So I’m a complete noob looking into starting my own Plex server.
The server will be used for around 1-4 streams maybe a mix of 1080p & 4k content.there will be no gaming on this system it will be strictly used for media.
I have a bunch of old pc parts which I thought I could reuse for the system , all I need is a cpu and motherboard.
Thank you for your detailed response.
I will definitely be using Plex pass.
For now I’ll just think about doing 1080p but I would prefer the highest bit rate possible.
Would you recommend another CPU for 1080p highest/original bitrate?
if you are running only plex, with plex pass + hardware transcoding, an i3 10100 should be fine.
the only other thing I would mention is, if you intend to run other services/programs besides plex, then an i5 or even i7 may be better (more threads = more simultaneous other programs can run without bogging down). The same applies with ram. It all depends on your usages.
Right now I don’t have Plex pass but once I build a standalone pc for running only Plex or other media apps that’s when I will purchase Plex pass.
I would prefer to get the highest 1080p bit rate possible do you think a 10100 would be ok for 1/3 1080p at the highest bitrate or would I be better off with something like ryzen 2600/3600 + a gpu
Great thanks for that , is there ways to avoid transcoding ?
I mean certain devices that are better at playing all/most video formats like Roku , firestick , shield , Apple TV ?
+1 for @trumpy81 answer. So long as your files are encoded in the right file format, you shouldn’t really have an issue with streaming a mix of 1080p or 4k.
Plex server, and the hardware it’s on, has to work hard when it’s having to change the file format on the fly (aka transcode), so as to work on the client device that’s receiving the movie.
Get the right client device, and the Plex server (and hardware) shouldn’t be working hard at all.
I have everything in .mkv, including 4k content, and it works flawlessly from my NAS to my NVIDIA pro. MKV is a container, so the movie picture / audio is untouched from the original. Converting to mp4 I use Handbreak, when I want to store the movies offline on an iOS device.
Store in .mkv. Keep the original untouched. Convert to any format you want there after.
