Unraid - GPU for single stream transcoding / one VM

TangoEchoAlpha · 7 Jul 2019 at 21:33

Decided to repurpose my Ryzen 2700X into an Unraid system. At the moment I don't have a spare GPU, so am looking for something cheap (but not nasty) that will allow me to do Plex transcoding to one client, or allow me to run it in passthrough to a single virtual machine.

Looking for something power efficient as well, after having a look around seems like the Zotac Gaming GTX1650 OC fits the bill - draws power over the PCI bus and is £150:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Zotac GeForce GTX 1650 Gaming OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £149.99

Total: £159.89 (includes shipping: £9.90)

Is this a wise option or should I be considering something else?

Ta

krooton · 8 Jul 2019 at 14:33

Not sure if you even need a graphics card.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/201774043-what-kind-of-cpu-do-i-need-for-my-server/

Very roughly speaking, for a single full-transcode of a video, the following PassMark score requirements are a good guideline for the following average source file:

4K HDR (50Mbps, 10-bit HEVC) file: 17000 PassMark score (being transcoded to 10Mbps 1080p)

4K SDR (40Mbps, 8-bit HEVC) file: 12000 PassMark score (being transcoded to 10Mbps 1080p)

1080p (10Mbps, H.264) file: 2000 PassMark score

720p (4Mbps, H.264) file: 1500 PassMark score

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Ryzen+7+2700X&id=3238

So that Ryzen pretty much meets the 4k HDR recommended grunt.

I'm using an ancient but overclocked 2700k and happily transcode 1080p that can't direct play.

TangoEchoAlpha · 8 Jul 2019 at 15:06

krooton said:
Not sure if you even need a graphics card.

Thanks, but my motherboard won't boot without one and it's just so I can do stuff locally if I want to rather than via the web interface. If my motherboard had some kind of display/HDMI port on it, I'd probably pick up an APU - but the motherboard doesn't have one.

My main concern is that I want enough grunt to be able to handle multiple incoming ONVIF streams, some home NAS usage and streaming 1080p to one or two clients.

On the basis the 2700X is more than enough for my transcoding needs (thanks for the links) - I'll go with whatever GPU seems a good/cheap deal

Armageus · 8 Jul 2019 at 15:18

TangoEchoAlpha said:
Is this a wise option or should I be considering something else?

Best option would be to not transcode at all - better to run a separate 4K and 1080P library, if the issue is clients that can only display 1080P.

As I understand it, the main issue is that most 4K content is HDR, and attempting to play on a non-HDR client results in off-colours as none of the current Transcoding solutions are able to cope with Tone Mapping.

TangoEchoAlpha · 8 Jul 2019 at 16:09

Armageus said:
Best option would be to not transcode at all - better to run a separate 4K and 1080P library, if the issue is clients that can only display 1080P.

Cheers

Sounds like I can get away with something cheap. Time to browse deals and I might even venture into a local CEX :eek:

whiskycycle · 8 Jul 2019 at 16:23

TangoEchoAlpha said:
On the basis the 2700X is more than enough for my transcoding needs (thanks for the links) - I'll go with whatever GPU seems a good/cheap deal

Just rebuilt my Unraid box around a Ryzen 5 2600... Threw in a GT710 I got cheap so it'll boot.

TangoEchoAlpha · 8 Jul 2019 at 17:13

whiskycycle said:
Just rebuilt my Unraid box around a Ryzen 5 2600... Threw in a GT710 I got cheap so it'll boot.

Nice

What sort of thing are you using it for? My plan is to have Unraid running, with some Samba shares for myself and the wife. Then I plan upon running Plex as a Docker and also storing footage from IP CCTV cameras. I might get them to record straight to the NAS, or I might run a VM to put some CCTV NVR software on there.

whiskycycle · 8 Jul 2019 at 19:01

TangoEchoAlpha said:
Nice What sort of thing are you using it for?

Plex, Sonarr, Radarr, SabNZBD-PIA, SMB shares, cloud backup each way (server to cloud and back), DuckDNS, OpenVPN-AS back to the house from outside. Chunks of VMs for training/learning.

SpaceInvaderOne's videos are absolutely phenomenal for figuring it all out, and I ended up subbing to his Patreon as a result.

You can run Zoneminder as a Docker container, that seems to be the go-to CCTV application!

I value silence for main rig, so didn't get to the point where I could have the box living under the desk as my main computer, running W10 as a VM with hardware passthrough on video card, keyboard, mouse etc either, hence just whacking in the GT710. Box is far too warm and with a droning noise profile (8x 4TB HGST (2x parity, 6x data).

TangoEchoAlpha · 8 Jul 2019 at 20:23

whiskycycle said:
Plex, Sonarr, Radarr, SabNZBD-PIA, SMB shares, cloud backup each way (server to cloud and back), DuckDNS, OpenVPN-AS back to the house from outside. Chunks of VMs for training/learning.

SpaceInvaderOne's videos are absolutely phenomenal for figuring it all out, and I ended up subbing to his Patreon as a result.

You can run Zoneminder as a Docker container, that seems to be the go-to CCTV application!

I value silence for main rig, so didn't get to the point where I could have the box living under the desk as my main computer, running W10 as a VM with hardware passthrough on video card, keyboard, mouse etc either, hence just whacking in the GT710. Box is far too warm and with a droning noise profile (8x 4TB HGST (2x parity, 6x data).

I've been watching Space Invader One's videos, definitely helpful. Seems knowledgeable about UnRaid. I did consider FreeNAS as well, but like the ease with which drives can be added in UnRaid.

I was either going to use the Amcrest software for CCTV, BlueIris in a Win 10 VM or Shinobi is another open source CCTV NVR that I mean to give a go sometime.

The GT710 looks like just the job, probably go for a 2GB one online. I was looking at some of the other 7xx series cards, but that fanless-heatsink looks like a good option

Monkian · 12 Jul 2019 at 12:52

a GT1030 runs quite nicely in unraid too, i went for a fanless one with a displayport connector so i can pass it through to a VM and get 4k 60hz.

You can also run xpenology as a VM in unraid and use that for surveillance station for your CCTV stuff.

whiskycycle · 12 Jul 2019 at 15:08

Monkian said:
a GT1030 runs quite nicely in unraid too, i went for a fanless one with a displayport connector so i can pass it through to a VM and get 4k 60hz.

Is that running one of the dongles that connects to DP (or HDMI etc) and tricks it into thinking there's a monitor connected?

TangoEchoAlpha · 12 Jul 2019 at 15:53

Monkian said:
You can also run xpenology as a VM in unraid and use that for surveillance station for your CCTV stuff.

Out of interest, if you do that, what happens in terms of buying licences for additional cameras? Can you buy extra licences or are you stuck with two cameras?

To be honest, more likely to use something like Blue Iris, but curious....

Monkian · 12 Jul 2019 at 18:16

Yeah i think you can't buy extra licenses with xpenology.

TangoEchoAlpha · 12 Jul 2019 at 23:39

Monkian said:
Yeah i think you can't buy extra licenses with xpenology.

Cheers, guessed as much