Can my setup be more efficient, or do I need new hardware?

[Lylat1an]

I do see transcoding due to the audio with the Mad Max movie.  This is generally not a problem for X86 CPUs, but RPIs may struggle.

We strongly discourage RPis due to their low CPU capability and should only be used for simple media that, at most, will be remuxed.

A shame, standard DVDs and Blu-rays converted to MKV files seemed to run just fine.


What hardware should I look for to replace this RPi4 that will handle 4K MKV files to a max of 3 clients without issue?  (And possibly some headroom to grow as features get updated?)

Also, which is better for a Jellyfin server running on x86/64-bit:  Windows or Ubuntu Linux?

[TheDreadPirate]

I'd say get 13/14th gen Intel. But with their "degregation" issues, I'd recommend sticking with 11th or 12th gen right now. I like 12th gen since Intel finally got away from their 14nm+++++ non-sense.

I was running my Jellyfin on a 12100 for a while, no problem. I added an Arc GPU for re-encoding my library to AV1. As long as all three of your clients don't require HDR to SDR tone mapping at the same time just running a modern Intel CPU w/iGPU should be more than enough. For perspective, WITHOUT tone mapping the 12100's iGPU could handle 12 1080P transcodes.

As for Windows or Linux. Whichever you are more comfortable with. I prefer Linux, but I'm a professional Linux admin. If you are OK with a learning project, maybe go for Linux.

[34626]

What about storage? Personally i also started with a Raspberry Pi, but then they stopped developing on the GPU firmware so hardware acceleration was extremely bad, why i upgraded to an Intel NUC N5105 because its small and silent, but currently looking into getting a ordinary desktop case with space for many drives and good, but silent cooling.. Intel should be releasing their next generation of GPUs this year, else i go woth Intel Arc A380 which i think is much more future proof especially if Jellyfin shall transcode movies to AV1 to save network bandwidth...

So it could be a desktop with an Intel CPU as TheDreadPirate mentions for a start, maby you can find one cheap with 11 or 12 gen and later get a GPU if needed and space for more harddrives + cooling :-)

[Lylat1an]

I'd say get 13/14th gen Intel.  But with their "degregation" issues, I'd recommend sticking with 11th or 12th gen right now.  I like 12th gen since Intel finally got away from their 14nm+++++ non-sense.

I was running my Jellyfin on a 12100 for a while, no problem.  I added an Arc GPU for re-encoding my library to AV1.  As long as all three of your clients don't require HDR to SDR tone mapping at the same time just running a modern Intel CPU w/iGPU should be more than enough.  For perspective, WITHOUT tone mapping the 12100's iGPU could handle 12 1080P transcodes.

As for Windows or Linux.  Whichever you are more comfortable with.  I prefer Linux, but I'm a professional Linux admin.  If you are OK with a learning project, maybe go for Linux.

Alright, I found what seems to be a fair deal on a i3-12100 system, and I have 16GB of DDR4 RAM to upgrade it from its stock its 8GB, but I'm not sure whether I should replace Windows 11 with Ubuntu yet.

Does the Windows version of Jellyfin run "headless", and can it be administratively accessed remotely the same way it was on my Pi?

[TheDreadPirate]

You'd need a professional version of Windows to be able to access Windows via RDP. So it depends on which Windows license you have.

[Lylat1an]

You'd need a professional version of Windows to be able to access Windows via RDP.  So it depends on which Windows license you have.

I use TightVNC to access other machines on my network.

Also, the 16GB of memory I had on hand wasn't compatible with the new system.  Will 8GB be enough if the machine is dedicated to running Jellyfin in Windows 10?

[TheDreadPirate]

It should be enough.

[Lylat1an]

It should be enough.

Thanks for all your help.  :)

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