DS425+ vs DS925+

[Enquiries]

Hello,

Could you please give me advice on which NAS to choose between the 925 or the 425? I can get the 425 as cheap as $460 and the 925 as cheap as $590. Stinks that I have to pick Synology HDD as well but since this is my first NAS it won’t be as big a deal for me compared to someone having to change out their existing HDD from a presious NAS.

I’ll first be getting the NAS and putting in one 16tb Synology 5310 HDD and then will continue to add more 16tb drives as I save more money.

My use case will mainly be to store many terabytes of photos, about 9tb for now but maybe as much as 14 tb if I’m able to recover photos from corrupted external HDD that I have. This is the main reason I’m getting a NAS, I don’t want to lose any more photos or other data that I’ve collected over the years.

I’ll also be using it for other Synology services but as of right now I’m really looking forward to using Synology photos.

Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you.

[ed]

Thanks for your message.

Both the DS423+ and DS923+ are excellent options for a first NAS, and your use case—photo storage and running Synology Photos—is well supported by either system. That said, here’s a breakdown to help you decide:

DS423+:
This model uses an Intel Celeron J4125 processor with integrated graphics. It’s a good choice for general use, including Synology Photos, media indexing, light Plex usage, and backups. It’s limited to 6GB RAM, but for your current needs, that should be enough.

DS923+:
This model runs on the AMD Ryzen R1600, which is more powerful and scalable. However, it doesn’t have an integrated GPU, so while it’s better for multitasking and heavier applications (like virtualization or Docker containers), it’s not ideal for Plex video transcoding unless you rely on direct play. On the other hand, the DS923+ supports up to 32GB of RAM and has a PCIe slot for optional 10GbE networking and NVMe SSDs, which can be used for caching or storage pools.

Given your current plan to start with one 16TB Synology HAT5310 and grow over time, either NAS will do the job. If you’re focused primarily on storing and organizing photos, the DS423+ will handle that well and save you some money up front. However, the DS923+ gives you more room to grow and more performance overhead should your needs change in the future.

Important note about Synology drives:
As you already pointed out, you're starting with Synology-branded drives, so compatibility won’t be an issue now. Just keep in mind that if you ever upgrade to a Synology NAS model released in 2025 or later, Synology is increasingly locking down their systems to only support their own branded drives. You may still be able to use third-party drives via community-developed scripts to bypass those restrictions, but it’s something to be aware of for the long term.

Overall, if you want a system that works well today and leaves room to expand into more demanding workloads later, the DS923+ is the better investment. But for a simpler setup focused on media and photo management, the DS423+ offers better value for money at the price you've found.