Suggestions on budget Plex server build

finnbo11 · March 20, 2018

Greetings LTT forums,

I'm looking to build a cheap DIY build for a Plex server or to possibly buy a Nas if that would be cheaper. I've looked around and seen quite a few cheaper 771/775 motherboards around so if that is the best option I'd go with that. In the UK we have a site called CEX which sells dirt cheap CPUs, ram and drives so buying those there is probably the best option. I'm looking to spend the bare minimum for an enjoyable 1080p streaming over the network never over internet with a maximum of 2 users but predominantly used by only one user. I don't really need to use the system on storing anything rather than my Plex media content. Thanks!

manikyath · March 20, 2018

you're in the UK, look at office surplus stores and dig up a HP SFF desktop.

tikker · March 20, 2018

They recommend a CPU with a PassMark score of at least 2000 should you want/need transcoding (e.g. in case of subtitles at the moment), other than that you're fine with pretty much anything I guess. Especially Direct Play-ing stuff requires pretty much no resources at all.