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Cpu for plex server
- Thread starter Andygully
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Associate
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I think that would depend on the resolution, maximum number of streams you want and the clients used for playback and whether they require transcoding
Soldato
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If you’re already running Plex you can see if you’re transcoding by looking at the server when it’s streaming.
Associate
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A CPU with integrated graphics is the way to go. Offload the transcoding to it, much more efficient.
You need to provide more data. A Pi3 makes an OK Plex server depending on the usage case.
Do you have PlexPass?
What’s the rest of the hardware spec?
Are you running local, remote or mixed clients?
What media formats do they support?
What media formats will you use?
Are you storing media locally or in the cloud?
Will you be playing 4K and understand why 4K transcoding is a waste of time?
Same with HDR?
What’s the available upload bandwidth for any remote clients?
How many users will be using this simultaneously?
Why do they need to transcode?
The general rule of thumb is if you are transcoding, you are probably doing something wrong. Possible exceptions include mobile users (4G), or audio formats that you can for example use locally, but remote users lack the hardware to make use of (DTSMA for example), or clients that have quirks (XB One/PS4 spring to mind).
Do you have PlexPass?
What’s the rest of the hardware spec?
Are you running local, remote or mixed clients?
What media formats do they support?
What media formats will you use?
Are you storing media locally or in the cloud?
Will you be playing 4K and understand why 4K transcoding is a waste of time?
Same with HDR?
What’s the available upload bandwidth for any remote clients?
How many users will be using this simultaneously?
Why do they need to transcode?
The general rule of thumb is if you are transcoding, you are probably doing something wrong. Possible exceptions include mobile users (4G), or audio formats that you can for example use locally, but remote users lack the hardware to make use of (DTSMA for example), or clients that have quirks (XB One/PS4 spring to mind).
I transcode live TV for my phone but every other device I have just takes streams natively. My Minix UH-9 was ~£130 and although its deinterlacing algorithm leaves something to be desired, it otherwise handles everything up to 2160p60 HDR perfectly. On my phone, I have to use hardware decoding for anything remotely demanding and in that mode, it cannot deinterlace interlaced video. My preferred solution is to do the deinterlacing and transcoding server-side so my phone just has to playback a 1080p50 stream, for example. It also allows the use of lower bit rate video (e.g. 576p @ 1.5 Mb/s) so I don't need an expensive 100 GB mobile plan when I'm not at home.
No plex pass and I was going to build the specs from the cpu.
Most media will be mkvs and stored locally with clients on the same network and a few remote client's.
20mb upload and I did say max users would be 2-3 but most likely 2.
Also on transcoding I just installed plex server and let it run default.
Most media will be mkvs and stored locally with clients on the same network and a few remote client's.
20mb upload and I did say max users would be 2-3 but most likely 2.
Also on transcoding I just installed plex server and let it run default.
Have you looked at a supermicro and intel build? I have it as a freenas.
The boards are built for 24x7 operation.
Associate
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I use a gen8 HP microserver with 16gb ram and a quad core 8 thread Xeon and it's fine with anything I throw at it even with multiple streams. I think it's a xeon 1265L from memory but would need to double check... It's old anyway, but paired with a gtx 1050ti it's actually a pretty decent TV gaming station as well as Plex server.
No PlexPass = No HW transcoding, so that rules out at least one of the suggestions above. MKV is just a container like mp4, it’s what’s inside that’s important, make sure your clients can direct play it and it’s a lot easier.
With 20Mbit up, you are limiting yourself to 720/4Mbit for remote clients if you have 3, you will potentially struggle to get 2 at 1080/8Mbit with other use. The accepted metric is 2K of CPU mark per 1080p AV H264 transcode. Once Plex transcodes, it outputs H264 SDR, this has implications if for example you choose H265 content as you have a penalty for H265 decode and then transcoding on top. HDR transcoding results in washes out colourspace, so don’t transcode HDR and the overhead for CPU transcoding 4K is horrific.
Hopefully last few questions... Is your server a dedicated Plex build or will it be handling media acquisition/processing and other tasks? If so will that be news based (CPU/IO intensive) or torrent based?
If you are planning on getting a PlexPass subscription intel is the obvious choice, modern intel iGPU’s are well suited to hardware transcoding. That said lifetime PlexPass is roughly £100 from memory, you could buy a very capable Ryzen for less money with better CPU encoding performance, the iGPU however is woeful for HW transcoding. Based on your user count aim for 8K of CPU mark, a Ryzen 2400G is a 9.3K CPU mark chip for £130ish new and an i3 8100 is an 8K CPU mark chip with UHD 630 iGPU for similar money. You could spend more, but each of those is good for roughly 4 1080 AV transcodes in stock form. The other option is to go used/older and/or scale it up a little, an Ryzen 1700 for example is £150 new and pulls 13.7K of CPU mark in stock form, personally i’d argue it’s probably a better buy than the 2400G.
The other option is to use cloud storage (unlimited £6.60/month) and a remote VPS/dedicated server or local server with cloud storage, it depends on what you want to pay/play.
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Im using my anchient Xeon e3 1260l. Still working fine.
Without context (and you keep posting virtually the same thing in previous threads), that’s not really that helpful. Your G1840 will allow a client to direct play 4K as it’s literally sending it data with zero processing done, I ran a Pi2 as a Plex server where the clients were all local and could direct play everything, but it certainly won’t transcode 4K. You have enough CPU power to handle one 1080AV transcode using the official Plex recommendations.
Op, Plex has four main variables in choosing a server:
1. Client choice. Screw this up and you will need to transcode and over spend on the server side to compensate.
2. Media. Get this wrong and your client’s can’t ply it, you are forced to transcode and again have to over spend on the server side to compensate.
3. Connectivity. Obviously if you are bandwidth limited it’s game over and you have to transcode and guess what that leads to? Overspend on the server to compensate.
4. The server. If you actually pay attention to the other three, then you can literally run a Pi2 (though a 3 is noticeably quicker/better) as your server.
The natural ‘I want to build a Plex server’ posts go one of two ways:
1) I must buy an inefficient/horrible/noisy rack mount enterprise server from eBay because ‘server’. Bonus points for it being an ancient Xeon and dual CPU (even though a modern single CPU & board is usually cheaper and a much more logical choice.
2) I must have as many cores as possible because I must transcode everything! Bonus points for being under some delusional misapprehension that GPU transcoding is awful because it’s not reference standard and someone who screen-capped and zoomed into a still spotted the difference.
Now I like the P2000, but realistically if you have PlexPass, unless you are blessed with a home gigabit symmetrical connection, then a 1050+ patched drivers will do the same job in the overwhelming majority of cases or low end a modern (8th gen onwards) iGPU is a reasonable shout.
The elephant in the room is why you need a local server. You can pay as little as £1.20/m for a VPS with 400Mbit symmetrical or go crazy and have a shared 10Gb connection for as little as €2.99 and £6.60 for unlimited storage with non of the power/heat/noise/financial outlay and vastly superior connectivity to your average home connection.
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Associate
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Great post and so true! Modern CPU's are much more power efficient and powerful in general. The Xeon in my HP Gen8 is pretty garbage now in the scheme of things.
Looking at the prices of a microserver now they simply aren't worth it, I never realised how much they have gone up in price with the lack of availability, but I purchased mine when the came out for £109. I was looking at a NAS and this was cheaper for a 4 bay system with an additional SSD for the O/S plus iLO (which I have enterprise licenses for... but then discovered it's **** and just use team viewer lol). Came with a Celeron, which was garbage, so stuck a dual core in, 750ti and it became a decent sofa PC for playing GTA before upgrading again to Xeon and 1050ti... These days I'd just do a Ryzen ITX build for a media server!
At the end of the day, it works for me and I have no issues. Must do for the posters above me too. So I dont know why you see my posts as unhelpful. Its not as if Im using my Celeron to rip my 4K films on the plex server.
Plays what I need at the quality I want. I don't need it to do anything else.
Obviously not everyone requirements are the same but you don't need to over spend on hardware when you can get the same results cheaper.
The OP didnt got into details from their first post, apart from they want to build a plex serve what CPU should they use. You can take that post and go in different directions for the requirements.
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Clearly you ignored the subsequent questions asked of the op and additional info they provided in response, also the part where I make it clear context is everything.
If the op needs to transcode anything other than a single H264 stream, your CPU is a poor choice. If they need to transcode H265 your CPU is an awful choice. Basically unless you have a client capable of direct play and only feed the server media your client can direct play, your CPU recommendation is horrible. That’s why ‘I have x CPU in my server and I can play 4K’ is about the dumbest thing you can say in a Plex spec me thread, it screams ‘I have no clue about the variables involved in spec’ing a Plex server’ as you fail to offer any context or for that matter even acknowledge why it’s important. If you’d said ‘If you stick to formats that your clients can direct play and don’t transcode more than 1x1080 AV stream then a low end CPU such as my G1840 can work well’ that would have been fine. What you posted was just poor advice, made worse by getting butt hurt about being called out on it and offering excuses like ‘it works for me’ without reading/understanding the reasons why it works, and the increasing number of situations it won’t work in.
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What 1050ti have you got in the microserver?