I currently have a Synology 220+ and a couple of VPS’s, and I’m looking to consolidate, while getting out of Synology’s walled garden. I’ve already got a couple of 3.5’s in the Synology, and 4 2.5’s lying around and I’m planning on running a number of docker containers and a couple of vms.
That said, I’ve never built anything before, and basically just went to PCPartPicker, started with the case, and checked 5-stars on each component and went from there. So… how absurd is my build?
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor | $135.00 @ Amazon |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360L Core ARGB Liquid CPU Cooler | $90.71 @ Amazon |
| Motherboard | MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard | $165.99 @ B&H |
| Memory | TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory | $26.99 @ Amazon |
| Storage | Seagate IronWolf NAS 8 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive | Purchased For $179.00 |
| Storage | Seagate IronWolf NAS 8 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive | Purchased For $179.00 |
| Storage | Seagate IronWolf NAS 8 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive | $159.99 @ Adorama |
| Case | Fractal Design Meshify 2 ATX Mid Tower Case | $173.89 @ Newegg |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM650 (2023) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $89.99 @ Corsair |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $1200.56 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-23 19:32 EDT-0400 |
Someone else mentioned the cooler too, so that’s out for sure. To be honest, I never really thought about graphics in the traditional sense, but I do need something for at least Jellyfin transcoding. And maybe a small llm. Would it be better to get a dedicated GPU or CPU with integrated?
Dedicated GPUs are obviously going to be more powerful. I’ve never run ai before so maybe someone else can weigh in on the requirements for it, but I can say for sure that an igpu is good enough for jellyfin transcoding. It also depends on your budget, do you want to spend the extra money just for a dedicated GPU?
If you go igpu route I think that Intel is recommended over AMD, but you should probably do extra research on that before buying
The gold standard for transcoding these days is a newer gen Intel CPU with integrated graphics.
The integrated GPU on those intel chips can do Intel QuickSync / QSV which will handle a dozen streams at once without breaking a sweat.
People buils jellyfin media servers out nases which have complete garbage computing power. It really does not take much unless you have like 4 4k tvs and fell for dolby atmos scam.