This page covers what you need to know in order to select appropriate hardware for a Jellyfin server and take full advantage of its features (e. g. hardware acceleration).
Below is a list of recommended specs to run Jellyfin. Even though Jellyfin will work on even lower end hardware, the following specs are recommended for a good experience.
- Storage: 100GB SSD for your OS, Jellyfin files and transcoding cache.<sup>1</sup> Consider adding more on Windows 11, or if you have many large media files that need transcoding.
<sup>1</sup>Your largest media file times the max number of concurrent streams all your users will consume can be used as a rule of thumb for the transcoding file size. <br />
<sup>2</sup>If you have less than 100mbps of total upload bandwidth, a bandwidth limit of 70% of your upload speed for Jellyfin is recommended to avoid affecting normal internet usage. This option can be found in the dashboard.
Different vendors have different hardware encoder implementations and produce different results. Usually, newer generations within the same vendor will provide better results. The following is a quick comparison on the quality between vendors on modern products.
Intel 7-10th gen CPUs have been removed from this list, since the toolkit for these generations has been deprecated by Intel. If you own 7-10th gen CPUs with integrated graphics, please continue to use them for Jellyfin, as they are still perfectly capable of performing the task. If you are making a purchase decision, please consider something else instead.
Intel Drivers are much easier to install on Linux, with many distributions including them by default. If you do not need CUDA for other applications, it is highly recommended that you stick with Intel Graphics on Linux.
Not having a GPU is **NOT** recommended for Jellyfin, as video transcoding on the CPU is very performance demanding. HDR
to SDR tone-mapping can make the situation even worse. Depending on your configuration, you may end up in situations
where a Ryzen 9 5950X cannot handle even a single video stream. Please read [the section below for more details](/docs/general/administration/hardware-selection#software-hdr-to-sdr-tone-mapping)
- Intel "Atom" CPUs: Intel J/M/N/Y series low power CPUs up to 11th gen use a different architecture than higher end parts, leading to subpar performance despite what their names might suggest. Please be careful about these parts when shopping for a system to run Jellyfin.
- Prebuilt NAS devices: The software environment on most Prebuilt NAS devices often causes 3rd party software to be hard to install and not work properly. They also often have low end processors that are too slow for a good Jellyfin experience (Intel Atom, Realtek ARM CPUs etc.).
- Most Single Board Computers (SBC): Most SBCs (Including Raspberry Pis and **especially the Pi 5**) are too slow to provide a good Jellyfin experience since they often lack proper support for hardware acceleration. If You really want to run Jellyfin on an SBC, please look at models based on the following platforms: Rockchip RK3588 / RK3588S, Intel Core, Intel 12th gen N series
- AMD Graphics: AMD Graphics have poor encoder quality and poor driver support. **This applies even on Linux**.
- Low end GPUs: Certain low end GPUs (eg. GT1030, RX6400) don't have hardware encoding available. These models can't be used for Jellyfin hardware acceleration.
Audio codecs are very lightweight and most CPUs should be able to handle them without issues (Ryzen 5950X FLAC -> AAC transcoding runs at ~110x real time). Please note that they will only use one core.
Video in unsupported codecs are usually older formats that are easier to decode. Assuming hardware acceleration is properly configured, any modern CPU with 4 threads should be able to handle the workload.
However, newer codecs can also require software decoding if there are no available hardware decoders. HEVC, VP9 and AV1 can be **VERY** demanding even on modern CPUs if hardware acceleration isn't available. This is why a hardware platform capable of HEVC 10bit hardware decoding is strongly recommended.
In our custom `jellyfin-ffmpeg` fork, the dav1d decoder is enabled, leading to faster software decoding compared to HEVC or VP9. However, it will still use significantly more resources compared to software decoding H.264 or older codecs. Since we have a more efficient AV1 software decoder, and AV1 media isn't common yet, you shouldn't worry about AV1 when shopping for hardware.
Integrated graphics can be useful for transcoding video. Please refer to [the GPU section](/docs/general/administration/hardware-selection#graphics-cards-gpus) for a guide.
#### Resizable BAR
[Resizable Bar (ReBAR)](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000090831/graphics.html) is a PCI Express feature that optimizes access to PCIe devices. This feature requires support from both the platform and the device. Intel 10th gen or above and AMD Ryzen 3000 Series or above have support for this feature.
When using Intel ARC Graphics, Resizable BAR is recommended. Disabling it will result in a 10% reduction in transcoding performance. However, given how fast the media engine on Intel ARC is, this will not be a problem for the vast majority of users.
With modern systems, the media engines are usually located on the GPUs. Therefore, the available hardware acceleration options are determined by the choice of GPU.
AMD is not recommended because of poor quality H.264 and H.265(HEVC) output, as well as being hard to setup the compute environment. While AMD has significantly improved AV1 encoder quality, you are still more likely to transcode to H.264 or H.265 than to AV1 due to compatibility.
For decoding support, the more codecs the better. However, there are only a few codecs that media is commonly available in. The most important one to look for is HEVC 10bit decoding support, as it can be very demanding on the CPU to decode.
Intel CPUs with a model description that ends with F don't have integrated graphics. These are intended to be used with a dedicated graphics card. Please beware if you intend to use Intel integrated graphics.
If you are planning to use Linux with Intel 12/13th Gen integrated graphics or ARC, these GPUs only work on Linux Kernel 6.2 or newer. Please check your distribution to make sure it has a supported Linux Kernel version. Please read [Known Intel limitations on Linux](/docs/general/post-install/transcoding/hardware-acceleration/known-issues#intel-on-linux) for more info.
Intel 10th gen and older integrated graphics are losing support for QSV on Linux due to the SDK for these platforms being deprecated by Intel. If you own 7-10th gen CPUs with integrated graphics, please continue to use them for Jellyfin. If you are making a purchase decision, please choose a newer CPU if you plan on using Intel integrated graphics.
AMD graphics is not recommended for Jellyfin, but the information is still provided for convenience. Please refer to [this article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Coding_Engine) for supported codecs.
Certain low end cards (e.g. RX 6400, RX 6500) don't have encoding hardware. Please be careful when choosing a GPU.
Many AMD CPUs don't have integrated graphics. These are intended to be used with a dedicated graphics card.
For Ryzen 1000 ~ 5000 Series, desktop CPUs with a model description that ends with G have integrated graphics while other desktop CPUs do NOT. For Ryzen 7000 Series, desktop CPUs with a model description that ends with F do NOT have integrated graphics while others do.
Please check the product page of your CPU for more info.
No Apple Silicon media engine drivers currently exist for non-macOS operating systems. You will NOT be able to use hardware acceleration if you are running [Asahi Linux](https://asahilinux.org/).
There are two general types of storage that can be used on a Jellyfin server. Media libraries and Jellyfin files require different performance characteristics.
#### Media Storage
Anything with higher sequential access speed than bitrate of media will work. This storage can be a network share or a cloud storage service mounted on the Jellyfin host if desired.
#### Jellyfin Files
Jellyfin files will see lots of random access, therefore SSDs are recommended for Jellyfin files. AVOID mechanical drives that use [SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingled_magnetic_recording) as they will result in a VERY poor experience.
### Networking
Networking is for connecting your Jellyfin server to other devices. It is recommended that the server be connected to the internet via Ethernet cables. Wi-Fi or Powerline solutions are NOT recommended.
