Intel
Home server and NAS
A machine designed to run continuously: low idle power, room for many drives and a processor with hardware video encoding. Peak performance is irrelevant here — what matters is the yearly electricity bill and how many drives it holds.
IntelIntermediateLGA1700
- Socket
- LGA1700
- Intended use
- Backups, file server, media server, containerised services
- Assembly difficulty
- Intermediate
Parts list
| Component | Part | Why this part |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i5-14400 | Quick Sync encodes and decodes video in hardware with minimal CPU load. For a media server that matters more than core count. |
| Motherboard | ASUS PRIME B760M-A | Six SATA ports plus two M.2 sockets — the deciding factor once you need more than two drives. |
| Memory | Crucial 32 GB (2×16) DDR5-5600 | 32 GB is comfortable headroom for several services and filesystem cache. With ZFS, memory is the cheapest performance you can buy. |
| Storage | Kingston NV3 1 TB NVMe + 2× 8 TB HDD | NVMe for the system and containers, spinning drives for data. Two drives allow a mirror, so one failing does not mean losing anything. |
| Power supply | be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 550 W 80+ Gold | With a machine that never switches off, PSU efficiency shows up directly on the bill. A Gold rating pays for itself over a few years. |
| Case | Fractal Design Define 7 | Holds up to fourteen drives and is sound-dampened — which matters if the server lives in a flat rather than a basement. |
| CPU cooler | be quiet! Pure Rock 2 | A quiet cooler with generous headroom over the 65 W processor, so the fan sits at its lowest speed. |
Socket: LGA1700
A good deal if you already own DDR4 or find a discounted board. Buying everything new, LGA1851 offers a longer horizon.
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