AMD Ryzen 9 3950x with Geforce 1660 Ti Transcode

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Server Version#: 1.20.1.3252
Player Version#: 4.34.4

Hello Guys,
I tried to build best plex server with all research i could do in time as per my knowledge.
And after all this my main Concern is all my streams remotely starts with rather SD or 720p by default. They have to change quality every time (changing quality it streams 4K movies without a problem) but have to change it at every play. All remote connections have at least 100 MBPS down.

My speed is 1 GBPS Down and 42 mbps UP (Xfinity only option available in my area)

My Configuration of server:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950x
GPU: Nvidia 1660Ti
RAM: 64 GB ( I am using 32 GB dedicated to Transcoding space for PLEX)
OS : Windows 10 x64 and PLEX Server installed on 1TB Nvme

Main concern is how to change settings in plex server so that it can at least play videos starting 1080p.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

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Check the settings on each individual client (not on the server).

4 Mbps/720p is the default remote quality for most (all?) Plex clients.

Do not expect to direct play multiple simultaneous movies remotely if one is 4K. One 4K movie will most likely use all your uplink bandwidth (Movies in my 4K library run from 40 Mbps to 80 Mbps).

If you need to support multiple simultaneous remote streams, set Internet Upload Speed and Limit Remote Stream Bandwidth appropriately in Settings → Server → Remote Access.

2 Likes
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Thank you Kindly. I will do that.
I was reading about my video card that GTX and RTX drivers limit simultaneous transcode streams to only 2.
is that the reason ?

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If you’re asking why Plex defaults remote streams to 4 Mbps, the best I can tell you is, “I don’t know.” That setting has been cussed and discussed on many threads. If I remember correctly it predates Plex adding hardware accelerated transcoding capability to Plex Media Server. Plex has shown no desire to change it. I just keep it in mind when adding new remote users/clients and change it if necessary.

A transcode consists of two parts: decoding from the current format and then encoding to the desired format (Plex currently encodes all video to 8-bit H.264).

Nvidia, not Plex, limits their GTX/RTX cards to three simultaneous encodes (recently changed from two). The number of decodes is not limited. Most Quadro cards have unlimited encodes and decodes.

The Nvidia Video Encode and Decode GPU Support Matrix has details on the capabilities of each card.

So, with your system, you should be capable of three simultaneous hardware accelerated transcodes. The fourth simultaneous transcode will use hardware acceleration for the decode, and the CPU for the encode.

Given the PassMark of 39237 for your CPU, that should not be a problem. You can most likely transcode multiple 4K videos even without using the GPU (See What kind of CPU do I need for my server?)

Modified Nvidia drivers are available to override the Nvidia imposed limit. Elpamsoft has information on transcoding performance and links to download the drivers. Note the drivers are unsupported and there are caveats regarding their use (see notes on the Elpamsoft page). Given your system I doubt you need the modified drivers. I’m including the information for others who might run across this thread.

Edit:

You can monitor playback using Plex Dashboard → Now Playing.

You will see (hw) if hardware acceleration is used for decoding or encoding the video (Audio is always transcoded on the CPU).

Example using hardware accelerated transcoding:
Screenshot (171)

1 Like
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Thank you so much for this very useful information.
really appreciate it.

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