NAS specs to transcode 1080p mkv files

andymac1966 · 9 Jan 2013 at 19:09

Hi Folks,

I've seen a few threads on here regarding Synology NAS devices and Plex performance, however nothing that fully covers my query (so hopefully not a repeat request here !)....

I've just installed Plex Media Centre on a C2D 1.8GHz Mac Mini, which is attached to my wired home LAN. The media files are stored on an Asus NAS-M25, also connected to the LAN by Ethernet. So far, for most media files I'm finding that the Mac is performing well streaming media, even when being asked transcode, however the exception to this is when I tried to play 1080p mkv files on my Sony Smart TV - what then happens is the video displays, but is unwatchable due to stuttering.

Reason for the post is I was wondering what the minimum spec would be for equipment to complete the transcode for 1080p mkv files. The Mac Mini I currently have is about 5 years old and is struggling, but I wondered if say a Synolgy DS213+ would fair any better, or am I better spending my cash on a newer Mac Mini (I want something that's small, quiet and energy efficient when in idle).

Appreciate the feedback,
Andy

Westyfield2 · 9 Jan 2013 at 21:44

Plex say that a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo is the minimum for transcoding pure 1080p MKV rips.

Rroff · 9 Jan 2013 at 21:46

Wouldn't have thought NAS even the higher end ones would have the CPU power for it - most of them are like ~800MHz single cores and fairly low spec at that. (EDIT: tell a lie some of the higher end Synology ones are ~2GHz dual cores but I doubt they are even in the same ballpark performance wise as a 2GHz Core 2 Duo.)

KIA · 9 Jan 2013 at 21:52

You'll probably need a beefy DIY system if you want to transcode 1080p in real time.

Westyfield2 · 9 Jan 2013 at 21:55

Netgear ReadyNAS Pro 6 has a 2.4GHz Pentium Dual Core as standard, and you can open them up to replace with a 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo

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andymac1966 · 9 Jan 2013 at 22:07

Westyfield2 said:
Netgear ReadyNAS Pro 6 has a 2.4GHz Pentium Dual Core as standard, and you can open them up to replace with a 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo .

Looking at Netgears website this does look like a beast ! However the specs say Atom dual core ?

Thanks for all the answers - it's sounding like my best option may be to upgrade my Mac Mini so it can better handle transcoding of the HD files. I guess if it can do this, then clients should be able to stream ok ?

Andy

Westyfield2 · 9 Jan 2013 at 22:38

andymac1966 said:
Looking at Netgears website this does look like a beast ! However the specs say Atom dual core ?

Thanks for all the answers - it's sounding like my best option may be to upgrade my Mac Mini so it can better handle transcoding of the HD files. I guess if it can do this, then clients should be able to stream ok ?

Andy

ReadyNAS Pro 2 – 1.8 GHz Atom D525 (dual core)
ReadyNAS Pro 4 – 1.66 GHz Atom D510 (dual core)
ReadyNAS Pro 6 – 2.6 Ghz Pentium E5300 (dual core)

Yep, if you're fine running your Mac Mini 24/7 as the server you could just get one with a beefier CPU. The new model can have upto a 2.7GHz quad i7 :cool:

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Westyfield2 · 9 Jan 2013 at 22:48

Here's a spreadsheet some Plex users and devs have knocked up of NAS units https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhqU12yGv_OxdC1VYjYtMmRiSlVReVZhNVBLZ0JxSmc#gid=0

I never noticed any problems with the ReadyNAS Pro 6's 2.6 Ghz Dual Core Pentium E5300 and my full MKV rips... however looking through the logs I did see stuff like

Aug 16, 2012 22:01:59 [0xf33f8b90] DEBUG - [Transcoder] Wrote segment 5 (11.02s, 7.35s, 0.33mb)

However as this was the 5th segment and the previous segments had taken <10s to transcode the transcoder was ahead and this segment being slow didn't matter, but obviously if that had been the first segment I'd have noticed it!

With the 3.06GHz C2D E7600 in it I haven't seen any segments take over 10s

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andymac1966 · 9 Jan 2013 at 23:03

Great - thanks for all the info - the Plex user doc is especially useful :-)

Certainly given me something to think about now !

Andy

FerretBoy · 10 Jan 2013 at 13:08

Might be cheaper to get dedicated devices that can play the 1080p with out the need for transcoding. For example I use a WD HD Live player to play 1080p mkvs over wifi from a network share.

Chicken #16 · 10 Jan 2013 at 14:21

As FerretBoy says, the WDTV Live is great. I have a collection of uncompressed 1080p mkv files around 20GB each and they work fine playing on this. I think the only problem has been when I had the files on a usb drive attached to my nas (the nas' usb is rubbish).

It costs £60-70, you attach it to your TV and wired/wireless network and there's not a video I have it hasn't played. It also has an option via the remote that lets you fiddle with the audio sync +- a couple 10ths of a second and the aspect ratio which comes in very handy now and again.

welshdragon · 10 Jan 2013 at 19:12

FerretBoy said:
Might be cheaper to get dedicated devices that can play the 1080p with out the need for transcoding. For example I use a WD HD Live player to play 1080p mkvs over wifi from a network share.

This is the best option,a dedicated player.

For info my Synology DS713+, and the DS712+ it replaced transcode full hd on the fly no issues whatsoever using the plex app or the built in ds video app.

The problem with other units and plex is that the processor type isn't supported by plex.

andymac1966 · 13 Jan 2013 at 10:42

Thanks for all the replies guys. I hadn't looked at the WD yet as I wasn't sure if it would run Plex client (though I could use DNLA ?). There's also the Roku 2XS out there which does run Plex client, though it sounds like that one would need the server doing the transcoding for 1080p.

What I have done is test Plex Media Server running on an 3GHz i3 PC on on LAN, and have found that even my Sony TV is able to view 1080p files without any problems, so I think I may be best simply upgrading the Mac Mini at the server end.

Will let you now how it goes...

Andy