Hello all-
I’m wanting a new dedicated server but like many only have some much money to spend.
Any thoughts on a Dell OptiPlex 5040 SFF Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz 500GB 8G? Used seems the way to go but there’s so many damn options out there. At most maybe three streams at a time. Usually one.
Any advice would be awesome. Thanks!
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What content will you be playing is a crucial part of the info you left out. And streaming internally or externally?
DVD rips to MKV?
BluRay rips to MKV?
4K rips to MKV?
Each of those requires increased processing power if you need to transcode.
Ah yeah. Left that out. I have a 4 tb external. I mostly have BluRay rips.
Playing internally or externally?
What devices will you be streaming to?
I use Xbox and roku. And a few friends stream as well remotely. But very rarely at the same time.
Not sure what you mean playing internally or externally. I have an external HD where I store all media.
Playing video within your network is playing internally. No bandwidth restrictions. Playing outside of your home, would most likely have bandwidth restrictions requiring transcoding to reduce total bitrate so that the video fits within the upload speed you have available.
If you almost never have friends stream simultaneously then I would think that the system you have specified in your initial post would be sufficient. If your or your friends use increases, you may run into issues. But if you’re not expecting that, I’d think this system would work.
That makes sense. Thank you.
Is there a used PC that you’d recommend for a decent price?
Wish I had some good info for you. I don’t have a good grasp on the sweet spot of price vs performance in used systems.
If you toss out your ballpark of what you’re willing to spend, someone else may come along with some ideas for you.
Trying to stick to 200-300. I’m only using it as a server so I don’t want anything ridiculously expensive.
Hopefully someone can come along with a good recommendation for you in that price range. 
Just for comparison - eBay has that same form factor, same generation, but i7 with a nice boost in performance.
Here are the benchmark comparisons: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i5-6500-vs-Intel-i7-6700/2599vs2598
Good point. Didn’t realize the i7 would add that much more.
If you want hardware accelerated transcoding of HEVC HDR videos using Intel Quick Sync Video (the embedded GPU), you’ll want a 7th gen or later CPU.
The 6th gen CPUs support decoding 8-bit HEVC. 7th Gen and later support decoding 10 bit HEVC.
Reference: Intel® Core™ Processors Technical Resources. Look at Datasheet Volume 1 for each CPU family, Processor Graphics section (usually 2.4). You want the info for hardware accelerated video decoding.
Awesome thank you. I’ve been running on an old i3 for a while so I’m sure anything will show a great improvement.
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