Question Will $100 CPU boost my LGA 1155 system enough for a media server?

[gggirlgeek]

My old "Mr. SmartyPants", listed below, needs a boost. I'm using it as a Plex server (serving 2 shows at a time max), and 24-7 torrenting, and as a home theater system for the living room. It also stores all of our files with 5 HDDs. I am running Plex in Win10. I don't feel like messing with Linux even though I could get better performance, I know.

The CPU often runs at 100% when Plex is scanning; 40% when Qbittorrent is downloading alone. Firefox often runs it at 60%+. Temps stay in the 50s and 60s under load though -- 40's at idle. I don't have any problems with videos stuttering (but 4K is not possible. I use my Firestick for that.) Firefox is nice and fast. Windows Indexing can hog resources (20-40%) but it is required for Drivepool.

Would upgrading the CPU to something like this i5 for around $100 give me the boost I need to run Plex scans and Qbittorrent faster? Would I need a new PSU? Not having any issues with the old PSU now. I can't see any reason to get rid of my old baby if any other living room file/media sever hardware would cost a lot more than $100.

Also, is Win11 more efficient as a server? I prefer Win10 but if Win11 would help I can install it. Linux doesn't work for my needs.

 

[Eximo]

Don't buy it new.

i7-3770 can be had for as low as $25.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...sacat=0&_sop=15&rt=nc&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1

Windows 11 has no advantage for an older system, probably slower actually.

 

[USAFRet]

Ignore Win 11. There is NO performance benefit vs 10.

And you'd basically need a new system for native Win 11 compatibility.


Yes, a compatible i5 or i7 would work better than your current G860.
i7-3770

P8Z68-V LE - Support

www.asus.com

 

[geofelt]

Your G860 has 2 processing threads and a passmark rating of 1451. That is when both threads are fully loaded.
The single thread rating is 1394.

Yes, the I5-3450S would be a nice upgrade.
It has 4 threads and a rating of 4264/1851.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-3450S+@+2.80GHz&id=821

You should know that the 3450S is a low power version of the i5-3450 and is not quite as fast.
You should be able to buy either on ebay for $20 or so.
Here is a list of the processors your motherboard will support:

P8Z68-V LE - Support

www.asus.com

The strongest will be a I7-3770K with 8 threads and a rating of 6458/2079.
Looks to sell for $75 on ebay.

 

[Cyberat_88]

You need the better PSU for the mechanical drives, not cpu in particular but not excluded, 500W was sooo.... 1990s.

 

[geofelt]

Antec made decent power supplies.
I would not change it out.
430w should be sufficient.
A HDD may take 10w(x5), the gpu runs on slot power(75w max)
Even a 3770K has a tdp of only 77w.

 

[gggirlgeek]

LOL, @Cyberat_88 ! I hope you mean because 500w is a lot?? From my recent research most AMD GPU's are requiring much lower power than 10 years ago when 1200w PSU was a bragging point.

Now I am a little embarrassed to admit I just bought a 750w PSU to go with my hubbie's new RTX-3060ti. If I had gone with AMD I would have stuck with 400ish watts.

But that's off-topic. My 9-year-old Plex server is old school. So I don't know if it's old-gen, higher-end cpu's require more than my PSU can handle. I won't be adding my HDD's because the chassis is maxed out, but I might move 1 or 2 over to my husband's new gaming build. I will eventually need more storage so I'll probably spend another $100 on 8-12TB around black Friday.

 

[gggirlgeek]

@geofelt
Sooooo would an i7-3770(x) give me real-world results when serving up videos and scanning Plex data -- $75 worth of results as apposed to $25 or $50 for a more modest i5-3450S? (I will not be overclocking. That would just be silly.... so no "K's" needed.)

 

[Cyberat_88]

K is not just for overclocking, FYI, it unlocks Bios features you otherwise cannot touch.

 

[KyaraM]

LOL, @Cyberat_88 ! I hope you mean because 500w is a lot?? From my recent research most AMD GPU's are requiring much lower power than 10 years ago when 1200w PSU was a bragging point.

Now I am a little embarrassed to admit I just bought a 750w PSU to go with my hubbie's new RTX-3060ti. If I had gone with AMD I would have stuck with 400ish watts.

But that's off-topic. My 9-year-old Plex server is old school. So I don't know if it's old-gen, higher-end cpu's require more than my PSU can handle. I won't be adding my HDD's because the chassis is maxed out, but I might move 1 or 2 over to my husband's new gaming build. I will eventually need more storage so I'll probably spend another $100 on 8-12TB around black Friday.

Even for a 3060Ti you don't need 750W, whoever told you that lied to you. 600W-650W should be fine. My 3070Ti runs on that, and it draws quite a bit more. Heck, even a 3080 would likely still run on it, though it starts to be a stretch at that point. And no. An AMD card would likely still need more than 400W. More like 550-600W.

You are correct that your server doesn't need that much power, though. Your old PSU will be fine. Just ignore that guy. About the performance difference... no idea. Probably you will notice a difference, yes, but how much? No idea.

 

[geofelt]

I suspect that a server is going to be able to run several tasks at once.
To that end, an upgrade from your current 2 threads is going to be a good thing.
You ask about a i7-3770(x)
You might look for a i7-3770 vs. a i7-3770K.
The 3770K sells for more because it can be overclocked.
And, the K version has a base 3.5 clock vs. 3.4 Otherwise, it is essentially similar to the 3770 with 8 threads.
A quick look on ebay suggests a i7-3770 would sell for about $40.
A good deal for you, I think.
As to win 11, it is probably a moot point.
W11 is supported only on more current gen processors;
8th gen or higher.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000087875/processors.html
There are bypasses, but, to my knowledge there is no benefit from 11 vs. 10 for your system.

 

[Karadjgne]

There's a reason servers used Xeons. Speed per core wasn't nearly as important as having bandwidth, which means more cores. Servers aren't gaming machines, just the opposite. Games concentrate on single file push through with priority given to the game and getting it on screen, so even a dual core cpu was generally enough for the older stuff. Everything running through the Master thread.

Servers have a variable priority that is constantly shifting, depending on what's coming in and going out. So when torrenting, that can be pushed to lower priority as it'll be pretty much ignored as a constant thread use by itself. Priority shifting to a different thread when you hit playback button on a movie, start a different download etc.

With the dual core, you are changing that, making it try and act as a server cpu, changing priorities so each gets a turn at going through just 2 threads, any extra bandwidth being used up by windows trying to operate.

Any of the better Xeons will work, e3-1240v2 to 1270v2 (the v2 is 2nd gen Xeon for lga1155, v3 is 3rd gen for lga1150 (4th gen intel iCore)), or any of the i7's as they have hyperthreading that the i5's don't.

Thread count and availabile bandwidth will serve you far better than clock speeds. 2 threads at 1.8GHz will do more actual work than a single thread at 3.4GHz in the same time period.

 

[gggirlgeek]

OK. Turns out I'm rebuilding it. Had some wonky issues with several drives this week and it seems to point to the PSU. So I ordered a PSU tester. In addition my HDD's just aren't getting enough air so I bought a cooling rack for the 5.25 trays and am spreading the drives out. I also bought another p12 pwm fan.

About the rebuild: I have an unused Asus H97 Plus mobo sitting here so I decided to buy a new CPU for that. Based on your recommendations I found a used Xeon 1275 v3 on ebay for $49. It takes a lot more power than a 1268L v3 but my GPU is annoying me lately too, not allowing UEFI OS installation, so I want the Intel 4600 integrated graphics (I hope that will fix it.) That should bring down my power consumption a bit.

Last I have an old 750w power supply from an old gaming build, and also a never-used 450w. I will test both and put one of those into this case.

Here's what it looks like so far https://pcpartpicker.com/user/gggirlgeek/saved/VMjC8d. I'll build it later this week when the parts arrive.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Here's what it looks like so far https://pcpartpicker.com/user/gggirlgeek/saved/VMjC8d. I'll build it later this week when the parts arrive.

What cpu cooler are you going to use?

Old cpu cooler from G860 will probably be too weak to cool down new Xeon cpu.

 

[geofelt]

Psu testers are good only to confirm a dead psu.
They do not say anything about proper operation of a psu.
It takes some$5000 to do that.
Seasonic power supplies will include a simple tester.
It is only used to confirm that the fan operates.
Without looking at an authoritative review of a specific unit,
My best advice is to look at the warranty.
7 to 10 years will buy you a quality unit.

As to coolers, try the stock cooler first at no cost.
Normally in a non overclocked setup it will do the job.
Under heavy load, the small 92mm fan will spin up and be a bit noisy.
If you need better or quieter, you need to find a cooler that fits your case which limits coolers to 140mm.
Here is an inexpensive jonsbo @ 129mm and $30:
https://www.newegg.com/jonsbo-cr140...742488579&id31=en&id32=&id33=&id34=&gclsrc=ds

 

[gggirlgeek]

Thank you @SkyNetRising and @geofelt ! Good tips.

I was just going to go with the cooler that came with my hubbie's new i7-12400F. I also have more Arctic F14, and P12 pwm case fans. I actually need lots of air for my HDD's because they are crowded in there. So I figured the Xeon would benefit from the fan-upgrade. I always watch temps closely so I will take your suggestion about the $30 cooler if needed.

The PSU tester I bought is this one: Thermaltake Dr. Power II. Last night I thouroughly tested 3 PSU's (every connector) I have sitting around and they all passed fine. I hope it's legit. It errored when I connected a PCI cable to the CPU port so that's a good sign. I am going to test the PCU I am suspicious of tonight. But I will probably replace it anyway since I have a 750w and 500w sitting here that have much less mileage on them. (I'll post their model numbers later.) I am going to replace the SATA cables in this system too for good measure.