Hello, First post!
I think I have reached a point where my main Unraid server is due for upgrade / replacement / expansion. I am in need of opinions…
its running kind of sluggish and I see limitations on the near horizon.
I am currently running a 14600k w/ 96GB ram on a ProArt Z790 motherboard. Good amount of 20TB HDDs + u.2 +NVMe + sata SSD. Have 1 HBA + 1 PCIe GPU on the system (for LLM / AI work)
My rack chassis is going to be physically limited in the amount of drives I can load up in the trays and will soon need to run an external HBA to a JBOD chassis (in as soon as another year or so)
Now that the picture is set on what I am running… here is my dilemma… I want to upgrade / replace / expand my unraid system for LONG term future use. Here is where I need opinions on what makes the most sense. I know there is no “right” answer as either direction is better then my current setup. I do prioritize reducing power consumption as much as possible (within reason) my current system uses as little as 170w idle and of course can ramp up as needed depending on the load (600w or so)
Option 1:
($4000+)
Complete single system replacement
AMD Threadripper 24 /32 core (7960x or 7970x)
Asus Pro WS TRX50-Sage
192GB Ram
I like this setup as it will have enough PCIe expansion to allow up to 2 GPU’s (one for Ai workloads and the other will be for plex transcodes) my HBA, plus add the external HBA I will need in the future. Would have plenty of cores for all the VMs / game servers / and so on…
I am also looking at the 7965x and the asus Pro WS WRX90E-SAGE SE, however the cost goes up quite a bit and I see mixed reviews on the motherboard. seems like it has some issues? maybe it was early bios issues and they are worked out now? not sure. Anyone have insight on this direction with unraid? its a lot of money to spend for me to potentially have issues getting that platform working 100% or it just not working well for whatever reason.
Option 2:
($1300 or so)
Run 2 systems:
AMD 9950X 16 core (non 3D-V)
96GB ram - Asus ProArt X870E or Gigabyte X870E AI top
While the PCIe layout is the same as the other system I will mainly only need one 16x slot of the GPU for Ai workloads.
This system will run all the VMs and heavy Dockers… well basically everything from the current server except for plex and a couple of light dockers for plex / the home (needs to be 100% up)
Main considerations:
Cost + power consumption at idle…
I feel like I will end up going the “2 system” route due to cost of entry being significantly lower… however not sure if that’s really the best route when planning for long term. If I do go that route, I can start purchasing right away, otherwise I need to wait till the end of the month (not a big deal) However, the 2 system rout will double my power consumption. I do not know what to expect with the Threadripper system… but I would imagine it will be quite a bit more than the 14600k system at idle. Would I be correct to assume that?
Also…
Yes, I am aware Unraid is not “perfect” or “proxmox can do everything unraid can do but better”… its fine, unraid does everything I need and it works completely fine for me. To change over would be a big headache and I just do not need to.
Either way, thank you in advance!
Looking forward to read the opinions!
-Andre