Do you plan having VMs or only Containers? Because Plex, alla ARR stuff and NVR can work on containers. In that case the i3 is extremely overkill too, but if you plan to run a lot of VMs, the i5 of course have more core.

In terms of power consumption, both idle around 25W (generic system with no GPU and Idling HDD), the i5 would peak more, but depend on the usage, generally server idle 99% of the time.

TDP doesn’t mean Power Consumption for Intel, but is related to Thermal Dissipation. The i3 would consume the same as i5 idling, because of C-state and the ability to almost shut off the unused cores, then on peak power, having more cores and frequency, mean more power consumption, but peak mean burst of 1 second at max.

I regret not having enough money for everything i want.

My NAS build is perfect for my need, and i think it’s perfect for most of us, i’m sure there are tons of people that take my suggestion and take some hints from them.

The only real regret i have, is having just 8 GB of ram, for folder caching, 16GB would be better, but i can upgrade, so no problem.

The, of course there is possibility for improve, like ECC, IPMI, better case, bigger drives etc, but those things cost too.

If someone have the capability of troubleshooting and DIY, this remains the best solution for money and performance. Prebuilt are good mostly for company and people that don’t want too many problems.

Sorry, i don’t understand.

You have a switch, right? Just connect everything to the switch and everything would talk with everything. I don’t see the problem.

Do you really need 42U? Can you sell it and get a smaller one?

However, humidity is a big problem.

Get something with an 8th gen Intel CPU, if it’s only a Nas and a few Dockers without VMs, you can get a G5400. Or an i3 8100 if you want more estate. With the G5400 I was idling 10W on my system, but the i5 8400 I’ve now idle just one watt more, so.

Old Hardware, and very power hungry.

Look for desktop systems from main brands like Lenovo, Dell and HP, go for a G5400 or i3 8100 with 16gb of ram. Those are generally limited on hdd space, so if you need more than 2/3 HDDs, it would be better going DIY.

Nice products for tinkering. I suggest to sell it for a higher price and get proper hw for a Nas.

If you need a lot of VMs, going with an i5 is fine, better a normal one, avoid the F.

Just to say, NAS and docker (even 100), work easy on a dual core or quad core CPU, more is just for the VMs.

I would avoid the Gaming VM and get a Gaming PC. For obvious reason, compatibility, latency, anti-piracy software like Denuvo etc normally don’t like VM etc.

Instead of 4 3TB drives, i would get a single 12TB drive, maybe 2 for parity.

The PSU is overkill, get a 300/400W one.

No need for the GPU, HW transcoding work a ton better with the integrated iGPU, using an external one would be a massive downgrade, of course you need a normal CPU, avoid the F one.

For the sata card, i think an HBA would be better, but i’m not an expert on that.

For Retro stuff, is very good. Like tinkering with old OS, old standard etc.

If only something like a search engine, existed, I could search for a manual. Fuck. What a life.

UDIMM DDR4 2133mhz, memory module from 4,8 and 16GB. Max 64GB. It can support ECC.

Ah, UDIMM is unbuffered DIMM.

Stick with the 16Gb you already have and it’s fine.

Your electricity company loves you.

I have my gaming setup almost always on, like 12 hours a day, in fact I was thinking about getting another Lenovo Tiny and doing a hackintosh, and use it for general purpose like watching anime and browsing, but would be a pain having to share all 3 monitors, keyboard and mouse with two system. So, amen, when I build my next gaming PC, I would remove all RGB and go MITX.

With xeon it is a bit more difficult to have lower power consumption, they aren’t made with power consumption in mind but performance 24/7. But 30/40W I think it’s likely possible. L variant can idle a bit lower but not as good as desktop CPU.

The problem with gaming PCs is that generally they have a lot of RGB, fans and VRM, mine too idle around 80W, even if I tweak it very well, and fun fact I can lower my 9900k to 6W and my 2080 is around 12W, but I’ve 6 fans, RGB on the motherboard and ram, I’ve 32gb of ram too, and my motherboard have tons of VRM for good OC. Not only, I’ve a 850W PSU so the efficiency curve is around 450W, at 60W load the PSU takes 80W from the grid, and generally efficiency is around 80%.

Going for an OS without a UI, no monitor mouse and keyboard. All HDDs idling, I would say less than 20W.

HDDs generally idle at 0,3W, spinning and writing/reading around 6W and from idle to spinning around 12W for a peak.

Very plastic, i would prefer a R6/R7. But nice!