I’m looking into to building a small media server. I will be th only user of it. So I don’t need the ability to do simultaneous streams. I am planning on running Jellyfin.
Sense I am on a more limited budget I was thinking and older desktop and transcoding my files (on my powerful desktop) to be best supported and play smoothly.
Are there any specific recommendations you guys have for hardware I should keep a look out for that’s cheaper or other recommendations for cheap hardware?
Kodi suits you better in your case. Jellyfin is cool though
Minipc is probably going to be the cheapest and most power efficient option. Check out the Minisforum Refurbished page.
Would you recommend an AMD or Intel?
Intel for QuickSync and low idle power.
Whichever really. AMD will give the best overall performance for your needs, though Intel chips IF they have QuickSync can have some hardware acceleration benefits with respect to transcoding.
Find a new old-stock laptop from 1 generation ago. Newegg, amaz, ebay. All the cpu power you need, never needs KVM to do hands on tasks. Set the screen to off when lid closed, but never to sleep or hibernate and it’s 100% ready. Some commercial series (MSI, Lenovo) have wifi, bt, rj45, and usually a 4g option.
I got an N100 SZBox for cheap a few years ago(?) That has a big USB HDD drive plugged into it. Handles 1080p in house just fine, and I think the bloody hard drive eats more power than it does!
