I have an existing server with a Xeon 1240v6 (no iGPU) on a C236 chipset for Plex and acting as my NAS (among other things). Running WinServer2022.
I’m interested in grabbing an A310 for 4k transcode support, but this motherboard (Supermicro X11SSM-F) does not support rebar.
I am aware it will still work, but curious about performance impact?
I’m trying to decide if I need to have a separate 4k library or if I can just replace my 1080p content with 4k to save storage space overall.
I currently don’t have more than 3 simultaneous streams transcoding (outside of my LAN). At most, internally, full resolution, I’d have 2 4K streams.
My currently setup, I doubt could handle more than 1-2 4k streams even locally, due to the lack of hardware acceleration.
So without rebar, can I have a single library, where up to 3 external transcodes have to occur on 4k content (probably down to 1080p or 720p) and 2 Direct Play 4k streams can occur, on this card?
I’d rather spend $100 and keep this setup going for another 2-3 years, than buy a second mini-pc for Plex. Yes, it’s not that expensive, but I’d rather keep it all consolidated in this server for management purposes if possible. I can replace it all with something less “jank” in a year or two, when this setup has aged out entirely.
I tried on a system that did not have rbar. Dont bother, the intel is dependent on rbar. I ended up getting an nvidia quadro t400 4gb from microcenter for $179, and it worked great. Youll get around 3 4k streams with it. It also willl decode AV1. After I got tired of that I found a used gtx1080ti on marketplace for $175 and popped it in my system. Holy crap it doesnt even break a sweat. 6 4k streams plus.
Resizable BAR is only required for gaming performance, and having it off does not affect video transcode in any noticeable way.
Before Plex broke ARC compatibility (they’ve repeatedly said they never supported it in the first place, but it did work before) it had no problem transcoding as many 4k streams with HDR tonemapping inside a Ubuntu VM on Proxmox, on which GPU passthrough requires you to disable resizable BAR.
Here is a link to my testing with it, and there are others who had it working as well:
But at this point, Plex supporting it officially (to prevent a version release from breaking it) is the actual issue. It can currently transcode but not do HDR tonemapping in hardware.
Luckily my in-home server is the virtual one with the ARC card and I rarely if ever need to transcode anything (that’s why I was OK experimenting with it). I’ve just been testing now and then to see if its fixed yet, so thanks for the heads up that its not.
Since I only have 20 Mbps up here, my other server with a 9th gen Intel IGPU is what I use for streaming Plex when out of the house. It’s at a location with 1Gbps up and its where I run Channels DVR to pick up OTA signals better than at my location.
