Hello , I am new to the forum and not very experienced in computers.
I have been using plex for the las 2-3 years now with relatively good results considering the equipment I have .
I have an old compaq PC connected to external hard drives . Processor is AMD e300 ( passmark just about 600).windows 7 home 64 bits. This is one of my servers , it actually runs Ok but of course it can barely manage one stream at time.
I have another server out of a IMac with a processor i5 , that one gets the media from the compact connected USB storage (via the network)but if I don’t have that volume open on the iMac it will not automatically recognize it.When it wants to work it streams like a champ, but it seems to run into a lot of compatibility issues with the compaq.
I want to upgrade my hardware and I don’t want to use the that iMac( I use it for work)
I am not sure what to get : my current options are ;
1.a Mac mini dedicated to the server but I am afraid I will run into the same issues as with the iMac.
2. Buy a new PC desktop with a processor i5 or similar an keep everything with windows.
3. Laptop i5 and connected wireless to the network and storage
I also would like to rip my blurays and probably start a 3D library .
My usage would be 2-4 streams at a time
Budget is under 500usd
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated .
Thanks
@vacumvalve said:
Hello , I am new to the forum and not very experienced in computers.
I have been using plex for the las 2-3 years now with relatively good results considering the equipment I have .
I have an old compaq PC connected to external hard drives . Processor is AMD e300 ( passmark just about 600).windows 7 home 64 bits. This is one of my servers , it actually runs Ok but of course it can barely manage one stream at time.
I have another server out of a IMac with a processor i5 , that one gets the media from the compact connected USB storage (via the network)but if I don’t have that volume open on the iMac it will not automatically recognize it.When it wants to work it streams like a champ, but it seems to run into a lot of compatibility issues with the compaq.
I want to upgrade my hardware and I don’t want to use the that iMac( I use it for work)
I am not sure what to get : my current options are ;
1.a Mac mini dedicated to the server but I am afraid I will run into the same issues as with the iMac.
2. Buy a new PC desktop with a processor i5 or similar an keep everything with windows.
3. Laptop i5 and connected wireless to the network and storage
I also would like to rip my blurays and probably start a 3D library .
My usage would be 2-4 streams at a time
Budget is under 500usd
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated .
Thanks
That’s a widely different bunch of options!? Desktop vs laptop, macOS vs windows… I think you need to think about what you’re trying to achieve and how you’ll use the device. If you don’t need a laptop, don’t get a laptop.
The Mac Mini is less powerful than a similarly priced desktop Windows machine, but you get the benefits of a mac… No viruses, very little malware, very stable, etc.
I used to run my server on a Mac mini, was happy with it but the transcoding would always get the fans spinning and that was annoying to us. Don’t see why you’d have your current issues as long as you connect your usb drives directly to it.
I now run a Windows PC, am very surprised and happy with Windows 10, but for the first time in 15 years I got malware that I can’t get rid of… wish I could run macOS.
Any thougts on using this ;Dell CFC5C OptiPlex 3050 Micro Form Factor Desktop Computer, Intel Core i5-7500T, 8GB DDR4, 256GB Solid State Drive, Windows 10 Pro
External drives for storage ?
I was told it has very good performance , small , energy efficient ,etc
