Hello
I would like to run the Roon Core on a dedicated PC. My music collection consists of approximately 24,000 albums and 190,000 tracks. Can someone provide me with some recommendations?
I have been considering two options:
A Mac Mini with an M2 or M1 processor and a 512GB SSD with 16GB of RAM.
A mini PC with an Intel i5 or i7 processor, a 512GB SSD, and 16GB of RAM.
My music files are stored on the network on a Synology NAS.
Thank you for your help.
Sandro
Knowing the size of your library is useful, but could you also say how many endpoints you are intending to support (simultaneously) and whether you will be using DSP on any of them?
Hi
My library consists of 24,000 albums and approximately 190,000 tracks at the moment. I have three endpoints that I do not use simultaneously. I have the Roon Core on an old Mac Mini from 2012 with 8GB of RAM 1TB SSD and an Intel Dual Core procedssor, and Roon runs very slowly. That is why I am considering an upgrade.
Hi.
I think you run out of ram with a Mac Mini M2 16GB I have tried that with a larger libary, takes loooong to load something.
First thing you run out off its ram, minimum 32gb. Get the fastest harddrive you can afford. (Exsaples: Kingston FURY Renegade M.2 2280 SSD 1TB - M.2, 1TB, 7,300MB/s read, 6,000MB/s write) You dont need 1TB, but they are faster than 500GB.
I also think i7 is the right choise over i5. Good luck.
You might also want to consider having your music attached directly to your Roon Server (USB, or internal), and not via a NAS.
i7 PC, at least 16GB memory, 256GB SSD for chosen OS and separate internal drives for your storage.
Take some care and try different options regarding your chosen OS.
As long as it’s dedicated, then an Intel (AKA Asus) NUC running ROCK.
An i7 and 16GB of RAM.
Get the NUC in a tall case and install an internal SSD for your music files.
Using ROCK is the only hassle free way to use Roon, IMO.
Convert your PC to a MAC easier to use my 2022 Mac mini M1 with 16GB RAM never fails to reproduce ROON in all its components and options especially for your large collection—never read good things about PCs and streaming music(but with tongue in cheek keeps those dividends rising for me)
Another vote for ROCK NUC originally i used my general desktop i7/256 SSD/16 gb with a stack of drives audio and video
I converted to ROCK NUC for convenience my library is pretty comparable to yours i went
NUC 10i7 256 SSD 32 gb RAM Then a 4 tb SSD for content. Never looked back
If you can afford it i would definitely go for a big internal drive for audio then use the NAS to backup the drive. The NAS is just something else to go wrong
Another recommendation for an i7 NUC running ROCK with at least 16gb of memory and a fast boot drive. A NAS for your music should work fine but you could also hang a large drive off the NUC if needed. This should cover your needs even if you double your music storage. But if you think you’ll go beyond that, then you might need to look at something more robust than is available in a NUC.
Hello everyone
Thank you very much for your help.
I’ll try with a miniPC with i7 processor 32GB Ram 1TB M2 SSD. I’ll keep the music on my NAS and test how it works.
Sound idea, don’t forget the m.2 drive will contain ONLY the db and ROCK OS. Any spare space will not be available to you
So a 1Tb M.2 is a waste , use the smallest (lower cost) you can get. Probably 256 these days.the db and software will be maybe 40-50 gb if that.
If you are unsure about storage it may be worth the extra to future proof with a NUC that can take a 2nd drive
You can pick up a 128 SSD for around 20 quid now; sometimes even less than that. You won’t need more as described above.
Keep a look out on eBay for some bargains. I picked up a Intel Nuc10i7 32GB, x2 1TB for £260 boxed. ($320)
Is the OP going to run ROCK? I don’t see him saying that.
If the OS is going to be ROCK, then the M.2 needn’t be any bigger than 128GB (as others have stated) and the OP should understand that ROCK is not officially supported on anything other than what used to be known as Intel NUCs.
Quite true an assumption on my part , good advice though 
I got into this backwards. I had bought a Beelink MiniPC just to work from home and a short time thereafter I discovered Roon. I loaded Roon onto my $250 mimiPC running a Celeron N5095 chip and 16 GB of RAM fully expecting to have problems as I use wifi. Ethernet is not an option. Hard Drive 256 GB.
I have about 1500 albums and 17000 tracks on a Western Digital NAS connected to my router. Have over 3000 albums if you include Qobuz.
I have 8 endpoints, of which I have run up to three simultaneously without problem. Never tried to run more.
I am writing this because with a system that was not designed for Roon. It ran Plex,
I do get rare connection issues with higher res files, would say runs seamlessly 99.8% of the time on a wifi budget system not set up for Roon. Roon also does crash and need to be rebooted about once a week.
Hope this helps. I am not sure how this Celeron chip compares to an i7
Celeron chips are basic cheap CPU’s compared to the far more expensive and powerful i7’s. You can’t really compare them when it comes to performance.
They’ll do fine when you have a smaller library size. Like yours for example. But they will have a hard time dealing with the library size the OP has.
As a reference. My Roon Core (Linux) runs on my 2014 Mac Mini with 8 gb of RAM. It handles my 33k library with ease. 33k which is local, Qobuz and Tidal combined. The Mac itself has a dual core i5 CPU. Several endpoints in the house, but generally using 2 maximum at the same time. And no DSP stuff.
My reason for posting was that between my NAS and Qobuz I problably have more than 30,000 songs. While it may pale in comparison to the OP, it is a lot of music. Just wanted to give the experience of a mini PC that was purchased, not for a hifi system, but to do work from home was more than adequate to run a good sized library.
If you already have a PC, even though it may be underpowered, try it before buying a new PC, your cheap PC may be okay for your needs.
I agree, if you have 190k tracks you need more powerful hardware.
I’ve been running Roon on a Lenovo m910q Tiny computer, and it’s been flawless. It’s a got a potent quad-core Intel CPU. There are great deals on eBay for these. The m920q is more powerful and supports Win 11 if that’s how you roll. I run Linux on the machine, and it has yet to break a sweat. I have several of these running as various kinds of servers, and they’ve been bulletproof.