CPU for Plex Media Server? (4k transcoding)

voidshatter · 19 Aug 2017 at 18:42

muon said:
Mate you only created this thread to rationalise why Ryzen is crap.

I never said that. With Ryzen I can find an ITX motherboard with ECC support and at the same time with an M.2 nvme slot. With Intel I have no idea where to find such a motherboard, let alone the currently ridiculous pricing of Xeon.

I don't know much about handbreak. All I wonder is Plex's transcoder. I'm looking forward to see some real-world scenarios with Plex.

Randall8686 · 29 Aug 2017 at 23:02

Just FYI I'm running plex server on a Lenovo TS140 that I got for the bargain price of £250 with the cashback deal (over a year ago) 4gb ect ram that I upgraded to 8gb. I use it for a few things but I can stream 4k films no issue at all (not in direct play as my tv's don't like it and mess up the audio sync so I have to get the server to transcode on the fly. The cup is a Xeon E3-1225v3 and it handles it perfectly. Loading the film for about 20 seconds the cpu is at 99% but plays super smooth, after 20 seconds it's settles to about 30/40% for a single 4k stream. I can stream two 4k streams and one 1080p and that runs about 85-90% on cpu load. Anything more I get buffering. The image quality is perfect just make sure on the local player you un tick allow direct play. Although direct play obviously uses no cpu performance my Tv's simply cannot sync the video and audio in this setting (lg) one is hard wired the other is Wi-Fi and it works on both fine. The cpu does get warm streaming two 4k streams after a while and two hours in I get about 68c on a stock Intel cooler more in the summer. I don't often stream two 4k streams but with 6 users accessing my library it does happen. 1080p streams it can handle 5 it seems. Seems a decent cpu for a plex server imo.

voidshatter · 29 Aug 2017 at 23:24

Randall8686 said:
I can stream two 4k streams and one 1080p and that runs about 85-90% on cpu load.

Wow! Wait, are you saying that a single E3-1225v3 can simultaneously transcode two 4k streams???

Could you help me run a benchmark test if you have time? Download this video, add it to Plex library, start a stop-watch, optimize it for "Mobile", and record how many seconds or minutes it takes to complete the optimisation. Thanks

Randall8686 · 29 Aug 2017 at 23:27

Edit that. Just noticed one of the files I thought was 4k is 1080p so that's one 4k and two 1080p streams. I will try two 4k tomorrow on two Tv's. I'm watching one 4k now fine and it's a single cpu system 4 core no HT

Randall8686 · 29 Aug 2017 at 23:29

Also not sure if it makes any difference but I'm running the plex server on a xpenology enviroment not Windows. This likely helps as this is extremely lightweight compared to a Windows environment.

voidshatter · 29 Aug 2017 at 23:39

I'm getting more and more confused now. If you can transcode one 4k stream fine with a CPU scoring less than 8k PassMark, then maybe something like Intel Quick Sync has come into play?

If I was to pick a Ryzen for this transcoding task, what would be AMD's equivalence? Will it also get full support in Plex Media Server?

Randall8686 · 29 Aug 2017 at 23:50

Tbh I have no idea. I just know it works fine. Happy to provide any screen shots or tests if needed/wanted

voidshatter · 29 Aug 2017 at 23:56

Randall8686 said:
Tbh I have no idea. I just know it works fine. Happy to provide any screen shots or tests if needed/wanted

Could you help me run a benchmark test if you have time? Download this video, add it to Plex library, start a stop-watch, optimize it for "Mobile", and record how many seconds or minutes it takes to complete the optimisation. Thanks

Randall8686 · 30 Aug 2017 at 07:40

Sure will give it a go this eve for you. Will also try two 4k streams

DragonQ · 30 Aug 2017 at 08:25

voidshatter said:
I'm getting more and more confused now. If you can transcode one 4k stream fine with a CPU scoring less than 8k PassMark, then maybe something like Intel Quick Sync has come into play?

If I was to pick a Ryzen for this transcoding task, what would be AMD's equivalence? Will it also get full support in Plex Media Server?

Dedicated decoders are part of IGPs, which AMD's chips don't have, and won't have until Raven Ridge.

=XDC=FluphyBunny · 30 Aug 2017 at 12:49

I don't see a 1225v3 transcoding one 4k stream in plex? They must be direct playing or a massively reduced bit rate (or something).

Randall8686 · 30 Aug 2017 at 22:33

=XDC=FluphyBunny said:
I don't see a 1225v3 transcoding one 4k stream in plex? They must be direct playing or a massively reduced bit rate (or something).

Certainly not direct play as my tv cant direct play without the audio being out of sync, also direct play results in a cpu load of 1% compared to transcoding resulting in 95% load for 30 seconds to a min before settling. I dont know in's and outs of it all tbh but the video quality looks the same trancoded or direct. It may wel be reducing quality i guess but its certainly not noticable if it is. Only just got in from a late one so did not get chance to do you video will do it tomorrow

=XDC=FluphyBunny · 31 Aug 2017 at 11:38

Randall8686 said:
Certainly not direct play as my tv cant direct play without the audio being out of sync, also direct play results in a cpu load of 1% compared to transcoding resulting in 95% load for 30 seconds to a min before settling. I dont know in's and outs of it all tbh but the video quality looks the same trancoded or direct. It may wel be reducing quality i guess but its certainly not noticable if it is. Only just got in from a late one so did not get chance to do you video will do it tomorrow

That's impressive tbh, end of the day if it works and the quality isn't affected I say let the computer gremlins get on with it. When Plex transcodes a 1080 film my 1270v2 fluctuates between 0-40 ish percent (so few sec's at 30-40 percent then drops down). Don't have 4k and won't till my beloved 1080 plasma stops working.

voidshatter · 31 Aug 2017 at 21:36

DragonQ said:
Dedicated decoders are part of IGPs, which AMD's chips don't have, and won't have until Raven Ridge.

Can IGPs be used to accelerate transcoding, if the playback is streamed to a remote device via network, *NOT* output via the IGP?

DragonQ · 31 Aug 2017 at 21:56

voidshatter said:
Can IGPs be used to accelerate transcoding, if the playback is streamed to a remote device via network, *NOT* output via the IGP?

Sure.

voidshatter · 31 Aug 2017 at 22:02

DragonQ said:
Sure.

If this is true, then you just made me think twice before going for Ryzen without IGP... Shameful that I have to delid these Intel chips...

Rainmaker · 31 Aug 2017 at 22:11

Have you considered Emby? I had Plex but my FX8350 is starting to struggle with some things. I switched to Emby (side-by-side at first, to test) and it has OOTB hardware acceleration for VC1, HEVC, H264, MP4 etc etc. You can use IGP, Nvidia/Cuda or VAAPI/VDPAU. I can now stream without issues and my 1050ti doesn't break much of a sweat. Sorted (for now). It may be worth you considering in place of Plex if resources are an issue.

voidshatter · 31 Aug 2017 at 22:23

Rainmaker said:
Have you considered Emby? I had Plex but my FX8350 is starting to struggle with some things. I switched to Emby (side-by-side at first, to test) and it has OOTB hardware acceleration for VC1, HEVC, H264, MP4 etc etc. You can use IGP, Nvidia/Cuda or VAAPI/VDPAU. I can now stream without issues and my 1050ti doesn't break much of a sweat. Sorted (for now). It may be worth you considering in place of Plex if resources are an issue.

Are you suggesting that with Emby, I can easily transcode and stream 4k videos to my iOS device, if I have a spare graphics card such like the GTX 980?

Rainmaker · 31 Aug 2017 at 22:50

voidshatter said:
Are you suggesting that with Emby, I can easily transcode and stream 4k videos to my iOS device, if I have a spare graphics card such like the GTX 980?

Emby supports hardware encoding OOTB, yes, so you can use the transcoding capabilities of your graphics/IGP hardware. For example, this one's mine:

As you can see it detects the transcoding abilities of my system (in this case just a Pascal 1050Ti, purchased because it supports HEVC/x265 10 bit transcoding). Works perfectly on everything I've thrown at it so far.

The drop down box has options for Nvidia, Intel QuickSync, OpenMAX (OMX) and VA-API. I have an Nvidia card and no Intel CPU, so I chose Nvidia.

voidshatter · 31 Aug 2017 at 23:32

Rainmaker said:
Emby supports hardware encoding OOTB, yes, so you can use the transcoding capabilities of your graphics/IGP hardware. For example, this one's mine:

As you can see it detects the transcoding abilities of my system (in this case just a Pascal 1050Ti, purchased because it supports HEVC/x265 10 bit transcoding). Works perfectly on everything I've thrown at it so far. The drop down box has options for Nvidia, Intel QuickSync, OpenMAX (OMX) and VA-API. I have an Nvidia card and no Intel CPU, so I chose Nvidia.

Great! Where do I find a compatibility list for nVidia cards? Curious to know whether my spare GTX980 can do VP9 and VP9 10-bit or not.

Edit: Just checked the Wikipedia link and it looks like there is no luck for my spare GTX980... It has to be my GTX1080 instead then..

Nowadays Youtube widely uses VP9 and is rumoured to end H264 soon..