Nas/Media Server

[Nevakonaza]

Hey,

Been thinking for a while about building a Nas/Media server to digitise my DVD/Blu-ray collection, As we know disks don't last forever with diskrot and general wear/tear!

Now I'm unsure which route to really go down, Do i build a NAS with 3x 2TB drives and then use the app Plex to stream to the TV,

OR

Do i build a HTPC,With the same amount of storage, But with a Dedicated low profile GPU and connect straight to the TV.

Either method i was thinking of a Small form factor and a build that wont cost the earth.

These sort of specs -

• Ryzen 3500 6 Core (Or intel equiv)
• JGINYUE AMD B550 AM4
• Intel Arc A310 4GB Low Profile
• 3x Seagate 2TB Barracuda HDD 7200RPM 256MB Cache

Is it important to have a dedicated GPU for a media server for Transcoding? Or will recent modern AMD or intel integrated graphics do the job fine?

 

[Nevakonaza]

I use Unraid in my little server I built. It has a GPU in it but it doesn't need to be used as it streams my movies flawlessly over my WiFi. I was using it without a GPU at all in there and was perfect. Spec wise is a cheap Asus B550 motherboard a Ryzen 3700X and 16 gig Corsair and 3 or 4 HDD biggest about 5TB and a 1TB SSD. Runs off a thumb drive in usb port. Works great.

Unraid is the one that allows disks of various sized to be combined right? i mean i do have a couple 1TB drives i could use then maybe a couple 2TB drives.

I turned my old PC in to a Plex server, specs are below and it has no dedicated GPU (using the on board Intel IGPU)

9700K (8 core 8 Thread processor)
32GB of ram
Gigabyte Z390 Motherboard.
1x 4TB Iorn wolf drive (Media Storage)
1 x 1TB NVME drive (OS)

Every now and then its also a Minecraft server for my son and his friends to play on which is why it has 32GB Ram. Connected via Ethernet cable and no issues at all but my Plex content is normally 1080P

I use Plex to stream to my TVs (All LG models), phones and 1 tablet (not all at the same time but at different points throughout the day)

Interesting, i might do a "test run" system just built up caseless, As i do have an AM4 board and a Ryzen 1400,Just as a test might see how that goes.