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Spec Request - Plex Media Server

Dirk Diggler

Dirk Diggler

Dirk Diggler

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I'm currently using a 3400G with 32GB RAM on Linux Mint. I'm streaming to Plex App on TV and also to Android tablet. I've read that Intel is better for Plex servers but not sure that the info is 100% correct as I'm getting it from AI (Gemini).
Any advice / recommendations welcome, even if it's just to say to stick with what I have :cool:

I'm not sure under what conditions that I'd benefit from more CPU grunt, but to be fair I've only been tinkering for a day or so.

TIA
 
Thanks for the info.

I'm streaming TV recordings from HDHomerun and I think my content might all be "native" with no requirement for encoding on the fly. I tested a download from the server to my Android tablet and it completed in seconds and was ready to play offline.
 
I was frequently transcoding, sometimes due to device capabilities but also where I had 4K / 1080p content that I wanted to stream to distant devices (where the wifi isn't strong enough to natively stream).

It was quite obvious, since the previous iterations of my server were either chewing through huge amounts of CPU (and so heat + power consumption) or stuttering when the CPU requirements exceeded 100%.

So the reason to upgrade was either usability or power consumption.

If you're not having problems, I can't see why you'd upgrade tbh!
 
Best case scenario you want to be doing direct play for audio and video, that'll use very little CPU usage on plex. If there's somethings that need transcoding, you're better off just converting it to another format than upgrading the CPU just for transcoding purposes.
 
What about looking at an intel GPU for transcoding? do you have a Plex pass and do hardware transcoding?
 
Intel 8th Gen (UHD630) or upwards are marked as being very good for hardware transcoding, it get's better again when you get to 12th Gen.
A small N100 kind of box would be able to handle several 4K transcodes in hardware and keep the CPU usage low.

If your CPU usage on your Plex server is hitting high numbers when you are watching content then you probably want to look at upgrading.
 
It might be obvious to others, but I've just been having issues with buffering with 4k content streaming to my Fire Stick and I thought I'd need to get some decent hardware for transcoding - then I realise after a couple of chats with Gemini that it's my Fire Stick that can't accept the direct stream. I had a 4k stick in the other room and confirmed that the direct stream works fine on that.

So as long as the target device can handle the file format then I don't need to transcode, yes?

P.s. Gemini is really evolving into something properly useful and worthy of being called next gen search.
 
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Basically, yes.

You can either put your time / energy / money into making sure that each player can cope with the codecs and bitrates, or that the server is powerful enough to transcode on the fly for whatever each player requests.

If your targets are things like fire sticks, it's probably easier and cheaper to just keep them up to date. If you're dealing with apps built into TVs, a large number of clients etc, then potentially it's better to fix it at the server end.
 
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