Currently I run Plex on my old gaming pc that has the following specs:
OS: Windows 11
CPU: Ryzen 7 2700x
GPU: GTX 1050
Memory: 32GB
Mobo: MSI B450M Pro-M2 Max
Storage: 8 HDDs (connected via cheap PCIe to SATA aliexpress card)
And I also have 2 Raspberry Pis that run Plex related stuff such as all the *arrs and another Pi that runs other things.
For the past couple of months I kept reading on reddit about the n100, Beelink n100 mini pcs, people were really satisfied with the performance and that got me thinking that maybe I could sell everything and just end up with 2 n100 based mini PCs and something that would house all the HDDs.
Why 2 mini PCs?
One will run Windows because I also host from time to time 1-2 game servers to play with my friends and I was planning on using it for Plex but I kept reading that it doesn’t do too great with transcoding.
Another one will run Linux and replace all the Raspberry Pis that I have.
Now in term of storage, what is the best way to connect all my HDDs?
I saw something on AliExpress, something from Yottamaster like a 5 bay hdd enclosure that you connect via USB, some NAS boards based on the n100 CPU.
Any thoughts, advice, opinions are all appreciated.
Ultimately it comes down to what Media you have but in general I would stay away from the N100 as they are gimped in many ways. Normally I would say stay away from any J or N cpu because they are always capabilities limited in some way but then Intel just confused things by releasing a core i3 as an N305.
It’s a mix of 4K HDR and 1080p anime but some of my friends do transcode no matter what they are watching and what they are watching on. Luckily it isn’t something insane like 3-4 concurrent transcodes, at best 2, if we do a watch together once a year or something like that.
Pretty much everything was like “I have this I need to do that” so old gaming rig, friends donated some HDDs and ended up here.
Thank you for your reply, pretty much the vibe from what I’ve read on reddit was that it’s mostly all honey when it comes to the n100.
Currently, I’m running both servers side by side, old and new, and I have to say I’m quite impressed with the n100.
When going from 4K to 1080p, the video from the n100 starts waaay faster compared to the Ryzen 2700x & GTX 1050.
So far, there was only one case where the n100 couldn’t transcode, but the GTX 1050 could and this got me thinking:
I saw that Plex has this setting:
And this got me thinking, what if I have Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU and I leave it on auto, what will happen?
If it can’t transcode with A it will try with B?
Will it prefer Intel or Nvidia?
“The default setting will have the Auto option selected. If you have multiple devices capable of hardware-accelerated transcoding (e.g. both an integrated and discrete GPU), you can select a particular device.” - from Support Article
I personally like the T 13th/14th CPU’s because they have a normal TDP of 35 watts but have horsepower when needed (106 watts max) and have UHD 730/770 graphics (depending on which CPU you choose).
I just swapped out my i7-13700T with a i9-14900T. I figured it’s the last of the UHD 770 which has two decoding engines and supports VC1.
The downside is they only are available OEM and aren’t available at your local computer store.
@lexuu you might want to try this build and see if your 1050 starts transcoding faster. It took my A2 from almost 30 seconds to start to around 5 seconds or less.
I have tested that version, but it’s the same. ~10-12 seconds to start the playback on GTX 1050 vs 2 seconds on Intel N100.
And going to such a high-end CPU just for the Plex Server is way overkill. I’d need to get comfortable with so many new things to be able to run Linux and Windows on the same machine, whilst also acting as a NAS.
If something were to break with an update or something, there might be a chance that I’ll need to invest a considerate amount of time figuring out the problem.
That’s why I try to keep things somewhat simple, a machine for Plex and Plex related stuff, a NAS and another one to host the rest of my stuff.
But I’m really grateful for your recommendations!
