CPU Advice For Server Upgrade

[USCMitch]

Greetings all-

 

I'm in the midst of upgrading my server and need some advice on the choice of CPU.

 

Current configuration:

 

MOBO: Asus P8H77-I 

CPU: i5-3570K

RAM: 8GB

OS Drive: 500GB WD Blue

Storage: 4x2TB WD Red

 

Upgrading to:

MOBO: Gigabyte Z97N-IWifi

RAM: 16GB

OS Drive: Samsung 850 Evo 250GB

Storage: 4x2TB WD Red + 2x4TB Red

 

Primary uses: Backup of 3 PCs, streaming locally stored media, occasional transcoding of media.

 

- Minimize power usage, heat, etc.

- Ensure that there is plenty of capacity available to account for  future expansion, etc.

- Avoid overspending 

 

Have been looking at the following CPUs:

-i5-4690S 

-i5-4690T

-i7-4790T

-i3-4370

 

I've gone round and round trying to determine which CPU strikes the right balance between price, performance, and low power consumption.  I'd love to hear some outside thoughts, opinions, and suggestions.  If there is another option that I've not considered, please share.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Jason]

I have same CPU with 32 GB RAM and have found no reason to upgrade

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[USCMitch]

Nor am I having any issues.  However, I'm repurposing the mobo and CPU currently in the server and decided it would be a good time to upgrade the hardware.  

 

Essentially, I'm looking for advice as to what would be the best CPU if the goals are serving media and files, backing up local clients, run as cool and low powered as possible yet preserve the ability to transcode media in the future if needed.

 

Thanks for responding.

[Joe_Miner]

For future flexibility I would look ar the 4690 & 4690K and maybe the 4790 & 4790K comparing the benchmarks for all

[USCMitch]

Should I consider their low power variants or only the standard and unlocked variants?

 

Thanks.

[Joe_Miner]

With that Z97 System Board you're planning on I'd look at the benchmarks on all (low power, std, unlocked) as well as the specs for each and what OS's you will/may run on it now and in the future.  

 

Your desire to build in flexibility now to meet possible future expansion or repurpose is why I would look at what I'm trading off btwn the different CPU's.  It may be that the Benchmark performance and specs are close enough that then it's a decision based purely on TDP.  You could check PassMarks rankings for insight on that too.

 

Of course, if you're in an area where kWh costs are very high then power requirements considerations may rank a lot higher than long-term flexibility.

 

My Z77 was originally intended to be a VM server but I put an i7-3770 in it to future proof it -- after 2 years I decided to make my Gen8 a VM server and repurpose the Z77 to a desktop that I could run VM's -- my i7 made that an easier decision but YMMV. 

 

-- Bit of history:  my N54L had been my WHS2011 machine but a family member was interested in it and I was looking to expand the number of Drives in WHS-2011 so I lost the N54L and moved my old desktop, X58, to my WHS-2011 Server, which led to making the Z77 my new desktop.  Obviously YMMV -- but I tend to keep and repurpose my computers for a long time so I plan a "little" more flexibility in at the beginning if I can. 

Edited June 26, 2015 by Joe_Miner