Hardware Question

[CDeruiter5963]

Hello All,

I'm new to the area of self-hosting and to Jellyfin in particular, so I still have a lot to learn, but I have a hardware related question that I was hoping to get some input on. Up until recently, I'd been hosting Jellyfin on my laptop, which was fine but it had to stay on if my family wanted to watch content via the Roku app, which isn't ideal. There's an old desktop computer available (an HP Slimline 400) that has been collecting dust that I could use that may be up to the task, but I am uncertain even after reading through the Hardware section of Jellyfin's documentation. Has anyone had success using such a PC, or is it overkill and I should look for a simpler PC/a PC with a different form factor?

Thanks for your time, any help would be appreciated

[JustAnotherDude]

There are so many versions of the hp slim400. Can you give us more details?

[CDeruiter5963]

Aw, crap, yeah I can see how that would be helpful information. My apologies. I don't currently have a power cord for it, so I couldn't check the system specs that way, but the original sticker outlining the design is stuck to the side (and it hasn't been modified in any way since it was first purchased).

The specs are:

Intel Pentium Processor G2020
4GB DDR3 RAM
1 TB HDD
Intel HD Graphics 2500

[Lele Zhang]

HD2500 supports H.264 encoding, so maybe enough for basic usage. However, that gpu doesn't support H.265 decoding. If you only use direct play, which means the client fully supports the video codec and the bandwith is enough to play the original video on the fly, I guess it's fine. But if you intent to stream a compressed video, or use transcoding, or need to bake-in subtitles, you need to make sure all your video files are H.264 only.
To be honest, I think try deploying a Jellyfin server and see the results would be easier.