Which is these CPUs is suitable for Plex encoding?

[King Mustard]

I'm going to buy a small system and make it a Plex server.

I've found various NUCs, SFF systems etc. and they have the CPUs below.

My video files are x264 and x265. Mostly 1080p x265 but soon enough, I'll transition to 4k x265.

Transcoding is often used.

Two clients maximum at any one time (two Chromecasts).

Which of the following do you think will do the job?

 

[chroniclard]

For 4k transcoding? none of them.

 

[Nickjf20]

4k is 8.3million vs 1080p being 2.1million pixels, so somewhere in the region of 4 times the transcode power

Plex recommend 2000 passmark per 1080p 10mbps x264 transcode.

None of the CPUs you have listed will be good for x265 1080p >10mpbs transcodes, never mind 4k. I'd recommend buying a Ryzen system, or upgrading your clients so they can direct play x265 4k.

 

[voidshatter]

Plex employee has suggested a passmark of 2000 to transcode one 1080p stream, and 16000 to transcode one 4k stream.

 

[Rainmaker]

Plex employee has suggested a passmark of 2000 to transcode one 1080p stream, and 16000 to transcode one 4k stream.

Is that a typo? The 7700k and 1800x don't even hit 16,000? As I said in your other thread, look at Emby with hardware acceleration for IGP and/or GPU.

 

[voidshatter]

Is that a typo? The 7700k and 1800x don't even hit 16,000? As I said in your other thread, look at Emby with hardware acceleration for IGP and/or GPU.

7700K: 12143
1800X: 15425

 

[Rainmaker]

7700K: 12143
1800X: 15425

Sorry, having re-read my post I phrased it badly. Mainly the question mark after 'The 7700k and 1800x don't even hit 16,000'. That should have been a statement. What I meant was, are Plex seriously suggesting you need a CPU even beefier than a 7700k or 1800x just to transcode one single 4k stream? If so, ouch!

 

[Disco_P]

I don't know anything about plex but can someone explain why you'd transcode a video rather than just play the native file?

 

[Rainmaker]

I don't know anything about plex but can someone explain why you'd transcode a video rather than just play the native file?

Because non-native support. For example, when you're wanting to play a 4k MKV container with VC1 video and DTS audio on a 720p phone, or a 1080p tablet, or a TV, or an old laptop, and they don't support those codecs/decoders/filters, you need to transcode. If your movie library is at home and is BluRay rips (i.e. full size), but you're on holiday in Europe and want to watch your movies on a tablet or in the hotel, you're definitely going to need to transcode down to a level your internet at home is capable of streaming out (hint: BluRay rips are bigger than almost all ISP upstream speeds). Not to mention many devices just don't have the CPU grunt to play certain files. Plex/Emby looks at the network, and the receiving device, and transcodes on the fly to a suitable container, format and bitrate so the file can be played. You get the idea.

 

[humbug]

Ryzen 1700 and overclock it, its seems to be the only chip under HEDT platforms with enough horse power do it.

 

[Scramz]

I did some testing with a 1700 at 2.5Ghz and 3.6Ghz with Plex transcoding with 4k HEVC 265.

Check this page and the next https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/cpu-for-plex-media-server-4k-transcoding.18789345/page-4

Would listen to passmark scores when it comes to 265, needs a fair bit of grunt.

 

[Scramz]

Sorry, having re-read my post I phrased it badly. Mainly the question mark after 'The 7700k and 1800x don't even hit 16,000'. That should have been a statement. What I meant was, are Plex seriously suggesting you need a CPU even beefier than a 7700k or 1800x just to transcode one single 4k stream? If so, ouch!

No, an underclocked 1700 to 2.5Ghz transcodes/encodes h265 at average 1.9x so a hair from 2 streams at once. Let alone an overclocked one.

See here, https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/cpu-for-plex-media-server-4k-transcoding.18789345/page-4

 

[Disco_P]

Because non-native support. For example, when you're wanting to play a 4k MKV container with VC1 video and DTS audio on a 720p phone, or a 1080p tablet, or a TV, or an old laptop, and they don't support those codecs/decoders/filters, you need to transcode. If your movie library is at home and is BluRay rips (i.e. full size), but you're on holiday in Europe and want to watch your movies on a tablet or in the hotel, you're definitely going to need to transcode down to a level your internet at home is capable of streaming out (hint: BluRay rips are bigger than almost all ISP upstream speeds). Not to mention many devices just don't have the CPU grunt to play certain files. Plex/Emby looks at the network, and the receiving device, and transcodes on the fly to a suitable container, format and bitrate so the file can be played. You get the idea.

Thanks for that explanation. It's definitely something that wouldn't be for me as my small media library is nearly all x265 1080p encodes.