Best NAS under $500 for Plex 4K hardware transcoding (2026)
Updated 2026-11-12 · Pick: UGREEN NASync DXP2800: $389.99 on ai.ugreen.com (checked 2026-11-03): https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp2800
Short answer. The best NAS under $500 for Plex 4K hardware transcoding is the UGREEN NASync DXP2800: its Intel N100 has 24 graphics execution units and transcodes on stock firmware for $389.99, while the sub-$500 Synology DS225+ and DS425+ need a kernel-module swap after every reboot.
Searched as: Plex hardware transcoding Intel N100 N95 NAS Plex Pass HDR tone mapping Linux 2026UGREEN DXP2800 TerraMaster F2-424 ASUSTOR AS5402T price specifications Intel 2026
How this table was made: each figure comes from the maker's own US product page or manual, or from the reviewer named next to it, checked 2026-11-08. Dealectric does not test units itself. Rows with a Buy link are products Dealectric lists: the links are affiliate links, and their codes are re-tested in the brand's own cart every day (last check 2026-11-13).
| Model | CPU (graphics EUs × max clock) | Plex hardware transcoding on stock firmware | Plex install path | RAM (max) | Network / M.2 | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UGREEN NASync DXP2800 | Intel N100, 24 EU × 750 MHz (Intel ARK) | Yes: UGOS Pro exposes /dev/dri; no driver changes, nothing to redo after a reboot | Docker container with /dev/dri/renderD128 mapped (Marius Hosting guide, tested with Plex 1.43.5) | 8 GB DDR5 (Intel rates the N100 for 16 GB) | 1× 2.5GbE, 2× M.2 NVMe | $389.99 on ai.ugreen.com, 2026-11-03 | Buy |
| TerraMaster F2-425 Plus (Intel N150) | Intel N150, 24 EU × 1.0 GHz (Intel ARK) | Yes per TerraMaster's spec sheet (H.264/H.265 up to 4K60) | TOS 7 app center; Plex itself publishes TerraMaster packages only for TOS 4 and TOS 5 & 6 | 8 GB DDR5 (32 GB per TerraMaster; Intel rates the N150 for 16 GB) | 2× 5GbE, 3× M.2 NVMe | $499.99 (maker, 2026-11-08), out of stock | TerraMaster's page |
| TerraMaster F2-425 Plus (Intel N95) | Intel N95, 16 EU × 1.2 GHz (Intel ARK) | Yes per TerraMaster's spec sheet (same case and ports as the N150 model) | TOS app center; Plex publishes TerraMaster packages only for TOS 4 and TOS 5 & 6 | 8 GB (Intel rates the N95 for 16 GB) | 2× 5GbE, 3× M.2 NVMe | $404.99 on Amazon (checked 2026-11-12) | Buy on Amazon |
| TerraMaster F4-425 | Intel Celeron N5095, 16 EU × 750 MHz (Notebookcheck) | Yes: TerraMaster lists hardware-level H.265 decoding for Plex, Jellyfin and Emby | TOS app center; Plex TOS 5 & 6 package | 4 GB DDR4 | 1× 2.5GbE, no M.2 | $429.99 on Amazon (checked 2026-11-12) | Buy on Amazon |
| TerraMaster F2-425 | Intel Celeron N5095, 16 EU × 750 MHz (Notebookcheck) | Yes: Quick Sync listed | TOS 6 app center; Plex TOS 5 & 6 package | 4 GB DDR4 | 1× 2.5GbE, no M.2 | $299.99 on Amazon (checked 2026-11-12) | Buy on Amazon |
| Synology DiskStation DS225+ | Intel Celeron J4125, 12 EU × 750 MHz (Intel ARK) | No: Synology support says hardware transcoding 'is not supported on these two models'; the community fix swaps the kernel graphics modules after every reboot (Blackvoid) | Plex DSM 7.2.2+ package (Plex download manifest) | 2 GB DDR4 (6 GB max) | 1× 2.5GbE + 1× 1GbE, no M.2 | $1,399 on Amazon (checked 2026-11-12) | Buy on Amazon |
What the differences mean
Plex's HDR-to-SDR tone mapping and scaling run as shaders on the iGPU's execution units, so EUs times clock is the hardware headroom that decides how many tone-mapped 4K streams a NAS can hold. It is a proxy, not a measured stream count: no named lab has published simultaneous 4K HEVC transcode counts for any of these units.
- Shader budget (EU × GHz): N150 24 × 1.0 = 24.0; N95 16 × 1.2 = 19.2; N100 24 × 0.75 = 18.0; N5095 16 × 0.75 = 12.0; J4125 12 × 0.75 = 9.0. Figures from Intel ARK and Notebookcheck.
- Price for the step up: F2-425 Plus N150 $499.99 − DXP2800 $389.99 = $110.00 for 33% more iGPU clock, two 5GbE ports and a third M.2 slot, if it comes back into stock. The $399.49 F2-425 Plus is the N95 model: $9.50 more than the DXP2800 for 8 fewer execution units.
- Price per EU·GHz: F2-425 Plus N95 $399.49 / 19.2 = $20.81; F2-425 Plus N150 $499.99 / 24.0 = $20.83; DXP2800 $389.99 / 18.0 = $21.67; F2-425 $299.99 / 12.0 = $25.00; F4-425 $386.99 / 12.0 = $32.25; DS225+ $364.29 / 9.0 = $40.48, and that engine is unreachable on stock DSM.
- Every option needs a Plex Pass: Marius Hosting's guide states that a Plex Pass is mandatory for hardware transcoding. Budget for it alongside the drives.
| Use | Fits | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Two drives, HDR 4K to 1080p for a household, buy today | UGREEN NASync DXP2800 | 24 EUs, stock iGPU access, $389.99 in stock |
| 5GbE network and three NVMe slots, can wait for stock | TerraMaster F2-425 Plus (N150) | Largest shader budget under $500 at $499.99 |
| Four drive bays under $400, one transcode at a time | TerraMaster F4-425 | N5095, 16 EUs × 750 MHz; 4 GB RAM |
| Cheapest Quick Sync box, mostly Direct Play | TerraMaster F2-425 | $299.99 |
Stock firmware or a script: how each NAS reaches the Quick Sync engine
Plex talks to Intel Quick Sync through VA-API, which needs the Linux i915 kernel driver to expose the iGPU as /dev/dri/renderD128. Every CPU in the table has Quick Sync on Intel's spec page; the difference is whether the NAS operating system exposes it.
UGREEN DXP2800. UGOS Pro has no native Plex package (Plex's download list covers Synology, QNAP, ASUSTOR, TerraMaster, Netgear, Unraid, Thecus, Seagate and WD, not UGREEN), so Plex runs as a Docker container. Marius Hosting's guide, updated 2026-10-31 and tested with Plex 1.43.5, maps /dev/dri/renderD128 and /dev/dri/card0 into the container and then enables hardware transcoding and HDR tone mapping in Plex's transcoder settings. The device mapping is a one-time compose entry. $389.99: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp2800
TerraMaster F2-425 Plus, F4-425, F2-425. TerraMaster's spec sheet lists H.264 and H.265 hardware transcoding up to 4K at 60 fps. One caution: Plex's own download manifest (version 1.43.5, 2026-10-23) lists TerraMaster packages for TOS 4 and TOS 5 & 6 only. The N150 F2-425 Plus ships TOS 7 and the 425 series is moving to TOS 7, so check that the app center build installs on your TOS version before relying on it; Docker is the fallback.
Synology DS225+ and DS425+. Both use the J4125. In the Plex forum thread, a Synology Technical Support reply quoted on 2025-09-10 says hardware transcoding 'is not supported on these two models', and a reply quoted on 2025-09-17 says this applies 'starting with products released in 2025 and beyond, even if the CPU supports hardware transcoding'. Plex's ChuckPa wrote that 'without the kernel drivers included to access the ASIC via the i915, there is nothing we can do.' Luka Manestar's Blackvoid workaround (published 2025-09-23, updated 2026-07-15) removes the stock i915, drm_kms_helper and drm modules over SSH as root and inserts replacement modules built for each DSM version (7.2.x, 7.3.x and 7.4); the steps must run after each reboot, for example via Task Scheduler, and Manestar labels it unofficial and unsupported by Synology.
| CPU | Graphics EUs | Max graphics clock | Used in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intel N150 (Twin Lake, Q1 2025) | 24 | 1.0 GHz | TerraMaster F2-425 Plus N150 |
| Intel N100 (Alder Lake-N, Q1 2023) | 24 | 750 MHz | UGREEN DXP2800 |
| Intel N95 (Alder Lake-N, Q1 2023) | 16 | 1.2 GHz | TerraMaster F2-425 Plus N95 |
| Intel Celeron N5095 (Jasper Lake, 2021) | 16 | 750 MHz | TerraMaster F2-425, F4-425 |
| Intel Celeron J4125 (Gemini Lake, Q4 2019) | 12 | 750 MHz | Synology DS225+, DS425+ |
Not recommended
- Synology DS225+ and DS425+. Cheapest Intel Synology units, but the maker's own support says hardware transcoding is not supported, and the only route is a root-level module swap re-run at every boot and rebuilt for each DSM release.
Sources
- Intel N100: 24 EUs, 750 MHz max graphics clock, Quick Sync yes, 16 GB max memory, Q1 2023 — www.intel.com
- Intel N150: 24 EUs, 1.0 GHz max graphics clock, Quick Sync yes, 16 GB max memory, Q1 2025 — www.intel.com
- Intel N95: 16 EUs, 1.20 GHz max graphics clock, Quick Sync yes, 15 W, 16 GB max memory, Q1 2023 — www.intel.com
- Intel Celeron J4125: UHD Graphics 600, 12 EUs, 750 MHz burst, Quick Sync yes, 8 GB max memory, Q4 2019 — www.intel.com
- Intel Celeron N5095: Jasper Lake UHD Graphics, 16 EUs, 450 to 750 MHz, 15 W (Notebookcheck) — www.notebookcheck.net
- Plex download manifest 1.43.5.11079: NAS packages for Synology, QNAP, ASUSTOR, TerraMaster TOS 4 and TOS 5 & 6, Netgear, Unraid, Thecus, Seagate, WD; no TOS 7, no UGREEN — plex.tv
- Blackvoid (Luka Manestar): x25 Synology stock i915 does not enable hardware transcoding; module swap per DSM version, re-run after every reboot; Synology support quote — www.blackvoid.club
- Plex forum p.4: Synology support (2025-09-10) says hardware transcoding not supported on DS225+/DS425+; ChuckPa on kernel drivers and i915 — forums.plex.tv
- Plex forum p.5: Synology support reply (2025-09-17): 'starting with products released in 2025 and beyond, even if the CPU supports hardware transcoding' — forums.plex.tv
- Marius Hosting: Plex in Docker on UGREEN NAS with /dev/dri/renderD128 and card0 mapped, Plex Pass mandatory, tested with Plex 1.43.5 — mariushosting.com
- UGREEN NASync DXP2800 $389.99 (compare-at $564.98), in stock, UGREEN US store, 2026-11-08 — nas.ugreen.com
- TerraMaster store: F2-425 Plus N150 $499.99 out of stock and N95 model $399.49; F2-425 $299.99; F4-425 $386.99, 2026-11-08 — www.terra-master.com
- Synology DS225+ spec page: Celeron J4125, 2 GB DDR4 (6 GB max), 2.5GbE + 1GbE, 3-year warranty, no transcoding line — www.synology.com
Published 2026-11-03; updated 2026-11-12. The buy links are affiliate links; see the disclosure. Corrections welcome at [email protected] or /feedback.