I have a question (or two) about using a Mac Mini as my first Plex Stand-Alone Server. Based on the Plex System Requirements, it appears that a used 2009 Mac Mini ("Late 2009" - MC239LL/A) with the following tech spec's would suffice:
2.53 GHz Intel "Core 2 Duo"
4 GB RAM
320 GB Hard Drive
USB 2
OS X Yosemite
However, I can't seem to find one of the above used models for under $400. So, being that a brand new 2014 Mac Mini ("Late 2014" - MGEM2LL/A) is roughly $475... wouldn't it be a viable option, to have 5 year's newer technology for only $75 more? The brand new tech spec's are such:
1.4 GHZ Intel "Core i5" (Turbo Boost up to 2.7 GHz)
4 GB RAM
500 GB Hard Drive
USB 3
OS X Yosemite
My usage for the Plex Stand-Alone Server would be as follows, so I do not believe that I will need anything transcoded (and transcoding, from weeks of reading about it, is what I understand actually taxes a Plex Stand-Alone Server's processor and memory more than anything):
All of my files are of the M4V format, without DRM
All of my files are housed on an external USB 3 hard drive
All of my playback devices support the M4V format (Xbox One, Xbox 360, iPads, iPhones, Roku 3)
One (1) stream about 85% of the time, with a max of three (3) streams 15% of the time
Am I correct in assuming that the brand new 2014 Mac Mini ("Late 2014" - MGEM2LL/A) which I've mentioned above would handle my Plex Stand-Alone Server needs, due to the lack of transcoding power needed?
$75 for 5 years of newer technology is something I would conceder to be really price steady in the electronics world. That's a lot of fun for a long period of time, one dinner costs the same ;)
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. I ended up going with a brand new 2014 Mac Mini ("Late 2014" - MGEN2LL/A):
2.6 GHZ dual-core Intel "Core i5" (Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHZ)
8 GB RAM
1 TB Hard Drive
USB 3
OS X Yosemite
It's more than is necessary... but I hope that it lasts the 15 or so years that the Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White) server lasted, that it's replacing. Wishful thinking.
I have the early 2014 which I just upgraded from a 2010 mini (which streamed to 5 clients no problem) only because the upgrade was free for me although I did add a 120 gig SSD for os and 32 gig ram as this is also a torrent downloader and TV show grabber and obviously this never stutters. I would always look at your router and switch. Correct settings on the switch is very important. Took me a while to work all this out if your network is setup correctly an atom with 2 meg ram will run plex. Check network settings dive deep into these and most problems will be resolved.
Thanks for your reply. At home I have two earlier mac minis and both play no problems. It’s just this new one.
At Dad’s, his plex content is on the internal drive. This is the content that stutters. I don’t believe this is related to network as it’s all local content.
I turned off the “VDADecoder” option and this has appeared to help, although during a scene change (keyframe?) we still get a little stutter. We also get some audio pops. Turning on the “boost audio on down mix” does not appear to help.
Have tried many different source files. No other apps running in the background. On latest stable release of PHT & PMS. Running Yosemite.
