Advice - MB, CPU, Ram for Media Server Running Win 8.1

[Kursah]

1366 is still pretty powerful stuff... it's the Enthusiast grade stuff before Intel went with the higher-end chipsets that support -E series CPU's. 6 core HT CPU for a stream machine? Way overkill...it could run half a dozen streaming VM's if there was enough bandwidth provided by the data array and network to handle it. Likely could run even more. With the host-OS, all that power could be utilized by software that likes more cores and threads, and that system will chew it up and spit work out with ease.

If he needs multi-core power, I'd probably go that route. They're power hungry, and old, but generally pretty damn reliable and there's still a lot of used 1366 boards floating around the market, there are also some very well built boards. If he doesn't mind increasing his power bill when this system is under heavy loads and truly wants power on that small of a budget, there's not really much for better options. Now IF he's doing more tasks that include single thread/core utilization due to limitations with software, then going with something newer would make more sense.

Considering you guys were trying to use a P4 460 rig, even the Intel G3220 system I mentioned above would be a speed demon in comparison. Even an i3 HT CPU would be a monster in comparison. A 1366 6Cr 12Thr system would be godzilla.

Do you know the specific software he'll want to use? What all tasks he plans to use it for? Transcoding through what? Is it providing a service for home streaming? File conversion for editing? Let's get down to the bones of what the application is for, you do cover it a little in the OP, but let's get some more details.

At that budget its going to be power savings vs powerful, or a budget increase will need to occur. That's just the reality of it.

 

[Sasqui]

I'll try to get some more specifics from him on the software, thought I'd rather him just get the i5-4660 and call it a day, lol

 

[Kursah]

Well Newegg still sells the awesome Biostar B85S3+ for $58, an excellent value for that price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138384
i5-4660 @ $185: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JIJUBAS/?tag=tec06d-20
2x4GB DDR3 @ $40: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

That comes to $283.

I can stand behind the Biostar B85 board. Amazing options, 4 DIMMS, 6 SATA, PCIe and PCI, excellent sound with amplified FP headphone output, has overclocking options but I've never used them (need a K-series anyways), good and stable BIOS, easy to work with drivers, I've had one fail in dozens of deployments. I've used the board for soho and enterprise office PC's, CAD PC's, gaming PC's, home server/NAS builds. Naturally the one that failed was the one I built for my mother, an Antec PSU took it out. Biostar replaced without a issue and I had 2 weeks left in the 1-year warranty, was one of the easiest RMA's I've done direct to vendor. Took 2-3 weeks but was easy.

Just food for thought and I didn't scope out the best prices or RAM, just a quick quote to give you an idea of budget for those 3 components. The onboard CPU graphics can handle dual outputs, and the board has VGA, DVI, and HDMI or DP iirc. So there's options.

 

[Sasqui]

Well Newegg still sells the awesome Biostar B85S3+ for $58, an excellent value for that price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138384
i5-4660 @ $185: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JIJUBAS/?tag=tec06d-20
2x4GB DDR3 @ $40: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

That comes to $283.

I can stand behind the Biostar B85 board. Amazing options, 4 DIMMS, 6 SATA, PCIe and PCI, excellent sound with amplified FP headphone output, has overclocking options but I've never used them (need a K-series anyways), good and stable BIOS, easy to work with drivers, I've had one fail in dozens of deployments. I've used the board for soho and enterprise office PC's, CAD PC's, gaming PC's, home server/NAS builds. Naturally the one that failed was the one I built for my mother, an Antec PSU took it out. Biostar replaced without a issue and I had 2 weeks left in the 1-year warranty, was one of the easiest RMA's I've done direct to vendor. Took 2-3 weeks but was easy.

Just food for thought and I didn't scope out the best prices or RAM, just a quick quote to give you an idea of budget for those 3 components. The onboard CPU graphics can handle dual outputs, and the board has VGA, DVI, and HDMI or DP iirc. So there's options.

I like that list better than mine Thanks!

 

[That Guy In The Shirt]

Since I tend to be more of a gaming pc enthusiast I honestly always forget about Xeons. It's just $1 over budget, but you could get the cheapest xeon on the market brand new with the same board I suggested before, though you wouldn't be able to afford a cpu cooler.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zhTKjX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zhTKjX/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220 V3 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($192.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($70.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $301.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-05 19:31 EST-0500

 

[Sasqui]

Here's what I finally dropped the CC on:

Intel Core I3-4160 Processor 3.60 GHz, 2-Core LGA1150 Socket, Hyper-Threading
MSI ATX DDR3 2400 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97 PC MATE
Kingston HyperX FURY 8GB Kit (2x4GB) 1866MHz DDR3 CL10 DIMM - Black

Total ~$250

 

[BarbaricSoul]

not bad

 

[Sasqui]

not bad

Board is pretty bare-bones but he's mostly interested in HDMI. Everything should arrive by Friday.

 

[brandonwh64]

I run a I3-2100 with 4GB of DDR3 and it runs as a HTPC/cruncher just fine. I also added a Nvidia GT640 video card to handle light gaming if I wanted (old school CS and SOME minecraft)

 

[Sasqui]

I run a I3-2100 with 4GB of DDR3 and it runs as a HTPC/cruncher just fine. I also added a Nvidia GT640 video card to handle light gaming if I wanted (old school CS and SOME minecraft)

I just realized that he's got my old ASUS Rampage Formula and a nice E6800 he's been using for a gaming rig. He should use that for the media server and take the new hardware for gaming. You just gave me an idea... which will suck another days worth of computer building out of me, lol.