Hello there. I’m thinking of getting/making a home NAS/Server/Jellyfin. I already have an old pc with a i5-6600k, GTX1060, 550w PSU just laying around and I’m trying to understand if it will be enough for it. The other options I saw was getting a Synology or making a Pi_NAS. I’m afraid that the PC will consume much more energy than the other 2 options. What do you guys think?
I would do new PC instead of nas.
There are many MB with CPU integrated and pcie or lots of sata ports for either nvme or hdd/ssd.
Case can be old. But you want energy efficient components.
Some nas setups get expensive.
So you’re telling me none of the options I gave. The case was one of the components I was going to change because it’s too big for the place I want it to go
I started with a Pi 3b+ for a plex server, plugged into my TV as the client player too. With a 2tb USB hdd. It handled most video OK, but only had upto 1080 video files. It just wasn’t quite powerful enough to do the job WELL. Slowed with age too.
After a few different builds, I’m now running headless on an older HP Z400 laying around, slightly older than your pc laying around. Handles multiple plex clients well, while downloading 100s of torrents and copying to several drives all at the same time. Handles it like a champ. Power hungry though. ~90w at idle with 1ssd and 3internal hdds and 2external hdds. ~180w at its higher loads, usually around ~120w with one client playing and no downloads
That’s the thing… I’d like to use it to stream with Jellyfin and make use of my 4k TV bad I’ve read somewhere that with a Pi and even with a NAS it’s not that easy…
I love Synology, but for the price you get very little CPU performance. Your i5 would probably outrun Synology units that cost $1000 or more. (Haven’t looked at their lineup in years, but that’s my guess!)
Really, the only bad thing I can think of is higher power consumption and footprint… we’re probably talking about a 50watt difference, if that.
I would use that i5 so I have something to use today! Monitor power usage some and then replace it down the road with something lower power, when you understand your needs better and you feel like it.
I’d run it headless and save another 15w, unless my plex clients need the GPU to transcode. (higher end players like Nvidia shield usually does not)