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Mini PC suggestion


David Patt

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David Patt

Hello, after long searching and options ( I want some Synology NAS first but too high price + hdd price) I want mini pc. I found three I can buy and are available in my near shops. All are windows 10 based. ( Don't wanna learn Linux again) I will use it on my Android TV , Mostly 4K content but like 90% of my media is direct play. What was transcoding was HLS ,( don't have idea what it is and I found out about it only because image get little blocky at second) And local audio Dow mix. Really don't know if this have impact.

My selections are

HP 260 G3 DM (i3 7130u kabylake , 4 GB ram)

umax u box j50 pro (intel pentium j5005, 4gb ram)

Umax j41 pro (j4105, 4gb ram)

Thank you for suggestions or warnings why I shouldn't do it.

 

 

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arrbee99

Unfortunately not. Just the opposite really. Emby is in a Fractal Design R5 box with about 8 drives inside it plus Ryzen 3700X etc plus Shield / FireTV to play. Previous box was only slightly smaller.

Maybe an ordinary second hand box unless OP particularly wants/needs a mini for space considerations.

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David Patt
41 minutes ago, arrbee99 said:

Unfortunately not. Just the opposite really. Emby is in a Fractal Design R5 box with about 8 drives inside it plus Ryzen 3700X etc plus Shield / FireTV to play. Previous box was only slightly smaller.

Maybe an ordinary second hand box unless OP particularly wants/needs a mini for space considerations.

Want something small , low powered , and want it to run 24/7. As i write i consider NAS but it is too expensive + hdds. (now i have WD MY Book external hdds and if i take them out i will void waranty.)

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arrbee99

Fair enough. Unfortunately I'm not qualified really to help. Hopefully others will. You've had a google already, but I guess its all down to budget and will you ever need to transcode (10% if 90% is direct play) and how much storage you really need/want etc. Would Emby server on a Shield work for you ?

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David Patt

I did research about shield and it looks quite troublesome. With that minipc i just copy folder with emby , plug usb external hdds , correct letter to hdds and i will continue where i end. I just dont know if that cpu of that minipc  i list are good enough to make occasional transcoding. I count with most 2 streams at once. And when i watch movies until today i only encounter transcoding twice. First it was in weird format anyway, second it was in some transcoding because of HLS. 

Great about minipc are that have many usb 3.0 connectors for my usb external hdds.

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Happy2Play

It really depends on the content formats.  All those systems have QuickSync so if you have Emby Premiere you could enable Hardware Acceleration also.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/43344-intel-nuc-dedicated-emby-server/

From a direct play standpoint any system should work.

4 hours ago, David Patt said:

What was transcoding was HLS ,( don't have idea what it is and I found out about it only because image get little blocky at second) And local audio Dow mix. Really don't know if this have impact.

When you have 4K media that does not Direct play do to audio the server has to to convert both video and audio do to the hls protocol used to deliver the media.  So your best bet is to add a support audio track to this media, so the media can be direct played (at least from playing media locally standpoint).  This is across the board on any system you install Emby on.

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clarkss12

Right now, I am 2000 miles from home, helping my son with his technology needs.  

I have two servers running on miniPCs, a two year old vorki V2 and a beelink GT-R.  My internet upload speed at home is less than 12 megabits per second. 

My son has a TCL 50 inch TV, that we move down to his basement.  It runs Roku operating system.  There was an Emby app available. I installed it set it up, everything is playing perfectly that I have tested so far.  That includes live TV, 720p, 1080i and 480i.

I also tested a couple high bitrate Blu-ray rips.  This all happened today, so I will be doing more testing tomorrow.

Since I only have less than 12 megabits per second, almost everything has to be transcoded by my server devices.

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Armageus

In addition to the models listed, you'd be as well to look at:

HP 800 Mini

Dell Optiplex Micro

Lenovo Tiny

Edited by Armageus
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  • 3 weeks later...
David Patt

So in the end I have Intel NUC with i5 CPU. Migration was easy. I make sure I stop server, then unplug all external HDD with media content. I fully update windows on NUC and just copy Emby folder. When I plug in external HDD I make sure they are same drive letters as before and then start server. Everything seems in order. NUC is quiet enough to not hear (external HDD are louder) I try videos with transcoding and everything work smoothly. Average speed on 1080p is 120 fps and on 4K around 78 fps. 

Great thing is I set NUC go to sleep after 30 minutes. Same as hdd. When I launch Emby on tv it just wake up and maybe few seconds delay then content start play. 

Now I can make some serious work on my normal desktop , like play games and watch my content without hiccups.

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