Struggling with latest hardware specs

[Tom2112]

Hello All, as I mentioned in my "greetings" post, I've had a ZFS-based storage server for the last 7 or 8 years. It was OpenIndiana/napp-it based. It's time for an upgrade. Unfortunately, in that time, I've really stepped away from all the intricacies of hardware/system building. It used to be a hobby, but life got in the way.

So, now, specc'ing out a new server, I don't recognize any of the CPUs and architecture or remember what goes with what. I did read the FreeNAS hardware guide. It's very informative, but the info there seems to be over a year old and doesn't address the newest cores or CPUs.

One thing from the past: I remember it used to be a BIG deal matching your memory speed to the FSB speed which was multiplier-based off your CPU speed... but now that seems to have gone out the window?!? Or has it? I don't know.

I guess I better get down to my questions:
1) How does one determine what speed RAM to get? (I'm looking at Intel E3-1225 or 1245 v5 or v6 CPUs)
2) I see a lot of server builds based on SuperMicro motherboards, which mostly include an on-board video controller. Why do they do that when you can use an E3-12x5 CPU with built-in video instead of the E3-12x0 CPU? The E3-12x5 CPUs even offer H.264 and H.265 decoding/encoding. Why wouldn't I want that? It is going to make transcoding quicker right?
3) What's the story with the Intel E5 series CPUs? Isn't an E5 faster than an E3 (kinda like i3 vs i5)? But when I look at prices, there's a bunch of E5 CPUs available for under $100?!?

Thanks for the assistance!
Tom

 

[MatthewSteinhoff]

1. Whatever the motherboard tells me to get. If there is more than once speed choice, I'll buy on price unless I have a specific performance requirement.

2. Plex doesn't really use hardware for decoding. If you're buying a CPU based on its hardware H.26x support, make sure your application will actually use that hardware. As for video, meh, most FreeNAS systems run headless.

3. Going from memory... E3 uses the same socket as consumer-grade chips and is considered the mainstream choice. E5 is what most consider server-class and comes with more bells and whistles. E7 is high-end exotic. An older generation E5 can cost less than a newer generation E3. Newer chips tend to be more power efficient than older chips as well as being more efficient at lower clock rates. Intel is all over the place.

I start with the motherboard, usually Supermicro, go with whatever ECC RAM it recommends then pick the lowest priced CPU that meets my requirements.

If you use FreeNAS as a fileserver - no VMs, no applications, no jails - pretty much any CPU will work just fine. If you have Plex running in one VM transcoding your media and have your home video surveillance system running in another VM, you need to double-check and make sure to buy enough horsepower.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Tom2112]

Thank you, Matt! I appreciate the brain-dump. I was hoping to have a VM running to encode media. I'll have to check to see how that will play out - whether a VM can take advantage of the hardware encoding...

 

[MatthewSteinhoff]

You might want to check this earlier thread on Plex hardware decoding.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Tom2112]

Ah, thanks. That makes sense. The way I have things now, I just run Plex on my gaming PC, with the movies/shows/files on the NAS. The gaming PC has all the grunt it needs to process the files, and as it works out, I'm never gaming and streaming at the same time. So I think I'll leave it that way and just let the NAS be a NAS. Which means I get to buy a cheaper CPU! Yay!

 

[diskdiddler]

Have you considered one of the Denverton boards?

 

[Tom2112]

No, I hadn't. I was never really attracted to the Intel Atom. It always seemed underpowered. But then again, I haven't looked at them in years.

 

[diskdiddler]

https://www.servethehome.com/intel-...first-benchmarks-can-expect-finally-launched/
https://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c3955-16-core-top-end-linux-benchmarks-review/

Depending on what your use case is, they are significantly improved, it looks like about 40% IPC per core.
I'm still evaluating if it would suit me but they appear to be quite good. I get the impression they will be fine for jails, docker, VMs and even Plex transcoding, the only thing I'm not sure of, is 4k Plex transcoding.

 

[Linkman]

FYI, the on-board video controller you noticed in most of those Supermicro motherboards is for the IPMI out of band management interface. You don't need a video card nor on-CPU graphics in order to boot, and most run headless, as does mine.

 

[diskdiddler]

That's my intention, although I do have the issue of only running 1 CAT5E cable to my comms location where it is, so I need to literally install a 3 port gigabit switch (sigh)

 

[Ericloewe]

doesn't address the newest cores or CPUs.

That's because the new and shiny stuff that is most interesting has only been available for a short time and the whole Spectre/Meltdown thing happened right when I was going to update the guide. I have a hard time recommending new things before some more dust settles on the whole story.

Why do they do that when you can use an E3-12x5 CPU with built-in video instead of the E3-12x0 CPU?

Because it's not easy to remotely get to that video output.

What's the story with the Intel E5 series CPUs? Isn't an E5 faster than an E3 (kinda like i3 vs i5)? But when I look at prices, there's a bunch of E5 CPUs available for under $100?!?

Different platform. Some E5s are pitifully slow, most are not. All E3s are decently fast by virtue of being the high-end consumer-level offering.