A home server usually starts with one job. You want Plex running for the family, or Home Assistant for the lights, and an old laptop or a Raspberry Pi has started to struggle. A business mini PC is the next step most people end up taking, because it's small, quiet and built to stay on all day.
At a glance
Any business mini PC from Lenovo, Dell or HP with an 8th gen Intel or newer will make a good home server. For Plex or Jellyfin, newer is better, because the processor's built-in graphics handle video transcoding without a separate card. Get 16GB of RAM for a handful of services, or 32GB if you'll run Proxmox with several virtual machines. For a big media library, add storage over USB or the network.
Why a mini PC rather than a Pi or an old tower
A Raspberry Pi is a great place to start, but it runs out of puff once you add a few containers, and some software won't run on it at all. A mini PC has a proper Intel processor, standard laptop RAM and an NVMe SSD, so it runs Proxmox, Windows or any Linux you like without workarounds.
An old desktop tower will do the job too, but it's big, it's louder and it uses a lot more power sitting there 24 hours a day. Business mini PCs use Intel's "T" processors, which are tuned to run cool and quiet in an office. Most have VESA holes too, so you can screw one to the back of a monitor or under a shelf and forget about it.
The processor
For Home Assistant, Pi-hole or a couple of containers, almost any i3 or i5 from 8th gen onwards is plenty, and low power matters more than speed. Plex and Jellyfin are where the generation counts. Intel's Quick Sync, built into the processor, does the heavy lifting when a stream needs converting, and the newer generations handle 4K and HEVC files far better. We'd look at 10th gen or newer for a media server. Just note that Plex only uses hardware transcoding with a Plex Pass, while Jellyfin does it for free.
If you're building a home lab with several virtual machines, cores start to matter. A six-core 10th or 11th gen i5 is a good base, and a 12th gen i7 gives you a lot more headroom. And if you need a proper graphics card for video work or a small AI model, the HP Z2 Mini G9 fits an i7 and an NVIDIA T600 into a case not much bigger than the others.
Memory and storage
8GB covers Home Assistant and Pi-hole. 16GB is the sweet spot for Plex plus a few Docker containers, and it's what we'd start with. Go to 32GB for Proxmox, because every virtual machine wants its own slice of memory. Most of these machines have two RAM slots, so you can add more later.
Run the system from the internal NVMe SSD and keep your media elsewhere. A mini PC has room for one or two drives, not a drive bay, so a USB 3 external drive or a NAS is the usual answer for a large library. It's the most common surprise for people expecting a mini PC to double as a NAS.
The models we'd look at
These are the mini PCs we have the most of right now, with the processors in stock on 30 October 2026. Stock changes, so check the mini PC range for today's options.
| Model | Processor | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Tiny | 10th gen i5 | Best value, 8GB to 32GB |
| Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 3 Tiny | 12th gen i5 | Faster Plex and VMs, Wi-Fi |
| Dell OptiPlex 7090 Micro | 11th gen i5, six cores | A solid all-rounder |
| Dell OptiPlex 3000 Micro | 12th gen i7 | The most cores for a home lab |
| HP Pro Mini 400 G9 | 12th and 13th gen i5 | Newest generation, Wi-Fi |
If you're just starting out, the M70q Tiny with 16GB is the one we'd point you to.
Windows, Linux or Proxmox
Every model above comes with Windows 11 installed and activated, so it'll work as a normal PC out of the box. For a lightweight server, most people wipe it and install Ubuntu or Debian, and we also sell some PCs with Linux already installed. Proxmox is free and installs over the top, letting one box run several virtual machines and containers side by side.
From our desk: if you're building a small cluster, buy the same model two or three times. You'll have one set of drivers, one type of power brick and spare parts that fit every node. Need a second network port? A USB 3 gigabit adapter works on all of them.
So, which mini PC should you get?
For most home servers, a Lenovo M70q Tiny with 16GB of RAM, plus a USB or network drive for your media. Step up to a 12th gen model or 32GB if you're running Proxmox. Every mini PC we sell is professionally tested and cleaned, with a 1-year warranty, 14-day returns and free shipping on most orders. Have a look at the full mini PC range.
