I have been doing a lot of research on various server hardware and OS’s. I was curious if anyone here has used the new LGA1200 Intel Xeon Home Server/Workstation W-Series CPUs. Here is the list and some basic specs.
Not the cheapest CPUs to go with, and have overall higher TDP than Core i-Series chips but they all have IGPU P630 and support Unbufferred ECC DDR4 up to 2933Mhz. Chips are locked but have decent turbo frequency. I do not know what kind of Passmark Scores these Xeons get, but I presume that they would be as good as Core processores. I am going to buy one and see how well it actually works for Plex. I am not sure what OS I will be using, but may run benchmarks with multiple setups just to gather more information for anyone intrested. I will put my build log somewhere as well. If you are currently using, or plan to use a new Xeon W processor, let me know. I am curious how yours is working and why you decided to go the route you did. Like always, thank you all for your input and advice.
I have no idea why it did not show up when I checked last time. Thanks!!! Those listed prices on Passmark however, are not close to what the actual price to buy one of these CPUs right now.
WHOA is right. that is a monster CPU.
If that is a dedicated Plex server, you could stream to the whole neighborhood and do all the transcoding / subtitle burning.
The danger with that is it easily could look like an unauthorized commercial use and get you in trouble.
I decided to go with the Xeon W-1290P because I plan on using the server for more than just Plex. I don’t know exactly what that will be yet, but hey. I can also use this system for gaming, not that I do much of that either. The board is a Gigabyte W480 Vision W, 32GB DDR4 2933 ECC Kingston RAM (2x 16GB), MSI RTX 2070, 5x 4TB HGST Enterprise drives, 2x 6TB HGST Enterprise drives for dual parity, 2x 512GB M.2 PCIe drives, one for cache one for other OS boots, frequently used apps, etc. Plan to use Unraid but have never used it for anything and know nothing about it at all right now. I am getting the Plex Pass this week, then will start building when CPU arrives next week. The thing is, I have no idea what I need to do first, as far as software goes. Do I boot to Unraid and set that up, then install Plex Media Server to Unraid? Do I use Windows or Linux then install Unraid and Plex? I am lost when it comes to Plex setup, dockers, etc. I have read the start-up guides but I still find myself confused as to what to do first. Ultimatley I want to be able to burn all my media to the server, get rid of boxes and boxes of DVDs, DVR live TV from a tuner or something, use server as my DVR for my security cameras (maybe). I thought about running this as a headless setup but not sure I want to do that. I like the idea of having it connected directly to my Denon receiver and TV so that I can game and use it for Netflix, Hulu and Amazon…if I keep those services now. Any advice on how to get up and running would be greatly appreciated. If you have some ideas on what else I can use this server for, please let me know.
It can be hard to know what to do, when you aren’t sure what the options are, or what you’re going to enjoy and care about. That’s part of the fun, too.
You might build it and turn it on before you decide to run it headless or not. It might be loud and obnoxious enough that you don’t want it in the living room or at a desk.
If you want to run it headless, and have been thinking about Unraid, then install Unraid first. You’ll install the Unraid Community Plugin and use that to install the Plex Docker machine image.
If you don’t want to run it headless, there are a few options.
One is that you could just run Windows. Plex works great in Windows, and so does basically everything else. It’s the easiest and best option for gaming. And if you want, you can still run Docker and other virtual machines. Using Windows doesn’t really prevent you from doing much.
Another is that you could run Unraid, run Plex in a Docker machine, and then install and run Windows in another Virtual Machine. I haven’t done this with Unraid, but it can be given direct access to your graphics hardware, and can be fast enough for gaming. It’s something Unraid advertises and there are good guides for it. But it’s more complicated and might be more “fragile” overall.
That’s good advice if you want something that’s reliable or available when you need it to be. If you make Plex available to other people, use it for your business, or need to do homework with it, make sure it’s absolutely boring.
To some degree, I want my Plex Server to be boring. If I want to watch TV, I want to watch TV, dammit. Not fight with drivers or install updates.
But if you want to learn new stuff, then try things. Plan to redo it. Break it. No better way.
This info will help a lot in deciding what it is I want to do vs what I need to do. I want to turn on my TV and just watch, not muck around with a bunch of stuff first. I did build in a case that allows for both rack mount or for keeping server next to tv. I used the Silverstone GDO8 and have the rails/ears just in case. Not the easiest case to cable manage nor install 7 hard drives. I had to drill out some of the mounting holes as well as do a few more minor mods. Managed to fit 4x 120mm and 2 80mm Noctua fans that are controlled via motherboards PWM fan headers and will be set to slowly ramp up as temps increase. I hope that this will help move a lot of air without ever having to be full on, making a lot of noise. If it is in my rack, I don’t care how loud it is, but in living room, loud fans are a no go. I read a few articles about people using a Rasberry Pi connected to PMS, which constantly sends wake on lan packets to keep the server up even after a temporary power loss. A Pi would stay on using a UPS for ever so I might add something like this to the overall project too. The biggest reason I am doing all of this though, is to simply give myself a project so that I can keep my mind occupied. I deal with a lot of depression. College has been my means to keep myself busy and to force me to socialize. With COVID and a suicide attempt several months ago, I have had to take time off from grad school. This has left me with nothing but time on my hands. I am not the kind of person that can do nothing and be okay with it. This project, more than anything, gives me something to do while college classes pick back up this semester. These forums allow me some connection to the world which also helps a lot. I know that this is way beyond Plex talk, but I wanted to say thanks to those that respond to my questions/posts. It really makes me smile to know that people are all in all good and willing to take the time to provide assistance to others when they need it. So, thank you everyone. I can’t wait to get my last few parts and start playing with my shiny new server.
