So, I had been using DSM on my 10+ yo gaming rig with really old HDD for about a year. They are:
Asus P8Z68-V
i5-2500K
4GB "gaming" RAM
Various non-NAS budget HDD with a total of 10TB in SHR
The DSM current main purpose are:
- Storage expansion that I offload from my laptop
- Photos storage and categorization by Moments for fast access (have google photo as well)
- Plex (non-paying account) server for 1080p playback on various device, like Google Chromecast 2, and apple TV 4 (i think) maybe 5
What I hope to achieve if I build a new one:
- Relatively inexpensive, with high value/ Price (including purchase of used parts)
- Current H264 1080p play back fine, but have framerate issues playback of H265 1080p high bitrate videos. Mainly playback devices cant decode h265 well.
- With above problem, I am looking at transcoding, and not finding/re-encoding H264 version of said same video.
- "Maybe" with lookout potential for 4K? But this is a very low priority.
- Storage expansion and photo in moments.
(below are for motherboard suggestion)
- Remote access. Of course, subject to ISP
- Wake on LAN? To save power and wear & tear. The DSM should have more idle time than working time.
- 6 HDD ports?
- SDD port, may or may not be important, advice?
- Probably getting a 4U rack for this. (for form factor suggestion)
With those in mind, can anyone suggest a CPU+MB combo?
I've seen a lot of people building with i3-8100, is that CPU really good for its price in DSM situation?
What about Xeon chips, I also see a few post mentioned? But I have 0 experience with them.
I don't really have a set budget, but would like to pay just enough (little to no future proof, as next jump is 4K) to achieve the above.
Or I can solve my h265 problem with just buying better playback devices?
Would upgrading to i7 3750 help? This is the fastest/newest CPU the MB can support.
Thank you much.