BUILD Hardware recommendations needed

[LukeL]

Hi, I've been using Freenas for over two years now and I love it, was made even better when I discovered plex. I'd love to use Plex even more especially that apps are coming to the new Apple TV, but my problem is, my server pulls 90w from the wall at idle, I'd love to bring it down.

It is currently used for plex streaming/transcoding 1080p files to Apple TV, iPhones, iPads. Backups from 2 PCs.

My current setup (2 years+)
CPU: AMD Sempron x2 190 2.50GHz
MB: Asus M5A78L-M LX
RAM: 16GB ddr3 corsair tracer (4 sticks)
Drives: 4 x 2TB Seagate barracuda

PSU: 450W Seasonic SSR-450RT, 80PLUS Gold (bought September 2015)
Case: Bitfenix Phenom ITX Black (can't use until I get a new ITX board as the board I have now is mATX)

My setup as it stands now pulls over 90w from the wall at idle and I'd like to bring this down to around 50w idle, I've seen discussions were this has been accomplished but no mention of hardware they used.

I don't know whether it's my Seagate drives or freenas itself but my drives won't spin down, I know this is a good thing as the drives will last longer but from a power reduction point, I'd like them to spin down as it does spend most of its time idle.

So yes I've struggled to find detailed power consumption info on motherboards and CPUs.
It needs to be ITX with at least 4 sata ports and a low idle power CPU.
Also considering on switching to WD Red drives providing freenas will spin them down when idle.

Thank you in advance!

 

[BigDave]

Hazwell cpus are noted for their low power state abilities at idle. Any modern hardware will do a much better job
than what you are currently running. Spinning down your drives has been shown to shorten usable lifespan, increase
the cost of replacing failed drives, and there by exceeding the savings of power usage. In short, in most cases, it's not
worth the effort. My recommendation, an X10 motherboard, Hazwell CPU and low RPM (5,700 or lower) Drives
with NAS optimized firmware. Our stickied thread entitled Hardware Recommendations is a must read, you can find
the link in my sig.

 

[hyperq]

Intel Xeon D-1520 is outstanding with its performance per watt rating. If you need a CPU thst consumes even less power, take a look at Intel Avoton Atom CPUs. If you can wait till the end of the year, Intel Xeon E3 v5 skylake CPUs will be out. They will have excellent performance per watt ratings too.

 

[LukeL]

I've heard good things about the Xeon's, one thing that puts me off, the price. I've been looking at the haswells that were suggested, the celeron g1840, looks basic, idles low.

Probably should've mentioned, I do have a budget, under £150.

 

[BigDave]

Probably should've mentioned, I do have a budget, under £150.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT2KIT102472BD160B-16GB-8GB-Memory/dp/B008EMA5VU
95 bps :(
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Supermicro-...id=1442170562&sr=1-58&keywords=supermicro+x10
134 bps
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Penti...442170637&sr=1-2&keywords=intel+pentium+g3258
38 bps

Total 267 bps
As you can see, the more modern (read: power saving) hardware is just not in reach on that low of a budget :(

Taking into consideration the cost of power you currently pay, it will take years to recoup the cost of better hardware.

 

[SweetAndLow]

The build in my signature with 6 wd red drives running 24/7 and fans on full uses 40watts at idle.

 

[gpsguy]

Sell your mini ITX case and get another micro ATX case. If size is a concern, look for a small one. There are very few ITX motherboards that support ECC RAM. In the end, you'll spend more money to get a decent mini ITX mobo, as opposed to going with the mATX form factor. And, you'll probably be limited to 2 slots for RAM.

 

[LukeL]

I ended up switching to Intel with a pentium g3220 processor (haswell) and an msi b85i motherboard, at the moment I've only got 8gb of ram installed as in my previous setup it was 16gb in total but this was over 4 dimms, so next week I shall be buying 16gb over 2 dimms.

I'm now pulling 40w from the wall as apposed to 70-80w, now I know it'll take a long time before the savings will pay for the upgraded parts but I can sleep soundly now knowing it's below my 50w target :) thank you all.

I have just one question, I've switched from amd to Intel. Do I need to reinstall my plugins and freenas itself as in both there software names AMD is mentioned as to me this seems like a specific version for AMD over Intel, but that may not be the case.


Thank you and now I've taken the plunge I may even switch out my desktop to Intel, as my 8350 and R9 290 pull 300w idle. Yes idle.

 

[Bidule0hm]

No, no need to reinstall anything ;)

 

[LukeL]

You see, I had a feeling ;) but like I said, I seen AMD mentioned in the software title ;) and I wondered.
Thank you!

 

[Bidule0hm]

You probably saw AMD64 (there's also x64 or ia64) which just say it's a software compiled for 64 bits systems.