Upgrading my NAS

[011899988199911]

I'm looking to upgrade my NAS soon.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Right now I have a headless MSI WindPC running Ubuntu with a couple TB of storage, but we've have outgrown it. Besides adding more HDD space, I'd also like to add some functionality. The upgrade will run ZFS for everything but the boot drive. I'd like to set up a secure email server, host some webpages, and allow FTP access. Only family and close friends will have access to that stuff. I also want to be able to run some stuff like Minecraft and Starbound (when it comes out) servers, along with using this machine to access sensitive information like bank and credit card accounts (yea, I'm probably a little paranoid).

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

I'm only looking for advice on a CPU/Motherboard combo, and with that I'd like stay near $200, no more than $250.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

I'm not a fanboy, but I have only been considering Intel so far.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

N/A

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Default, possibly undervolting if it makes sense. I want to minimize idle power consumption as much as possible.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

N/A

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

Before the end of September

I guess my biggest question is, should I go with Ivy Bridge or Haswell? I'm considering getting an i3-3225, but I'm wondering if the new sleep states with Haswell (i3-4330) would be useful for a home server like I described above.

I'd also like some motherboard suggestions.

Thanks

 

[mfenn]

Given that you want to stay under $200, and i3 is the obvious choice. Whether or not to get Ivy or Haswell depends on how long you're comfortable waiting.

The Haswell i3 will certainly be a better part for a mostly-idle server because of its extremely low idle power. However, they won't be out until September, probably right around the 10th (they will want to announce IB-E and Haswell i3's before the Apple keynote).

 

[011899988199911]

Given that you want to stay under $200, and i3 is the obvious choice. Whether or not to get Ivy or Haswell depends on how long you're comfortable waiting.

The Haswell i3 will certainly be a better part for a mostly-idle server because of its extremely low idle power. However, they won't be out until September, probably right around the 10th (they will want to announce IB-E and Haswell i3's before the Apple keynote).

I'm comfortable waiting until September if Haswell is worth the wait. I'm just trying to find out if it is. There isn't much information out there on how well the low idle power states work for desktops/home servers (there is quite a bit for laptops and tablets) and I'm hoping people with more knowledge on the subject than I have can educate me.

Thanks for the response.

 

[mfenn]

I'm comfortable waiting until September if Haswell is worth the wait. I'm just trying to find out if it is. There isn't much information out there on how well the low idle power states work for desktops/home servers (there is quite a bit for laptops and tablets) and I'm hoping people with more knowledge on the subject than I have can educate me.

Thanks for the response.

I did say "The Haswell i3 will certainly be a better part for a mostly-idle server" 😉 Here's a chart that shows the difference: