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Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - Printable Version

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Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - DingleBob - 2024-02-23

Hello there,

I'm new to the home media center party. I would like to assemble a NAS with the main purpose of running Jellyfin and a torrent client on the side.

I will mostly be streaming to my TV but I want to keep the door open for future use-cases: to also stream to my phone when I'm not at home. Also it would be nice if maybe 4 or 5 people could stream at the same time.

So what I know so far:
- 2 Bays (RAID 1)
- Intel (from what I heard it is better for transcoding)

As an OS I plan to go with nixOS as I'm familiar with linux systems.

I have not much clue were to start or how to figure out which parts I should hunt for.

I'm happy about any kind of recommendation or advice!
have a nice day!

RE: Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - TheDreadPirate - 2024-02-23

IMO, skip buying a "NAS" and just build a computer with hard drives in it. If you have a bunch of servers that need shared storage, that justifies buying a NAS. But that NAS can still be just a computer with hard drives in it.

To answer your question requires a bit more info. What is your budget? And how many users, besides yourself, do you plan to potentially serve? Will you have HDR content?

Even if you are familiar with Linux, I would still recommend using Debian or a Debian based OS since we have a lot of automation scripts and documentation for them.

RE: Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - DingleBob - 2024-02-23

Sorry forgot to give more specific details.

I would also like to have a low power consumption if possible (especially when idle).

I don't think I'm in for HDR. Currently just Full HD content.

It would be nice if me + 1 or 2 others could stream simultaneously. If 5 or 6 is possible without a big jump in hardware price, that would also be good.

Budgetwise I am not sure about specific numbers as I first want to see what is realistic when looking at low range and mid range.

RE: Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - TheDreadPirate - 2024-02-23

For your user case, any recent-ish Intel CPU will do. Before I put an Arc GPU in my system, I was just using the i3-12100's iGPU and it could handle ~12 1080P transcodes in my testing (I don't actually have that many users).

12th gen and newer are much more power efficient than 11th gen and older, so stick with those. Unless you plan on doing other things, the 12100/13100/14100 lowest tier i3 CPU is more than enough due to how well Quick Sync can handle transcoding.

16GB of RAM, any motherboard with the features you want, not a garbage PSU under 500W (I like Seasonic and EVGA), a case with as many HDD bays you need, at least a 256GB NVMe OS + jellyfin app drive (I like Samsung or SK Hynix).

RE: Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - DingleBob - 2024-02-27

hey, thanks for your input.
I'm in the process of creating a shopping list:

Already got some items noted down: 
Main question: How does this setup look? Is everything compatible and does it make sense? Did I make some silly picks? Any suggestions?

@TheDreadPirate you wrote, not to go for below 500W on the power supply. why exactly? wouldn't 450W be enough?

I'm so far at around ~650€ but I still have to pick a case. If some picks are an overkill, let me know.

Also: Do I need a CPU Cooler or will it be fine without?

RE: Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - TheDreadPirate - 2024-02-27

My wording was unclear. I meant a PSU under 500W that also wasn't garbage. The PSU you selected is fine.

You don't need the network card since the motherboard has one already. Unless you have other plans that require an additional NIC.

The CPU comes with a cooler, which I am still using. From my experience it has no issues keeping a 12100 cool. Never goes above ~65*C when under full load.

As for a case, I like Fractal Design cases. But they are on the pricier side. Corsair and Silverstone are also solid brands. Keep in mind any future plans you might have, including potentially adding more hard drives, when selecting a case.

RE: Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - DingleBob - 2024-02-28

good point! I'll check it out.

RE: Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - DingleBob - 2024-02-28

I've come up with these three cases:
* Fractal Design Node 304: https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/node/node-304/black/
* Coolermaster Elite 110: https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/legacy-products/cases/elite110/
* Silverstone SG13: https://www.silverstonetek.com/de/product/info/computer-chassis/SG13/

I am a bit shocked how big the itx PCs are... I had no clue when I had the idea to assemble a NAS by myself. I expected something in the size of a 2bay synology NAS. but anways, I guess it is what it is and having an ITX PC is the way to go. Can't stand synology.

Any recommendation on which of these cases to pick? I'm tending towards the fractal design. I think it would have the best airflow and also space for additional bays in the future Smiling-face

RE: Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - TheDreadPirate - 2024-02-28

Even low end GPUs are much larger than they used to be. And since modern CPUs need to run cooler for max turbo, CPU coolers are larger too.

Of those three, I'd also choose the Fractal case.

RE: Hardware recommendations for a pure media station? - DingleBob - 2024-02-28

node 304 is not available anymore in any online shop it seems. Confused-face
I'll think about this more tomorrow.
Also I am starting to think about going in big.... I know this is not the best way to get things done, but I was initially thinking about having 2 separate NAS with 2 different jobs. the first One would be a pure jellyfin station, that I want to build now and the second NAS would be assembled later this year or in the coming years and would have the job of handling backups of photographs, host nextcloud, run a webserver and other services like paperless.

But that was before I knew about how BIG these things are. So now I'm thinking about just spending a little bit more now and assemble a NAS that can handle all ~everything~. In that case I might have to adjust which hardware to go for.

I might to sleep 1 or 2 nights over this to figure out which way to go.