Re-Purpose i5-2500k build for Plex server

DampCat · 18 Sep 2022 at 14:16

I've been looking at repurposing my old i5-2500K machine (no GPU) into a Plex server to store legally obtained DRM free video files etc.

I keep hitting stumbling blocks as to how to make this most cost effective.

Apparently using Quicksync is best however the current board is an MSI P67A-GD65 upon which, it seems, Quicksync cannot be enabled. So I'd need a new motherboard.

If I got a new motherboard, could I get an ITX or Mini ITX to save some space?

Or if Quicksync if going to be out of the question I could get a GPU for hardware transcoding but is power usage increased in these wild times?

I'm not really sure how best to approach it and could use some pointers. Just seems a waste to have that hardware doing nothing.

LewisRaz · 18 Sep 2022 at 16:10

You need a plex pass to enable quicksync.(monthly fee or lifetime pass) It will also only be able to transcode 264 as you need a newer generation cpu for 265.

randal · 18 Sep 2022 at 16:15

Sell it. Buy a Lenovo M71/91q or an HP EliteDesk micro PC. Modern CPU with quicksync for very low power overhead.

Just downsized a Ryzen 3600 build for one, a 6th of the power consumption with no discernible performance knock.

£90-£110 should cover it.

DampCat · 18 Sep 2022 at 16:53

randal said:
Sell it. Buy a Lenovo M71/91q or an HP EliteDesk micro PC. Modern CPU with quicksync for very low power overhead.

Just downsized a Ryzen 3600 build for one, a 6th of the power consumption with no discernible performance knock.

£90-£110 should cover it.

Are you using it as a server or client?

randal · 19 Sep 2022 at 09:55

Server.

Running Proxmox, 4 VMs. Couple of docker hosts, Plex and a pihole VM.

About 60% RAM (16gb total) in use.

Goose · 19 Sep 2022 at 11:21

I wouldn’t use a 2500k as a plex server, the TDP is too high relative to the performance in my opinion and the quicksync version is so old it wont produce good results.

no_1_dave · 27 Sep 2022 at 01:19

I'm in the same kind of situation.
I've moved my plex server from my main PC onto an Nvidia shield with an external HDD (and an external NVME drive I had spare for the metadata).

It's working well enough, but the external HDD annoys me because it powers down when not in use. Then when you go to watch something you have to wait while the HDD spins up and sometimes it takes too long so throws up a cannot play error (fixed by just pressing play again). I'm looking to move it into a spare mATX case I have lying around and need a good CPU/Mobo/Ram combo for it.

I've encoded all the video/audio to x265 and either EAC3 or AC3 along with any forced subs in txt format so there is no transcoding needed.

JollyJamma · 27 Sep 2022 at 08:28

DampCat said:
I've been looking at repurposing my old i5-2500K machine (no GPU) into a Plex server to store legally obtained DRM free video files etc.

I keep hitting stumbling blocks as to how to make this most cost effective.

Apparently using Quicksync is best however the current board is an MSI P67A-GD65 upon which, it seems, Quicksync cannot be enabled. So I'd need a new motherboard.

If I got a new motherboard, could I get an ITX or Mini ITX to save some space?

Or if Quicksync if going to be out of the question I could get a GPU for hardware transcoding but is power usage increased in these wild times?

I'm not really sure how best to approach it and could use some pointers. Just seems a waste to have that hardware doing nothing.

Sell your rig. You won’t find an ITX motherboard for that cpu easily and that platform is old and inefficient.

I agree with just getting a used small form factor for cheap.

I just installed Plex on my main gaming rig to see if I liked it and I do.

I have a 3300X and B450 motherboard which I’m setting up as the main server.

It’s really handy as I can then run backups to said server and Docker and PiHole and so on (just like someone else posted).

Going to try put it in the loft and enable remote access.