Low power headless Plex server

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spankuh

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Aug 29, 2013
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I'd like to build a low power media server to primarily run Plex. It will need to have the ability to transcode multiple streams. I have a Drobo, so the only storage it needs is mainly for the OS and a few other programs. How does this build look?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1xwO2
 
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That looks fine, my only questions would be why you're going for a IVB instead of haswell and going with a xeon without ECC memory and/or a server motherboard. Without ECC memory and a server motherboard i don't see the value of getting the xeon personally.

If it's due to the case size (you must have mini-itx) i can't think of many mini-itx server motherboards. There are plenty of small micro atx cases you could go for that aren't much larger...
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BBCXC

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Jul 6, 2013
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That looks fine, my only questions would be why you're going for a IVB instead of haswell and going with a xeon without ECC memory and/or a server motherboard. Without ECC memory and a server motherboard i don't see the value of getting the xeon personally.

If it's due to the case size (you must have mini-itx) i can't think of many mini-itx server motherboards. There are plenty of small micro atx cases you could go for that aren't much larger.

Another value judgement is whether this is a 24/7 usage scenario and whether it's worth getting a higher efficiency PSU, it really depends on power usage and your cost of electricity.
 
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BBCXC

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Jul 6, 2013
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I'm assuming your budget is ~$600 as that's what your original build was around. What are your expansion requirements and does it have to be small?

I would go with the smallest matx case i could find, a supermicro motherboard, a xeon CPU, ECC memory + PSU.That's if you actually need server functionality like IPMI, hyperthreading and ECC RAM.

If you pay for your own electricity i would check the cost per kwh and figure out whether a platinum PSU over the time frame you own the computer is worth it. This website could help http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_5_6_a

PC part picker sadly doesn't have server parts on it so i'm just going from newegg.

Case: (this supports standard ATX PSU's, there are some other even small matx cases, but they only have flexatx PSU's) If size really isn't an issue i'd go for a tower case and hide it away, they're really cheap.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163174

FIRST CPU/RAM/MOBO combo
CPU: (the IVB model you selected is a little cheaper if you need to save the money, you'd have to find an 1155 motherboard though)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116906
Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182819
RAM: (i only went one stick, but 2 sticks is like $1 extra, plus you have expansion later)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239672

Haswell Xeon CPU+MOBO+RAM = 470 (going IVB saves $40)

Honestly if this is just a home application and uptime isn't critical this is overkill, i doubt you'd need a lot more encoding power, a xeon is a cheap way to get hyperthreading if you're not going to overclock. I'm unsure about the undervolting and underclocking capabilities of the xeons as well, you could make a very low power system that way.

I'd just go for the cheapest quad core haswell i could find. Here's the cheapest build i could come up with (a platinum PSU costs ~$25 more than a gold PSU, could be worth it):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4430 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V200 Series 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone ML03B HTPC Case ($58.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 450W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($67.74 @ Newegg)
Total: $474.69
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-29 22:12 EDT-0400)

 
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spankuh

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Aug 29, 2013
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I don't plan on overclocking and yes, this is for a 24/7 home application. My router is in a media closet and that's where this will go also, so it doesn't need to be a pretty case - but smaller would be better.
 
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conkydoc

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Feb 15, 2010
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Great Discussion. I am in a somewhat similar situation (only difference is that I do not have a Drobo) but am looking for a configuration to support a 24/7 plex media server / family NAS. Planning to use win 8 pro as OS. I was about to buy Haswell i5 when I stumbled upon this discussion.

Can you please educate on benefits and pitfalls of Haswell Xeon vs Haswell i5? I am assuming that it is x86 architecture so it should run win 8 with no issues.

Thanks
 
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