# About hw transcoding **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2020, 9:01am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/about-hw-transcoding/542180 "2020-02-14T09:01:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![whiteguard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7feea3/32.png) [@whiteguard](https://forums.plex.tv/u/whiteguard)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 9:01am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/about-hw-transcoding/542180/1 "2020-02-14T09:01:51Z")
I am wondering, if plex 4k transcoding with Intel latest HD630（eg ，i5-9400k） when the HW QSV enabled，will be one cpu which passmark is lower than 17000(suggest by PLEX)can transcode one stream 4k h265 downto 1080p h264 @10mpbs At all , how much the lowest passmark would need when intel qsv enabled . thanks ---
**Author:** ![Coxeroni](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/coxeroni/32/21481_2.png) [@Coxeroni](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Coxeroni)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 9:25am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/about-hw-transcoding/542180/2 "2020-02-14T09:25:53Z")
With QSV you don’t need to care about passmark score. Passmark score is a guidance for **software** transcoding. With hw transcoding, only the CPU has to be capable to de-/encode the respective codec. Software transcoding will only be needed for audio transcoding. ---
**Author:** ![pl\_5309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@pl\_5309](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pl_5309)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 10:16am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/about-hw-transcoding/542180/3 "2020-02-14T10:16:33Z")
The CPU’s Single Thread Rating is important because the Transcode is locked to one core, with HD audio I see 1800 STR as a comfortable level. ---
**Author:** ![macgyver24x7](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/macgyver24x7/32/98585_2.png) [@macgyver24x7](https://forums.plex.tv/u/macgyver24x7)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/about-hw-transcoding/542180/4 "2020-04-26T00:27:48Z")
@PLEX: Does the following support article need to be updated? [https://support.plex.tv/articles/201774043-what-kind-of-cpu-do-i-need-for-my-server/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201774043-what-kind-of-cpu-do-i-need-for-my-server/) Does your listed PassMark scores take into account that the benchmark tool recently released a new version of their PerformanceTest software and all their CPU ratings have been RE-ADJUSTED to account for the new version? It would be a good idea to re-evaluate your transcoding scores to reflect the adjusted CPU ratings. FYI, the old scoring is currently still available: > **[PassMark - PerformanceTest V9 CPU Benchmarks - List of Benchmarked CPUs](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/pt9_cpu_list.php)** > > PassMark Software - CPU Benchmarks - Over 1 million CPUs and 1,000 models benchmarked and compared in graph form, updated daily! cheers, Scott ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/about-hw-transcoding/542180/5 "2020-04-28T12:44:22Z")
Considering that there were some security fixes made in compilers and operating systems lately, which reduced overall performance. I think these numbers are still valuable as a rough estimation. They were never intended to be used as a precise means to determine how many transcodes you can achieve _exactly._ (That’s largely impossible, due to the almost infinite number of different encoding options and the differences of the video content itself.) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/about-hw-transcoding/542180/6 "2020-07-27T12:44:30Z")
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