upgrade form a microserver to.....? (for plex, media, mc server and file serving)

Aikon359 · 21 Jul 2012 at 23:13

Evenin all!

I am currently running a hp microserver (nl36) with 8gb ram and a 5450 512mb gfx card (plus a ton of hdds but all assorted).

my issue is that i currently put this lil monster through its paces big time, and its starting to struggle a little. this is what it currently has to contend with:

-plex server - 1080p video, music and all that jazz
-splashtop remote server
-air video server
-itunes server
-works as a file server for 3 pcs and an arcade machine (rom storage)
-and a minecraft server with 5-10 users
- torrenting for tv episodes
- will eventually want it to do a bit of 3d rendering in the background while at work but only a possibility)

im pretty sure i am kinda stressing the balls off the poor lil thing so am going to upgrade. here are my 2 options (i already have psu, case, 8gb ram, hdds, O.S)

1:
amd a8 3870k quad core apu with built in 6550 gfx
Asrock A75M A75 Socket FM1 7.1 Channel HD Audio mATX Motherboard

2:
Intel Core i3 2120 cpu with built in hd2000 gfx (i think)
Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H-USB3 H61 Socket 1155 7.1 Channel HD Audio mATX Motherboard

i honestly do not know whats going to be the best option. i know i am going to be pitting the amd vs intel camps against each other here but i really want something thats going to be really energy efficient when idle (when im at work or asleep as this will be on 24/7) but will be able to multi task really really well!

so what do you all think? 2 cores intel - better performance per clock, or 4 cores amd - possibly better multitasking and better igpu?

theyre both exactly the same price where im getting them from so its down to what is gonna be best at transcoding/multitasking/be efficient when idle.

thanks all!!!! (ps, hoping to order in the next 24 hrs lol)

Aikon359 · 22 Jul 2012 at 00:10

thats a damned fine idea actually!. might invest in a nice sf2100 ssd for all the main system files and the mc server. like it.

and cheers for the reply leezer ;-)

. think it will have to be the amd then! (and i think theyre generally better for media oriented duties anyways ;-)

.

Aikon359 · 24 Jul 2012 at 22:30

i wish i could have gone for the ml110... thats a lil beaut.

my finances were just a bit tight and i had a budget of £200.00 (had the ram already)

if the cashback deal was instant, i would have jumped for it and saved up fer some ecc ram.

kinda just bad timing i guess..

went for the i3 2120 in the end after checking out the power consumption of both chips.

whats the power consumption on the ml110 when running all the time? my newly built server idles as 62watts with 5 sata drives, 8gb ram and a 5450 in it coupled with the i3 2120.

would be interesting to see what kinda juice the hp sucks!

Aikon359 · 25 Jul 2012 at 19:42

i wouldnt worry blueacid, i had already identified why the microserver was struggling anyway.

the 1.3ghz dual core amd nl36 cpu simply isnt cut out for simoultaneously transcoding a 12gb 1080p mkv, running a minecraft server with 10 users, running as a file server for 4 pcs and an itunes server sitting in the background. with plex alone, the cpu maxed at 100% (which plex does with any cpu) but the chip couldnt keep up with the other end. (ie: it woudl take 30 seconds to transcode a 20 second chunk of video).

since the 2120 has been put in, i can actually do all the above and transcode 2 1080p streams to 2 different devices simoultaneously and the system loves it.