I’ve recently been doing some research into mini PCs, to use as a Plex server and desktop replacement, and wanted to get some further advice.
Background
I’ve been running a Raspberry Pi Plex server for a few years, but it's not great. I have been considering replacing with a NAS but the cost was off putting, especially as I don’t have any heavy transcoding needs, so when I saw the suggestion of a mini PC for a few hundred pounds that seemed like a more appealing option.
My AMD Athlon X4 desktop is nearly 10 years old and whilst it still does the job for web browsing, Office, streaming and some light gaming, I’ve been considering an upgrade at some point. Feels like a mini PC with a half decent spec and Windows will be a good option to replace both, and save a lot of space.
Storage
I have a 4TB external drive hooked up to the Raspberry Pi, and 2 x 2TB 3.5” HDDs in my desktop (which I sync to the external drive).
It seems like most mini PCs have space for an additional 2.5” drive, but specify a 2TB limit, so I was considering getting one or two caddies to use with my existing HDDs. But from what I’ve since read it seems that this 2TB limit isn’t necessarily the case, does anyone have experience of using a larger capacity drive? If this is feasible, to reduce external devices, I’d probably go for a 4TB SSD for my media, and then keep using the external drive as a backup.
I also have a 5.25” BD-RW drive which I use for ripping discs and occasional burning. I think a portable drive to replace this won’t cost much more than a caddy for the existing drive, and will be more compact.
Processor
When I was only considering as a Plex server, it seemed the Intel N100 would be a very suitable processor, and while it would still be an improvement on my current desktop it feels like spending a bit more to get something more future-proofed would be worthwhile. I’ve been looking at a few devices with the AMD Ryzen5 5560U, is this overkill for my needs, or worth the extra? Certainly don’t think I need anything faster, but I’m also not sure if there’s benefit of going Intel over AMD?
General
I assume there are no issues leaving it running permanently as a server? It won’t be in heavy use so want to minimise consumption when not in use, presumably it can sleep and be awakened when needed?
And any other tips/suggestions?
I’m UK based and looking to buy from Amazon. £300 feels like a realistic budget for the mini PC (and then the additional drives on top), at the moment these two are looking like good options but will consider others devices/configurations based on advice/responses to the above questions.
Beeline SER5 AMD 5560U/16GB/1TB - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B875HX5C
Trigkey S5 AMD 5560U/16GB/1TB - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CL4R1SVS
Sorry for the long post and thanks for any advice!