Refreshing core of a 2016 Broadwell server

[Reider]

Hi all,

I have had this server since 2016, with the only addition being a cheap 2nd hand Intel Xeon E5-2697A V4. I'm looking at refreshing this machine with a new Motherboard, CPU and RAM (storage at a later date) to get onto a modern platform as well as opening up options for more modern storage running on NVME.

The machine runs Proxmox as its hypervisor:
My current system
CPU: E5-2697A V4 (2.6Ghz, 16c/32t)
RAM: 128GB 2133Mhz
Motherboard: X10SRL-F
SSD: 1TB Samsung 840 Pro
SSD: 1TB Samsung 840 Pro
HDD: 4x 6TB Ironwolf Pro
NIC: i350-T4, 4 port NIC - in an LACP team
PSU: Seasonic Focus Gold 550w

VMs

• VM running Containers (8c, 16GB RAM)
• VM running Graylog (6c, 16GB RAM)
• VM running SQL backup software: MariaDB, postgresSQL (2c, 4GB RAM )
• VM running Email archival software (2c, 4GB RAM)
• VM running Nextcloud (4c, 4GB RAM)
• VM running Ansible deployment server (2c, 4GB RAM)
• VM running NAS (2c, 4GB RAM)
• VM running Bitcoin verification node (2c, 4GB RAM)
• VM running Litecoin verification node (2c, 4GB RAM)
• VM running Passbolt (2c, 4GB)

In addition to this I might spin up somewhere between 2/4 VMs to test out various products. But those days are few and far between and the system with it's current workload sits more or less idle. The only time it get's to sweat the CPU is if I have to transcode something on Jellyfin or Graylog gets a log storm of some kind.

(Backup: All of this gets backed up nightly to a separate system running Proxmox Backup Server)

Possibilities
Considering my workload isn't that CPU intensive I'm open to moving to a lower core count and possibly a more energy friendly CPU. Although I'd still like 128Gb RAM to give me the possibility to expand and play with technology which I like to do on occasion.

CPUs
I'm considering the following part: AMD EPYC 7232P Rome UP - 8-Core 3.10GHz 32MB 120W
Unfortunately the higher end 8 cores are unavailable in my country (AMD EPYC 7252/7262). The 32MB cache might not be such a problem, but I would have liked to get the CPUs with 64MB cache instead.

The only other alternatives that are available are the following, I can afford them, but I think they will be overkill for my workload that sits Idle on a 6 year old 16c CPU.

• AMD EPYC 7302P Rome UP - 16-Core 3.00GHz 128MB 155W
• AMD EPYC 7313P Milan UP - 16-Core 3.00GHz 128MB SP3 155W

I'd pair that with a Supermicro H12SSL-I and 8x 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz modules


Question: Given the workload described above, would a AMD EPYC 7232P 8c/16t suffice? Is there any merit to moving up to a Rome or Milan 16 core?

Thanks in advance

Edit: reading this review, https://www.servethehome.com/amd-epyc-7232p-review-hard-to-buy-but-solid-part/3/ it seems like the EPYC 7302P is more "bang for buck".
7302P = ~$700USD (converted)
7232P = ~$400USD (converted)

 

[zer0sum]

If it's mostly idle what benefit is there to going with a newer CPU?

Idle power consumption is going to take a looong time to recover the cost of the upgrades.

If you need NVME have you considered just adding PCIe cards that can take 2-4 NVME drives?
The X10SRL has plenty of PCIe slots and you should be able to load it up easily enough

 

[unwind-protect]

Yeah, I think the only improvement you would see with those ROME CPUs is slightly lower idle. But with all the stuff you have attached to it it won't make a big difference. The faster RAM is also unlikely to make a noticeable difference.

The money might be better invested in more RAM and as said PCIe cards for NVMe.

 

[Reider]

Sometimes you just need to get your thoughts on paper, so someone else can point you in the right direction .

I got blinded by not having NVMe on the motherboard and not having PCIe 4.0 connectivity. But obviously I have globs of PCIe slots, so I can make use of them. PCIe 4.0 is fast, but PCIe 3.0 NVME is lightning quick compared to the SATA SSD's I have now.

I'm looking at consolidating storage, maybe moving to a few NVMe disks rather than the SSD and HDDs I have today (selling off those). So I'll have a look at my options for PCIe cards and work from there.