Build’s Name: T5610
Operating System/ Storage Platform: Windows 10
CPU: Dual Intel Xeon e5-2643 v2 @ 3.5GHz
Motherboard: Stock T5610
Chassis: Dell Precision T5610
Drives: Samsung 950 Pro M.2 512gb
RAM: 64GB
Add-in Cards: 8GB PNY GeForce GTX 1070 XLR8 , Dell H310 6Gbps SAS HBA w/ LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode, Creative SoundBlaster Z card
Power Supply: Dell 685w 80 Plus Gold
Other Bits:
Usage Profile: Plex Server
Other information…
Kenuco 12U open frame rack
Dell Powervault MD1200 DAS with 2- 600w PSU's, PERC 800 with 2 EMM's
APC UPS 2U Battery Backup
Cyberpower 1U 14 Outlet Surge Protector
I recently moved and am paying a lot more for electricity. Size, heat, sound are also now an issue. I need to firstly reduce electricity usage, get something smaller, lighter and generate a lot less heat. So I started researching a little bit and found out that a good older option might be the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90q. I had looked at the P340, 350, Elite 800, 600, but nothing was within my budget. Looking to get an Intel processor with the newest generation processor I can afford with newest QSV. My current setup the workstation uses 155w and the diskshelf uses 95w. These are at idle, not sure at load with the 4-6 concurrent users streaming. 90% 1080p content with the rest in 4k Movies. Trying to get out for under $300 since I spent more than I wanted when I first build the plex server and now I can't use it. It looks like for this M90q I would need to buy a pci riser to be able to use my SAS card, but it won't fit, so I'm going to have to get another smaller one like the IBM 81Y4494 H1110 SAS-2 6Gbps HBA LSI 9211-4i P20 IT Mode. If i can't get my current SFF-8087 to 8088 cable to work I'll get another one with a 90 degree to fit in the case. Is the M90q still the best bang for the buck for it's age, price, value and my needs? Or is there something better, cheaper or even AMD route that I can get into to achieve my goals? Or should I look at something like a P340, P350 because of the SFF and already available pci slots that I can just drop in my HBA card into?
Operating System/ Storage Platform: Windows 10
CPU: Dual Intel Xeon e5-2643 v2 @ 3.5GHz
Motherboard: Stock T5610
Chassis: Dell Precision T5610
Drives: Samsung 950 Pro M.2 512gb
RAM: 64GB
Add-in Cards: 8GB PNY GeForce GTX 1070 XLR8 , Dell H310 6Gbps SAS HBA w/ LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode, Creative SoundBlaster Z card
Power Supply: Dell 685w 80 Plus Gold
Other Bits:
Usage Profile: Plex Server
Other information…
Kenuco 12U open frame rack
Dell Powervault MD1200 DAS with 2- 600w PSU's, PERC 800 with 2 EMM's
APC UPS 2U Battery Backup
Cyberpower 1U 14 Outlet Surge Protector
I recently moved and am paying a lot more for electricity. Size, heat, sound are also now an issue. I need to firstly reduce electricity usage, get something smaller, lighter and generate a lot less heat. So I started researching a little bit and found out that a good older option might be the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90q. I had looked at the P340, 350, Elite 800, 600, but nothing was within my budget. Looking to get an Intel processor with the newest generation processor I can afford with newest QSV. My current setup the workstation uses 155w and the diskshelf uses 95w. These are at idle, not sure at load with the 4-6 concurrent users streaming. 90% 1080p content with the rest in 4k Movies. Trying to get out for under $300 since I spent more than I wanted when I first build the plex server and now I can't use it. It looks like for this M90q I would need to buy a pci riser to be able to use my SAS card, but it won't fit, so I'm going to have to get another smaller one like the IBM 81Y4494 H1110 SAS-2 6Gbps HBA LSI 9211-4i P20 IT Mode. If i can't get my current SFF-8087 to 8088 cable to work I'll get another one with a 90 degree to fit in the case. Is the M90q still the best bang for the buck for it's age, price, value and my needs? Or is there something better, cheaper or even AMD route that I can get into to achieve my goals? Or should I look at something like a P340, P350 because of the SFF and already available pci slots that I can just drop in my HBA card into?
Last edited: