When building a FreeNAS server should I care about hyperthreading?

[mhweb]

Seeing that only some Intel CPUs include hyperthreading, should I care about this technology when selecting a CPU? I just want FreeNAS for storage and Plex.
Thanks,

 

[joeinaz]

Are you going to be trans-coding 4k video with your Plex system?

 

[Ericloewe]

That's like asking "should I care that this system is limited to 32 GB of RAM". The answer is "you tell me what you need from the server". Hyperthreading is better than no Hyperthreading, everything else being the same, but it's not a fundamental requirement for any and all servers.

 

[kdragon75]

You can transcode all you want on a low end atom. You just need to finish BEFORE someone starts the stream. You can't transcode on the fly with low end CPUs. Real cores are better than hyperthreading but hyperthreading is better than no hyperthreading. How much you need will depend on if you want to transcode on the fly, how many streams at once, and the bit rate/resolution of the video.

 

[seanm]

The answer is "you tell me what you need from the server"

Indeed!

Hyperthreading is better than no Hyperthreading, everything else being the same

Not always. Though it doesn't seem to apply to the OP use case, HT has security disadvantages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-threading#Security