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Message
Is this a decent PC for a plex server
Posted on 6/26/25 at 9:52 pm
Posted on 6/26/25 at 9:52 pm
quote:
Dell Precision T5810 Workstation Server,Xeon E5 1620 v3 3.5GHz, 256GB SSD+4TB HDD, 16GB RAM, 4GB Nvidia Quadro K2200 4K Graphics Card, USB 3.0, WiFi, Bluetooth, Windows 10 Pro
If not, what would you add?
Posted on 6/26/25 at 11:37 pm to X123F45
I have the dual cpu version t7810. Not the best choice because it is old.
The PSU distribution is the worst thing but with only 1x CPU, you can still get 2x dedicated 18a pcie rails with the 825w psu. I needed a custom distro card that cost me more than the machine is worth now.
The k2200 is powerful enough for several 1080p stream but you’ll be stuck transcoding at h264. A $120 arc a380 GPU would be 10x better regardless of what machine it is in.
Good news is you can get a decent cpu(2650v4) for $5 and ensure you have 4 channel memory for $15.
If it were me, I’d rather have a slightly more current machine and/or GPU or just a newer mini. Don’t need monster machine for transcode.
If you’re really adventurous, there is a Jetson AGX Xavier 32g on eBay with board for $139 right now. Would require custom config and custom ffmpeg but would be super powerful and tiny. That little thing has 2x NVENC/DEC.
The PSU distribution is the worst thing but with only 1x CPU, you can still get 2x dedicated 18a pcie rails with the 825w psu. I needed a custom distro card that cost me more than the machine is worth now.
The k2200 is powerful enough for several 1080p stream but you’ll be stuck transcoding at h264. A $120 arc a380 GPU would be 10x better regardless of what machine it is in.
Good news is you can get a decent cpu(2650v4) for $5 and ensure you have 4 channel memory for $15.
If it were me, I’d rather have a slightly more current machine and/or GPU or just a newer mini. Don’t need monster machine for transcode.
If you’re really adventurous, there is a Jetson AGX Xavier 32g on eBay with board for $139 right now. Would require custom config and custom ffmpeg but would be super powerful and tiny. That little thing has 2x NVENC/DEC.
This post was edited on 6/27/25 at 9:39 am
Posted on 6/27/25 at 6:36 am to X123F45
Way overpowered. I convert on PC to h.265, but Plex is sitting on my 1520+ NAS.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 7:32 am to LEASTBAY
That’s what’s I’d do. Nobody asked how many streams or what quality though. Transcoding before storing sounds like extra work.
Here is a link to Jellyfin’s recommended hardware that should be useful/relevant for plex which uses ffmpeg also. Modern encoder should be main objective.
Jellyfin rec hardware
Here is a link to Jellyfin’s recommended hardware that should be useful/relevant for plex which uses ffmpeg also. Modern encoder should be main objective.
Jellyfin rec hardware
Posted on 6/27/25 at 7:40 am to Dallaswho
My N100 Intel will process multiple 4k streams at once. If you're doing a bunch though then you need something more powerful.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 7:45 am to X123F45
quote:
If not, what would you add?
Add trash can to toss that thing into
I kid, but it wouldn't be great solely as a Plex server. Hell, it wouldn't even be all that great as a Proxmox host either
Posted on 6/27/25 at 8:52 am to X123F45
I'm running a similar (and older) setup just fine. I'd swap out the processor for one with more threads/cores, get a bigger storage drive for your media, update to Win 11, and possibly upgrade the RAM. Your 4TB drive will fill up faster than you anticipate.
I have a T3600 on win 11 Pro with Xeon E5-2687W @3.1, 32GB RAM, 256GB HDD +20TB HDD, basic Nvidia Quadro 2000. It was a free PC my neighbor gave me when his company was tossing them out.
I don't recall what processor I had before, but I picked up this processor in 2021 for $50 off Ebay. It's an 8 core/16 thread where as yours is 4 core/8 thread. The additional cores help with multi-tasking on the PC. After swapping the processor, you may have to unlock the extra cores in the BIOS.
It took some research to get Win11 installed on this machine, but it's night and day in regards to bootup time and just general speed. I think I posted my steps somewhere on here recently on the upgrade.
For over the air recordings and non-compressed media, I use MCEBuddy to automatically convert everything to H265. I have it set to scan certain directories and it runs overnight just to avoid any potential of bogging the system down. I have 4 accounts (combined home, local, and cross country) connected to my server and no ones every reported any issues with the streams (unless my internet goes down; thanks Xfinity).
I have a T3600 on win 11 Pro with Xeon E5-2687W @3.1, 32GB RAM, 256GB HDD +20TB HDD, basic Nvidia Quadro 2000. It was a free PC my neighbor gave me when his company was tossing them out.
I don't recall what processor I had before, but I picked up this processor in 2021 for $50 off Ebay. It's an 8 core/16 thread where as yours is 4 core/8 thread. The additional cores help with multi-tasking on the PC. After swapping the processor, you may have to unlock the extra cores in the BIOS.
It took some research to get Win11 installed on this machine, but it's night and day in regards to bootup time and just general speed. I think I posted my steps somewhere on here recently on the upgrade.
For over the air recordings and non-compressed media, I use MCEBuddy to automatically convert everything to H265. I have it set to scan certain directories and it runs overnight just to avoid any potential of bogging the system down. I have 4 accounts (combined home, local, and cross country) connected to my server and no ones every reported any issues with the streams (unless my internet goes down; thanks Xfinity).
Posted on 6/27/25 at 9:32 am to bluebarracuda
quote:
Add trash can to toss that thing into
I’d love to throw mine in the trash but can’t find anything I’d want to replace it with. I run ZFS, jellyfin, sms, dovecot, nginx x2, frigate, LMDeploy, langchain, openwebUI, node red, MySQL, mqtt, home assistant, WireGuard, and R studio on it. Proxmox complains about no x2apic support but GPU pass through works fine.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 9:49 am to X123F45
Screw all that, how about I just add you to my server?
Just kidding. I am sure that's probably okay enough if it's just for yourself. Do you already have these parts?
Just kidding. I am sure that's probably okay enough if it's just for yourself. Do you already have these parts?
Posted on 6/27/25 at 1:15 pm to beauchristopher
Here's a nuc on sale. Has a bunch of coupons also.
LINK
LINK
Posted on 6/27/25 at 1:19 pm to LEASTBAY
How do you handle the storage with a mini pic?
Posted on 6/27/25 at 1:23 pm to X123F45
you can use a 15y/o PC (or older) to be a plex server. I run mine on a build from 2009.
EDIT: and I would run it on linux, not windows.
EDIT: and I would run it on linux, not windows.
This post was edited on 6/27/25 at 1:25 pm
Posted on 6/27/25 at 1:33 pm to SlowFlowPro
I'm up to 2 external USB drives. WD mybook is pretty solid. I think I have 20tb total.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 2:23 pm to notsince98
Sounds like everyone has same answer just worded different.
Options:
1. Use any old thing you want but have to transcode all your video before re streaming.
2. Mini n100-n200 does newest codecs transcoding but not many simultaneous streams. More than likely, you won’t be transcoding multiple streams even with several users so this is the sweet spot until you go crazy.
3. Nvidia Turing or newer for lots of simultaneous transcoded streams.
High end ada or higher would serve all your friends and family any format they want. Using this kind of power will get you a DMCA warning.
4. Intel a380 for several transcoded streams, newest codecs.
Options:
1. Use any old thing you want but have to transcode all your video before re streaming.
2. Mini n100-n200 does newest codecs transcoding but not many simultaneous streams. More than likely, you won’t be transcoding multiple streams even with several users so this is the sweet spot until you go crazy.
3. Nvidia Turing or newer for lots of simultaneous transcoded streams.
High end ada or higher would serve all your friends and family any format they want. Using this kind of power will get you a DMCA warning.
4. Intel a380 for several transcoded streams, newest codecs.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 2:52 pm to Dallaswho
There should really be no need for transcoding. If transcoding is needed, something is very wrong. Getting a modern streaming device would be a much easier, faster and cheaper solution than dealing with transcoding.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 3:16 pm to notsince98
quote:
Getting a modern streaming device would be a much easier, faster and cheaper solution than dealing with transcoding.
That’s why the cheapo 7 watt n100-n200 is so great. You rarely need it, but when you do, it’s there. No matter what codec for the most part.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 3:21 pm to beauchristopher
quote:
Do you already have these parts?
No. I have an acer atc-605-ur2v. I have about a few older dell laptops... But they all are running Zorin and Im too apathetic to learn how to make plex work with it.
Posted on 6/27/25 at 5:13 pm to TAMU-93
That i3 iGPU makes that thing work, and it sips power compared to the monstrosity of the server in OP
I love those lil ivy bridge chips
I love those lil ivy bridge chips
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