Power Efficient NAS

Comments Summary

Suggestions for CPU and Motherboard

Consider using Intel N100 instead of low power Celerons for better processing power: "if you want plex, low power cpus are probably a bad choice, the 8500's transcoding capability and cpu power are great."
Opt for Intel Core i5-8500 for its transcoding capability and performance: "Motherboard and CPU were picked up together second hand."

Hardware Suggestions for a Power Efficient Build

Build a new NAS server with components like:
- Antec P101 Silent ATX Mid Tower Case for spacious HDD and SSD capacity: "room for 8 HDDs + 2 SSDs."
- Corsair RM750x SHIFT 750 W 80+ Gold PSU for power efficiency under low load: "RM750x was still doing well under low load."
- MSI Z390-A PRO motherboard for multiple SATA ports and support for higher C states: "as it has many SATA ports."

BIOS Tweaks for Low Power Consumption

Enable features like C-State Limit, Package C State Limit, and Native ASPM: "BIOS tweaks reduced idle power consumption to around 11W."

Other Recommendations

Consider using Ryzen 5600g and B550 server for lower power consumption: "idles around 19W without messing with C States."
Explore mini-ITX motherboards like Supermicro A2SDi-2C-HLN4F for low power CPUs: "mini-ITX MBs with low-power CPUs."
For DIY NAS, consider Raspberry Pi 4 8GB setup for portability and efficiency: "Raspberry Pi is incredibly reliable and efficient."
Invest in Intel i3-8100 for a NAS setup with 10G Ethernet below 20W: "allows a 10G Ethernet < 20W power draw."
For ECC support, consider using the TerraMaster F4-422 NAS and switching to TrueNAS: "F4-422 used for TrueNAS with SSD cache and 10GbE port."
Avoid mixing animal farms with storage rooms to prevent disasters: "an unsafe setup could lead to disaster."

Considerations

Pros

Components like Intel N100 and Core i5-8500 provide good processing power for tasks like virtualization and transcoding.
Strategies like BIOS tweaks and hardware choices like the Antec P101 case contribute to power efficiency.
Recommendations for alternative setups like Raspberry Pi 4 and Intel i3-8100 offer different options for a power efficient NAS.

Cons

Achieving idle power consumption below 10W may be challenging due to component requirements like RAM and storage.
The Raspberry Pi 4 solution may lack the processing power needed for certain NAS tasks.
Using old Apple time capsules for NAS may limit expandability and advanced features compared to dedicated NAS hardware.

Overall

Based on the Reddit comments, a power efficient NAS setup can be achieved by carefully selecting components like the Intel N100 or Core i5-8500, optimizing BIOS settings, and choosing energy-efficient hardware like the Antec P101 case and Corsair RM750x PSU. Considerations like the TerraMaster F4-422 for ECC support and alternative setups like Raspberry Pi 4 provide additional options for a power efficient NAS build.