Hardware under/overkill?

[Defunctusername]

Hi all, 

I'm planning to build a new MPC to server as a Jellyfin server/player and [Thing we don't talk about - TDP], I'm moving over to Linux and this will also serve as the first main step.

I'm currently running Jellyfin on a Windows machine (main/work PC), but want to move it to a dedicated unit in the lounge as I'm finding several playback errors via the app (Google TV) which aren't found natively. 

I generally only have one or two streams going at once, although when the extended family join us, it would be nice to have the capacity for 4-5. 4K would be idea, but 2x 4K and the rest at 1080p would more than likely suffice. 

I've currently got the following system:
OS: Win10 
CPU: AMD 5600X
GPU: GTX 1060oc
RAM: 32GB DDR4 3200Mhz
HDD: 1TB NVMe Gen4, various sized spinning rust.

As this build will be primarily media play only, will I notice a major difference in performance (loading, playback, streaming, etc) stepping over to the following?

OS: Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon
CPU: Intel i3-12100
GPU: Integrated UHD Graphics 730
RAM: 16GB DDR4 3600Mhz
HDD: Same as above.

Thanks in advance.

[TheDreadPirate]

That should serve your needs as long as you don't need tone mapping (converting HDR to SDR). The 12100 should be able to handle a single 4K HDR to 4K/1080p SDR transcode.
For plain SDR to SDR transcodes, my testing reached 12 simultaneous 1080p H264 transcodes. If you need a bit more transcoding power, Intel Arc GPUs are fantastic. They're cheap, readily available, are plug and play with Linux + Jellyfin, and are transcoding champs.

[Defunctusername]

That should serve your needs as long as you don't need tone mapping (converting HDR to SDR).  The 12100 should be able to handle a single 4K HDR to 4K/1080p SDR transcode.
For plain SDR to SDR transcodes, my testing reached 12 simultaneous 1080p H264 transcodes.  If you need a bit more transcoding power, Intel Arc GPUs are fantastic.  They're cheap, readily available, are plug and play with Linux + Jellyfin, and are transcoding champs.

I'd like to get away without a GPU if possible, but if need be, I'd like to spend as little as possible on said card. 
I have the 1060, which hasn't given an error yet, but I use quad display for work and would rather retain that for the sake of simplicity (and laziness). 

Is there a CPU with integrated graphics that would be able to handle all that, or is the answer: grab a GPU and be done with it?

[TheDreadPirate]

Tone mapping is very VRAM intensive. iGPUs A) are restricted in how much system RAM they can use for video/graphics and B) they have limited bandwidth compared to GDDR on a dedicated GPU.

A 1060 is certainly still very capable and has all the necessary codec support for a good experience. You can experiment with just the 12100 and if you need more you could use the 1060 or get an Arc GPU. If 4K HDR tone mapping was not needed, the 12100 would be more than adequate.

[Defunctusername]

Tone mapping is very VRAM intensive.  iGPUs A) are restricted in how much system RAM they can use for video/graphics and B) they have limited bandwidth compared to GDDR on a dedicated GPU.

A 1060 is certainly still very capable and has all the necessary codec support for a good experience.  You can experiment with just the 12100 and if you need more you could use the 1060 or get an Arc GPU.  If 4K HDR tone mapping was not needed, the 12100 would be more than adequate.

Ahh, that makes more sense.
I'll re assess parts, given the 12100 selection was mostly for the iGPU. 
I could step down to the AMD 5500 or similar and use the 1060, which leaves me deciding whether to get a GT 730 for the quad screen, or keep the 1060 and grab an Arc, that would allow me to game if I choose.
I'm assuming the 5500 would be a step up from the 12100 given the 4c/8t 3.3GHz vs 6c/12t 3.6GHz, and if the transcoding is going to be left to the GPU, the ~$40 savings would be nice.