Trying to build a media server/NAS and I am confused about the CPU

Technology Buy Curious
1

I have built a couple of PCs and I feel confident doing so, but when it comes to building a media server/NAS I feel lost.

What I have

Today I stream movies and tv-shows from my desktop PC using Emby server, to my LG TV with the Emby app and simultaneously to one or two android tablets, both with the Emby app installed. All streams need to be able to have subtitles activated (I guess this is transcoding?). Usually 1080p is good enough for me, file format I mostly use are mp4, h264, h265 and mkv.

This works great at the moment since my desktop has an i9-9900K with 32GB RAM.

Iā€™m using sabNZB.

I also have an old Synology DS412+ as a file server, mostly family photos and backup of cell phones.

What I want

Priority 1: A stand alone media server that can do the same thing that I am doing on my desktop PC today, but hopefully more energy effective, and in a smaller case.

Priority 2: Also use the media server as a NAS so that I can retire the Synology.

The media server/NAS needs to be accessed remotely on my network ā€“ I will not have a monitor/keyboard/mouse connected to it after its initial installation. OS ā€“ I am open to suggestions! Unraid, TrueNAS, Windows (I guess not), Ubuntu?

I have a Cooler Master NR200P case that I can use. I also have a 1070 ti if necessary, although I am guessing that I will be ok with a CPU with integrated graphics?

So, I need help.

Can I run a NAS and a Media server on the same machine?
What kind of CPU do I need? ā€“ I am looking at an Intel for Quick Sync. But which one is good enough?
Motherboard will be an mITX that works with the CPU of course.
Storage and RAM I can figure out.

I would really appreaciate som input.

2

Hi and welcome to Serverbuilds.

The current value sweet spot for a media server is an 8th or 9th gen Intel Core i3 or potentially a Core i5 if you want a little more headroom to run additional services and you can find a good deal on one.

For the OS I would recommend Unraid It is designed from the ground up to be a media server / NAS and has a very user friendly interface for managing it all as well as large community of users so there are plenty of resources out there for learning it.

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Thank you Ian!

4

Any gains using the 1070ti if I go with a Intel 8th gen or better CPU? Or should I just skip it completely?

5

If you want the transcode you should go with an Intel CPU and absolutely skip a 1070 or any dedicated GPU

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Nope, for transcoding you will want to use the Intel iGPU.

The Nvida card is much more powerful in terms of 3D acceleration, but for video transcoding the Intel Quick Sync Video accelerator is better than anything else.

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Looking to finally build my own mediaserver and light storage NAS, I read this response from a year ago: The current value sweet spot for a media server is an 8th or 9th gen Intel Core i3 or potentially a Core i5 if you want a little more headroom to run additional services and you can find a good deal on one. does the same ring true today?

Would an advance to generation 10, 11 or 12 i3/5 be warranted?

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Still 8/9th. But it heavily depends on what it is you want to do with the server.