Which mini PC would you choose for emby server?

[ManuX97X 0]

Hello everyone.

Actually I run my Emby server on my main laptop. But I want to move it to a mini pc. First: I've never had a mini pc before but I did a little research about. The following models look interesting to me: Intel® NUC 13 Pro Mini PC (NUC13ANHi70QA) or GEEKOM AS 6 (R9-6900HX)

See the specifications of each one in the pictures.

Hardware transcoding is very important to me H264, H265 as 1080p and also 4K.

I read in so many forums that Intel is the best for transcoding. But in my opinion the specs of the GEEKOM looks way better. But I don't know how good it can handle the transcoding part. 

I bet the GEEKOM is far superior to Intel, especially when it comes to gaming. But I am totally insecure because of that transcoding. Because the Intel can av1 decode and encode the Geek can just av1 decode. I don't want to have the same problems with my media server as I already have with my current Razer laptop.

I'm not really happy with my actual Emby server solution on my laptop (Razer Blade Stealth 13). Watching videos on the emby theater app on my amazon cube 3 or tablet especially HVEC 4K is really buggy and buffering. Absolutely not nice. Tbh I wonder why it works so bad on my laptop. I mean Razer isn't bad it also has Intel i7 11th gen inside But ofc I also run a lot of heavy programs in the background.. Thats why I want a good mini pc - only using for mediaserver and nothing much else.

Which of the PCs would you recommend to me?

Or do you have a better PC or recommendation for me? 

[ManuX97X 0]

The GEEKOM Mini IT13 13th Gen Intel® Core™ with the 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900H looks also interesting because it's cheaper than the 'original' Intel® NUC 13 Pro Mini PC with the i7-1360P

Or what do you think?

[Luke 37095]

Hi, those both look like capable machines.

[rbjtech 4283]

Intel - for the QSV

AMD will be poor in both transcoding performance and support in comparison.

Edited October 23, 2023 by rbjtech

[Q-Droid 652]

In addition to the above, I myself have never heard of GEEKOM. So for which one of those would you expect to get long term support?

 

[RanmaCanada 345]

Intel is THE KING when it comes to hardware transcoding, period.  I've linked for you testing by Rigaya.  If you don't know who they are, then you don't take encoding seriously :P.  AMD is garbage tier when it comes to transcoding, both in speed and quality.  And why spend so much on a NUC?  If it's just going to be doing the transcoding, I'll parrot my "buy a smashed screen or refurb laptop of fleabay".  You can get a 12th gen for about $200.  (my i5-1235u was $130).  In regards to 12th gen to 13th gen, there may be a little speed difference, but the ASICS are the same, so you won't get any new features.  Even an i3 will do the job.  You don't need an i9 if you're doing quicksync transcodes.  I ran an i3-8130u and it had no problems with 10+ 1080p transcodes, and could handle 3 4k trancodes at most.

As for the buggy or laggy, hardwire the server.  Wifi is horrible for data transmission, no matter what the specs say.  

[lightsout 144]

On 10/23/2023 at 6:37 PM, RanmaCanada said:

Intel is THE KING when it comes to hardware transcoding, period.  I've linked for you testing by Rigaya.  If you don't know who they are, then you don't take encoding seriously :P.  AMD is garbage tier when it comes to transcoding, both in speed and quality.  And why spend so much on a NUC?  If it's just going to be doing the transcoding, I'll parrot my "buy a smashed screen or refurb laptop of fleabay".  You can get a 12th gen for about $200.  (my i5-1235u was $130).  In regards to 12th gen to 13th gen, there may be a little speed difference, but the ASICS are the same, so you won't get any new features.  Even an i3 will do the job.  You don't need an i9 if you're doing quicksync transcodes.  I ran an i3-8130u and it had no problems with 10+ 1080p transcodes, and could handle 3 4k trancodes at most.

As for the buggy or laggy, hardwire the server.  Wifi is horrible for data transmission, no matter what the specs say.  

Never seen  this page before thanks.

[AKSkinz 9]

Just an FYI that Intel sold off NUC line to ASUS. ASUS will support Intel's NUCs under warranty.

 

ASUS Takes Over Intel NUC Brand, Begins the Next Era for the Next Unit of Computing (anandtech.com)

[them8os235 16]

On 10/23/2023 at 9:37 PM, RanmaCanada said:

As for the buggy or laggy, hardwire the server.  Wifi is horrible for data transmission, no matter what the specs say.

@ManuX97XHear, Hear!  I'll echo this sentiment by RanmaCanada.  And if possible, do the same for the Emby Theater player(s) too.  Or at minimum, the wifi signal needs to be strong to both devices within a reasonable distance from the wifi router.  Based on my experience with not just Emby but also music using Volumio and Roon.  When wired was impossible and distance large (over 60 feet thru walls and different floors, for example), I had to put a repeater between the wifi router and my player location and connect to that.

As to your question, I'm using an inexpensive Blackview MP60 for my emby server.  I don't have demanding needs in that there is rarely multiple transcodes needed.  SSDs only, both for OS and media source. 

Edited November 15, 2023 by them8os235

[them8os235 16]

54 minutes ago, them8os235 said:

As to your question, I'm using an inexpensive Blackview MP60 for my emby server.  I don't have demanding needs in that there is rarely multiple transcodes needed.  SSDs only, both for OS and media source. 

But a P.S. to that is, I should have said "currently".  I'm only using the MP60 for music, currently.  I normally use a rather old at this point NUC7 i5 (the performance specs of that older i5 and the CPU in the newer MP60 are somewhat comparable).  The main reason for that is my full, music plus video media library is on a drive bay external to the NUC, connected via Thunderbolt. Unfortunately the  MP60 doesn't have Thunderbolt, let alone it doesn't even have a USB-C connector. 

And that is the reason behind this "p.s." follow-up.  I recommend whatever anyone buy, that it be spec'ed with a Thunderbolt port.  

Edited November 15, 2023 by them8os235

[tedfroop21 38]

Just as a side note - some of these mini PC's are notorious for temperature issues and rarely run at the advertised speed because they are clocking down for thermal output reduction.

I would suggest something slightly larger.  I picked up an off lease HP Elitedesk i5 hexacore and dumped a couple big drives in it.  It's nearly silent,  has no problem handling the load of my home and external users and was not at all expensive.