# Build Question for Hardware Transcoding **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/build-question-for-hardware-transcoding/178037 "2017-02-01T15:03:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mpappert](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mpappert/32/161526_2.png) [@mpappert](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mpappert)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/build-question-for-hardware-transcoding/178037/1 "2017-02-01T15:03:33Z")
Hey Everyone, I’m having some issues with the preview build (v1.4.0.3224) not fully supporting hardware transcoding … so I’m thinking I may have to switch out some hardware … Here is my current Plex Server build: ASUS A68HM-Plus Motherboard AMD A10-7860K APU (GPU disabled) MSI GTX 1050 OC Video Card 8GB RAM DDR3 256GB SSD for OS/Plex Server Software 4TB HDD for Media Storage My media is stored in HEVC/8-bit or HEVC/10-bit and then transcoded to H.264 as needed. My main devices (SHIELD TV and XBOX One) use Direct Play but my wife and kids watch videos on their iPads which triggers transcoding. With my current configuration, I’m only getting partial hardware transcoding (as it reads “Transcoding H.264 to H.264(hw)” and as I understand from reading the forums, it should read “Transcoding H.264(hw) to H.264(hw)”). The video card definitely supports full HEVC transcoding but it looks like the initial transcode utilizes CPU (maxing it out) and the output utilizes the GPU (which the VCE sits around 15%). Sideline question - why are there two transcodes taking place and why does it say H.264 for the first part vs HEVC? That part I don’t understand … So, I was thinking of upgrading some of the hardware as follows: MSI B250M Gaming Pro Motherboard 8GB RAM DDR4 Next, is where I’m unsure about selection … I’m debating between the i3-7100 and the i5-7400/7500 … I know the GPU in these processors are the same, so am I better off to save the money and get the i3? Or buy the better value between the i5-7400/7500 for the extra 2 cores and performance boost? Also, will the hardware trancoding utilize BOTH the Intel QSV and the nVidia GPU? Or will it just use the QSV and completely ignore the nVidia GPU? … and most importantly, will this solve my problem of getting my HEVC media to fully utilize hardware transcoding? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![mpappert](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mpappert/32/161526_2.png) [@mpappert](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mpappert)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 5:19pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/build-question-for-hardware-transcoding/178037/2 "2017-02-01T17:19:15Z")
I should add that I’m running Windows 10 Pro with the latest nVidia drivers (and all Windows Updates are current as well). Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![anon18523487](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@anon18523487](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon18523487)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/build-question-for-hardware-transcoding/178037/3 "2017-02-01T19:10:23Z")
I wouldn’t switch hardware at this point. This is still considered Beta and could change. I would instead describe the media you are trying to play and provide the PMS logs so we can see why hardware transcoding isn’t working. Not all hardware is supported now, but there is still work going on so it might work in the future. Wouldn’t want you to kick yourself after you bought new equipment to find out it works on the old stuff. ---
**Author:** ![mpappert](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mpappert/32/161526_2.png) [@mpappert](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mpappert)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/build-question-for-hardware-transcoding/178037/4 "2017-02-01T20:23:29Z")
@MovieFan.Plex Did you want me to post just a scrubbed “Plex Media Server.log” file or is there another file you would need to see as well? The media I’m trying to play is HEVC/8-bit or HEVC/10-bit encoded and it’s transcoding to H.264 to play on an iPad 2 (as one example). Here is the Debug Job Running command: Feb 01, 2017 15:07:38.798 [7536] DEBUG - Job running: FFMPEG\_EXTERNAL\_LIBS=’\\?\C:\Users\root\AppData\Local\Plex\ Media\ Server\Codecs\b343bef-1165-windows-i386\’ XDG\_CACHE\_HOME=‘C:\Users\root\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Cache’ XDG\_DATA\_HOME=‘C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources’ X\_PLEX\_TOKEN=‘xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx’ C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\PlexTranscoder.exe -codec:0 hevc -codec:1 aac\_mf -ss 2584 -i “E:\Media Files\filename.mkv” -filter\_complex [0:0]scale=w=min(720,iw):h=min(406,ih):force\_original\_aspect\_ratio=decrease,format=pix\_fmts=nv12[0] -map [0] -metadata:s:0 language=eng -codec:0 h264\_nvenc -b:0 533k -maxrate:0 1195k -bufsize:0 2390k -r:0 23.975999999999999 -force\_key\_frames:0 expr:gte(t,2591+n\_forced\*8) -map 0:1 -metadata:s:1 language=eng -codec:1 aac -ar:1 48000 -channel\_layout:1 stereo -b:1 193k -segment\_format mpegts -f ssegment -individual\_header\_trailer 0 -segment\_time 8 -segment\_start\_number 323 -segment\_copyts 1 -segment\_time\_delta 0.0625 -segment\_list [http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/66BD10E8-C5F2-43CD-A61B-33EBEEF68C25/seglist](http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/66BD10E8-C5F2-43CD-A61B-33EBEEF68C25/seglist) -segment\_list\_type csv -segment\_list\_size 2147483647 -max\_delay 5000000 -avoid\_negative\_ts disabled -map\_metadata -1 -map\_chapters -1 media-%05d.ts -start\_at\_zero -copyts -y -nostats -loglevel quiet -loglevel\_plex error -progressurl [http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/66BD10E8-C5F2-43CD-A61B-33EBEEF68C25/progress](http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/66BD10E8-C5F2-43CD-A61B-33EBEEF68C25/progress) Here are the “Get Info” details of the file being played: 1080p HEVC/10-bit Bitrate 1888 kbps Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0 Frame Rate 23.976 fps Container MKV Audio Profile lc Video Profile Main 10 Audio Codec AAC Channels 5.1 Bitrate 340kbps Sampling Rate 48000Hz While the video is playing, when I click the info under “Now Playing” it reads as follows: Transcoding Video Transcoding H264 to H264 (hw) Audio Transcoding AAC to AAC I can perform other tests with additional media and different devices to create additional log info … Any help in solving this is greatly appreciated!! ---
**Author:** ![anon18523487](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@anon18523487](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon18523487)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/build-question-for-hardware-transcoding/178037/5 "2017-02-01T20:31:57Z")
Sorry, I missed that you originally stated you were using HEVC. Your current system doesn’t have hardware decoding for HEVC. Most system’s won’t. The newest Intel chips have HEVC support, but I haven’t seen any tests if Plex works with it or not. ---
**Author:** ![mpappert](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mpappert/32/161526_2.png) [@mpappert](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mpappert)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/build-question-for-hardware-transcoding/178037/6 "2017-02-01T20:35:38Z")
@“MovieFan.Plex” I read that the nVidia GTX 1050 supports HEVC encoding/decoding? Is that not true? I found this for the 10xx series of nVidia GPUs: PureVideo Feature Set H hardware video decoding HEVC Main10 (10bit), Main12 (12bit) & VP9 hardware decoding (GM200 & GM204 did not support HEVC Main10/Main12 & VP9 hardware decoding) Maybe the transcoder doesn’t recognize it as supporting HEVC? ---
**Author:** ![anon18523487](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@anon18523487](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon18523487)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/build-question-for-hardware-transcoding/178037/7 "2017-02-01T22:42:58Z")
It’s possible. This is still early beta so not everything might be working right. Heck, I don’t even know if HEVC hardware decoding has been enabled for anything. I would suggest asking the question in the PMS preview thread. The dev working on this might have a better answer for you. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/build-question-for-hardware-transcoding/178037/8 "2020-01-07T22:40:28Z")