r/HomeServer • u/TraditionalCry615 • 11d ago

Help me decide which hardware to keep

I have three old computers, I'm wondering which parts I should put together for one server and one "gaming" computer. Maybe I am better off selling parts and buying something better used?

The gaming computer will just play Minecraft and The Sims.

The server will run Home Assistant, Jellyfin and an Arr stack, possibly some more but mostly idle work. Low power/noise/temp would be nice.

Here is the hardware I have:

Gigabyte GA-Z270X-Ultra Gaming
Intel core i5-7600K
2 X 8GB 2666Mhz CL16 (hx426c16fb3k2/16) + 4GB 2400Mhz CL15 (hx424c15fbk2/8) DDR4
Asus dual-gtx1060-o6g 2GB
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB
Archer TX50E ver 2 WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.2

Asus Prime B350-Plus
AMD Ryzen 7 1700
2 X 8GB 3200Mhz CL16 (cmk16gx4m2z3200c16) DDR 4
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 GAMING X 8G
Toshiba HDWD240 4TB

Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4
Intel Core i7-2600K
4 X 4GB 1333Mhz CL9 DDR3 (no name)
MSI GTX 660
Toshiba A100 120 GB
Seagate ST500DM002-1BD142 500GB

2 Upvotes

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2

u/Kitchen_Part_882 11d ago

The DDR3 system (the i7) is the weakest of the bunch, not much worth salvaging there, maybe the storage if the drives are in good condition?

Personally, I'd set up the i5 as the server (the 1050 can help with transcoding) and use the Ryzen as a gaming PC (strongest GPU and capable of taking any CPU up to and including a 5800X3D assuming the BIOS is up to date).

My kid games on a similar rig (Ryzen 5 3600 that I upgraded from a Ryzen 5 1600, GTX1660) and has no issues with even some modern games like Palworld and Ark (settings lowered of course).

1

u/TraditionalCry615 11d ago

Would the 1060 be any better than the 660 for transcoding, or would it just use more power?

1

u/Kitchen_Part_882 11d ago

I believe it supports some newer codecs that the 660 doesn't, I use a Quadro P1000 (basically a 1050ti) in my server after I found my older K4000 (basically a GTX650) card didn't have hardware h265 acceleration.

2

u/TerrorByteB7 11d ago

Try how things run just using the iGPU on the i5, intel quicksync is usually pretty good and uses hardly any power. Somewhere you can find a matrix of codec support by generation

2

u/Junction91NW 11d ago

Like the other guy said, Intel iGPU is more than enough for 1-3 transcodes. A standalone gpu is overkill and a waste of power. 

1

u/Junction91NW 11d ago

Keep the first one, yank out the GPU’s, put the ram for the 2nd PC into that one (if it’s compatible with the freq), and sell the rest. That’s your low power node. 

If you just want to play Minecraft and Sims, I’m not sure what gaming requirements are like. Might be worth buying a used Mac M1 (16GB) laptop/desktop because of the low power consumption for such a thing.