Should I upgrade Client or Server from Pi3 to Pi4?

[hukt_own_fonikz 7]

Was finally able to order a Pi4 the other day, Adafruit had them in stock for a few hours. I'm kicking myself for only getting one, but it is what it is.

My emby server and one of my clients both run on a Pi3, and I'm wondering what the benefits would be to upgrading the server to a Pi4. Right now I have to run Kodi on LibreELEC with the Emby plugin for the client to run, so I know the benefit there would be running Emby Theater. I also have a few issues with some files stuttering, forcing me to transcode H264 Medium settings to get them to play properly. I'm not sure if upgrading the client or the server would fix this issue?

Some helpful advice please? Thanks in advance!

[TMCsw 122]

1 hour ago, hukt_own_fonikz said:

My emby server and one of my clients both run on a Pi3, and I'm wondering what the benefits would be to upgrading the server to a Pi4.

Sorry to say, but the Pi4 isn't ENOUGH, better for transcoding over the Pi3 to make it worthwhile. Although they both direct-stream(along with DVR) reasonably well.

As for a client I have found a good Fire Stick or (yuck)Roku to be much simpler, better and most-often cheaper.

For a server It depends on you needs but perhaps a Intel NUC or cheap laptop (ether with UHD) would suit you better? maybe @RanmaCanadaHas some advice...

Edited October 11, 2023 by TMCsw

[RanmaCanada 345]

Well I can tell you right now that your Pi4 will make a better emulation machine than it will an Emby Server.  As @TMCswsays, it will struggle hard when it comes to any transcoding.  I recently picked up a smashed screen i5-1235u for $130 to replace my i3-1115G4 as the motherboard on it shorted out due to a bad battery (in hindsight I should have disconnected it but a year for a $100 machine is not a bad bargain).  This laptop is similar to my old server, that the i3-1115G4 was a replacement for.  All it would need is a usb ethernet adapter, and it will use a little more power than your Pi, and will handle over 10 1080p transcodes for clients that can't direct play, or 3 4k to 1080 transcodes.  If you're scared of buying damaged units, black friday/cyber monday is coming, and it would be a good chance to probably get an i3-1215u for about $200, if not cheaper.  Used ones are currently $249 on ebay.  This particular model can't have the ram upgraded though.

Here is an i3-1115G4 for $209 with a 2 year warranty.  According to the maintenance manual, it has 4 gigs soldered onboard, and has 1 empty slot (my 8130u is also a Lenovo with soldered ram).  Throw in a 16 gig module, get a usb NIC and you're golden.

Power usage.  When I had my 8130u as a server, it sipped power.  Single digits.  When it had to transcode, it used a bit more, up to about 17 or so.  When I switched to the i3-1115G4, it used even less power when idle, 3-5 watts, and it would boost up to 25 for a few seconds when it was doing something really heavy.  My i5-1235u, I haven't had enough time to test it out yet as I've only had it running for 3 days, but it's faster than I can believe and I've seen quicksync speeds over 260fps for 1080p encodes to HEVC using staxxrip while encoding stuff across the network.

[hukt_own_fonikz 7]

Thanks for the info, this is exactly what I needed, I will upgrade my client and find an x86 for the server.

[RanmaCanada 345]

15 hours ago, hukt_own_fonikz said:

Thanks for the info, this is exactly what I needed, I will upgrade my client and find an x86 for the server.

I would suggest any Android device.  For inexpensive, the new Amazon 4k Max firestick would probably be great.