need for transcoding on my unRAID server, so a Sempron works well for me. Looks like unRAID is moving towards virtualisation and away from plugins - which may also mean that running other services on the same box becomes easier, and therefore using a more powerful processor allows other problems to be solved with the same hardware.

[rockbox948]

Would I only need transcoding if I were wanting to watch video on a device like a tablet?