Best CPU for Home NAS Builds

ByPC Reviewer

Choosing the wrong CPU for a home NAS often leads to either wasted electricity or, worse, an agonizing bottleneck when you’re trying to transcode 4K media or run multiple Docker containers. In my testing of modern server processors, I focused on thermal efficiency, PCIe lane availability for high-speed networking, and integrated graphics support for hardware-accelerated…

Best Mini PC for Home Server Use

ByPC Reviewer

Replacing a power-hungry, mid-tower desktop with a silent, sandwich-sized node is the ultimate upgrade for any homelab enthusiast, yet finding a unit that balances thermal efficiency with enough PCIe lanes for high-speed storage remains a constant struggle. Most off-the-shelf mini PCs throttle under the sustained loads of multiple Docker containers or 4K Plex transcodes. After…