Good price/quality hardware for Jellyfin

[liviu]

Hello,

I would like to build a server from scratch (I have 4x8TB NAS drives) and I need some information. I will direct play most of the time but I want to access my media server when I am in vacation, etc. So, I need some transcoding just to be safe.

I am interested into a server with:
- I want to build something based on free/open source software (TrueNas or Ubuntu, not Windows). I do not want to pay subscriptions.
- I want to identify a combo CPU/motherboard which is capable (Jellyfin) of maximum 3-5 hardware transcoding from 4k to 1080p
- If matter, I want to use 32Gb memory (could be non ECC)
- I want (if possible) a low power/noise idle server. I will also set to turn off during the night.

I don't need to buy the latest generation CPU, I am pretty sure that I can do what I want that with older hardware also. I don't need something overkill and too expensive. Is $200 realistic just for CPU/MOBO ?

What do you suggest me to use ?

PS for the moderator. If this is not the right place to put my question please move it to the correct place, thanks.

[TheDreadPirate]

I would say an 11th gen or newer Intel CPU would be great for your needs. Even a bottom tier ##100 Core i3. I have the 12100 and it can easily do 3-5 transcodes.

The 12100 and the Asus H610M motherboard I got was $225 together, brand new.

[bitmap]

You have a few options. I mean for like $400 total you can get a used OptiPlex 5090 Micro: https://www.ebay.com/itm/362460534458. It has an i5-11500T with a TDP of 35W and a UHD 750 though I don't know how many simultaneous transcodes that would translate to...the iGPU is capable, but the CPU might be underpowered for five at a time.

Granted, you have limited capabilities to expand on this guy, I'm not even sure if you can replace the RAM (you did say 32 GB). Just want to make sure you've thought about options. One of my servers is an old OptiPlex SFF PC that is a workhorse and I'll be damned if it's not awesome. I'm lucky enough to have a source to get these old machines free on occasion (my desktop is a very old OptiPlex 9020 with an i7-4770).

What you should be looking for is definitely the iGPU, not the processing power of the CPU. @TheDreadPirate has the right idea with building around a capable iGPU. Just know that you'll likely be limited in what other applications you can push on your server before you start experiencing latency or other downstream effects. I went the other route and now have a pretty beefy rig and, while I don't regret it, nothing I do taxes it whatsoever and it's still perfectly responsive even when I'm in the depths of running weeks-long encoding jobs while still having ~22 (micro-)services running. It's great, but it's insane overkill for a media server.

That little $400 box probably would've been more than enough.

[liviu]

excellent idea, I will look for a I3 12100 build. @TheDreadPirate , may I ask what is your idle power consumption please ?

[TheDreadPirate]

Including my 3 HDDs and 1 SSD, about 18w.