Hi, I hope I’m in the correct forum here.
I’m currently using my old Windows PC to run the Plex server, as well as copying my media onto the server. However, my disc drive has stopped working, so I’m looking at buying a new, more powerful machine.
I’m completely new to this, but I’m willing to try anything!
I need a machine that can comfortably run my Plex (with probably no more than 2 people streaming at once), but also able to copy my media onto it (Blu-ray, DVD, CDs, etc).
Does anyone have advice on buying something that’s ready to go, or does anyone have a step by step guide on building my own?
As I say, any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you.
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Building a PC is easy, if you can be patient and take your time doing it. Here are a couple of things I like to consider when building a server:
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Are you sensitive to power usage/draw? There are strong CPU’s for transcoding purposes, or you can get something with a lot of cores and lower clock speed with much lower power draw. I like Intel’s i5-xx400 series as they tend to have 6 cores, and lower power draw.
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Is 4k part of your life? HDR? Are you going to have multiple copies of the same movie set up for different playback qualities? I have done 4k HDR, 1080p, and a 720p copies for different machines. If 4k HDR is partially supported by your viewing platforms, consider an Nvidia GPU. At least a GTX1050/ti. It can be had for $100 right now.
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I like 16gb of RAM for a dedicated server. 8gb can be just fine. But Ram prices are far lower now, so 16gb is not much more money. If your machine will be doing multiple things, 32gb is a good choice.
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Linux or Windows? I like Linux, but Windows is far easier. If you don’t have any experience with Linux, go Windows. When building from the ground up, Linux needs some pretty specific setup configurations to make it all work right. Windows Pro might be better for a dedicated server as you have much better remote management so you don’t need a keyboard, mouse, or screen for it. I have my server running next to my router in my utility room. I do all my administration through putty (a program for both Linux and Windows to do command line stuff). A lot of people are tempted by Linux = free, Windows = $$. Don’t be. Windows is cheap compared to the headache of constantly googling commands for your particular distro of linux.
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Get your OS and Plex on an M.2 nvme SSD. Don’t settle for a mechanical or SATA SSD. It is worth it to go for m.2 nvme. But, make sure your motherboard supports the speed of the drive you want to use. This is a huge performance gain for a lot of actions. It isn’t always noticeable, but when it is, its amazing.
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Decide between AMD and Intel for your CPU. If you are want a video card for transcoding, AMD may be the better choice for power draw and cores/efficiency. But, the new Intel CPU’s are coming out, the ix-12xxx’s. They may be better than what AMD currently offers, but power draw is still an unknown. But, AMD has their new Zen4 architecture coming out and it looks pretty great. There have been some pretty big headaches with Intel’s 10 and 11th gen products for on-board transcoding. Again, a good nvidia gpu negates this. But some AMD and Intel processors don’t have an integrated gpu. If you want one, make sure you get one!
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If you want my personal recommendations, I can do that. But once you have CPU (cooler may or may not be included!), motherboard (may sure it supports your processor!), RAM, Case and Power Supply it is just a matter of putting them in. Then, plug in the power leads and cooling fans, and then the absolute worst thing is plugging in the headers. I have no idea why we don’t have a better system for this, but the leads are tiny, and pretty hard to get on correctly until you have some practice at it. Still, it can be frustrating. Just takes time.
I concur with all 7 of TheEmry’s bullet points. I’ve built many PCs in my days and several servers as well. There is one extra point I’d like to add.
Storage!!! Building a big (>10TB) server will be 1/2 components and 1/2 storage in-so-far-as $$$ goes. Decide how much you need right now and then multiply by at least 4 to come up w/ a size you can expand into. Also decide on how you want to configure your storage array for redundancy purposes and expansion. This will keep your storage online in case of a drive failure and give you time to replace the failed drive and make expanding your storage easier when needed.
You can find loads if information online on how to configure a storage array for your needs.(capacity, ease of configuration and maint)
Good luck and ask lots of questions, it’s the only way you will learn.
Thank you so much for your reply! I’ll try and answer your questions as best I can!
1, lol, I have no idea if I’m sensitive to that or not! Haha! I think I’d take your personal opinion on what I should get.
2, 4K hasn’t been something I’ve worried about before, as I’ve only had a DVD burner to copy my DVDs onto Plex. BUT, I do have 4K Blu-ray movies, so if I’m building one myself, it would be nice to be able to burn those movies onto Plex.
3, 16gb it is then!
4, I’ve never used Linux, so yes, I’ll probably go with Windows. You say a mouse, keyboard and screen isn’t needed, how does that work? How can I set things up without those things,
5, again, I’ll probably go with your personal recommendation on this one.
6, as above, I’ll go with your recommendation.
7, sooo, yes please to personal recommendations! Thank you so much. I’m willing to take time with this, but I’m really lost as to where to start. But you have given me confidence to give this a go. Personal recommendations so that I know exactly what to get would be awesome, and very much appreciated.
Thank you for your reply. Yes, I’d like to get a decent amount of storage. If I get storage that is full in a couple of years, could I buy more storage and add onto it? So, for example, if I buy 5tb now, could I buy another 5tb and just add it to the computer? Or is it something that is a pain, and much easier to just buy 10tb now?
And yes, I’m asking lots of questions!
Thank you so much.
What are the specs on the server you’re thinking about replacing?
It is also important, I think, to separate CPU power, GPU power, and storage. Plex can run on a very modest server… like a 6th gen Celeron. But you might want your storage on another device like a NAS.
Lastly I do recommend checking out Linux if you are making a dedicated server. But for that to be a good option you have to be a computer hobbyist and enjoy learning new systems. It isn’t really hard… but it is a lot to absorb if you only know Windows.
Thanks for your reply!
I’ve not got the know-how to answer your questions, I’m afraid! I’m willing to learn, but I’m at step one of this learning curve!
So I’ve no idea what the specs are - do you mean what computer I’m currently using? It’s just a cheap one, I had to get an external hard drive to store my movies and albums on.
I’m not sure what the difference is between a CPU and a GPU, although I’m sure I can figure that out with a Google search!
I’ve read about NAS when I was looking into this, and I have to be honest, I still don’t understand what it is and how it works, etc.
Yeah, I’m not sure about Linux for me, as you can tell, I’m really inexperienced, and I think it’ll be too much. Having said that, I am willing to learn, but would need a lot of hand holding! Ha!
Thanks!
Well, okay then.
My current recommendations then would be to start simple.
CPU - Intel i5-11400T - it looks like the transcoder is now working well. The T designation is huge. It means it will be clocked a bit lower (1.3ghz base & 3.7 ghz boost, vs. 2.6ghz base & 4.4ghz boost ), BUT, you will be running a 35W TDP instead of 65W TDP. This is a really significant energy savings for something that will be running 24/7/365. And, if you need more power for the CPU, its as easy as a new drop in chip.
MOBO - I like the Asus Prime Z590-P - Its a lower price, but has 2.5gb ethernet. This may be more and more important for folks doing high bandwidth/multiple steams. It isn’t a priority for you yet, but it may become so. And it does 1gb ethernet easily. I do not like putting servers on wifi, even wifi 6E. Wired is the definition of consistency. And with the potential to go 2.5gb when you have a router that can do it, it can really help.
RAM - Not as important a choice if you had a high frequency chip or were going to do overclocking. Get some solid Crucial Ballistix at around 3200mhz. It will be solid and run for 10+ years without issue.
m.2 storage - Don’t overspend here. Get fast, but not large. You can easily get by with ~256gb, but fast drives at that low capacity aren’t as easy to come by. The one I would get is the Seagate Firecuda Gen 4 x4 at 500gb. Its got the performance of PCIe 4.0, but you aren’t locked into a 1tb drive that you won’t need and is twice the price.
Mechanical storage - use what you already have if you want, but I look at this as a great time to go for a solid setup. After all the backblaze reports (they do server storage stuff and published the results), I really like HGST. Go expensive here and plan for the future. Get two 12 tb drives and have them set up to mirror each other. YOU DO NOT WANT TO LOSE ALL OF YOUR LIBRARY OF TV AND MOVIES. The mirroring is called RAID and you can google that. Copy (do not MOVE) your current data over to one drive. RAID will automatically set them up to be identical for you.
OS - Get Windows 10 Pro. Yes, its expensive. Maybe even two copies, one for your server, one for administering it on whatever other PC you have.
Case - It really isn’t a huge deal. Most will take 2 3.5" drives. This may not be enough for you. with 2 12tb drives, you would fill them. Find a case that you like the looks of, and make sure it has 4 or more 3.5" drive bays. This is not as easy as it used to be.
Power Supply Unit (PSU) - Don’t go cheap. Get a good, efficient one. It does not have to be big. Good brands include Antec, Thermaltake, SeaSonic, Corsair, EVGA… there are a lot. Go for something in the neighborhood of 400-650w but get it with an 80+ gold or better efficiency and something with a 5 or more year warranty. You can get a “modular” PSU, which means you can add and remove cables as needed. But if you aren’t going to show it off, I wouldn’t worry about it.
I would skip a GPU for now. It is really very easy to add later if you need it. Use the onboard graphics. The 11th gen Intel CPU’s have a really solid one, but it doesn’t compare to what most dedicated gpu’s in the $100 and above price range can do. If you absolutely want a gpu, find a GTX1650 super. Your power use will more than double and given what you have told me about your current library, you won’t use it, let alone need it.
Yep, the current computer you are having trouble with. If you are on windows, find Properties on “My PC” or something like that and it should show you the specs of your CPU and RAM.
CPU is the main processor, GPU is the graphics processor. It may be part of the CPU or it may be an add-in card. If your monitor plugs in to a port on the motherboard, not a separate card, this is a good sign your CPU has a GPU built in. If the CPU is approximately 2016 or newer it might be pretty good for Plex.
A NAS is simply a little computer that is specialized for storage features. It’s usually a box with a bunch of hard drive bays. You can use it to make a giant shared drive appear on your network. Imagine, all your stuff in one place… and if a hard drive dies, you have time to put in a new one and your files are still OK because they are protected with clever math. They are pretty awesome but not mandatory for Plex.
No problem with sticking with what you know. Plex works fine on Windows, there are just a few things it does a lot better on Linux, specifically processing an HDR video file to be played on a SDR TV. If that does not matter to you, and it doesn’t for most people, Windows should be fine.
Anyway your current PC may actually be just fine for Plex if the storage situation is handled. See if you can find the CPU and RAM info.
If you need a new computer you can build one if that is fun. @TheEmrys gave you a lot of good ideas there. You can also buy something modest and cheap that would do pretty well. Check out this thread.
If you are going the Windows route for your OS you will be using “Storage Spaces” for your software RAID configuration. Lots of online how-to’s to help you configure and expand your storage.
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This is amazing! I’m going to go for it. I’m sure I’ll have more questions! Thank you!
One more question, what Blu-ray burner should I be looking at? As I’ve mentioned, it’s my current dvd drive that’s broken, stopping me from uploading my DVDs, but if I’m making my own, I should probably go with something that I can also burn my Blu-ray as well as my DVDs, too?
Why would you want to write blurays?
You only need to be able to rip them.
Burning them is more costly than buying more hard drives. Don’t even consider doing backups on blu-ray discs.
Yes, that makes sense, I don’t need to create another disc, do I, just create a digital copy. So can you suggest what I should be buying for that to be possible?
https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19634
I don’t think there is a 4k drive out there that can not also burn. But I would plan ahead and get a 4k drive from this list.
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