Thanks for that recommendation. Looks like I can get an i5-8400 (8th gen, 6 cores, 35W TDP) on ebay for about the same price (~$80) as an entry level 8th gen i3. The low TDP is a big criteria for me since the server will be running 24/7/365. I have a couple of 4-port SATA expansion cards but Im thinking about upgrading them. Especially since I don’t know how many SATA ports the new motherboard will have.
You’ll be well served by a cheap LSI 9200 series HBA. The cheap 2-port ones like the 9211 can use breakout cables to convert to 8 x SATA3.
Not to get too off-topic but the auto-ripping program I’m working on is sophisticated enough to make it (IMO) worthwhile. After automatically ripping the inserted disc, it (begins automatically transcoding and) goes out to IMDB/TMDB/TVDB/CDDB/Discogs, to find the most likely match. It then scrapes the page to a text file, parses the text file for the title, year, etc. (including a link to the page that was scraped), populates a php page on a local web server, then sends me a push notification with a link to the local php page that gives me the option to select a genre from my preferred list, make any changes (especially on CDs where I’m pretty anal about using e.g. “Tragically Hip, The” over “The Tragically Hip) and/or go to the search page that was used so I can select a different entry. Yes, at some point I’ll need to go and physically swap the disc, but for me, there’s a lot more to ripping a disc than just ripping a disc.
Ah, I had tried some “automated” ripping programs before and found the remaining manual steps didn’t save much time, plus I don’t use any auto-loading optical drives so manually going through options became muscle memory to me.
Same here. I haven’t even considered/looked at Intel CPUs for the last 5 years (Ryzen is just such a great value proposition) but I don’t think AMD has anything that will compete with Intel for performance and TDP (and apparently transcoding, too).
Ryzen isn’t just a value proposition. Ryzen, especially starting with Zen 2, has excellent IPC and perf/watt compared to Intel. That, and I was sick of being stuck on quad core for almost a decade aside from my old Intel XE workstation. Even my first Zen 1 (Ryzen 1700), though IPC didn’t match Intel Skylake derivatives yet at the time (7th gen), the boon to multi-tasking felt amazing. Even for gaming, Ryzen has aged well since many more games are multi-threaded now. Can’t really say the same about 7th/8th gen Intel and prior.
In terms of real wattage used, Ryzen is typically better as well. Intel finally made “TDP” more realistic with 12th gen, but previously let’s say an Intel 65W CPU was definitely not running at 65W most of the time. For all the Skylake derivatives (6th to 10th), Intel was stuck on 14nm and had to crank up the base and boost clock speed quite a bit to try stay relevant, and power usage really showed. The reason why I use Intel for this situation is solely due to QuickSync.
My clients are currently Roku devices but Im planning to upgrade them to those nifty little tubular Nvidia Shields. I’m guessing the Rokus are going to need help from the servers but the Shields won’t. I DO plan to host for friends and family. I think I’ll probably get a cheap Quaddro card.
I would recommend against the non-Pro Shield (the tube one). It doesn’t have enough memory to run properly at anything demanding outside of media playback. The Pro can, though I wonder how it will age as it also has a low amount of memory (though 1GB more) for its horsepower. Getting Shield Pro 2019’s for every TV can quickly get expensive though. The main value is the Shield plays pretty much anything, if your Plex server isn’t running on something powerful enough to transcode, or if you didn’t want to pay for Plex Pass to get transcode capability. Most people who run Shields for Plex are doing so because they are storing the media on servers that can’t transcode well, or at all (most of the bigger Synology units).
How about the Chromecast with Google TV (the newest one)? Mine runs almost anything direct play. I haven’t done a proper comparison on supported formats to see where the CCGTV would not direct play, but my Plex server can transcode anyway. Can play most things, $50 vs $200; it was a no brainer for me.
The main reason I needed transcode capability is for remote clients (hosting for family/friends who don’t live here, and don’t have fast enough internet to direct stream at 75-150 Mbps bitrate). I use an nVidia Quadro P1000 for this, though I’m sure a P400/P620 would be fine too. You can also patch in Linux GTX cards to have unlimited transcode streams. Pascal and up are best. To be completely clear though, even in this case, you probably won’t notice a major difference between QuickSync and nVidia NVENC, thought quality wise NVENC is better than QuickSync.
How about looking into a Lenovo P series Tiny if you don’t mind having your Plex box separate from the storage? My P330 Tiny came with the Quadro P1000, and I snagged it brand new from sitting in an unopened box nearly 2 years for an absolute steal around $550. Many other P series Tiny also come with Quadro. Or you can get a Lenovo M720q/M920q (much cheaper) and use Intel QuickSync.
