Hi

I’m looking for some help with deciding what is appropriate for my uses.

Currently, I’m running my plex server off of my desktop which is wired to my router (asus ACRH13), and mainly watch using my tv which is also wired to my router.

I’d like to be able to host the plex server on an external device, and automate backups from my desktop, and my mac laptop using timevault. And I’d also like it to be able to transcode 4k HDR movies. There isn’t much external use of the server since my upload speed isn’t great, but I imagine it would get more use for that in the future.

I’ve been looking at synology, but I generally appreciate more flexibility and the ability to have something I can grow with. I’ve seen a lot of people mention using a small form factor PC, or building a cheap computer with an i3 chip (though I don’t know what gen would be enough), but I’m still unsure of what kind of hardware I’d need for my uses. It seems you don’t need a video card for transcoding?.

There a lot of information out there, so I’m feeling a bit overloaded.

I’ve read this guide which has been helpful. I’m familiar with building a pc, but still want to make sure I build something reasonable if that would be more cost effective in the long run for my use.

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