Advice for PMS mini pc
reddit / selfhosted

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rudboi12 · 2023-12-22 17:27

Hi everyone!

I started a few months ago learning some networking and setup my own
vpn server so I can access my home network anywhere.

Now, Ive been looking to setup a self hosted PMS and been looking on
options for mini pc. I see common recommendations are Beelink and
similar. Im in a country where I can’t buy directly from amazon (have
to buy through US store and then it gets freight forwarded to my
country). So warranty will be useless. Also, I don’t know much about
hardware but I don’t really trust these no brand ram and ssd these
Chinese boxes have.

Finally, ive seen many lenovo thinkcentre and dell optiplex in the use
market in my country for around 130ish, usually 7th gen or 8th gen i5
chips. Only issue with these is that I don’t know sht about hardware
and people in my country are known for ripping people off, so it will
not surprise me that they have swap many of the internals for other
generic stuff.

Finally, I can spend whatever I want in this mini pc, there no real
limit. But I want to start with some mini pc not that expensive that
will use low power, dont want to overkill. Intel nuc wouldve been
perfect but since they stopped production, feel like a waste of money.
Any similar to intel nuc from bigger brands?

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TheWicklowWolf · 2023-12-22 20:07

A decent second hand SFF is a good option

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fart_vandalay · 2023-12-22 20:50

I got a 13th gen i5 Intel NUC (new) because I am a NUC fan and its the
last Intel model to be made. You can get older models cheaper on eBay
(just make sure it includes the power cable!)

> ntel nuc wouldve been perfect but since they stopped production,
feel like a waste of money.

no, not at all, them stopping production does not affect the quality
of the current and past offerings.

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rudboi12 · 2023-12-22 21:04

How does warranty work with them since they discontinued the line? I
would 100% buy a NUC.

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fart_vandalay · 2023-12-22 21:14

seems like they are moving that over to ASUS

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000097279/int
el-nuc.html

personally I do not sweat it too much. Intel is some of the highest
quality hardware so I hold it in higher regard. I do not have any
concerns about it breaking or dying or being DOA. ymmv

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rudboi12 · 2023-12-22 21:20

Nice! Good to know. Will go for a NUC then. Any other tips or advice
for extra components or external drives?

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[deleted] · 2023-12-23 03:49

[removed]

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Specific-Action-8993 · 2023-12-23 13:21

I run mine on an i5-8500T. Works great, transcodes like a champ. If
you want a mini-pc with something like a NAS or direct-attached
storage (USB enclosure etc) get an HP prodesk 600 g4. Very available
on eBay with 16GB RAM and 2.5" SSD cage. Add an NVMe boot drive, keep
the 2.5" as transcode cache and you're good to go.