Goal

Pick a mini PC under ~£200 that can:

  • run Jellyfin, a few Docker containers, and maybe a lightweight VM
  • idle at low power (not 60–80 W all day)
  • not sound like a jet engine

This is not a shopping list; it’s a checklist so you can sanity-check anything you find on eBay / CEX / FB Marketplace.

1. CPU & generation: how “old” is okay?

For a SmallGrid-style homelab box, start with:

  • Intel 8th gen (Coffee Lake) or newer
  • AMD Ryzen 3000 series mobile or newer

That gets you:

  • modern instruction set support
  • decent performance-per-watt
  • often an iGPU that can help with Jellyfin

A few rough tiers that usually work well:

  • Intel i5 / i7 U-series (laptop/NUC):
    • Good for Jellyfin + a handful of services
  • Ryzen 5 / 7 U-series:
    • Similar; sometimes better iGPU for general use

Avoid:

  • very old Core 2 / 2nd–4th gen Core i5/i7 unless they’re basically free and you don’t care about power.

2. RAM: don’t starve the poor thing

Absolute minimum:

  • 8 GB if you’re doing very light stuff

Comfortable baseline:

  • 16 GB – enough for:
    • Jellyfin
    • 3–5 Docker apps
    • a small VM or LXC for experiments

If the mini PC has two RAM slots, that’s ideal:

  • You can start with 1×8 and upgrade to 2×8 later
  • Dual channel gives you better iGPU performance

3. Storage: fast inside, big outside

Pattern that works well:

  • Internal NVMe or SATA SSD (256–512 GB)
    • OS, Docker, Proxmox / VMs, configs
  • External HDD / NAS for bulk media and backups

Don’t feel pressured to cram huge HDDs inside a tiny box:

  • it makes cooling harder
  • can add vibration and noise

If the mini PC has room for a 2.5” drive as well as NVMe, treat that as a bonus for:

  • a local backup disk
  • overflow storage

4. iGPU: why it matters for Jellyfin

For media stuff, the integrated GPU is your quiet friend.

Look for:

  • Intel iGPU with Quick Sync (almost any 4th gen+ Core)
  • Modern AMD APU if you’re more on the AMD side

You don’t need it if:

  • you plan to direct play everything
  • or all clients are on the same LAN with friendly codecs

But in practice, a decent iGPU lets you:

  • transcode the odd awkward file
  • keep CPU and power usage lower under load

5. Ports & networking: the boring but important bits

Checklist:

  • At least 1× Gigabit Ethernet
    • 2× is nice but not mandatory
  • 2× USB-A minimum
    • one for external storage
    • one spare for emergencies
  • USB-C is a bonus but not required
  • HDMI/DisplayPort:
    • you might need to plug in a screen for troubleshooting

Wi-Fi is nice, but for homelabs, you really want:

  • wired Ethernet for the main connection

6. Idle power and noise: what you’re aiming for

Rough, real-world targets for a “good” mini PC:

  • Idle: 5–15 W
  • Light load: 20–35 W
  • Full stress: you don’t care as much; that’s rare in normal use

If you can keep the machine:

  • physically away from your head
  • on rubber feet or a mouse mat
  • in a cool, ventilated spot

…it’ll be almost invisible day-to-day.

7. Example “good enough” specs

If you see something like this under ~£200, it’s worth a look:

  • CPU: Intel i5-8500T / i5-8500U / i5-8250U (or newer)
  • RAM: 16 GB
  • Storage: 256–512 GB SSD (NVMe or SATA)
  • NIC: 1× Gigabit Ethernet
  • Case: small, vented, with a single quiet fan

That’s more than enough for:

  • Jellyfin with light transcoding
  • 5–10 Docker containers
  • Tailscale
  • a small monitoring stack
  • maybe Proxmox with a couple of VMs / LXC containers

8. Things to watch out for on listings

When browsing used gear:

  • “No RAM / no SSD”:
    • often fine if the barebones price is cheap
  • “Fan noisy under load”:
    • common on tiny boxes; can sometimes be mitigated by:
      • cleaning dust
      • re-pasting
      • adjusting fan curves in BIOS (if available)

Be wary of:

  • Passive “mini PCs” with underpowered CPUs and 4 GB RAM – fine as routers, not great as Jellyfin + homelab cores.

9. Recap: the SmallGrid mini PC rule

If it:

  • idles low
  • stays quiet
  • has a modern-enough CPU and iGPU
  • takes 16 GB RAM
  • boots from SSD

…it’s probably a perfectly good homelab brain, even if it’s not flashy. Spend the rest of the budget on storage and backups, not RGB.