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So I currently have a AMD Phenom II X4 955, running on a Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P, with 8 gigs of ram, and a R9 270 2GB video card. I currently have 1-2 1080p streams that I sometimes I have to transcode to other devices in my home. I use Plex as my media server. According to Plex, you need about 2000 passmark per 1080p stream. My current passmark is 4007 so thats good. But it makes my FPS suffer if I try to game when my kids stream something. (I mainly play Dota2) Also, I game @ 1080p.
I'm thinking about 2 options here.
1.) I'm debating on buy a used Xeon Server with 16GB Ram off ebay for around $200 to use as a headless plex server.
2.) Build me a new machine, basically just need CPU, RAM and MoBo, and drag everything else over from my current machine.

For option 2, I'm thinking about getting the Intel Core i3-6100 off the build guide (passmark score of 5518)
Gigabyte GA-H170-Gaming 3 (also from the build guide)
and G.Skill Ripjaws 4 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2133 (build guide also)

Would I see any kind of improvement system wise going from the Phenom to the i3? Should it be able to keep up with the demands im putting on it more than my current system?
I know there is a bit of a price difference ($200 vs $350) doing option 1 vs 2, but I rarely upgrade unless the need arises (or parts die).
Should I (hopefully) future-proof myself for the next 5 or so years with a Skylake build, or just do the headless, and use my current machine as is?

Thanks!

Build a whole new PC so it is not shared if moneys allow and get a true quad core...not a dual with HT Also if you share a true Slylake quad will work better then a dual core with HT.

Better yet you can probably find a Haswell system for cheaper but the choice it yours .

My 5 year old 2600k is a beast ...better yet like wine it just gets better with age and I think I have 3 years or so before it sours.
I future proofed 5 years ago and it has been great. Just a video cards and a monitor upgrade. Also I only paid 550$ for both my 770 classifieds:)not my fault the second one was priced as gforce 210....TY stock boy.

vargis14 wrote:

Build a whole new PC so it is not shared if money allows.

This would certainly solve the problem, but it's also the most expensive option.

I will suggest that a stand-alone server should probably be something that doesn't generate a lot of heat and noise. Beware that pre-built servers tend to include fans that will require hearing protection if you live in the same room with them.

While I believe that the $130 3.7 GHz Skylake Core i3-6100 is a terrific processor for the price, for an upgrade for your new gaming PC, you would really like to go to the $220 3.3/3.9 GHz Core i5-6600. It scores around 7550 on passmark.
http://ark.intel.com/compare/90729,8818 ... 8191,88195

vargis14 wrote:

Better yet you can probably find a Haswell system for cheaper but the choice it yours .

I was thinking about going Haswell but the prices between the 2 on newegg are $5-10 difference so I think I'll go Skylake so I'm ahead of the curve.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

I will suggest that a stand-alone server should probably be something that doesn't generate a lot of heat and noise. Beware that pre-built servers tend to include fans that will require hearing protection if you live in the same room with them.

While I believe that the $130 3.7 GHz Skylake Core i3-6100 is a terrific processor for the price, for an upgrade for your new gaming PC, you would really like to go to the $220 3.3/3.9 GHz Core i5-6600. It scores around 7550 on passmark.
http://ark.intel.com/compare/90729,8818 ... 8191,88195

The pre-built I was looking at is a 1U rack unit. Mainly because of size. I didn't think out them being loud. Good thing to consider.
I was looking at the i5-6500 last night, and thought it was more chip than I needed, because I thought all the i's were quad. Good to know.

Something I just thought of is cooling on the stock HSF. I currently use Corsair H60 I know I cant bring it to the 1151 socket, so since I'm used to how quiet it runs now, will the stock Intel HSF make my ears bleed or should I budget in a new liquid cooler?

LGA1151 (Skylake) accepts the same CPU coolers as LGA1150 (Haswell/Broadwell) and LGA1155 (Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge). If you've saved the Intel mounting hardware from your original Corsair box, you may be good to go.

The stock Intel heatsink isn't obnoxiously noisy, but it does use some chintzy plastic pins that can be annoying. A Cooler Master Hyper TX3 or Arctic Freezer i11 is a near-silent inexpensive tower cooler with a 92 mm fan that would fit into most cases. A taller tower with a 120mm fan like the excellent Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is too tall for some cases.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

LGA1151 (Skylake) accepts the same CPU coolers as LGA1150 (Haswell/Broadwell) and LGA1155 (Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge). If you've saved the Intel mounting hardware from your original Corsair box, you may be good to go.

The stock Intel heatsink isn't obnoxiously noisy, but it does use some chintzy plastic pins that can be annoying. A Cooler Master Hyper TX3 or Arctic Freezer i11 is a near-silent inexpensive tower cooler with a 92 mm fan that would fit into most cases. A taller tower with a 120mm fan like the excellent Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is too tall for some cases.

I remember putting the Intel mount in a ziplock bag. I will have to check my box o' computer parts and see what I find.

I still am using my trusty old ThermalTake Shark so cooler size shouldnt be an issue.

In order to keep the Boss happy, I'm looking at ASRock B150 instead of the Gigabyte board. Yes, its only $15 cheaper, but when I'm spending $80 more for something she wont be able to tell the difference on, gotta make sacrifices. Any opinions on that board?

Have you considered micro-ATX?
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboa ... =a8&page=1

The Asus H170M-Plus/CSM or the $90 ASrock H170M Pro4s look like good choices for LESS money than the B150 ATX motherboard that you linked. Spending $25 more would get you a USB 3.1 type C port on something like the $125 ASRock Z170M Extreme4.

How about $70 for 2x8 GiB PC4-17000 Crucial CT2K8G4DFD8213 (DDR4-2133, CL 15, 1.2 V) to save $5 vs. the out-of-stock G.Skill F4-2133C15D-16GRR that you linked, or the same $75 for 2x8 GiB PC4-19200 Corsair CMK16GX4M2A2400C14R (DDR4-2400, 14-16-16-31, 1.2 V)?

JustAnEngineer wrote:

Have you considered micro-ATX?
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboa ... =a8&page=1

The Asus H170M-Plus/CSM or the $90 ASrock H170M Pro4s look like good choices for LESS money than the B150 ATX motherboard that you linked.

How about $70 for 2x8 GiB PC4-17000 Crucial CT2K8G4DFD8213 (DDR4-2133, CL 15, 1.2 V) to save $5 vs. the out-of-stock G.Skill F4-2133C15D-16GRR that you linked, or the same $75 for 2x8 GiB PC4-19200 Corsair CMK16GX4M2A2400C14R (DDR4-2400, 14-16-16-31, 1.2 V)?

With the micro-atx, I'm afraid I'm not gonna have the expansion options I'll need. Could be just because I've always had a full sized ATX board, and I have my giant case it'd look funny inside. LOL. The only reason I was linking the ram earleir, is because it was picked in the system guide. I have really no brand loyalty to anyone at this point so I'm open to options.

In the over-large ATX form factor, I believe that I like ASRock's $83 Z170-Pro4S or $103 Z170A-X1/3.1 better than their $100 Fatal1ty Gaming B150 Gaming K4. Both have the Intel i-219V instead of Qualcomm's Atheros E2400 Killer NIC, and the more expensive option includes USB 3.1 type C, though it gives up an M.2 slot.

Thank you for your help. I got everything saved to a pcpartpicker list, and just waiting for my tax return now. Thanks again!

Question for you. I started parting out/building a plex server and I am wondering where your biggest bottleneck is occurring when you try to game. I have a few family members that may stream their media off of my server while I am trying to game and I want to make sure I put enough horse power into it that I can handle anything thrown at it and not have to go back and buy upgrades later.

ATM I am aiming for:
CPU: skylake Xeon E3-1260L
Memory: Dual channel Crucial 2x 8gb ECC DDR4
Mobo: Gigabyte c236 chipset board (if they ever get to market)
GPU: running a refurbed 960 now but plan to upgrade to pascal later this year.
The OS will go on an m.2 along with drivers and PLEX server software, and the media will go onto WD Red NAS drives.

The server will hook up to a 4k Visio TV and game resolution will be set to what ever the highest is I can push out of it.

I would say CPU. I play Dota2, and its not very GPU intensive, so whenever I would have to transcode something and try to play, i'd see my fps drop anywhere from 10-20 fps. I was barely getting 60fps without transcoding, so would drop to 50 or 40 during non big battles, and even lower if there was a big fight happening on screen.


on a side note, i actually got the okay from the boss to get myself a lot better machine. I was able to spend alot more, so i ended up with:

Skylake i7-6700
MSI Z170-A PRO ATX
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
Samsung 850 EVO m2 SSD
XFX Radeon R9 380X 4GB DD XXX OC Video Card


needless to say, plex and gaming shouldnt be an issue now...LOL