I have the number of friends using my Plex server on my desktop and it’s spiking my cpu to 100% with multiple streams being transcoded at once. I’ve tweaked as much as I can, and ultimately I’ve come to the conclusion that I need a better system.
My current system:
CPU - Intel I7-860 (non-overclocked)
MB - P7P55D-E
Mem - 16GB DDR3 1333 (4 4gb chips)
My old crypto mining rig:
CPU - AMD Sempron 145 Processor (obviously replacing)
MB - GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3P (rev. 1.0) AM3+/AM3 AMD
Mem - 16GB DDR3 1333 (4 4gb chips)
I originally thought I would have to buy all new, but I’m wondering if I could utilize the Gigabyte motherboard I have that I’ve already got 16gb of ram installed on. The highest CPU I can put in it is an AMD FX-8370 Eight-Core CPU, but doing a comparison it doesn’t look all that much better (passmark on my 870 is 5,027 and the 8370 is 9,020). I don’t know if Plex uses multiple cores, I’m actually not so sure it does because the Taskmanger performance CPU readout shows the exact same load spikes across all of my cores, but I could be wrong too.
The CPU comparison:
cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-860-vs-AMD-FX-8370/m841vs2983
Would it be worth it to go this route, or pick up something like last year’s best motherboard/cpu combo (intel or AMD), and have to buy memory too. I’m running the system headless, it will be a dedicated Plex server, and I’d like to optimize it for multiple streams and transcoding. Also I’ll be running Windows 10, as I’ll be moving my current Plex databases over to the new system, and I read that going from Windows to Linux isn’t very user friendly.
Also, would I benefit from getting a better video card and turning on hardware acceleration using video codecs? Or should I concentrate on getting the best CPU I can?
I would appreciate any input, and thank you ahead of time.
Your best meter for deciding which processor to go with is the Passmark score, with one very notable exception…
If you get an Intel Chip with QuickSync capabilities, you can then enable the Hardware Acceleration feature of Plex. This is an incalculable benefit as it slides the bulk of processing work off of your CPU.
If you’re running headless, you might benefit from getting a dummy plug for your monitor port. Some systems require a monitor to be attached to gain GPU processing benefits.
I looked up your i7, and it doesn’t have the QuickSync feature. Long story short, if QS is on the table as an option, take it.
Thanks for the heads up, what processor would you suggest? And Would it be better to get a decent quad-core proc with QuickSync and then spend a little extra money on a better video card, or stick with finding the best cpu?
This is a hard question to answer… almost nearing “What car should I buy?”
I went to Best Buy last year, and picked up a Dell XPS i7 open box buy for $700. Specs for it are in my signature. I’ve run up to 5 remote streams at once, and so far my only pain point is my internet upload speed. I may have also been recording shows in there too, I’m not sure. It’s a fantastic box that’s taken EVERYTHING I’ve thrown at it without batting an eye.
Plex doesn’t really need much. Sure, you can throw money at anything and make it better… Just ask yourself how many concurrent 1080 streams you want to run, and nab a processor that Passmark scores at least 2,000 per planned stream and you’ll be fine. My i7 sits between 10-11k Passmark. It’s more than enough.
I haven’t delved into 4k yet.
The other consideration is the media format you have your media in. If you get everything in a format that direct plays on the clients you support then your server will do no transcoding and the only real limit to the number of streams you can support is your internet upload speed.
I am too lazy to convert all my media but I really do not need to as I have a quite powerful server and I do not share my library with anyone and I am my only user. But if I were to share I would make sure the files I was sharing were direct playable. It is a lot less stressful to have everything direct play both for your server and you.
I think too much emphasis is placed on processing power.
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What video and audio format would normally direct play? I usually get media from other sources instead of doing it myself, so I’d have to re-encode anything that’s not in the right format.
I think I’ve settled on the Intel i7-8700k. It’s fast, got lots of cores, it’s only $350ish, and has a Passmark score of 16k. I just need to find a motherboard for it, and then the extra stuff like cpu cooler/memory/etc. People have also OC’d it to almost 5ghz without increasing the cpu voltage, keeping the heat and power consumption down, and without overly crazy coolers.
I’ve been reading up on hardware transcoding using the video cards. Would I benefit from multiple video cards? Or will Plex not use more than one video card for transcoding? Say I had like 2 or 3 Nvidia 1050 Ti’s or something like that, or am I completely over-thinking the benefits of hardware-accelerated transcoding when I’m getting such a nice CPU?
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