Building a PC server for Plex

General Discussions
1

Hi guys,

I’m trying to build a PC sever for PMS. My budget is below $250.

I’m not looking for an advance and new parts. Its for my family and I usage only. Most of the time streaming from 1 devices at a time and sometimes but very rarely, 3 devices at a time.

Prefer a small build casing. I know my budget is quiet low but it is what it is. In future, maybe can upgrade little by little.

Thanks in advance.

2

I would go with this:

I have one of my servers running on one of these… can also be used as another client also. It is $299(500g drive) but there is a $199(16g drive) model as well… either way with this setup I would buy an external drive to house your files.

Hope this helps and some others meander this way with other options for you.

3

I’ve NVIDIA Shield Pro for a Plex server and it works quite well. It also makes a great client in that it supports almost all audio & video formats (no need to transcode DTS, TrueHD, etc audio).

Note I use it for movies - no music, DVR, etc. Others can weigh in on how well those features work.

Suggest you read Limitations When Running Plex Media Server on NVIDIA SHIELD and also scan the PMS on NVIDIA Shield forum before purchasing a Shield TV.

There are limitations when using the Shield TV 16GB model as a Plex server. Many people do it successfully, but you have to be aware of the limits and work around them (how Plex uses the 16GB internal storage and to make sure you don’t exceed those limits).

4

@SiscoPlex said:
I would go with this:

https://www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-SHIELD-Server-not-machine-specific/dp/B01MYV94H3/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1505422806&sr=8-4&keywords=nvidia%2Bshield&th=1

I have one of my servers running on one of these… can also be used as another client also. It is $299(500g drive) but there is a $199(16g drive) model as well… either way with this setup I would buy an external drive to house your files.

Hope this helps and some others meander this way with other options for you.

Absolutely, great little device. Works well. Only downside is I would find it tedious to have to move the files manually from a PC to it everytime… Unless you store the files on another computer and access them through network.

5

@KarlDag said:

@SiscoPlex said:
I would go with this:

https://www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-SHIELD-Server-not-machine-specific/dp/B01MYV94H3/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1505422806&sr=8-4&keywords=nvidia%2Bshield&th=1

I have one of my servers running on one of these… can also be used as another client also. It is $299(500g drive) but there is a $199(16g drive) model as well… either way with this setup I would buy an external drive to house your files.

Hope this helps and some others meander this way with other options for you.

Absolutely, great little device. Works well. Only downside is I would find it tedious to have to move the files manually from a PC to it everytime… Unless you store the files on another computer and access them through network.

Agreed!