New server build, still using x1800

[4Qman]

Hi, I have been using my ryzen x1800 since launch on the itachi board. its been running unraid as a plex machine, NAS only. I want to upgrade, something more efficient. Is there a preferred setup, intel, amd? Id appreaite any advice, and some parts to consider.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Tetras]

something more efficient

At idle, or under load?

How much is the graphics card used?

You could drop the idle by replacing the 1800X with integrated graphics like a 5600G, but that might be an issue if it can't encode/decode what you're using.

 

[Bluecube]

Unraid is very forgiving of hardware changes so you're off to a good start. Just keep all your hard drives for your new machine before swapping any out as Unraid doesn't like hard drives being changed without its knowledge.

In relation to hardware if this is just Unraid running Plex and a few dockers then the big question is whether you're transcoding or not. In an ideal world your video files won't be transcoded and you can get away with a low end AMD/ Intel CPU. Transcoding and everyone jumps in saying an Intel with iGPU is a necessity.

EDIT: The Ryzen 1800 is getting on a bit now so just about any modern CPU will run rings round it in terms of speed and efficiency. I'd personally be looking at a four or six core CPU. I'm not sure what generation of CPUs your motherboard can be upgraded to. I know it'll take second gen Ryzens as I did a similar upgrade a few years back. Might even go up to third gen?

 

[Armageus]

Should be able to drop in a more modern, and power efficient Ryzen 5xxx series depending on what board you have. Turn ECO mode on as well, and the 65W TDP drops to 45W (vs the 95W TDP of your 1800X).

As @Tetras has said though, it will depend what media you are serving via Plex/what clients you are using, as transcoding via software with the CPU is more power hungry than GPU acceleration. Presumably you already have a GPU of some sort, so it may be that changing that to something more power efficient is also an option (e.g. Nvidia Quadro or Intel ARC, purely for transcoding)


My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5500 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3D3-AM) = £61.99

Total: £65.99 (includes delivery: £3.99)​

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and 5500 Review: Firing Back at Alder Lake

Zen 3 gets cheap

www.tomshardware.com

If building new, then an Intel build is generally preferred for iGPU accelerated Transcoding.
However, even with big energy efficiency savings, it takes a long time to payback the cost of new hardware - so don't fall into the trap of thinking that you need to buy new hardware because your current stuff is old/inefficient.