Home Server Hardware Questions

[Zer0Log1c]

I have built/rebuilt my gaming rig four or five times since 2015 but haven't built a dedicated 'server' before. Long term I'd be looking to run a Plex server with two 4k streams, two game servers for friends (probably Palworld and Space Engineers, or similar), Home Assistant, Immich and HexOS. The Home Assistant and Immich services would probably be down the road as they are lower priority, but I'd like to avoid needing a CPU upgrade for this list of services. 

My main burning question are:

1) Would an R9 5900X be overkill or not enough for this type of workload?

2) Would 64GB of RAM be enough? 

3) Would adding a decent dGPU to do some hardware acceleration add much benefit, or are these tasks CPU-dependent exclusively?

 

Thanks in advance for any insights!

[Dylan]

1 hour ago, Zer0Log1c said:

Thanks in advance for any insights!

Hey there. Your CPU is likely okay. But if you found yourself with 2 4k streams AND a game server being run at once that may tax it but that's just my guess. I'd add the GPU if you plan on doing any transcoding and with your work load maybe go to 128GB if you can? So, I don't think you need to throw any money at this up front, I'd run with what you have and see if you're getting bottlenecks anywhere. No sense in spending money "just because" - test it out and see if it works for you and if not, maybe the odd upgrade here or there gets you where you want to be.

Good luck!

[Zer0Log1c]

8 minutes ago, Dylan said:

Hey there. Your CPU is likely okay. But if you found yourself with 2 4k streams AND a game server being run at once that may tax it but that's just my guess. I'd add the GPU if you plan on doing any transcoding and with your work load maybe go to 128GB if you can? So, I don't think you need to throw any money at this up front, I'd run with what you have and see if you're getting bottlenecks anywhere. No sense in spending money "just because" - test it out and see if it works for you and if not, maybe the odd upgrade here or there gets you where you want to be.

Good luck!

Ok, thanks for the sanity check. I figured the 5900X should be able to handle a fair bit given the higher clocks (vs proper server CPUs) and moderately high core count but really appreciate the sounding board since I wasn't entirely sure what to expect the Plex and HexOS loads to look like. 

I'll jump it to 128GB of RAM for good measure then. I was already going to be upgrading the RAM for the rig since I knew the 16 GB I had for that gaming rig was going to fall short, but wasn't sure if it would be best to go to 128 GB right away or to attempt 64 GB. 

I appreciate you weighing in!

[Zer0Log1c]

I wanted to follow up with a little additional research I've done. It looks like (for now at least) the Intel Arc A310 dGPU would be a solid upgrade for a Plex setup that doesn't already have an Intel iGPU onboard. Especially since it has some "low profile" single-height cooler designs and only needs PCIe slot power for at least some of the variations on market.

Currently, Arc A310 cards are selling for around the $115 price point on Ebay. So this will be my backup plan if I do run into a situation where my Plex performance is hampered from other tasks that the server is performing. 

[Qbert]

What Dylan said, your biggest limitation with your server will be the CPU, See plexes guide on the recommended CPU. It should be fine for just 2 4k streams but don't quote me on that lmao. 

If I remember correctly—and I might be wrong—certain GPUs are significantly better at transcoding than others, so I would look into it. 

Plex Guide to CPUs for their servers

[Zer0Log1c]

1 hour ago, Qbert said:

Plex Guide to CPUs for their servers

This is perfect! LOVE that they equated rough performance required to a PassMark score!!

Looks like two 4K HDR streams would be about 85% load (estimated) from their numbers. Guessing I might go reaching for that A310 sooner than later haha. Regardless, glad to see that the two 4K streams that are my priority 'active' load don't immediately stretch beyond the 5900X's capabilities.

[Mobius]

one thing to keep in mind is that installing hexos without a gpu for video out will likely be annoying.
sticking a gpu into the machine just for the install would be the easiest solution if you had one lying around or in a system you can take out of.

[Zer0Log1c]

8 minutes ago, Mobius said:

one thing to keep in mind is that installing hexos without a gpu for video out will likely be annoying.
sticking a gpu into the machine just for the install would be the easiest solution if you had one lying around or in a system you can take out of.

I don't remember the specific model since it's been collecting dust for years, but I think I've got an R5 220 or something like that laying around that I'm planning to plant in the HexOS box. If push really comes to shove and the old monitor driving GPU isn't cooperating I'll throw my gaming GPU into it until I can get it set up for remote access. 

Truthfully, I kind of expect myself to pick up an Arc A310 (or some other Arc GPU) middle of next year to off-load some of the encoding work. 

[Mobius]

quick sync from the a310 will be a great help for sure