Please spec me an all SSD Jellyfin/Plex Server Build

Hostile_18 · 9 Jan 2024 at 12:24

Hi all. Last minute change of plans.

Could you spec me a energy efficient all SSD Plex/Jellyfin build. No budget, but given the relatively simple nature I wouldn't expect to pay the earth (I have a 4090 gaming PC for literally everything else).

Requirements would be the following;

Essential;
* Completely silent (I'll tweak fan profiles to around 800rpm etc). There will never be a spinning disk hard drive in. So PSU must be silent as well.
* Energy efficient. It will be on 24/7 in the living room. My main computer is 180w at idle, I'd like a lot less.

Nice to have;
*I already have 4x4tb nvmes and 2x2 4tb Sata SSDs. Would be REALLY nice to be able to use them all.
*an Intel cpu for quick sync, unless there's a compelling reason not to. Won't be encoding things with this.
*2.5gbe port.

It's a 1080p server for about 4 people. Size doesn't matter but I'd like it to fit right in with a home cinema setup.

Thank you in advance.

dfour · 9 Jan 2024 at 16:54

Basically do you just need a NAS that can run m.2 drives and sata ones?

Tetras · 9 Jan 2024 at 17:06

Motherboard has 4 M.2 and 8 SATA ports, I haven't checked manual or tech specs for exclusions on what can be used when/with what.

The 12100 has onboard graphics, but the i5-12500 does have a better GPU with two media engines (12100 only has one).

The PSU has a hybrid fan mode where you can turn it off at low load and it is bult by Seasonic, who usually build quiet PSUs (coil whine aside).

Case is large, but is bullt to be quiet and can be expanded to have more 2.5/3.5 storage.

ASRock are usually one of the better motherboard makers for idle power, but I haven't seen any testing and this is a high-end board, so it's unlikely to be that low. I'd say 30-40 watts is likely.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i3-12100 3.30GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AK-IN) = £119.99
1 x Asrock Z790 Pro RS/D4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 ATX Motherboaord (SKU: MB-196-AK) = £219.95
1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AJ-TG) = £59.98
1 x Phanteks Eclipse P600S Silent Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-08V-PT) = £140.00
1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-09Q-PT) = £89.98

Total: £641.89 (includes delivery: £11.98)

loftie · 9 Jan 2024 at 17:19

Curious as to why you'd want quicksync if you're not doing any encoding?

Hostile_18 · 9 Jan 2024 at 18:12

dfour said:
Basically do you just need a NAS that can run m.2 drives and sata ones?

Pretty much yes.

Tetras said:
Motherboard has 4 M.2 and 8 SATA ports, I haven't checked manual or tech specs for exclusions on what can be used when/with what.

The 12100 has onboard graphics, but the i5-12500 does have a better GPU with two media engines (12100 only has one).

The PSU has a hybrid fan mode where you can turn it off at low load and it is bult by Seasonic, who usually build quiet PSUs (coil whine aside).

Case is large, but is bullt to be quiet and can be expanded to have more 2.5/3.5 storage.

ASRock are usually one of the better motherboard makers for idle power, but I haven't seen any testing and this is a high-end board, so it's unlikely to be that low. I'd say 30-40 watts is likely.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i3-12100 3.30GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AK-IN) = £119.99

1 x Asrock Z790 Pro RS/D4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 ATX Motherboaord (SKU: MB-196-AK) = £219.95

1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AJ-TG) = £59.98

1 x Phanteks Eclipse P600S Silent Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-08V-PT) = £140.00

1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-09Q-PT) = £89.98

Total: £641.89 (includes delivery: £11.98)

Thanks for that, looks like a really nice system. I'll look into it now. I have a Seasonic Vertex 1200w in my main rig and its being completely silent, so happy to go Seasonic again. Is 32gb of RAM over kill for a media server?

loftie said:
Curious as to why you'd want quicksync if you're not doing any encoding?

I'm new to all this but does it not help with clients trans-coding? If I'm wrong I guess I don't need it lol.

robj20 · 9 Jan 2024 at 18:17

Hostile_18 said:
Pretty much yes.

Thanks for that, looks like a really nice system. I'll look into it now. I have a Seasonic Vertex 1200w in my rain rig and its being completely silent, so happy to go Seasonic again. Is 32gb of RAM over kill for a media server?

I'm new to all this but does it not help with clients trans-coding? If I'm wrong I guess I don't need it lol.

You should try to encode so that everything can direct play. It'll be quieter and more energy efficient.

Quartz · 9 Jan 2024 at 18:28

Hostile_18 said:
Could you spec me a energy efficient all SSD Plex/Jellyfin build.

Take a look at the Asustor Flashstor 6.

Hostile_18 said:
Energy efficient.

A while back I corresponded with Nimbus about their exadrives: it transpires that they use more energy than HDDs.

Hostile_18 · 9 Jan 2024 at 18:30

robj20 said:
You should try to encode so that everything can direct play. It'll be quieter and more energy efficient.

Everything in my house will be direct playing, its more just if other people choose to watch on their phones or play a 4k movie on a smaller screen etc. The majority of my content is 1080p at the moment, for me its the better balance of file size vs quality.

Hostile_18 · 9 Jan 2024 at 18:32

Quartz said:
Take a look at the Asustor Flashstor 6.

A while back I corresponded with Nimbus about their exadrives: it transpires that they use more energy than HDDs.

I actually just got the competitor in the post today. The Lincstation N1. It's brilliant in all respects apart from the active fan, introduces a low fan noise into my living room I don't really like. My 4090 gaming rig is completely silent, the ssd's are all silent so its annoying lol.

loftie · 9 Jan 2024 at 20:59

Hostile_18 said:
I'm new to all this but does it not help with clients trans-coding?

100%. I thought when you said encoding you were including transcoding in that. I don't know enough to suggest which CPU/iGPU you want, but intel is the way to go AFAIK. You'll need a Plex Pass AFAIK for hardware transcoding to work, Jellyfin has no requirement and should just work. You could also look at emby - i've heard good things but not actually looked into it.

Hostile_18 · 9 Jan 2024 at 21:11

loftie said:
100%. I thought when you said encoding you were including transcoding in that. I don't know enough to suggest which CPU/iGPU you want, but intel is the way to go AFAIK. You'll need a Plex Pass AFAIK for hardware transcoding to work, Jellyfin has no requirement and should just work. You could also look at emby - i've heard good things but not actually looked into it.

I'm currently running a Jellyfin server on my main PC so I'll likely stick with that software. Nice to know Plex is there if I ever need it though.

Hostile_18 · 9 Jan 2024 at 23:31

Ive ordered the Motherboard and the CPU. The Team Force RAM isn't on the QVL list, but that list does seem a bit outdated. Will these be fine/fast?

Tetras · 9 Jan 2024 at 23:53

Hostile_18 said:
Ive ordered the Motherboard and the CPU. The Team Force RAM isn't on the QVL list, but that list does seem a bit outdated. Will these be fine/fast?

DDR4 is pretty mature at this point, so I wouldn't expect you to have any issues. Easy enough to get a similar priced alternative though, if you prefer one that is. For this usage, I'd personally rather have 3200 JEDEC memory, which I know is a bit slow, but it runs at a lower voltage and won't require any messing with XMP.

Hostile_18 said:
Is 32gb of RAM over kill for a media server?

Probably, but RAM is cheap for now, so for the small difference in build cost, I don't think I'd bother with 8GB sticks. They're quickly becoming obsolete (due to their low capacity), especially with the potential performance loss of high density (16Gbit) 8GB sticks.