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Started By
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Looking for inexpensive mini pc
Posted on 4/24/15 at 9:39 am
Posted on 4/24/15 at 9:39 am
I'm going to keep it plugged up to my tv for the few times I may want to use it for browsing and what not but it's main purpose would be running Plex and Air Video HD so I can access my video library from my phone and I want to be able to do it as cheaply as possible. I was looking at the Zotac ZBOX on Amazon. If anyone has any advice on which way I should go I would appreciate it.
2
Posted on 4/24/15 at 10:20 am to Phate
quote:
Plex and Air Video HD so I can access my video library from my phone
Will the files need transcoding or not? If no, this is a fairly weak pc that should suit your purposes just fine (though 2gb ram may bug you at times). If you're transcoding HD files, you'll want a slighty more robust machine and may have to go up to the Intel NUC line (a bit more expensive, but still VESA mountable and silent).
Posted on 4/24/15 at 10:31 am to Phate
How about a Compute Stick?
edit: oh sorry they don't come out for a few weeks
edit: oh sorry they don't come out for a few weeks
This post was edited on 4/24/15 at 10:34 am
Posted on 4/24/15 at 10:52 am to Hopeful Doc
I don't think transcoding will be needed as I've been converting the files to what will play on iOS. So I can compare prices what CPU would be needed to transcode a single 720p or 1080p video?
Posted on 4/24/15 at 11:08 am to Hopeful Doc
quote:
Will the files need transcoding or not?
I've never even paid attention to this. Do you know which file formats Plex needs to transcode?
Posted on 4/24/15 at 11:10 am to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
Do you know which file formats Plex needs to transcode?
I haven't found anything it wouldn't play
Posted on 4/24/15 at 11:13 am to Phate
This is a very rough estimate directly from Plex forums. But if you look at a Passmark score, roughly a score of 1500 will give you an 720p stream. About 2000 will yield you a 1080p one. This is if it needs to be transcoded, of course. If you've got it in a compatible format, you may be able to directly play the files without needing to transcode (basically your network is your bottleneck with little to no hit on the cpu). Again, these are all from a distance, in a vaccuum observations. The one thing I would worry about is the RAM being only 2GB, but for the price, you're not going to find better. I would build an i3 4010u NUC though. Slightly more robust, but significantly more expensive, too.
Posted on 4/24/15 at 11:23 am to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
Do you know which file formats Plex needs to transcode?
It's client dependent. First example that comes to mind: iPhones won't play WMV. I think Roku dislikes MKv...I forget, but it's a product of the client. Here's Plex explaining it. Totally compatible stuff is network limited. Near-compatible stuff is device-transcoded if the decide allows it. And then for the totally incompatible or device-non allowed, Plex takes care of the backend.
On a PC like you've got, it's probably negligible even when 3 is the case. For devices that support all file types (most android media players), it's also little issue even on smaller stuff. But if you've built a library of stuff that's not compatible with your clients (I had about 2tb of WTV TV and movies compressed and recoded to ~400gb of wmv files, none of my devices other than laptops like wmv, figured I didn't mind the hit on my cpu at first). To stream to a Roku worked fine even in WMV, but when new files were recoded while it was transcoding, it stressed the cpu a lot, and before I upgraded (a4-3400--> a8-3870k) I would actually experience poor quality both on streams and even on the WMC live TV application, so I went back and re-recoded to MP4. Now it is nothing to stream to practically any device.
Posted on 4/24/15 at 11:31 am to Hopeful Doc
quote:
so I went back and re-recoded to MP4.
This is what I've been doing to stream to my iPhone and Fire TV. So one of these cheap mini PC's will work if no transcoding is needed?
Posted on 4/24/15 at 11:36 am to Phate
I would think so. Test and see what kind of hit your cpu takes when you use it, but if you choose your containers right, you shouldn't have a problem.
Posted on 4/24/15 at 12:11 pm to Hopeful Doc
quote:
On a PC like you've got, it's probably negligible even when 3 is the case. For devices that support all file types (most android media players), it's also little issue even on smaller stuff. But if you've built a library of stuff that's not compatible with your clients (I had about 2tb of WTV TV and movies compressed and recoded to ~400gb of wmv files, none of my devices other than laptops like wmv, figured I didn't mind the hit on my cpu at first). To stream to a Roku worked fine even in WMV, but when new files were recoded while it was transcoding, it stressed the cpu a lot, and before I upgraded (a4-3400--> a8-3870k) I would actually experience poor quality both on streams and even on the WMC live TV application, so I went back and re-recoded to MP4
Good to know. I need to pay more attention to the file types. I torrent and don't really care about the file format because I know my PC can handle it, but I ask now because I am going to salvage some old parts to build a torrent/plex box. The CPU is an A4-4000, so it's equally shitty to your a4-3400.
Posted on 4/24/15 at 1:22 pm to Hopeful Doc
I'll give it a try. Thanks
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