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Time to chose a pc for you #homelab #mediacenter , here is a basic "rule of thumb" guide that you can follow to make sure you're getting the right device. Mac minis (the 2018 Intel's or m versions), dell optiplex or HP elite desks are excellent starting devices. It's all about the processing power of your CPU.
Performance Category
Above Average
Score
4.7/5
Shares: 5/5
Comments: 5/5
Retention: 5/5
Views: 5/5
Likes: 5/5
Followers: 5/5
Script: 3.0/5
Total Views
26575
Likes
838
Shares
19
Comments
96
Duration
3m 57s
Traffic Sources
For You
23,359
87.9% of views
Personal Profile
2,471
9.3% of views
Others
345
1.3% of views
Search
345
1.3% of views
Follow
53
0.2% of views
Sound
0
0.0% of views
Performance vs Median
Views
+513.2%
Likes
+474.0%
Shares
+280.0%
Comments
+966.7%
For You Traffic
+670.8%
Profile Traffic
0%
Search Traffic
+343.1%
Audience Origin
Non-Followers
82.0%
21,792 views
Followers
18.0%
4,784 views
16.9% of followers reached
Audience Growth
New Followers
112
Performance vs Median
+2140.0%
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QuitethetsunamiCan I Linux this whole setup?
1
Creator
Nov 5, 2025Yeah of course!
CasuallySolidGamerSo, using tdarr to pre-optimize your media with hardware acceleration should be fine too?
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Creator
Oct 31, 2025I've not done a lot with it but yes, that can reduce the resource needs
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James Rebel Jacksonwhat elite desk would you recommend for this?
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Creator
Oct 26, 2025Anything that's going to get over a 15k on passmark, in multithreaded processes.
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James Rebel Jacksondo you have any specific models you can recommend? the ones here for about 50 usd barely hit 5k I think on the website you said.
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Creator
Oct 26, 2025You can go for the best you can afford, and if there is a transcode issue, then force direct play, so there is no transcoding, and make sure the display that your watching it on, supports the resolution. Eg if it's a 4k video, the display needs to support 4k.
TimmmeeehhhJust buy an apple tv, plays pretty much every format directly, no need for the host to do any transcoding. Of course if you want out of home streaming to work you’d still need transcoding capabilities
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Creator
Oct 23, 2025I like Apple computers, but I'd not ever go full Apple though.
TimmmeeehhhMe neither, but specifically for home streaming apple tv is great. It plays pretty much any codec directly. All streaming issues I had playing content om my LG OLED tv immediately disappeared when I started using Plex ok the apple tv.
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Perkakasan Kejuruteraan GuyuHello, make a friend
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Damian Daerinwhat about i5?
Creator
Oct 12, 2025Should be fine, best option is to put the cpu name into passmark, if it's over 15k in the multithreaded score you're totally good to go.
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Gibboim over kill, got 2 dell r730xd with 1080s
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Creator
Oct 9, 2025That's not overkill at all, that's perfectly fine :)
Sep 23, 2025
i5 12600k a good starting point
Creator
Sep 23, 2025Yup, thats a great place to start!
Jagworksso that's why my synolgy from 2018 can't hang yet with 4k
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Jaxx ❌the best way if you’re getting media or creating media is keep it under a gig in size, television shows under half that way you can fit everything and it still looks great. If you want a 25 gig file for a movie with some astronomical IMAX sound go for it but you’re gonna pay the price and have to buy more hard drive space. File compression as your friend.
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Creator
Oct 31, 2025You're gonna need a bigger boat.
ChicFilAyyyMy ds920+ has no issues with 2 4k streams simultaneously as long as hardware acceleration is turned on for the igpu
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kiwi_featherswhat about nvidia shield with a nas? can it handle 4K? i have trouble with it but always wonder if I haven't turned on a feature or so
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BoraI have Plex pass but I have this setup and it works absolutely great
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Dan JacksonI liked around my Plex server on a NAS and was wondering what you think would work? PS I love your videos and your breakdowns. Well done!
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Creator
Sep 13, 2025If the nas had a decent CPU, it will work fine!
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CatManDo_2Sparkle Intel Arc A380 ELF, 6GB GPU is only $140. It can transcode multiple 4K HDR simultaneously and it sips power!
Creator
Sep 11, 2025Solid reccomendation
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Celery DoirSorry, but I think this is quite ridiculous. I have an enormous Plex library with a lot of 4K and HDR content, I have a 14th gen i5 and have done multiple concurrent 4k transcodes without breaking a sweat.
Creator
Sep 8, 2025yup, 14th gen i5 is great, however not everyone has that and the optiplex's and so on are often 8th gen, so will struggle.
OmnibarMy server is a i7 4770k 3.5ghz. Looks like the passmark is about 10k
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Creator
Sep 7, 2025That sounds like it sould be totally fine, to be honest.
OmnibarI actually benchmarked it today after your video and I have several 4k videos I’ve never played. Turns out that it isn’t enough. I adjusted several settings to make it run locally, but I limited remote streaming to 1080p. I also tweaked several transcoding settings. I appreciate your content even though I now realize my setup is underpowered for my wants.
1
Creator
Sep 11, 2025The hidden trap of homelabbing.. you ALWAYS have to upgrade.
1
XandermanIf you need a GPU for transcoding don’t sleep on the Intel Arc A310 or A380. Single slot with AV1 support and can transcode up to 8-10 4K streams to 1080p. I bought a couple for $99.
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CatManDo_2Yes!!! Incredible performance per watt and it's purely buss powered!
1
Slevin_Kelevra70I use a refurbished Mac mini M1 have zero problems with it
Creator
Sep 5, 2025Yeah, m1 is amazing. I just did a video on how to set up Casaos on an M1 as well, works awesome.
MiraskaCopyParty+ Kodi, no transcoding needed, runs on anything with Sata and Ethernet port
Creator
Sep 5, 2025LOOOOVE copyparty
LumrinMy i7-10710u nuc, 64gbs ram, win11, really doesn't like 4k transcoding via plex. You've made me think about putting it out to pasture lol.
Creator
Sep 4, 2025Great little unit, shame about the transcode. If yiu have a 4k TV look at enabling direct play, but otherwise.. Transcode sadness
1
dustyWhat's the case with AMD CPUs? I can get a mini PC with Ryzen 7 6800H for like 200 euro off my buddy, would it be a good device for homelab setup??
1
dontbuydieselif you can get one with 780m gpu it can transcode av1
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dustyunfortunately it got only 680m igpu 😔
dontbuydiesel680m can decode av1 I think, but the 6800h is more than powerful enough to do all software transcoding
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M MJust pay for Plex and just an intel cpu with quick sync. Even if it’s an i3 it can handle 6 4k stream. The money you save on the cpu you can use it cover the Plex cost.
Creator
Sep 3, 2025Sounds like a plan to me
Dusan LosSo use jellyfin?
Creator
Sep 2, 2025*Personal choice I think
1
Jay😞 only if proxmox can be installed on a Mac mini
Creator
Sep 2, 2025Maybe there is a way?
blakethomson603What if you end up having to run multiple streams? What’s the min then?
Creator
Sep 1, 2025I'd say, if using plex, get the paid version and you can use gpu transcoding, which isn't reliant on your CPU.
Atlasjellyfin can use hardware transcoding on pretty much every modern intel cpu without any regards to actual cpu performance
4
hey_it's_Dougthanks for the content man. this is so very my new niche after picking up a raspberry pi 5 as a wee project
1
hey_it's_Dougthink i might use my Mac mini m4 next
1
Creator
Sep 1, 2025I have a vid today, about installing casaos on a Mac mini, and you can deploy the whole arr stack on that, all nice and neat.
1
FryHappy to follow. I'm glad I found u. Was feeling a bit lonely on the boat arrrr 🏴☠️
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Aleran1141 🇨🇦Your guides are generally pretty solid. You miss the mark a bit here thought. I use a surplus HP desktop with an intel pentium gold g5500 processor in it specifically as just my plex server. The Arrs and storage are elsewhere on other bare metal. I do this because of intel quicksync. That processor does all my transcoding for me. Multiple 4K streams simultaneously. It’ll do 21 1080p streams. And it sips power, idles at 3w.
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Creator
Sep 1, 2025Well, just doing the best :)
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Aleran1141 🇨🇦Absolutely you’re doing the good work, I’m just saying advocating for software transcoding in 2025 misses much better options.
2
OOGAOOGAi thought a i5 was enough for 4k60?
1
Creator
Sep 5, 2025i5 has a lot of different variations, so yes it can, but as a rule of thumb, check its passmark rating and see if its +18K and it will do it really we
Northern VoterI went for 9900x with a mobo that supports 8 Sata drives and a case that does too. it's not pretty but it's gonna be an efficient worker for a long time even
Creator
Aug 31, 2025Not pretty but functional is 100% the right way.
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Daniel PYou can also find a device such as an Apple TV that will do direct play
1
charlesdigitaleraPerfect
1
Creator
Aug 30, 2025Glad you like it!
Tom 🇨🇦Worth pointing out that the windows machines should be intel processors as they have quick sync which helps with transcoding. I learned this the hard way 😏
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Creator
Aug 30, 2025Good to note :)
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/home/thankarezosfirebat t8 with n100. cheap and can do intel quick sync hardware acceleration. also just put it on proxmox so you can use the rest of resources doing something else cause cpu and ram usage are very low for jellyfin and the only costly part is the transcoding but your gpu can handle it and its not gonna be used by anything else on your mini pc so jellyfin can stress it all its want. also you can also put openwrt on it. you can do all of that for very cheap, low powered consumption low, minimal space. also it has two 1gbps lan ports so you can do lan wan without weird vlan shenanigans
/home/thankarezosthe router on the right is just bridging (just passes wan directly to my mini pc, I asked provider to do that)
1
Creator
Aug 30, 2025Clean setup!
1
caddy🇨🇦Meh I don’t use plex but I just have 2 libraries a 4K one and I lock it to devices that are capable of 4K. Transcoding is for suckers. Direct streaming is the optimal way of doing things.
1
LonusYeh, direct play or nothing, if your device can’t stream it watch or request the other version I ain’t use resources because you’re trying to watch a version your device doesn’t support or your internet can’t handle 😅
Creator
Aug 30, 2025Direct is best if you can.
Oshiftgen 8+ intel cpu's have hardware transcoding that makes this a lot better and almost a non issue
23
Creator
Aug 30, 2025Yeah, i7 Intel and up are golden, this was more about what's the minimum.
2
Oshiftthose cheap little intel u100 mini pcs can transcode over 5 1080p at a time
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Creator
Aug 30, 2025That's much better than I thought!
Tenamijellyfin gpu transcoding is free but can be a little tricky to get working with Linux sometimes
Creator
Aug 30, 2025Good to know, jellyfin is a great option, and gpu transcoding is great, means smaller pc can run!
3
Tenamiyeah I've just got my *arr + jellyfin running on an optiplex and it's been pretty great even with 4k high bitrate
Creator
Aug 30, 2025How are you dealing with storage? Nas or external drive?
TenamiI've got 2x 3.5" HDDs running from an external dock, pretty jank for now but I'm keeping an eye out for something more stable (when I can afford it)
Creator
Aug 30, 2025Storage is such a pain but you want to see jank?
1
TenamiI can see my future
Creator
Aug 30, 2025Lol, I've moved on a bit since this...
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Sebastian KlingkJellyfin transcoding doesn’t work with the device Apps like the AppleTV App. That’s why I switched to plex.
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TenamiAh wasn't aware of that
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Sebastian KlingkYeah…all feels unfinished and like beta versions. If you use direct streaming, no problem. But Plex is more the all-in-one finished and working big brother. I bought a lifetime license, was the best choice. Using plex transcoding + tailscale = watch your library from everywhere.
Tenamisounds like it works well for you, jellyfin has been more than fine for me and I don't see the need to go out and pay for something when I'm sailing the seas
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bird_noticernice one, definitely going to start looking for a second hand Mac mini for a home media server. keen to see your OS video when it goes up!
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Creator
Aug 30, 2025For Compute they are great, storage is the issue.
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bird_noticertrue that! luckily I trash anything I've already seen so not looking to store more than a few shows/films at a time.
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