Media server recommandation

[PoPet]

Hey guys!

Currently i'm using an old 4th gen SFF PC with i5 4590T and 16GB RAM and with a 2TB SSD as a Jellyfin server, but I got a lot of few yers old WD HDDs that i want to use as a storage for my media server. I also got a ton of DDR3 RAM, like I can easily throw in 32 gigs, so I don't really want to buy anything that needs DDR4. 

So my question is what kind of CPU + mobo should I look for? I don't need much, max 2 4K streams at once, but usually only 1 with jellyfin, and maybe later a few smart home apps. I don't have a budget yet, I want to go as cheap as I can with mostly used parts. I got a 400W chieftec PSU, lot of DDR3 RAM, old cases with many drive slots, and many many HDDs. 

[Needfuldoer]

1 minute ago, PoPet said:

I got a lot of few yers old WD HDDs that i want to use as a storage

 

8 minutes ago, PoPet said:

many many HDDs. 

How many, and in what capacity? It costs more electricity to run a lot of small capacity drives than a couple high capacity ones, so even buying a pair of used 12 TB drives is worth it in the long run.

 

2 minutes ago, PoPet said:

I also got a ton of DDR3 RAM, like I can easily throw in 32 gigs, so I don't really want to buy anything that needs DDR4. 

I'm afraid you're not going to get much better than the machine you've already got unless you go to DDR4 or DDR5. The last Intel platform that supported DDR3L was Kaby Lake (7th gen), and there's no DDR3 support on AM4. (You really don't want to use a pre-Zen AMD processor; they weren't competitive even at the time.)

 

If you want to spend as little as possible, I'd recommend getting a used mATX motherboard that will take your i5 and the RAM you've got. Your CPU supports Quick Sync Video for transcoding, which should be fine. If it isn't, you can add a cheap Nvidia card that supports NVENC.

[LIGISTX]

1 hour ago, PoPet said:

Hey guys!

Currently i'm using an old 4th gen SFF PC with i5 4590T and 16GB RAM and with a 2TB SSD as a Jellyfin server, but I got a lot of few yers old WD HDDs that i want to use as a storage for my media server. I also got a ton of DDR3 RAM, like I can easily throw in 32 gigs, so I don't really want to buy anything that needs DDR4. 

So my question is what kind of CPU + mobo should I look for? I don't need much, max 2 4K streams at once, but usually only 1 with jellyfin, and maybe later a few smart home apps. I don't have a budget yet, I want to go as cheap as I can with mostly used parts. I got a 400W chieftec PSU, lot of DDR3 RAM, old cases with many drive slots, and many many HDDs. 

Do you need more performance..? For transcoding 4k, throw an ARC GPU in it. You’d need a GPU for transcode regardless….. but if you are only doing direct play (streaming 4k to a 4k TV and not have to transcode), your CPU is plenty fine. 
 

16GB of RAM is likely enough, what OS is this running on? 
 

Besides a GPU for transcode (if needed), that machine probably is enough for what you want to do. 

[PoPet]

2 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

 

How many, and in what capacity? It costs more electricity to run a lot of small capacity drives than a couple high capacity ones, so even buying a pair of used 12 TB drives is worth it in the long run.

 

I'm afraid you're not going to get much better than the machine you've already got unless you go to DDR4 or DDR5. The last Intel platform that supported DDR3L was Kaby Lake (7th gen), and there's no DDR3 support on AM4. (You really don't want to use a pre-Zen AMD processor; they weren't competitive even at the time.)

 

If you want to spend as little as possible, I'd recommend getting a used mATX motherboard that will take your i5 and the RAM you've got. Your CPU supports Quick Sync Video for transcoding, which should be fine. If it isn't, you can add a cheap Nvidia card that supports NVENC.

I have a lot of 1TB, a few 2TB and a 4. I would like to use the 4TB one and some of the 2TBs. 

I was dumb in the original post, its not an SFF, its a mini pc, so I can't just throw my drives in it. I was thinking on a 6th or 7th gen Intel, but I dont know how much it helps if I need to transcode a 4K movie to 1080p for some reason (lets say someone wants to watch it on his llaptop). The current i5 had some bad times with it.

[PoPet]

1 hour ago, LIGISTX said:

Do you need more performance..? For transcoding 4k, throw an ARC GPU in it. You’d need a GPU for transcode regardless….. but if you are only doing direct play (streaming 4k to a 4k TV and not have to transcode), your CPU is plenty fine. 
 

16GB of RAM is likely enough, what OS is this running on? 
 

Besides a GPU for transcode (if needed), that machine probably is enough for what you want to do. 

As I said in my last comment, i was dumb and its not an SFF, its a mini PC, so a GPU is not an option with this PC, but sometimes the possibility of transcoding would be a nice to have. 

I know it wouldnt need much RAM, but I have like 6 sticks that are 8 gigs.

[LIGISTX]

13 hours ago, PoPet said:

The current i5 had some bad times with it.

The i7 wouldn't help much... you really need a dedicated GPU.

[Bersella AI]

22 hours ago, PoPet said:

I was dumb in the original post, its not an SFF, its a mini pc, so I can't just throw my drives in it. I was thinking on a 6th or 7th gen Intel, but I dont know how much it helps if I need to transcode a 4K movie to 1080p for some reason (lets say someone wants to watch it on his llaptop). The current i5 had some bad times with it.

It helps a lot indeed. I have a Pentium G4600 from 7th gen series, with a powerful GPU, HD 630 integrated, and It handled a single 60-Mbps 4K HEVC stream at ~75 fps. Note that it's coupled with dual-channel DDR4-2400 kits, and slower DDR3 modules would apparently affect performance of iGPUs. Also avoid 6th gen series, which did not have adequate codecs for HEVC encoding.

 

8th or 9th gen Core processors may also be considered, as they actually still give support for DDR3L when paired with H310C boards (utilizing DDR3L), or some modded 100- or 200-series boards. However, these boards are expected to have only two DDR3 slots.

[PoPet]

16 hours ago, LIGISTX said:

The i7 wouldn't help much... you really need a dedicated GPU.

I could get a P400 for like 23$, a 1050Ti 4G for 49, and a 1060 6GB for 56. 

Idk which one would be better, all could handle at least 2 4k to 1080 transcoding, the 1050Ti and 1060 even more, but idk if it worth to buy the better ones, if they can do tonemapping, I might consider, but I didn't really find info about it.

 

I could pair it with an i5 3470 and 32GB RAM for free, since I have them already, or buy a 4th gen 4 core CPU with mobo for like 50$, but i guess it does not worth it. 

[LIGISTX]

2 minutes ago, PoPet said:

I could get a P400 for like 23$, a 1050Ti 4G for 49, and a 1060 6GB for 56. 

You’d have to search the plex forums to see what will be more worthwhile for you.