I have a older pc I built in 2014 for a NAS running win 7 then upgraded to win 10. just runs plex for windows headless. 1gbe cat 7 cable, 4tb NAS Seagate drives in raid 0. its been a good server for me but ever since going to win 10 home the file transfer from pc to server and vice versa has not worked at all. as well the old amd Athlon 5350 is showing its age. inability to transcode anything above SD quality requires a lot more user end knowledge than most of my family has.
I will likely build some new hardware into the box to fix the transcoding issues, however I still am not sure windows 10 (even if I get pro this time) will be my best option for a headless OS. I need somthing that can file transfer seamless but not cost me much in software license. im working on a budget for this file server and don’t need to spend for fancy features in a NAS os. Im not a fan of Linux mostly due to poor experiences with the community in the past and low hardware support for special functions like VCE decoding on my amd hardware… What do you suggest? Am I on the right path to just put win 10 pro in for the new hardware next time?
The OS will not change the performance. But you can get a Pro version cheaper if you look for OEM version: https://www.kinguin.net/category/19429/windows-10-professional-oem-key
But most important factor is hardware. You will need something with Celeron CPU at least J3355 (UK, USA ) or J3455. But preferably Pentium or Intel core i with GPU built in.
You will also notice that it is cheaper to buy a pre-built NUC PC rather then getting all components one buy one. Look for Intel NUC or other brand mini PC and you will notice that OS often included free of charge.
Just keep an eye on CPU. It must come with graphics engine built in. Here is some list:
| CPU | PLEX transcode | Base | Max | GPU | |
| Intel Celeron J1800 dual-core 2.41 GHz | 1025 | 720p | 688 MHz | 792 MHz |
Intel® HD Graphics for Intel Atom® Processor Z3700 Series
|
| Intel Celeron J3355 2.0GHz (2.5GHz burst) | 1313 | 720p | 250 | 700 |
Intel® HD Graphics 500
|
| Intel® Celeron® J4005 dual-core 2.0 GHz processor (burst up to 2.7 GHz) | 1552 | 720p | 250 | 700 |
Intel® UHD Graphics 600
|
| Intel® Celeron N3160 1.6GHz burst up to 2.08gHz Quad Core | 1599 | 720p | 320 | 640 | |
| Celeron Quad Core 1.6GHz (burst up to 2.24GHz) | 1670 | 720p | 320 | 640 | |
| Intel Celeron N3150 1.6GHz burst up to 2.08GHz Quad Core | 1690 | 720p | 320 | 640 |
Intel® HD Graphics for Intel® Celeron® Processor N3000 Series
|
| Intel Celeron N3160 1.6GHz Quad Core | 1701 | 720p | 320 | 640 | |
| Intel® Celeron N3450 1.1GHz Burst to 2.2GHz Quad Core | 1793 | 720p | 200 | 700 |
Intel® HD Graphics 500
|
| Intel Celeron J1900 (Quad Core) 1.5GHz | 1862 | 720p | 688 | 854 |
Intel® HD Graphics for Intel Atom® Processor Z3700 Series
|
| Intel Pentium N3710 1.6 GHz (Burst speed up to 2.56 GHz) | 1870 | 720p | 400 | 700 | |
| Intel® Celeron®J1900 Quad-Core SoC | 1879 | 720p | 688 | 854 |
Intel® HD Graphics for Intel Atom® Processor Z3700 Series
|
| Intel Celeron 3865U dual-core 1.8 GHz | 1978 | 720p | 300 | 900 |
Intel® HD Graphics 610
|
| Intel Celeron J3455 Quad Core 1.5 GHz (up to 2.3 GHz) | 2132 | 1080p | 250 | 750 |
Intel® HD Graphics 500
|
| Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core 1.5GHz, burst up to 2.5GHz | 2641 | 1080p | 250 | 750 |
Intel® UHD Graphics 600
|
| Intel® Pentium G850 (2.9GHz Dual Core) | 2671 | 1080p | 850 | 1.10 GHz |
Intel® HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel® Processors
|
| Intel® Celeron® J4115 quad-core 1.8 GHz processor (burst up to 2.5 GHz) | 2800 | 1080p | 250 | 750 |
Intel® UHD Graphics 600
|
| Intel Celeron J4125 Quad Core 2.0 GHz (burst up to 2.7 GHz) | 2912 | 1080p | 250 | 750 |
Intel® UHD Graphics 600
|
| Intel® Celeron 2.9GHz Dual-Core G3930 | 3000 | 1080p | 350 | 1.05 GHz |
Intel® HD Graphics 610
|
| Dual-Core Intel® Pentium® G4400 3.3 GHz | 3680 | 1080p | 350 | 1.00 GHz |
Intel® HD Graphics 510
|
| Intel Celeron 3865U processor 1.8GHz x2 | 3800 | 1080p | 300 | 900 |
Intel® HD Graphics 610
|
| Intel® Core i3 2120 3.3GHz | 3880 | 1080p | 850 MHz | 1.10 GHz |
Intel® HD Graphics 2000
|
| Intel Pentium G5400T 3.1GHz 2-core | 5048 | low 4K | 350 | 1.05 |
Intel® UHD Graphics 610
|
| Intel® Core i3-4300 3.5GHz Dual-Core | 5086 | low 4K | 350 | 1.15 |
Intel® HD Graphics 4600
|
| Intel i3-4330 Dual Core 3.5GHz | 5089 | low 4K | 350 | 1.15 |
Intel® HD Graphics 4600
|
| Intel® Core™ i3-4170 Processor (3M Cache, 3.70 GHz) | 5134 | low 4K | 350 | 1.15 |
Intel® HD Graphics 4400
|
| Intel Skylake Core-i3 6100 3.7GHz Dual Core | 5413 | low 4K | 350 | 1.05 |
Intel® HD Graphics 530
|
| Intel® i3 Dual-Core 3.9GHz i3-7100 | 5500 | low 4K | 350 | 1.1 |
Intel® HD Graphics 630
|
| Intel Core i5-6442EQ 1.9GHz Quad-core i5-6442EQ | 6000 | low 4K | 350 | 350 |
Intel® HD Graphics 530
|
| Intel i3-10110U | 6026 | low 4K | 300 | 1 |
Intel® UHD Graphics
|
| Intel® Core i5 2.7GHz Quad-Core (maximum 3.3GHz) | 6700 | low 4K | 350 | 950 |
Intel® HD Graphics 530
|
| Intel® Core i5 3.0GHz Quad-Core | 7000 | low 4K | 850 | 1.1 |
Intel® HD Graphics 2000
|
| Intel® CoreTM i3-8100T Quad Core 3.1 GHz | 7475 | low 4K | 350 | 1.1 |
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
|
| Intel® Core™ i5-7500 3.4 GHz quad-core | 7807 | low 4K | 350 | 1.1 |
Intel® HD Graphics 630
|
| Intel Coffee Lake i3-8100 3.6GHz | 8043 | low 4K | 350 | 1.1 |
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
|
| Intel Core i7-6700HQ Quad Core 2.6 GHz | 8136 | low 4K | 350 | 1.05 |
Intel® HD Graphics 530
|
| Intel i5-10210U | 8770 | low 4K | 300 | 1.1 |
Intel® UHD Graphics
|
| Intel® CoreTM i5-8400T six-core 1.7 GHz | 9659 | 4K | 350 | 1.05 |
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
|
| Intel i7-8705G | 9882 | 4K | 350 | 1.1 |
Intel® HD Graphics 630
|
| Intel Core i5-7267U CPU 3.1GHz x2 | 10000 | 4K | 300 | 1.05 GHz |
Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 650
|
| NEW: Quad-core Intel i7-7700 3.6 GHz / OLD: i7-6700 | 10000 | 4K | 350 | 1.15 |
Intel® HD Graphics 630
|
| Intel i7-8809G | 10900 | 4K | 350 | 1.1 |
Intel® HD Graphics 630
|
| Intel Core i5-8500 3.0GHz Six-core | 11916 | 4K | 350 | 1.1 |
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
|
| Intel Core i7-7567U CPU 3.5GHz x2 | 13000 | 4K | 300 | 1.15 |
Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 650
|
| Intel i7-10710U | 13244 | 4K | 300 | 1.15 |
Intel® UHD Graphics
|
SD 720P PLEX PC
HD/ FHD 1080p PLEX PC
4K PLEX PC
I hope this helps.
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