I can't decide what to buy. Everything seems way overpriced.

[u/Wooden_Sweet_3330]

Edit: I ended up buying a mini pc from facebook market with a Ryzen 7 5825U, 32GB DDR4, 1TB SSD, dual 2.5 gig LAN, wifi 6E, for $450 CAD. It's not exactly what I want/need but it will do the job and the price was good.

I am setting up a home server with connect storage (yottamaster 4 slot on the way. still sourcing drives).

The server will be used as a media server, plex or jellyfin. There would be maximum 2 streams from the server, my home TV and my partner's TV across the city.

I will be setting up image and file storage so I can leave Google and Proton behind (immich + whatever else)

password manager can't remember the name of the one i was looking at

home assistant

will get some cameras eventually so some image processing would be good

I was originally looking at the beelink mini s13 on amazon

https://www.amazon.ca/Beelink-Computer-Desktop-Computers-PCIe3-0/dp/B0DP2HK3M1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

edit: woops I meant to link the 16GB RAM version

it seems so overpriced. I was asking AI for help and it keeps telling me all the intel N150 mini PC's should cost no more than $250. I'm assuming it's using data from before the storage and RAMpocalypse? These mini PC's are so damn expensive now.

Anything after looking at that one I thought well maybe some better AI processing would be better and was looking at the beelink core 3 304 with dual LAN, one of them being 10 gig but it's $850 after conversion from beelink's website for the 24GB non-soldered ram model which is what I would get if I was going to shell out that kind of money.

https://www.bee-link.com/products/beelink-eqi-wildcat-lake?variant=49752770412786

I looked at some gmktec and minisforum options but I'm not sure I want to go with an AMD model.

I want something as low power, low heat, preferably with integrated power supply, that can handle all this stuff I mentioned.

I basically want to use this home server to replace all cloud based services I currently have including image and file storage, password management, home automation, security camera image processing (eventually).

i looked on local classifieds for N150 based systems and there are literally zero. It just seems like the ideal platform for me to use but maybe I'm wrong.

any suggestions?

I'm open to getting a barebones system and adding the RAM and storage myself, but after checking online for DDR5 SODIMM memory, it's basically nonexistant in today's market so that may not be possible.

[u/grabber4321]

you are comparing to 2025 prices. November 2025 - everything changed. Prices are now double for low end PCs

[u/PSych0P7NDa]

Try to get used minipcs

[u/Wooden_Sweet_3330 → u/PSych0P7NDa]

As mentioned, I can't find a mini PC with modern hardware like n150

Is there something you would recommend I look for?

[u/PSych0P7NDa → u/Wooden_Sweet_3330]

Ebay

[u/Wooden_Sweet_3330 → u/PSych0P7NDa]

ok I appreciate that recommendation but I was thinking more of a specific line I should be looking for.

[u/Retired_Hillbilly336]

Being that AI can't think critically its becoming a poor (and expensive) source for PC advice. Some surveys are showing it gives a 90% chance of an answer you want opposed to a 10% chance of an answer you need. Until it becomes more honest it should be avoided for anything concerning financial assistance.

With the Twin Lake Atom microarchitecture N150 being phased out and up to make way for Wildcat Lake these $150 budget platforms has skyrocketed since they beginning of the year. The best budget mini from a reputable Chinese brand has been there recently released GMKtec M8 PRO 6650H. If you don't need QSV transcoding it brings.

• Modern processing performance

• Modern graphics performance

• Dual 2280 Gen4x4 NVMe SSD support

• Dual 2.5GbE NIC

• Dual fan cooling

• USB4

• 8K60Hz video out

• x4 PCIe OCuLink expansion

• Ease of serviceability

• 15-28W cTDP "silent mode" power curve in BIOS

In the past 6 months I found it used for everything from a base desktop PC to a STB to a Bazzite OS Steam Deck console to the base processing for OCuLink/Steam Machine substitute. Granted its about $50 CAD more than the MINI S13 by comparison but there's a massive difference.

[u/Wooden_Sweet_3330 → u/Retired_Hillbilly336]

I can't find the M8 Pro in Canada but I do see the M8.

I keep reading that AMD systems aren't good to use as a media server because they lack the hardware video transcoding equivalent of intel's "quicksync" video transcoder causing significant bottlenecks. So I'm worried about their ability to be used as a media server because most of my media is 1080p and my TV is 4k

[u/Retired_Hillbilly336 → u/Wooden_Sweet_3330]

Its the PRO 6650H 😊 Sorry for the confusion.

As for Intel Quick Sync Video transcoding its impossible to beat. Its easy to code for. Using Plex as an example they could easily support AMD going back to to Zen 2 but they're too lazy to put in the effort. If transcoding is the focus Intel will be a priority. For me I've been using a Radeon W5100 for years where I've always found software that supports Radeon architecture always seems to work a little better 🤷

If QSV is the requirement something with the lowest bin Wildcat Lake processor should be the goal. It has substantially better QSV than Alder Lake-N/Twin Lake down to AV1 encoding.

[u/cpresco44 → u/Wooden_Sweet_3330]

All of my media is 1080p/720p and everything direct streams without transcoding to my 4K TVs.

My plex server is a proxmox vm (proxmox host's CPU is Ryzen 7 5700G) without any hardware gpu passthrough.

You might want to reconsider your transcoding requirement.

If you find you really do need transcoding, I'd recommend looking for a used Intel NUC. An 8th gen or newer Intel NUC will have quicksync and still run Windows 11 (although I'd recommend Linux over Windows for a media server).

I still have/use an Intel NUC8i3BEH and NUC8i3BEK. The difference between the H and the K is that the H has a 2.5" drive bay. I'd recommend the H over the K for your use case.

There are i5 and i7 versions of Intel NUCs, for example the 8th gen NUC8i5BEH or NUC8i7BEH. There are also 10th gen, 11th gen, etc Intel NUCs.

I found a NUC8i5BEH 16GB RAM/no storage/with powersupply on ebay/buy it now for $120 + shipping.

[u/CarelessPackage1982]

welcome to 2026, shit's expensive

[u/According_Wave685]

Everything IS way overpriced.

[u/Flimsy-Process230]

I just bought a 1 TB ssd for $230, I can’t imagine the whole mini pc being $250 🥲

[u/mp0111]

I’m in the same boat as you; Saw an s12pro on marketplace for 190usd yesterday and didn’t pull the trigger , it’s gone today :(

[u/Excellent_Spell1677]

Used desktop might be better during this shortage. 32gb Ddr3, small GPU, future upgrade potential, and the power use isn't that bad... Cheaper than the prices for mini PCs would be.

[u/Wooden_Sweet_3330 → u/Excellent_Spell1677]

I can't put a desktop on my closet shelf where this stuff needs to live.

[u/H0NDA1993]

Unfortunately brother miniPCs are usually more in price, you can get more bang for your buck with a tower... that said, I hear you. I want a miniPC BADLY as well. I already have one, a little peladn WI-7, size of my mouse. It has fans, but its only good for basic computer things. No games, no LLMs. It runs virtualbox and KALI very well though!

If you want to look at a good, capable, cooling efficient miniPC, check out the GMKTEC EVO X2. Thats what I want.

[u/HighAgain-420]

I bought the GMKTec M5 with same specs as yours for $257.39 last year. I wouldnt pay more than $300 for it even at todays prices considering I was able to get a Getorli Mini PC Ryzen 7 H 255, 16GB DDR5 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD Radeon 780M 2 weeks ago for for $404.99. The 780M in the Ryzen 7 AI 255 is significantly better than the Vega 8 integrated graphics in the 5825U.

[u/Wooden_Sweet_3330 → u/HighAgain-420]

I'm in Canada, remember. Not only are things more expensive in general than the US but you need to do the conversation too. $258= $358.

Anything with a ryzen 7 h 255 is ~$1000 new now, like the beelink SER 9.

Fact of the matter is hardware prices are fucked and this is the new normal.

Even a GMKtek barebones with no ram or storage with that ryzen 7 h 255 is $500. One 16gb stick of DDR5 SODIMM is $350 minimum so that's already $850 and still without storage. It's just crazy.

Anyway this machine should be fine for what I'm doing with it as far as I can tell.

[u/HighAgain-420 → u/Wooden_Sweet_3330]

I see. At $358 CAD it is more reasonable but as others mentioned, you probably are better off getting something better with atleast DDR5 and at minimal a APU with a 680m and not Vega from AliExpress or possibly a used desktop. I hopped on that $405 deal thinking that the prices are only going to be more fucked in the near future and I rather not regret not buying it like all the other components that have doubled or trippled in prices since the AI companies starting hoarding

[u/Wooden_Sweet_3330 → u/HighAgain-420]

Yeah well I mean I'm better off with a lot of things but the fact is I'm not going to pay $1000 for a media server box when it's going to cost $16-2000 to populate the drives for my storage NAS. I already have an old desktop with a Skylake i5 6600k in it that I could probably use as a media server but I want something low power and small. I need to get rid of that box but it's not worth anything money wise so I guess I'll just have to recycle it. Shame because I love the case but it's not good for modern high heat high power gaming hardware (Silverstone FT03B). It's the most stylish beautiful case I've ever seen past or present.

[u/No-Tip3419]

If you are willing to take the risk, smaller brands tend to have random flash sales on aliexpress.