I need help choosing the right CPU for my needs

[Conky]

This will be my first attempt at building a NAS or server but I'm very excited to get into it, I want to be able to run a plex server that can host 2-3 4k transcodes at the same time, and I also want the ability to run a game server from it as well (minecraft or palworld etc) my first thought for a CPU is a  i7-14700K which i would think would meet the needs fine but is it overkill?

 

My plan currently is no gpu since ill have hardware encoding with the CPU and hexos doesnt support gpu encoding currently anyways, 32gb of ram, and start with 1TB nvme boot drive and 16TB of HDD

 

Thanks for the help!

[Mobius]

Intel 13&14th gen are trash that still have reports of instability. Intel keeps saying they fixed it but i wouldn't risk it.

You either go 12th gen and older or skip to the ultra 200s

I would go as low as the 12500 since it uses the same igpu as the 14900k. 

Keep in mind that you would be better off making sure that the client side doesn't need transcoding imo

Go with a smaller, cheaper boot drive since hexos uses less than 16gb of data and you cannot access the rest of the unused storage.

Minimum 2 drives mirrorred is required for a storage pool at this time. However if you make a 3 drive storage pool, the ability to expand your pool later with more drives gets enabled.

[Sonic]

How important is energy usage?
The i7-14700K is certainly overkill. You might want to consider some interesting NAS devices that are coming to market soon. For example, check out this video on YouTube (Nascompares). On Nascompares, you can also find guides for installing TrueNAS (and therefore HexOS) on devices like Ugreen, QNAP, and TerraMaster. The advantage is that you get a compact system with everything you need built in.

Of course, you can also build your own. In terms of processors, Intel has been better suited for transcoding in recent years. I'm not sure how the latest-gen AMD Ryzen processors compare. On Reddit, I came across a few reviews suggesting that an Intel N305 is already capable of 4K transcoding (though I don’t have personal experience with it). The N305 is also quite energy-efficient.

On YouTube, you can find plenty of reviews on Homelab Plex servers. This one by Techno Tim is worth a look: Techno Tim’s review.

[Dylan]

I've been pleased with THIS DEVICE so far, though I did upgrade the RAM to 32GB and I'd wager 2-3 4K transocdes would bog the system down. That vendor also sells a version with a higher spec'd AMD CPU.

[Conky]

Thank you all for your responses, the main reason I want to build my own machine is I want a machine that is capable of hosting game servers as well and while I have no experience in it, I've been told you need a pretty fast CPU to do that well. 

I came up with this list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/j4CTrM

it's using 12700K based on Mobius's recommendation, and has 3 HDD so I can expand in the future.

I don't really know how much storage I'll need but i do want to have a fairly comprehensive library of Linux distros and releases so I figure cry now and go for the big drives. 

 

P.S. does it even make sense to try to run a HEX OS NAS and other functions like a game server on the same machine? seems like it should be okay but i dont know the first thing about any of this yet.

[Sonic]

Pretty fast CPU generally means fast single-core performance for most games. There are exceptions, but in most cases, multi-core performance isn't that relevant.

Whether you can combine HexOS with a Minecraft or Palworld game server strongly depends on the number of concurrent users. Looking at the minimum specifications for Palworld (see below), you should easily be able to run HexOS on the same machine for up to 8 players.

Minimum System Requirements:

• 1–8 players:
  • CPU: 4 cores @ high frequency
  • RAM: 16GB (10–15 players) + 1GB for each additional player
  • Storage: 30 GB SSD

Looking at your list on PCPartPicker, you can build a great server with those components and gain valuable experience. Personally, I think this configuration might be overkill. A (home) server is idle most of the time. Also, is noise a concern? IronWolf Pro drives are quite noisy. If the server will be in the garage, that's not an issue, but in a bedroom, it could be a problem.

Do you already know which operating system you'll use?

[Mobius]

3 hours ago, Conky said:

Thank you all for your responses, the main reason I want to build my own machine is I want a machine that is capable of hosting game servers as well and while I have no experience in it, I've been told you need a pretty fast CPU to do that well. 

I came up with this list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/j4CTrM

it's using 12700K based on Mobius's recommendation, and has 3 HDD so I can expand in the future.

I don't really know how much storage I'll need but i do want to have a fairly comprehensive library of Linux distros and releases so I figure cry now and go for the big drives. 

 

P.S. does it even make sense to try to run a HEX OS NAS and other functions like a game server on the same machine? seems like it should be okay but i dont know the first thing about any of this yet.

I would probably swap out the case for a cheaper one like the cooler Master n400 or their qube 500 and then either pocket the savings or use it for more RAM. 

Also consider spending a $5 more on a thermalright peerless assassin 120 se since it's a better performing and quieter cooler.

The off chance you live near a microcenter they have a $400 12900k + mobo + 32gb ram bundle or a $280 12700k bundle but with only 16gb ram

[Conky]

22 hours ago, Sonic said:

Looking at your list on PCPartPicker, you can build a great server with those components and gain valuable experience. Personally, I think this configuration might be overkill. A (home) server is idle most of the time. Also, is noise a concern? IronWolf Pro drives are quite noisy. If the server will be in the garage, that's not an issue, but in a bedroom, it could be a problem.

Do you already know which operating system you'll use?

Noise is a minor concern, the machine will be in the basement about about 15 feet away from my gaming PC, i don't want it to be loud per say, but it doesn't have to be completely silent either.

Forgive my ignorance but isnt HEX OS my operating system? do i run another OS on top of that for my other functionality in a VM or something? and if that is the case do i need a second SSD for that OS?  (I would probably try to run Ubuntu)

 

20 hours ago, Mobius said:

I would probably swap out the case for a cheaper one like the cooler Master n400 or their qube 500 and then either pocket the savings or use it for more RAM. 

Also consider spending a $5 more on a thermalright peerless assassin 120 se since it's a better performing and quieter cooler.

The off chance you live near a microcenter they have a $400 12900k + mobo + 32gb ram bundle or a $280 12700k bundle but with only 16gb ram

that sounds really good but sadly no microcenters in washington state yet 😞
I will definitely make the suggested changes though

[Mobius]

4 minutes ago, Conky said:

Noise is a minor concern, the machine will be in the basement about about 15 feet away from my gaming PC, i don't want it to be loud per say, but it doesn't have to be completely silent either.

Forgive my ignorance but isnt HEX OS my operating system? do i run another OS on top of that for my other functionality in a VM or something? and if that is the case do i need a second SSD for that OS?  (I would probably try to run Ubuntu)

 

that sounds really good but sadly no microcenters in washington state yet 😞
I will definitely make the suggested changes though

Hexos is indeed your os but you also have the option to have your main OS be proxmox with a hexos vm inside of it.
proxmox is an os that in general works better with vms.

I do hope for a day everyone has a microcenter accessible to them.

[ubergeek]

I dont know your needs but this is whats running my NAS. 15 4tb drives rtx 2060