CPU/Mobo/RAM for £300?

[ChutneyBadger]

I'd like to upgrade my aging Plex server to something capable of handling 2 transcoding streams (4k to 1080p mostly) but i'm not sure what combination of CPU/mobo/RAM will provide best value for money. All I really know is that I need an Intel CPU with Quicksync. I'll be re-using my disks, NVME, PSU etc.

My absolute max budget is £300 and i'd be very grateful for any suggestions.

Thanks.

[Lolight]

On 4/23/2023 at 4:10 PM, ChutneyBadger said:

I'd like to upgrade my aging Plex server to something capable of handling 2 transcoding streams (4k to 1080p mostly) but i'm not sure what combination of CPU/mobo/RAM will provide best value for money.

Used hardware normally provides the best value option for non-demanding use cases.

Look for the 8-11th gen Intel CPU with iGPU (must have no letter "F" in its model number).

Any compatible with the CPU major brand motherboard should also work fine.

Get 16-32GB of DDR4 RAM which is very cheap even if purchased new.

 

But your budget is big enough even for a brand new set of hardware.

 

e.g. Intel i3-12100 paired with ASUS PRIME H610M-A combined with a set of 32GB (2 x 16GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 RAM sticks for a total of £285 as listed on Amazon.

 

For hardware compatibly: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/

Edited April 25, 2023 by Lolight