I've been using Unraid for quite a few years, running a couple of HP Microservers (Gen 7, N54L). It's got to the stage where basic tasks see the CPU pinned to 100%, and I've reached the point I want to start running a Windows VM or two alongside Plex and my usual file server usage. I'm not planning on gaming, so I don't need a particularly powerful machine. I'll be moving my current HDDs over.
With energy prices doubling (soon to be tripling?!?) I'm thinking about trying to be as power-efficient as possible. With this in mind I'm not sure whether Intel gen 10/11/12 is better. I've drawn up the following spec list and wanted to check whether anyone had any views on any improvements before I make the purchase:
Intel Core i3 10105 Comet Lake CPU
ASUS Prime B560M-A Intel Socket 1200 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) Memory Kit PC4-28800 3600 DDR4 DIMM C18
Samsung 980 1TB Internal SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 x4 NVME
Fractal Design Meshify 2 Mid Tower E-ATX Case
Corsair RM750 RMx Series 750W Fully Modular PSU (80 PLUS Gold)
Key questions I have are:
- could using an 11th or 12th gen CPU lead to greater power efficiency, particularly at idle?
- is it worth speccing 32GB rather than 16GB for my intended usage?
- is it worth speccing an i5 rather than an i3? are there any downsides other than purchase cost?
- is there any benefit in specifying a smaller PSU, i.e. for greater efficiency?
With energy prices doubling (soon to be tripling?!?) I'm thinking about trying to be as power-efficient as possible. With this in mind I'm not sure whether Intel gen 10/11/12 is better. I've drawn up the following spec list and wanted to check whether anyone had any views on any improvements before I make the purchase:
Intel Core i3 10105 Comet Lake CPU
ASUS Prime B560M-A Intel Socket 1200 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) Memory Kit PC4-28800 3600 DDR4 DIMM C18
Samsung 980 1TB Internal SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 x4 NVME
Fractal Design Meshify 2 Mid Tower E-ATX Case
Corsair RM750 RMx Series 750W Fully Modular PSU (80 PLUS Gold)
Key questions I have are:
- could using an 11th or 12th gen CPU lead to greater power efficiency, particularly at idle?
- is it worth speccing 32GB rather than 16GB for my intended usage?
- is it worth speccing an i5 rather than an i3? are there any downsides other than purchase cost?
- is there any benefit in specifying a smaller PSU, i.e. for greater efficiency?