I have been running PMS of a 2012 Mac mini, which I have streamed to devices such as Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chrome cast, and IOS Devices.
As of late, I have been upgrading my content and my clients are struggling to handle the streams, also PMS has been transcoding more of the files. My plan was to turn my server into a HTPC, but as it only has HDMI 1.4 which is not exactly future proof for true 4K content. Not to mention this doesn’t solve my streaming issues to other clients.
I am thinking of completely redesigning my plex setup, but Unsure which device to use for PMS. I don’t want to build a custom build HTPC as I don’t have the space and I want to keep energy requirements low.
Currently all my content is on a symbology DS1515+ NAS, which is working perfectly.
The best way to build a server is to go on ebay and build a comp using a xeon cpu. I’d use SuperMicro X8DTL-3F rev2.01 Motherboard as its atx form factor and a couple Intel xeon l5640 cpus. I know you said you don’t want that but you can’t beat the 25w idle and the 12 core system for transcoding. Other than that you might be looking at an Intel nuc with an i7 as your best bet for space-saving
@Zx4161 said:
The best way to build a server is to go on ebay and build a comp using a xeon cpu. I’d use SuperMicro X8DTL-3F rev2.01 Motherboard as its atx form factor and a couple Intel xeon l5640 cpus. I know you said you don’t want that but you can’t beat the 25w idle and the 12 core system for transcoding. Other than that you might be looking at an Intel nuc with an i7 as your best bet for space-saving
I have tried the intel nuc skull canyon, which is incredible good little machine. My only gripe is the fan noise as where ever you put it in the house, it’s just noisey.
My plan was to use that as a HTPC with a Logitech harmony remote, but the fan noise is just so loud.
While you’re building - buy a quiet fan: https://www.quietpc.com/casefans
(larger fans, running slower, move equal amounts of air, quieter - that was literally the first link Google provided when searching for Quiet Computer Fans)
or
Go water cooled
or
Buy a nice quiet NAS (Not A Server) and create ALL your media so it ALL Direct Plays.
If you want Plex to transcode things you can’t be bothered to pre-transcode that’s going to take processing power and processors create heat that has to be dealt with one way or another.
You do know that you can sanction your server to any room in the house so long as there’s a wire to hook it up with. You also know that you can build an ‘area’ with sound absorbing material on the walls (maybe in a little ‘cubicle’) that will cut down the noise (drastically). Trust me. Me and all these blowers know all about it. It used to sound like the flight deck of the USS Nimitz around here, but now is much quieter.
I am a little twisted in that I kinda like to be able to hear the blowers kick into high gear when they’re doing something. I know they’re working. I also know when something has automatically started and I know when it’s ended. Plex’s reporting of these types of things is non-existent, but there are ways to stay tuned in.
I don’t know much about the nuc but you may be able to take that fan out and put in a fan that offers better pressure and less decibels. Noctua fans are highly recommended.
Nah you can’t take that fan out and replace it with something bigger. Basically it is a laptop fan required by the small form factor and more or less permanently bonded to the copper heatpipe. Due to the fast cpu with 45 watt thermal design power it will spin like a starting jet under high load and the CPU still reaches its thermal limit of 100 C which results in thermal throttling.
Believe me I own one and use it as my PMS. What you can do however to drastically increase the Skull Canyon Nucs cooling, is to install an external USB-fan that pushes air into the nuc. That’s what I did. I also put all my stuff (2 4-Bay Nas, a 2-Bay Nas, Switch and PMS) into a small cabinet from IKEA and installed some thermal controlled fans from acinfinity (they actually are specialized to produce home theater entertainment fans for cabinets).
Everything considered it is neither a cheap, nor a easy and fast solution as it requires some diy. In retrospect I probably would buy a bigger cabinet and build a decent machine from scratch as the equipped skull canyon nuc is around 800 USD (or CHF in my case) and its stock cooling just doesn’t cut it. If you are limited to a small form factor it probably still is the most powerful solution.
I guess at the moment there is no cheap, quiet and shelf-ready solution available. So I would suggest to either stick with the noisy and easy to setup Skull Canyon Nuc, or build something by yourself, if you want a new small and silent Plex Media Server, as you get the most bang for your buck by building it from scratch.
