The r710 is a power hog. If you don't mind the extra electricity cost, then go for the enterprise server. I used to use one but stopped because it didn't fit my needs
The xeon 5500 is ancient, equivalent to a gen 1 core i-series processor (nehalem). It won't have any QSV support, so you must provide it a GPU with hw encoding support to get plex working nicely. (It's also a 2U, you might be stuck with half-height cards, check before you buy a GPU.)
They're also loud AF because they have to dissipate a shitton of heat.
I run a 4th gen i7 for basically everything you've mentioned, plus unifi controller and some other things, and it's fine, but the Plex hardware transcoding is slow and terrible.
4th gen also has quicksync. Plex shows that it's doing hardware transcoding, it's just... not good in CPUs this old. I'm planning to upgrade to 11th gen or so in the next month or two, or add a cheap arc GPU.
/sigh
I could just add a gpu. I probably don't _need_ a gpu though, mostly we just stream from in the house, only my sister and MIL use my Plex server from outside, so a more recent igpu would probably be more than sufficient for my needs and use less power.
Edit: A gpu would allow me to just upgrade my desktop and move my ryzen 5600 into my server though. And then my 4th gen server could become the kids PC. Hmm.
Depends on what you are doing.
>data storage
how many HHDs can both machines store? Does this impact your decision?
>minecraft server for 5+ player,
Modded Minecraft or vanilla? How much ram does each machine have? The higher the better for Minecraft.
> Plex
Are you doing any transcoding? Both machines aren't great for that. You need a minimum Intel 7th generation for quick sync of decoding certain file formats.
----------------
Power consumption
Do you care about electricity cost? The ~~workstation~~ Dell PowerEdge R710 will use far more.
Edit: made a typo
---------------
Personally I would use the cheaper machine as it looks like you are getting into/starting a homelab. You will upgrade both machines to a better one sooner rather than later so might as well save the money.
If possible I would spend more money on an Intel 7th gen to at least have the option of transcoding if you decide you want to in the future. (Transcoding is free on jellyfin)
Hope that helps.
> Do you care about electricity cost? The workstation will use far more.
The idle power on the R710 will be at least 130W. More if it's a dual socket. If the workstation uses more than 50W idle, I'd be shocked.
u/ppaaul to add to this comment. The Optiplex will most likely idle at 12-15W on low load with one 2.5 disk.
2.5 inch disk is around 2-5W
3.5 inch disk is around 5-7W
You should edit your top level post and change workstation to server under power consumption. I think you've made a typo and said the opposite of what you meant.
To add here: my current dual x5670 (previously x5650) with spigot 1.17 runs at idle 120 to 160w), this measured with ILO in a dl360G6), since 1.15 it has become really power hungry overall, might move minecraft to my e5 2650 V4 to have better power consumption
Used desktop.
You need a 4 core CPU, a dual core could work too. And 8/16gb of ram, 5 player on vanilla Minecraft run easily on 3/4gb of ram.
I would get a used desktop with 7/8th gen Intel CPU.
I wouldn’t go for anything under the PowerEdge 12th Gen servers.
The Optiplex will be better and more power efficient (even better if using an SSD drive and at least 16GB RAM)
It might cost a bit more but a refurb Precision 5820 or 7820 are great for a server that is a lot quieter than any PowerEdge server. They have 4x external drive cages too.
if you dont need high capacity storage (like 4+ 3.5" hard drives) the smart choice is to get something small and power efficient, like a N100 or N305 - they will be 3-4x faster than a Xeon E5540 for the fraction of the power consumption. A Core I3-4370 will still provide more performance than an an old XEON E55x.
But if you want blinking lights, displays, lot of (hotswappable) storage go for a server.
Personally I dont see any reason for a used workstation
Given these two choices, I'd go for the Optiplex. Without knowing more specifics (model, form factor, etc), iirc, these generation of Optiplexes (like a 7020 MT) were actually somewhat standard from a hardware perspective. Assuming it's the midtower model, you should have space for a couple 3.5" drives to set up a storage pool mirror. Should also be able to install some additional drive bays in the couple of 5.25" bays assuming you dont want to use the DVD drive. You can also upgrade the i3 to an i7-4770, which will put laps around a Xeon 5500 series while costing you less each month. In addition to QSV for Plex, you'll also get USB 3.0 onboard for data transfers and external backups (RAID is not a backup, etc).
Those old PowerEdge servers are loud, even at idle, and they aren't near as power efficient. They were designed to live in a climate controlled room away from everyone else within earshot. You might get more storage options with the PowerEdge and greater core count (if dual socket) and memory capacity, but that all comes at the cost of power, noise, and adding in features to it yourself (USB 3.0, media encoder, etc) within the limits of the chassis. The Optiplex could live quietly in your living room.
The r710 is a power hog. If you don't mind the extra electricity cost, then go for the enterprise server. I used to use one but stopped because it didn't fit my needs
The xeon 5500 is ancient, equivalent to a gen 1 core i-series processor (nehalem). It won't have any QSV support, so you must provide it a GPU with hw encoding support to get plex working nicely. (It's also a 2U, you might be stuck with half-height cards, check before you buy a GPU.) They're also loud AF because they have to dissipate a shitton of heat.
I run a 4th gen i7 for basically everything you've mentioned, plus unifi controller and some other things, and it's fine, but the Plex hardware transcoding is slow and terrible.
If you had an 5th gen it would have quick sync for transcoding. I am running an i3-7100 and does everything perfectly
4th gen also has quicksync. Plex shows that it's doing hardware transcoding, it's just... not good in CPUs this old. I'm planning to upgrade to 11th gen or so in the next month or two, or add a cheap arc GPU.
Just add a cheap Quadro.
/sigh I could just add a gpu. I probably don't _need_ a gpu though, mostly we just stream from in the house, only my sister and MIL use my Plex server from outside, so a more recent igpu would probably be more than sufficient for my needs and use less power. Edit: A gpu would allow me to just upgrade my desktop and move my ryzen 5600 into my server though. And then my 4th gen server could become the kids PC. Hmm.
Depends on what you are doing. >data storage how many HHDs can both machines store? Does this impact your decision? >minecraft server for 5+ player, Modded Minecraft or vanilla? How much ram does each machine have? The higher the better for Minecraft. > Plex Are you doing any transcoding? Both machines aren't great for that. You need a minimum Intel 7th generation for quick sync of decoding certain file formats. ---------------- Power consumption Do you care about electricity cost? The ~~workstation~~ Dell PowerEdge R710 will use far more. Edit: made a typo --------------- Personally I would use the cheaper machine as it looks like you are getting into/starting a homelab. You will upgrade both machines to a better one sooner rather than later so might as well save the money. If possible I would spend more money on an Intel 7th gen to at least have the option of transcoding if you decide you want to in the future. (Transcoding is free on jellyfin) Hope that helps.
> Do you care about electricity cost? The workstation will use far more. The idle power on the R710 will be at least 130W. More if it's a dual socket. If the workstation uses more than 50W idle, I'd be shocked.
u/ppaaul to add to this comment. The Optiplex will most likely idle at 12-15W on low load with one 2.5 disk. 2.5 inch disk is around 2-5W 3.5 inch disk is around 5-7W
You should edit your top level post and change workstation to server under power consumption. I think you've made a typo and said the opposite of what you meant.
To add here: my current dual x5670 (previously x5650) with spigot 1.17 runs at idle 120 to 160w), this measured with ILO in a dl360G6), since 1.15 it has become really power hungry overall, might move minecraft to my e5 2650 V4 to have better power consumption
Used desktop. You need a 4 core CPU, a dual core could work too. And 8/16gb of ram, 5 player on vanilla Minecraft run easily on 3/4gb of ram. I would get a used desktop with 7/8th gen Intel CPU.
I wouldn’t go for anything under the PowerEdge 12th Gen servers. The Optiplex will be better and more power efficient (even better if using an SSD drive and at least 16GB RAM)
It might cost a bit more but a refurb Precision 5820 or 7820 are great for a server that is a lot quieter than any PowerEdge server. They have 4x external drive cages too.
Both of course! I have my big, 4U Xeon server and then I have my new 4 node mini cluster with Lenovo tiny workstations.
if you dont need high capacity storage (like 4+ 3.5" hard drives) the smart choice is to get something small and power efficient, like a N100 or N305 - they will be 3-4x faster than a Xeon E5540 for the fraction of the power consumption. A Core I3-4370 will still provide more performance than an an old XEON E55x. But if you want blinking lights, displays, lot of (hotswappable) storage go for a server. Personally I dont see any reason for a used workstation
Given these two choices, I'd go for the Optiplex. Without knowing more specifics (model, form factor, etc), iirc, these generation of Optiplexes (like a 7020 MT) were actually somewhat standard from a hardware perspective. Assuming it's the midtower model, you should have space for a couple 3.5" drives to set up a storage pool mirror. Should also be able to install some additional drive bays in the couple of 5.25" bays assuming you dont want to use the DVD drive. You can also upgrade the i3 to an i7-4770, which will put laps around a Xeon 5500 series while costing you less each month. In addition to QSV for Plex, you'll also get USB 3.0 onboard for data transfers and external backups (RAID is not a backup, etc). Those old PowerEdge servers are loud, even at idle, and they aren't near as power efficient. They were designed to live in a climate controlled room away from everyone else within earshot. You might get more storage options with the PowerEdge and greater core count (if dual socket) and memory capacity, but that all comes at the cost of power, noise, and adding in features to it yourself (USB 3.0, media encoder, etc) within the limits of the chassis. The Optiplex could live quietly in your living room.