Gaming PC/NAS System or separate?

[Joshua Larsen-Bradford]

Hey so here's my scenario. I've been planning a new gaming pc build (Ryzen 1600 or 2600, 550 watt psu, 8 gb of ram 1060 6g etc) but i also want a plex server that can be running all the time so even when I'm gaming my mum can watch her shows and stuff. Will the 6 cores be enough to handle 1080p ultra gaming AND Plex transcoding at the same time or should i buy a second hand PC for like 100 bucks from Facebook marketplace to run the Plex server. I want expandability for a few drives so i can upgrade as i go and most second hand systems are in compact cases that only allow one drive. It all depends on the performance hit really, any ideas?

[Kryptyle]

On 1/9/2019 at 10:20 PM, Joshua Larsen-Bradford said:

Hey so here's my scenario. I've been planning a new gaming pc build (Ryzen 1600 or 2600, 550 watt psu, 8 gb of ram 1060 6g etc) but i also want a plex server that can be running all the time so even when I'm gaming my mum can watch her shows and stuff. Will the 6 cores be enough to handle 1080p ultra gaming AND Plex transcoding at the same time or should i buy a second hand PC for like 100 bucks from Facebook marketplace to run the Plex server. I want expandability for a few drives so i can upgrade as i go and most second hand systems are in compact cases that only allow one drive. It all depends on the performance hit really, any ideas?

The PC shouldn't have too much of a problem, if you have a good Virtualization tool you can specify the VM to have 2 cores and that would make it quite performant. However, you'll run into a problem with RAM, 8 Gigs won't be enough for 2 systems, especially if one is trans coding and acting as a NAS, it'll need at least about 2-4 Gigs right there, that's going to harm your gaming experience. Also VMs are a pain to set up, it's not impossible and they can be very reliable, but they are annoying to configure. You'll need a separate video out for the VM, which means possibly a low-end GPU for that as well adding to the cost.

 

Honestly, a VM on the same machne is a very cool thing, if you've got the higher end hardware and pocket for it it's awesome, but if you just want something that will work well when your mom wants to watch something, go with another computer.

[brob]

Personally I'd use separate machines. Not so much because of performance issues, but because the Plex server can be setup and forgotten. One can then tinker with the gaming system without worrying about another user.