# Mini PC

Small form-factor traditional computers have become popular for creating your own personal media server and set-top boxes using [Plex](https://hub.subspace.services/books/plex "Plex") or [Jellyfin](https://hub.subspace.services/books/jellyfin "Jellyfin"). These are sold by many notable PC manufacturers, such as [Intel NUCs](https://staging.nucoutlet.intel.com/) or Dell's [OptiPlex](https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/desktop-computers/sf/optiplex-desktops) and [Precision](https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/desktops-all-in-one-pcs/sf/precision-desktops) series. There are other direct-to-consumer options like [System76](https://system76.com/), [BeeLink](https://www.bee-link.com/) and [GeekomPC](https://www.geekompc.com/).


<table border="1" id="bkmrk-sell-cost-%2450-%E2%80%93-%24200" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 99.9805%; border-width: 0px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 99.7067%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-width: 0px;"><span class="material-symbols-outlined">Sell</span>

**Cost**

$150 – $1500

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Mini PCs can work well for a small personal media or cloud server, but lack the power to support multiple users. Many computers in this form factor cannot support a graphics card or additional hard drives. High-speed NVME hard drives are increasingly common, greatly improving performance for basic cloud servers.[![1000006105.jpg](https://hub.subspace.services/uploads/images/gallery/2025-02/scaled-1680-/1000006105.jpg)](https://hub.subspace.services/uploads/images/gallery/2025-02/1000006105.jpg)

<p class="callout info">Great option for hosting a small media server or a cloud solution for your family.</p>

<details id="bkmrk-media-manager-and-se"><summary>Media Manager and Server</summary>

[![Screen Shot 2025-03-08 at 15.28.05.png](https://hub.subspace.services/uploads/images/gallery/2025-03/scaled-1680-/screen-shot-2025-03-08-at-15-28-05.png)](https://hub.subspace.services/uploads/images/gallery/2025-03/screen-shot-2025-03-08-at-15-28-05.png)

Host your own [Jellyfin](https://hub.subspace.services/books/jellyfin "Jellyfin") media server to stream your media remotely. Personal media managers like [Radarr](https://hub.subspace.services/books/radarr "Radarr"), [Sonarr](https://hub.subspace.services/books/sonarr "Sonarr"), [Lidarr](https://hub.subspace.services/books/lidarr "Lidarr"), [Readarr](https://hub.subspace.services/books/readarr "Readarr") and [Bazarr](https://hub.subspace.services/books/bazarr "Bazarr") can help keep track of your media, while [Prowlarr](https://hub.subspace.services/books/prowlarr "Prowlarr") can aggregate search results for missing media to send to your peer-to-peer [qBittorrent](https://hub.subspace.services/books/qbittorrent "qBittorrent") server.

</details><details id="bkmrk-personal-blog%2C-websi"><summary>Personal Blog, Website and Wiki</summary>

[![Screen Shot 2025-03-08 at 17.31.43.png](https://hub.subspace.services/uploads/images/gallery/2025-03/scaled-1680-/screen-shot-2025-03-08-at-17-31-43.png)](https://hub.subspace.services/uploads/images/gallery/2025-03/screen-shot-2025-03-08-at-17-31-43.png)

Express yourself with a [WordPress](https://hub.subspace.services/books/wordpress "WordPress") blog, build a knowledge base with [MediaWiki](https://hub.subspace.services/books/mediawiki "MediaWiki") and host your own [personal website](https://hub.subspace.services/books/nginx "nginx") or [resume](https://hub.subspace.services/books/reactive-resume "Reactive Resume").

</details><p class="callout warning">**Your experiences may vary.**   
Always make sure to test for stability when installing new services.</p>

These types of computers uses the traditional x86 architecture which gives them more processing power at the cost of more power usage. Depending on the model, they may use a desktop or mobile processor and have differing levels of extensibility for add-ons like graphics cards or hard drives.

These computers can be reasonably priced with a traditional x86 processor and expandable storage. Many mini PCs come with different connectivity options such as USB, HDMI, 3.5mm audio, optical audio, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

<table border="1" class="align-center" id="bkmrk-minimum-specificatio" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; border-width: 1px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 100%;"></col></colgroup><thead><tr><td>Minimum Specifications</td></tr></thead></table>

<table border="1" class="align-left" id="bkmrk-stylus_laser_pointer" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 600px; border-width: 0px; height: 261.6px; border-spacing: 5px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 7.02367%;"></col><col style="width: 92.9744%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 5px;"><span class="material-symbols-outlined">Developer\_board</span>

</td><td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 5px;">**Processor**

- 2.5GHz or higher
- Quad-Core, Dual-Threaded
- x86/AMD64 architecture

</td></tr><tr><td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 5px;"><span class="material-symbols-outlined">Memory</span>

</td><td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 5px;">**Memory**

- 16GB or higher
- DDR4

</td></tr><tr><td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 5px;"><span class="material-symbols-outlined">View\_in\_ar</span>

</td><td style="border-width: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;">**Graphics**

- Integrated Graphics
- Shared Memory

</td></tr><tr><td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 5px;"><span class="material-symbols-outlined">Hard\_drive</span>

</td><td style="border-width: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;">**Storage**

- 250GB SSD
- 2TB+ HDD

</td></tr><tr><td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 5px;"><span class="material-symbols-outlined">Lan</span>

</td><td style="border-width: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;">**Connectivity**

- Gigabit Ethernet
- BlueTooth
- USB 3.0

</td></tr></tbody></table>


<table border="1" class="align-center" id="bkmrk-where-to-buy" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 99.9779%; border-width: 1px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 100%;"></col></colgroup><thead><tr><td>Where To Buy</td></tr></thead></table>

<table border="1" class="align-left" id="bkmrk-language-online-beel" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 600px; border-width: 0px; height: 261.6px; border-spacing: 5px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 5px; width: 20px;"><span class="material-symbols-outlined">Language</span>

</td><td style="border-width: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;">**Online**

- [BeeLink](https://www.bee-link.com/)
- [GeekomPC](https://www.geekompc.com)
- [System76](https://system76.com/desktops/meerkat/)
- [Newegg](https://www.newegg.com)
- [MicroCenter](https://www.microcenter.com/)
- [GreenPC](https://greenpc.shop/)
- [PCs For People](https://www.pcsforpeople.org/)
- [Dell Refurbished](https://www.dellrefurbished.com/)
- [HP Refurbished](https://www.hp.com/us-en/services/workforce-solutions/workforce-computing/renew-solutions/refurbished-hardware.html)
- other online marketplaces.

</td></tr><tr><td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 5px; width: 20px;"><span class="material-symbols-outlined">Storefront</span>

</td><td style="border-width: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;">**In-Store**

- [Goodwill](https://www.goodwill.org/)
- [BestBuy](https://www.bestbuy.com/)

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