Hello to all,
How I use the system:
Main PC running mostly for plex, storage and playing my films locally.
Friends and family connect to me - maybe 4 or 5 simultaneous streams max
To date most of my media was SD and for many years has run smoothly with not many issues at all, to be honest, and very happy with the setup.
Current Specs:
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 4570 @ 3.20GHz 59 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. B85M-G (SOCKET 1150) 9 °C
Graphics
Generic Non-PnP Monitor (1920x1080@32Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 4600 (ASUStek Computer Inc)
Storage
1863GB Seagate ST2000DX002-2DV164 (SATA ) 39 °C
2794GB Western Digital WDC WD30EFRX-68EUZN0 SCSI Disk Device (SATA ) 37 °C
3726GB Western Digital WDC WD4003FZEX-00Z4S SCSI Disk Device (SATA ) 46 °C
931GB Seagate ST1000DM003-1CH162 (SATA )
Storage running out so also need to think of this below.
Adding 4K content to my collection so I think I need something more powerful than my current CPU to handle 4K transcode where and when needed.
My first idea reading the forums came for me to consider the following keeping as budget as I can, unfortunately.
Buy an external drive like the WD 12TB D10 and “shuck” it in the PC - then later buy another one to put all existing media onto this and give me room for the future to add 2 more. 290€ - rather than 460€ for the same HGST Ultrastar HDD… how and why - I am not sure lol
Buy a dedicated GPU - heard that this can work very well. firstly the P2000 but far too rich for me. So was looking at a 2nd hand GTX 1050/60 Ti and looking where to hack the 2 transcode limit. Also used this nVidia Hardware Transcoding Calculator for Plex Estimates for help. However. some youtube plex videos do say it can handle a lot more, nearly double what is stated on the above link.
GTX 1060 Ti - 160€ ish max second hand
GTX 1050 Ti - 120€ ish max second hand
What are your thoughts of the above or if I am going completely wrong and better options are available for me? Cheaper comes to mind 
Optional:
Would like to keep my system as quiet as it is currently, hardly makes a noise. Worried about the new GPU.
My PSU is an EVGA 500 W1, 80+ so should be plenty I think.
Thank you in advance.
Ben
