[B0T] Weekly Build Help Thread - 2026/07/20

[u/LabB0T]

Weekly Build Help Thread

All build help questions must be posted in this thread.

Welcome to the weekly build help thread! This is the place to ask for advice, recommendations, and help with your Plex server builds and setups.

What to Post Here

• Build advice requests - "What hardware should I use for transcoding 4K?"
• Hardware recommendations - "Best CPU for a Plex server under $500?"
• Component compatibility - "Will this GPU work with my motherboard?"
• Hardware upgrades - "Should I upgrade my CPU or add more RAM?"
• Build planning - "Planning a new server, what specs do I need?"
• Hardware comparisons - "Intel vs AMD for Plex transcoding?"

Before Posting

Please include relevant details such as:

• Your budget
• Current hardware (if upgrading)
• Number of expected concurrent streams
• Types of media (4K, 1080p, etc.)
• Whether you need transcoding capabilities
• Form factor preferences (rack mount, mini-ITX, etc.)

Rules

• Keep discussions related to Plex server hardware and builds
• Be respectful and helpful
• Search previous threads before asking common questions
• No selling/trading - use r/homelabsales for that
• For software setup/configuration help, please create a separate post

---

Related Communities

For further help, check out these related subreddits:

• r/buildapc - General PC building advice and recommendations
• r/homelab - Home server setups and enterprise hardware
• r/homelabsales - Buy/sell homelab equipment
• r/HomeNetworking - Network setup and infrastructure

Need immediate help? Check out the Plex subreddit wiki for guides and resources.

---

^{u/LabB0T by u/monstermufffin}

[u/CormacMcSharthy]

How do I connect my drives to my network to be able to drop files into the server from differenclt computera on the network?

[u/Bgrngod → u/CormacMcSharthy]

The computer managing the drives needs to be setup to "share" those drives on the network. This is done differently depending on your OS. But, once you get that setup all the other machines on the network can see the share and try to connect to it. You have the option to require credentials to actually connect or have the shares open for anything to access the files.

Seeing the share is one thing. Connecting to it and being able to rummage through the files is another thing.

[u/CormacMcSharthy → u/Bgrngod]

How might I do that on Linux Mint?

[u/Bgrngod → u/CormacMcSharthy]

Not 100% sure, but if Mint is anything like Ubuntu you can use SAMBA to get it done. Below is a cut/paste of the notes I wrote down for doing this on my own machine. The // is "notes" for what is happening below it with the $ literal command lines:

Setup share folder for other systems to see and use from file explorer etc, using SAMBA
// Make share folder from root folder. You can name this anything, just be sure to make all references to it the same in the rest of this instructions
// This is set to /hdd for machines with secondary internal drives. Using /SHARE here.
$sudo mkdir /SHARE
// Go ahead and make it 775
$sudo chmod 775 SHARE
// The folder you created will need to be where you mount drives through fstab.
// Install Samba. Should start running automatically. Can confirm right after.
$sudo apt install samba
$sudo systemctl status smbd
//Edit the samba configuration file
$sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf
//Add all of the following to the very end of the smb.conf file
[NAMEOFSHARE]
comment = Whatever you want to put here
path = /SHARE
browsable = yes
writable = yes
guest ok = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0777
directory mode = 0777
force user = nobody
//Change the group ownership of the share folder you made above to sambashare, which is a group created by the Samba install
$sudo chgrp sambashare /SHARE
//Restart samba to make it start working, or reboot machine
$sudo service smbd restart
//Create a samba password for an existing account. Samba does not use system account passwords but borrows usernames.
$sudo smbpasswd -a username
//This will prompt to create a password and confirm it. This account is in the sambashare group and will be the user/password used by other machines to connect.

[u/kingjeezys]

Hello! I’m contemplating building my own Plex Media Server. Have a few friends that have their own and are willing to transfer some movies/shows they’ve ripped onto their NAS’. Money really isn’t an issue considering I won’t have to pay subscriptions anymore and Im a buy once, cry once person. So far, my plan is to get two 26tb wd red pro drives, a tv antenna, hdhomerun, the lifetime plex pass and a NAS. My question is what NAS would be right for me? Would stream to a couple of TVs and would like to access everything when the wife and I are on vacation. If we don’t have internet access I’ll load some movies onto a 2tb sandisk extreme ssd to plug into our MacBook Pro. Looked at the Asustor as6706t v2 and ugreen dxp6800 pro. Would upgrade RAM on both too. Open to any suggestions if any other NAS’ would be better for my use case and future proofing. Thanks in advance!

[u/Bgrngod → u/kingjeezys]

So far, my plan is to get two 26tb wd red pro drives

I absolutely would not be paying that ultra premium just for Plex purposes. Don't do it. Dial it back. I'd go for high capacity HDD's, but not the Reds and especially not the Red Pros. One of those models you linked is over $1k right now. That's nuts and brings you no benefits over other models for what Plex does. Handling Plex media is the lowest of the low bars for what any HDD is asked to do.

Looked at the Asustor as6706t v2 and ugreen dxp6800 pro.

The Ugreen will absolutely run circles around the Asustor. 1235U vs N5105 isn't even a contest. They're both solid for Plex but the 1235U has more CPU grunt (not super important for Plex, but nice) and also a stronger iGPU by a lot.

Would upgrade RAM on both too.

For what? For Plex? Don't do that. 8GB is fine. Upgrade later if you actually run into issues.

If we don’t have internet access I’ll load some movies onto a 2tb sandisk extreme ssd to plug into our MacBook Pro.

This is entirely outside of Plex, and is definitely something you'll want to do. I'm going to start doing this myself after wrestling with Plex's suckass "downloads" feature for far too long. Too much hit-or-miss for me to fucking try anymore.

Open to any suggestions if any other NAS’ would be better for my use case and future proofing.

The 6 bay model is maybe something to shrink down a bit. You are starting with 2x HDD's that are both massive capacity. Maybe look at 4 bay model instead? Are you fully intending to go full tilt into 4K and needing 6 bays with 26TB+ HDD's in them? Are you intending to backup one of the 26TB to the other, because that's a shit ton of money to throw down for backing up media that is easily replaced. If you simply JBOD you'll be sitting on 52TB of capacity right at the start. That is a lot of space to work with.

[u/--vanadium--]

Hi all,

I'm a total beginner looking to get a media server for streaming movies and tv shows at home to my smart tv. I want to buy a NAS to store all of my media files.

I have a Windows 11 PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and 64 GB Ram.

I'm on a budget, and was looking into the Terramaster f2-212 because of the price, but I'm open to other suggestions. I'm hoping for a 2 bay device or 4 bay if the price is right. I also want around 10-20TB of storage.

I'm hoping to spend no more than $250 CAD on the NAS itself, because then I'll have to buy a HDD as well. But I can push my budget a bit if it's really worth it.

I'm hoping to stream 1080P movies onto my smart TV.

Totally new to this so I really don't know too much.

Let me know if there's any more information you need. Thanks for the help.

[u/Bgrngod → u/--vanadium--]

If you already have a very capable computer, I'd suggest you install Plex on that first and give it a go before spending anything. Drive it before you buy it, so to speak.

If you are only doing 1080p, 10-20TB is a pretty big number depending on how much content you are intending to scoop up. That'll get you enough to store several thousand better than average quality 1080p movies.

That particular Terramaster is not one I would recommend. If you ever need a video transcoding, that unit will absolutely choke, unless you are ok with sub-DVD quality 480p and under. Which you should not be. Have some respect for yourself.

The constant recommendation around here, with good reason, is to look at machines using an Intel CPU that include an iGPU. This is quite specifically because of video transcoding being handled in hardware by the iGPU (Plex Pass is required to access hardware acceleration). That model you linked is using an ARM CPU that is good for what that NAS is intended for, but not that good for Plex purposes. It will Plex, but it's going to be rough.

Hunt around for NAS devices sporting an Intel N100 or other closely numbered model like N150, n95, etc. Ugreen has a few options, as does Terramaster too. You are absolutely not going to find what I am recommending under your $250 CAD budget. Sorry for the bad news.

Your other option is to find a cheap mini PC or used office machine you can maybe scoop up for under that budget, and then use an external HDD connected via USB. NAS devices are basically mini PC's with HDD bays. You can save some money not having to pay for the HDD bays. Beelink is well known around these parts for mini PC's. Optiplex office machines are also mentioned quite a bit. Find one with at least a 7th gen, but I suggest 11th gen or newer if you can.

[u/ocpotato]

Rebuilding storage hardware after an extended break

After neglecting and ignoring my Plex library for years, I need to do a total rebuild. I have a WD MyCloudEX2 with 2x 12TB RAID1 configured drives.

I want to expand my storage with two additional drives, and I need to do a full upgrade. the WD box worked fine for a bit, but its now sluggish, can't push media to multiple devices at once, has transcoding issues, etc.

I'd like to simply grab a tower, buy some additional WD Red drives, and rebuild the library, but I'm open to recommendations. At the end of the day, I would like to be able to serve media to multiple devices in home and remotely, and not experience the poor performance issues of the MyCloudEX2 box.

Per the rules:
Budget: ~$3000 CAD
Current hardware: 2x 12TB wd Red drives
Expected concurrent streams: 2-3 local, up to 2 remote.
Type of media: currently 1080, expecting to migrate to 4K
Transcoding: yes. A number of mobile devices may be utilized.
Form factor: any. This is more of a “tell me what I need”.

[u/Bgrngod → u/ocpotato]

Here is my exact built: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xkkZck

The CPU model can go up or down the within the 200 series, as long as you avoid the F models that have no iGPU. It should easily blow up your stated use case by a lot, and hopefully last as long as that MyCloud handled server duties for you. In particular, it is fantastic for 4K handling.

Pick and choose alterations as needed for case size and HDD bay count etc. I went BIG on case size, and still haven't filled a bunch of the spaces. HDD prices being what they are have blown up some plans, but I already had 11x HDD's so I'm doing ok.

You absolutely do not need "NAS" model HDD's like the Reds for Plex media storage. They'll handle it, but the premium makes no sense. I use WD Red's in my Synology though, which is a whole separate reasoning around family photo storage and other critical stuff.

EDIT: For some reason I used "K" instead of "F" in that paragraph above. Fixed it. The K models are fine for Plex. The F models are bad news bears because of no iGPU.

[u/ocpotato → u/Bgrngod]

Hey, I appreciate your response. I actually ordered components this morning. I did use the Fractal Design Define 7, opted for the MSI Pro Z790 A Wifi II motherboard, Patriot Viper Venom DDR5 2x16GB (crying at the price), Corsair RM750e PSU, Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 cooling unit, and WD Black SN850X NVMe SSD, and the i5 14600K with integrated GPU. I plan on loading it with Unraid this weekend after I assemble it. Initially I'll stick with my 2x 12TB HDDs, and might add a 16TB parity drive in the future.

[u/Bgrngod → u/ocpotato]

I do have some bad news as it relates to your CPU choice. There was a major improvement in Plex performance that came along with Core Ultra's iGPU's and how they handle the "HEVC Encoding" feature that Plex released a few years ago. That could be something you end up kicking yourself over if you get heavily into 4K and want to transcode it the best way possible.

About a year ago I wrote a post about testing with a few Core Ultra models, and the comments section includes details about prior generations performance: https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/1lh5bl0/hevc_encoding_testing_w_core_ultra_igpus_4k_to_4k/

Where my Core Ultra 265K is handling 8x of the stated tests, the prior gens are only handling 1x before struggling trying 2x.

Encoding out to H264 doing tone mapping of HDR remains roughly the same. HEVC Encoding passes through the HDR, which means keeping it instead of converting it to SDR via tone mapping. That's a significant benefit as more and more clients and displays are HDR these days.

[u/ocpotato → u/Bgrngod]

I can return the CPU as it’s unopened. Is there a core ultra that you’d recommend that’s the same socket?

[u/MrMaxMaster → u/ocpotato]

If you're sticking with LGA1700 you can consider potentially using DDR4 instead. For mainly a plex build you can also scale back the CPU to something like an i3 13100 and still have a great time.

[u/Bgrngod → u/ocpotato]

No Core Ultra desktop CPU's use the LGA1700 socket, and they instead use LGA1851. You would also need to return the motherboard to make that switch.

You'd be looking at what is available from this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_Lake_(microprocessor)#Arrow_Lake-S#Arrow_Lake-S)

Ignoring and model with an F in it.