this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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Help me choose hardware for my first custom setup (lemm.ee)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by roydbt@lemm.ee to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
24 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hello there, I would like to upgrade my setup from a Raspberry PI 5 to something more capable of running Jellyfin properly. I also plan to host stuff like Nextcloud and some other small services.

The problem is I don't know anything about choosing hardware. I've tried reading online about this stuff and come across many recommendations to buy an NUC, not knowing I would have to purchase every component individually.

I would like your comments on the setup I currently have:

  • NUC Type: ASUS NUC 14 Pro Kit (RNUC14RVKI300000I)
  • Operating System - Still haven't decided yet, probably something easy like Ubuntu server
  • CPU - Intel® Core™ 3 100U Processor
  • Chipset - Integrated
  • Graphics - Integrated - Intel® Graphics (C3)
  • Memory - Adata 8GB DDR5 4800MHz CL40 SO-DIMM
  • Storage - Western Digital Green SN350 1TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe WDS100T3G0C
  • LAN - Intel®, 2.5G LAN
Edit 1

Some clarifications: I still haven't bought anything, this is just what I am currently planning to buy.

I don't live in the US, and none of my local shops have a pre-built NUC available to purchase.

I will probably upgrade the RAM to a "Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR5 5200MHz CL44" after reading some comments.

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[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 hours ago

My setup was about 500 USD if I had to guess:

Used i5 9500 (mainly for QSV but you can use any modern CPU as long as the iGPU is relatively recent)

32GB RAM (more RAM = more cache for file IO)

4TB HDD

256GB NVME boot drive (recycled from my steamdeck)

Node 804 case.

TrueNAS SCALE for the OS.

I'd recommend to get double or even triple the drives I did, maybe 3x 2TB or 3x 1TB depending on your budget. Only because that unlocks RaidZ1/RaidZ2 which can give you better RW speed and redundancy should anything go splat, and you can't retroactively convert your drive into a Z1/Z2 pool without manually transferring the data later which might take a looooong time for you.

I dont think my route was the cheapest: IMO youd do better going AMD even despite the poorer support for HW transcode only because the motherboards are insanely expensive and hard to find, whereas that money couldve given me a better CPU and later you can add an intel iGPU if you're really struggling.

[–] JASN_DE@feddit.org 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'd up the RAM to whatever your budget allows. 8GB are on the low side for several heavy services at the same time.

[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 hours ago

Another thing to note is that extra RAM is super useful with ZFS since it will use extra RAM as a cache to speed up IO. 16-32GB will let ZFS keep significant amounts of data instantly accessible to services like Jellyfin - Eg. a new movie or tv show that multiple users will watch simultaneously.

[–] jia_tan@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Currently have a setup similar to yours, except the chip is N100 (12th gen Intel, 4 e-cores) and 16 gigs of ram. Running Jellyfin with hardware accelerated transcoding into VP9 and HEVC just fine. Nextcloud is ok too, kinda slow but I think that’s because of my networking.

It’s one of the cheapest pre made n100 mini PCs I could find on Amazon.

Just make sure that you have enough IO for your needs. Mine has only three usb ports, I plugged in two usb hard drives and a Zigbee dongle and now I’m out of ports. Gonna have to get a hub now.

If you have the money I’d recommend getting a mini pc with an amd ryzen apu.

[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 hours ago

I have an i5 9500 and for what its worth Nextcloud always seems to be the least responsive web app I've used. I think it's just the nature of Nextcloud.

[–] gl38@feddit.uk 2 points 2 days ago

I have a similar set up; Intel n100 but in an Aoostar R1 so allows for 2 x 3.5HDDs and dual ethernet ports. The n100 has brilliant performance for the price and power draw, so I'd recommend that to OP.

[–] robber@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago

I would recommed to use redundant storage, such as a RAID 1 (or 5 or 6, if you want a more advanced setup). This way your data doesn't die with your SSD.

[–] darcmage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Can you be more specific about your performance objectives? The Pi5 can handle jellyfin and nextcloud relatively well, so if you're having issues with them, identifying the bottlenecks can help narrow down the hardware recommendations.

[–] Oneser@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I'm specifically looking into this at the moment as I have been gifted a pi 5.

Most websites say avoid trying to host jellyfin on a pi 5 (codec and hardware issues are frequently noted). Do you have experience that shows these are non-issues?

[–] darcmage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Any low power device is going to struggle with video playback unless you're doing direct streaming. The exception being the new Intel N line of processors that have capable enough GPUs to do the transcoding. If all you're after is decent transcoding performance for H264/H265 video, anything newer than Intel's 7-8th gen CPUs will do the job. $100-$200 used optiplexes and thinkcentres can easily handle this type of workload.

For reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video#Hardware_decoding_and_encoding

[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 hours ago

Jellyfin supports HW transcoding on Rockchip too, but the issue with the Pi5 specifically is that it doesn't have a hardware media decoder so it's actually worse than the Pi4 if you can get HW transcoding running on it.

[–] roydbt@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I have to agree with such websites; every time I try to encode a movie in Jellyfin on my Pi 5, every service I host there freezes for a few moments.

[–] Oneser@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Thanks for the response! Is it limited to encoding services then, so if I'm only dealing with streaming common media file types (e.g. MKV, MP4) is it still a problem? I'm not dealing with a ridiculous amount of media, so I could outsource the encoding process alone if needed...

[–] roydbt@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

All my media is MKV and it still does that, that’s one of the main reasons why I want to upgrade

[–] Atherel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Do you really need it? Have you tried disabling transcoding? Sometimes clients would be able to direct stream but for some reason it still transcodes.

[–] roydbt@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

I tried disabling encoding which work for some clients, but for clients that don’t support direct stream like the web interface or the official app that isn’t enough.

[–] captainjaneway@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You shouldn't have to pick it all separately. Some Nucs are "barebones" and others come with RAM, CPU, Storage, etc. This Amazon link purportedly claims to have RAM, SSD, etc. pre-built into the ASUS NUC.

That being said, any NUC's integrated GPU is likely going to be far superior to the RPi5's CPU encoding (which I assume was your previous setup).

If you want to spend ~$1000, you might be better off with just going straight for the dedicated NAS.

[–] roydbt@lemm.ee 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

and others come with RAM, CPU, Storage, etc.

But won't that just cost way more than building it myself?

[–] captainjaneway@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

That's true for PC gaming but might not be true for these NUCs. I'm not an expert but I wouldn't be surprised if they shaved costs with bulk purchases of RAM and SSDs for these devices. Regardless, I was just addressing a point you made about being forced to buy the components yourself which isn't the case. Pricing is probably going to vary wildly depending on what you pick and you might be able to save money if you're ok with less RAM or less storage.

[–] mierdabird@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The beginning of your post sounds like you are still looking at hardware to buy, but the later half seems like you already have the NUC?

If not I'd suggest looking at a used HP Mini, Lenovo Tiny, or Dell Micro ex-enterprise PC. They can be had very cheap off ebay, run with similarly low power demands but very capable devices. I run an HP 705 G4 mini Ryzen 5 2600GE with 16gb ram, 256gb SSD, cost me about $95 and averages about 15w

[–] roydbt@lemm.ee 1 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I haven't bought any hardware yet, this is just what I am currently planning to purchase.

I'm kinda cautious about purchasing second-hand stuff from the internet, especially stuff like that. Any tips on how to approach that?

[–] ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I picked myself up a Asus NUC 13th gen I7, chose Proxmox VE as the OS (headless Debian 12 for the main VM) and have about 35 services running via Docker Compose essentially 24/7.

Is it the most elegant setup? No, but everything runs beautifully.

Just make sure your Linux kernel supports the Intel chipset as they are relatively new.

[–] freebee@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago

Purchase in your region so you can have a look at it and back out if hardware looks damaged, very dirty or not well handled by previous owner. 2nd hand is usually fine for most hardware, people sell because they upgrade or because win11 not supported, not because it's broken.

[–] mierdabird@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I only have my one anecdote to go off of, but if you are located in the US eBay is full of enterprise computer reseller postings and mine arrived in very clean condition. And eBay generally has pretty strong buyer protections.